Response

by Penny Jordan

  But in one thing she remained steadfast. Nothing would convince her that Rob had so much as harmed a hair of Alexis’ sister’s head. She was so sure of her brother’s innocence that she knew she wouldn’t even ask him about it. There was a certain amount of savage satisfaction to be found in that thought. No doubt Alexis expected her to rush to Rob with the story of her humiliation at his hands, but she had made up her mind that no one, no one was going to know what had happened between them. If she could have arranged for her memory to wipe free that part of her life which involved him she would have done so and gladly.

  Two and a half weeks after that final night with Alexis, Rob returned. He looked tanned but had lost weight, his hair bleached blond at the ends. He arrived just after she returned from work, wearing jeans and a thin shirt, shivering in the cool May breeze and complaining about the change of temperature. ‘The eternal curse of roving reporters—colds and jet-lag,’ he pronounced as he dropped down into a chair and studied her, his gaze sharpening as he took in the fragility of her pale face and the extreme slenderness of her body. ‘You don’t look too well yourself. What’s the matter?’

  ‘Nothing. I suppose I’m just coming to terms with Dad’s death.’ It was the excuse she offered everyone who commented on her loss of weight. ‘Tell me about your trip.’ She wanted to change the subject, and Rob seemed quite willing to oblige.

  ‘I know we complain about this country, but some of these places….’ He shook his head wearily. He had been in El Salvador, and although he had assured her before he left that he would be in no danger she had worried about him. ‘You don’t look at all well,’ he repeated, suddenly frowning as she stood up and he saw how baggy her jeans had become. ‘Almost haunted…. What is it, Sienna? Or is it too private to talk about with a mere brother?’

  ‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ Sienna assured him with forced airiness. ‘I guess I’m just growing up.’

  ‘At twenty-four—left it a bit late, haven’t you? I’ve always thought of you as particularly mature.’

  ‘Umm… well, you know what they way about growing pains, the older you are the more they hurt.’

  ‘Do they? Well, I can tell when no trespassing signs are being posted, but just remember that I’m always here, and you can always talk to me, won’t you?’

  ‘Yes, big brother.’ It took a considerable effort to make the flip retort and the grin that accompanied it, but it seemed to have the desired effect, because Rob’s face lightened in obvious relief, and knowing that Alexis would think himself cheated of his revenge because Rob didn’t know about it was a kind of balm to her tormented feelings.

  Even so she was glad when Rob announced that he was going to have to go away again. ‘You aren’t eating enough,’ he told Sienna, ‘so tonight, I’m taking you out.’

  ‘Oh, Rob, I really don’t want to….’ she began, but he shook his head.

  ‘No excuses, you’re coming.’

  ‘How long will you be gone this time?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know. They’re having some problems in Beirut and I’m being sent out to cover them. Look, Sienna, why don’t you have a short holiday? Gill tells me you’ve been doing the work of two girls these last couple of weeks. Take a few days off. Go home and rest.’

  She wanted to tell him that rest was the last thing she wanted; that work was the only thing she had to counteract her pain, but seeing his concern for her and not wanting to worry him any further, she forced a weak smile. ‘Perhaps I will. There’s still a lot of Father’s papers and diaries I haven’t touched. I could start going through those. Professor Grange wanted me to. He thinks there might be enough material there for another book and….’

  ‘I said you needed a rest, not more work,’ Rob pointed out mildly. ‘Leave the diaries, I’ll try and read through them when I get back. I’ve got a month’s leave due.’

  ‘Well if one of us does need a holiday I suspect it’s you,’ Sienna told him. She wanted to suggest that he include Gill in their dinner date, but was reluctant to tread on what she suspected was very dangerous ground. Gill had made no secret of the fact that she would like Rob to give up his job. She worried constantly about the danger he was in and had told Sienna privately that she wanted a husband who shared her life, not a visitor whom she saw briefly for a handful of days out of every month, and while Sienna could not argue with her views, she also sympathised with Rob who she knew thrived on the danger of his job. If there was a problem only Rob and Gill could sort it out, and it wasn’t up to her to meddle.

