When Christakos Meets His Match

CHAPTER SIX


SIDONIE FELT AS if she’d done something wrong. The look on Alexio’s face just now had been almost...disgusted. She felt stupid for blurting out that she’d always loved glittery things. It was a trait that she’d inherited from her mother and Sidonie didn’t like to be reminded of that. Especially when she knew deep down that it wasn’t like her mother’s love for real jewels. When she’d found her childhood jewellery box during the clearing of the house after her father had died she could almost have laughed, because it was full of ten-cent pieces, buttons and tin foil. Hardly a treasure trove.

Sidonie tried to push down the sense of disquiet and followed Alexio into a very mysterious-looking doorway with no name on it. A man in a black suit with an earpiece let them in with a deferential nod to Alexio.

Determined to put his reaction out of her mind, Sidonie tightened her hand reflexively in Alexio’s and he looked down at her. She was relieved to see that the tightness in his expression was gone and that the lazy, sexy insouciance was back.

Another entrance was just ahead, with billowing white curtains wafting in the breeze. A stunning glamazon of a woman stepped out, dressed in a tiny black dress which showcased her astounding body.

Sidonie nearly tripped over her heels and Alexio steadied her, looking down. ‘Okay?’

Sidonie nodded, still struck dumb by the dark-haired Greek beauty who was now greeting Alexio very warmly with kisses on each cheek—far too close to his mouth for Sidonie’s liking. She felt something rise within her—something hot and acrid. Jealousy.

The woman turned her gaze on Sidonie and dismissed her with a cool glance before turning back to Alexio. She pouted ruby-red lips and proceeded to talk to Alexio in Greek, which Sidonie of course couldn’t follow.

Alexio replied in English, though, saying, ‘I’ve been too busy to come back. This is Sidonie—Sidonie, this is Elettra.’

Sidonie smiled, but the other women barely smiled back at all. It was like the air hostess all over again. Far from making Sidonie feel triumphant that she had the man everyone wanted, it only made her feel insecure. Was Alexio even now looking at this woman and wishing he was availing himself of her charms instead of gauche, inexperienced Sidonie’s?

But then the sight of the interior of the club took every thought out of Sidonie’s head. It was a massive, cavernous, breathtaking space. Dark and dimly lit with what seemed to be a thousand lanterns. A huge bar took up one entire wall. There was a dance floor with glowing boxes of neon lights in the old Studio 54 style. There were booths and private tables dotted around the place, and then there was a whole other level down below which was already heaving with people.

Beautiful people were everywhere. Funky music throbbed from the sound system. It was achingly hip and exclusive.

Elettra was leading them to a booth, her hips swaying sinuously in her teeny-tiny dress. When they got there Sidonie could see that they had a bird’s eye view of the entire place, and almost immediately after Elettra left—with clear reluctance—an equally stunning-looking waitress was there to take their orders. She was dressed in tiny shorts and a white shirt with very low-cut buttons. She had a pinafore-style apron that did little to detract from the sexiness of the outfit—if anything it fetishised it slightly.

Sidonie felt seriously out of her depth.

After Alexio had given an order he leant back and looked at her. She knew she must look like some wide-eyed hick.

‘Well? What do you think?’

Sidonie sat back, overwhelmed, and gave a little laugh. ‘I think that we’re not in Kansas any more, Toto.’

Alexio frowned and Sidonie explained with a wave of her hand. ‘When Dorothy ends up in Oz...’ She shook her head. ‘This is out of this world. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m used to grimy college student bars.’

The waitress came back with small plates of finger food and a bottle of champagne. Sidonie groaned softly. She hadn’t realised she was hungry and she stole a glance at Alexio, who was watching her with amusement.

‘My appetite is just one big joke to you, isn’t it?’

He shrugged and prepared some pitta bread and tzatziki, handing it to her. She ate it with relish and took a sip of the sparkling wine.

Joking, she said, ‘I could get used to this, you know.’

She missed Alexio’s enigmatic look as she plucked an olive from a bowl. When she did look at him he was lounging back, regarding her with an expression that had her blood heating up. It was that look. The one that made him look hungry and made her feel hungry. But not for food.

‘I want to dance with you.’

Sidonie swallowed what she was eating. The mere thought of dancing with this man made any appetite she did have flee. A slow, sexy hip-hop song was playing, its beat sending tremors of sexual awareness through Sidonie’s body.

‘Okay...’

Moving out of the booth seat, Alexio stood and held out his hand. He looked so young in that moment, and so breathtakingly gorgeous, that Sidonie had to relegate it like a snapshot to the back of her mind because it was too much to deal with.

His hand in hers, Alexio led her to the dance floor, which was filling up with similarly minded couples. He drew her into his arms, close to his body, and it was the most natural thing to loop her hands and arms around his neck.

His hands were possessive on her, sexual. One hand rested over her buttocks. The other slid under the gaping hole at the side of her dress to splay across her naked back. Lord. How was she expected to stay standing when he touched her like that? As Sidonie looked into his eyes the infectious beat of the music throbbed through every vein and made her tingle. She realised, not for the first time, how far under her skin he’d sneaked.

There was something so...so up-front and unashamed about him. He was too confident to play games. Too assured. She knew exactly where she stood. And even though that brought misgivings about how cool she was with that—which was a lot less cool than she pretended—she couldn’t blame him for her growing confusing emotions. Her attachment.

The fact that she trusted him was huge. She’d never trusted anyone, really...not since those awful days when her mother had exposed a very ugly side of reality and herself. Sidonie suspected now that her highly developed reticence had influenced her experiences with her first two brief relationships. No wonder they’d been unsatisfactory; she hadn’t let either of them get too close.


But Alexio... Alexio had smashed through a wall she’d been barely aware of building around herself and now all that remained was rubble. And her exposed beating heart. It hit her then, as she looked up into those golden compelling eyes...she was falling for him. And it was too late to stop herself.

Her arms tightened around