  ‘Mmm, very nice.’ Sienna was wearing the black dress with the matching jacket she had worn on her first dinner date with Alexis. She hadn’t wanted to wear it, but there was nothing else suitable in her wardrobe, and what was the point of being stupidly sentimental? What was the point in deluding herself any more than she had already done so? There had been nothing romantic about her dates with Alexis, they had simply been a series of carefully calculated moves on the chessboard that was his life, a means to an end.

  ‘You don’t look bad yourself,’ Sienna quipped back. And it was true. Rob looked extremely attractive in his formal dark suit and the pale silk shirt she had bought him for his birthday several weeks before.

  She didn’t talk as he drove through the wet city streets, too wrapped up in thoughts she knew it would have been wiser to dismiss. It had been raining all day and now a wet, grey dusk permeated the landscape, matching her dismal mood. It was only when they pulled up outside the Savoy that she recognised their destination, and a small moaned protest which Rob fortunately mistook for suprise left her parted lips.

  ‘I thought tonight we’d push the boat out in style,’ he told her cheerfully, handing her from the car and directing her towards the main entrance. ‘It’s years since I came here last. My godfather brought me once as a special treat.’ Rob’s godfather was a colleague of their father’s who had gone into industry midway through his life and who had additionally received a life peerage for his work. When he left the university he and her father had lost touch, but Sienna dimly remembered him. ‘What’s the matter?’ Rob demanded when they got inside and he saw Sienna’s strained features for the first time. ‘Aren’t you feeling well?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ How could she spoil Rob’s treat by asking to be taken home? She had to pull herself together, she told herself desperately. She couldn’t go on for the rest of her life avoiding all the places she had been with Alexis. As always when she was tempted to remember how she had felt about him she made herself re-live those moments in the cottage when she had learned the truth, lashing herself mentally for her weakness, making herself remember that the love she had been stupid enough to believe existed had simply been a chimera: the result of her own foolish imagination.

  The dining room was relatively full and in spite of her firm intentions Sienna found herself scouring the room for Alexis’ familiar dark head. To her relief it wasn’t there, but then why should it be? He had told her himself that he was going to New York, probably to make sure she didn’t create any embarrassing scenes, she thought sardonically. No doubt he was adept at avoiding the women he had cast off when he no longer had any use for them, but she would never give him the satisfaction of letting him see again how completely he had destroyed her. She would never beg for the crumbs from his table, for the caresses she knew could only be given in pity and contempt.

  They were shown to their table, the menus produced with a flourish. Sienna studied hers indifferently, trying to show an excitement she could not feel. Rob was plainly so delighted with his treat that she felt she had to try to respond to his mood. In the end she let him order for her, telling him that she wanted to be surprised. He raised his eyebrows a little but made no comment. His years as a journalist had given him a sophistication she hadn’t previously witnessed. Her brother was a very attractive man, Sienna recognised absently, a man, she realised, who would be perfectly at home no matter what his surroundings.

  Their first course arrived, and Ro
b, knowing of her preference for seafood, had ordered her a concoction of prawns and baked avocado, which she was surprised to discover was quite delicious. Nothing lasts for ever, she reminded herself, the human body can only pine for so long before nature reasserts herself, and after all those days of being unable to eat, suddenly she was hungry again.

  Their wine arrived, the waiter poured it, and Sienna was just reaching out for her glass when she saw the group entering the dining room. In that second she knew she had deceived herself that she was beginning to get over Alexis. Merely looking at him brought a wave of mingled anguish and hatred so strong that she was surprised he didn’t feel the waves of antipathy emanating from her. He was walking into the restaurant, another couple at his side, a young woman, who was laughing up at him, and another man, shorter, stockier than Alexis and completely without his charisma. Her heart thumping, unable to draw her eyes away from them, Sienna watched their approach. Alexis hadn’t seen her, he was too busy talking to the woman at his side. His mouth was curved in a tender smile that wrenched at Sienna’s heart, his whole attitude towards this other woman one of caring protection.

  They were shown to a table not far from their own and as the girl took the proffered menu Sienna saw the huge sapphire glittering on her left hand. A rage of anger, so intense that she almost literally saw red, flooding through her body. She wondered if that girl knew what Alexis was really like. Who was she? The daughter of a fellow tycoon? She looked Greek—more so than Alexis himself.

  ‘Sienna….’ With a stárt she realised that Rob had been talking to her and she hadn’t heard a word. The timely arrival of the waiters with their main course gave her the opportunity to regain a little self-control, although she was acutely conscious of Alexis seated not three yards away, arrogantly oblivious to her presence. But then why should he be aware of it? As far as he was concerned her part in his life was finished. She had never been important to him as a person, in her own right, merely as Rob’s sister. She glanced at her brother and was surprised to discover that he was staring at Alexis’ table, his forehead pleated in a frown. For one hideous moment Sienna wondered if Alexis had been right and Rob had been involved with Alexis’ sister, but almost instantly she dismissed the thought, startled by the sudden scraping sound of a chair, every muscle in her body tensing.

  Rob was standing up, smiling, and then Sienna heard a husky accented feminine voice exclaiming with obvious pleasure, ‘Rob, I thought it was you. How lovely to see you!’ The woman who had been with Alexis was standing by their table embracing her brother, her dark eyes smiling. ‘Constantin, Alexis, do come and be introduced to an old acquaintance. Rob, let me introduce you to my brother and my fiancé. Rob and I met in Sardinia, when we were staying at our villa there. He was doing an article on the local bandits.’

  ‘Sofia, there is no need to pretend. I know that King was the one who… who hurt you.’ That was Alexis’ voice, and Sienna couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Sofia, he had said, so that meant that the effervescent, laughing girl smiling at her brother was Alexis’ sister and the fiancé she had mentioned must be the other man, who was now standing gravely to one side. At Alexis’ words a tense silence enveloped them all. Sofia looked from her brother’s set face to the sympathetic understanding one of her fiancé and then flushed a little as she glanced at Rob. ‘Alexis, please.’ Her voice was husky with pain, and out of the corner of her eye Sienna saw Constantin step forward, his arm supporting her. Sienna glanced up at her brother. Nearly as tall as Alexis, he was frowning, patently not understanding what was going on. Constantin murmured something to Sofia in Greek too low for Sienna to catch, then Sofia was touching her brother’s arm, her voice unsteady as she whispered, ‘Alexis, surely you did not believe that Rob was the one who… who attacked me? We were just friends. We….’

  ‘You met him every day, even though I had forbidden you to do so,’ Alexis said curtly. ‘You were betrothed to Nico at the time….’

  ‘A betrothal I did not want. Rob was a friend, someone to talk to who understood how trapped and despairing I felt.’

  ‘He was also the man who….’ Sienna saw Alexis glare at her brother, a dark tide of colour surging up under his skin, as he muttered something in Greek. For a moment Sienna thought he meant to hit Rob, and it was obvious that Sofia and Constantin shared her fears, because they both moved forward, standing between Alexis and Rob. ‘This is not the time to discuss such matters,’ Alexis said curtly. His jaw was clenched and Sienna saw the small muscle that beat sporadically there as he looked across at her, probably wondering why she had said nothing to Rob of what he had done to her, Sienna thought bitterly. Had he really thought she could concede victory to him so easily?

  ‘But I say it is,’ Sofia, said bravely. ‘For too long the subject has been avoided between us. Constantin knows the whole of it.’ She looked at her fiancé and such a look of love passed between them that Sienna felt a small lump rise in her throat. Constantin might not have Alexis’ looks or personality, but it was plain that Sofia loved him and that her love was returned. ‘I should have told you at the time, Alexis, but I was so shocked… you were so angry… I never dreamed you blamed Rob.’ She glanced apologetically towards him. ‘I am so sorry to involve you in this, my friend, especially when you are dining with such an attractive companion, but in view of my foolish brother’s suspicions….’

  ‘Do you deny that you spent nearly every afternoon with him for an entire fortnight?’ Alexis demanded. He looked so angry that Sienna wondered at Sofia’s lack of concern. ‘Do you really expect me to believe that in all that time… that he was not the one who…’ he broke off, plainly fighting for self-control. ‘Protect him as much as you choose, Sofia, but it is no use. Theo told me the truth. He saw the two of you together.’

  ‘Theo!’ For a moment Sofia’s face was bleak, her pretty mouth twisted and bitter. ‘Oh, yes, you would believe Theo, wouldn’t you, Alexis? Your dear friend who meant so much to you. Did you never wonder why I didn’t weep when his plane crashed? Well, I shall tell you why. It was because I had prayed that he would be punished, that he would suffer as he made me suffer. Theo was the man who attacked me and abused me, Alexis. I couldn’t tell you at the time because he was your friend and you trusted him. But I never liked him. The only reason I agreed to the betrothal with Nico was because I was afraid that otherwise you might give me to Theo.’

  Sienna found she had been holding her breath. She had never for one moment believed her brother guilty, and now, hearing him vindicated by the one person who had the knowledge to vindicate him brought no feeling of relief or pleasure. There was no wild surge of delight because Alexis had been proved wrong, just a vast empty nothingness, in which the voices of the others reached her, slightly distorted as though they had travelled a great distance. She was aware of Rob speaking, saying something to Alexis, and Alexis ignoring him to turn to Sofia and demand hoarsely, ‘Is this the truth? You are telling me the truth?’

  Truth, lies—what did it matter? Certainly it didn’t matter to her, Sienna thought painfully. The room was starting to blur around her and then sway. She was conscious of a dark-suited arm reaching out towards her, and a concerned, kind pair of eyes watching her while their owner spoke; something soft and fluid in Greek that brought the attention of everyone else to her. Sofia was apologising to Rob for disrupting his meal, Rob was smiling away her apology. Any minute now and he would be introducing them, Sienna thought wildly, and that was something she couldn’t endure. She couldn’t bear to so much as look at Alexis. She tried to speak and found herself shivering convulsively.

  ‘You must excuse us,’ she heard Rob saying ‘My sister isn’t well. No, no… nothing for which you need feel guilty,’ he was assuring Sofia. ‘She hasn’t been well for some time. The strain of my father’s death, I suspect. Sienna… Sienna….’

  He was her one rock in the shifting dangerous sands on which she was standing and she clung selfishly to him, letting him help her to her feet, le
tting him talk over her head to Constantin and Sofia, letting him say the words that would get her out of the restaurant and away from Alexis.

  ‘I’m sorry about all that.’ They were back in the flat, and Rob had just walked through from the kitchen carrying a mug of Horlicks. ‘Strange meeting Sofia like that after so long. It must be two years since we met in Sardinia.’

  ‘Were you in love with her?’

  Rob grimaced. ‘Ordinary mortals don’t dare to raise their eyes to members of the Stefanides clan, especially not the only sister of its leader! She was going through a difficult time. She’d been educated in Europe, and then had to go home and find herself having to contend with an arranged marriage. She needed someone to talk to, and I just happened to be there.’

  ‘Did she… did you know….’

  ‘About her being attacked?’ Rob shook his head. ‘I’m presuming that for “attacked” I ought to substitute the word raped.’ He grimaced again. ‘Hardly flattering to discover that I’m supposed to have committed an atrocity like that, and our relationship was quite innocent, completely platonic. Anyone could see that she was an innocent, and knowing there was no future in it for us I deliberately didn’t try for anything more than friendship. One thing puzzles me, though.’ He was frowning, and Sienna felt her heart still for a moment before it started to thud heavily against her ribs. ‘If Stefanides really thought I’d raped her, why didn’t he come after me? No, I’m serious,’ Rob assured her when he saw Sienna’s face. ‘You may not know it, but in Greece a girl’s virginity is still very important. And to actually commit rape! Believe me, they have some pretty nasty ways of showing their disapproval. An accident, even a fatal one, would have been quite easy for a man of his wealth to organise.’ He shrugged. ‘Funny business altogether. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look as shocked as he looked tonight when Sofia told him the truth.’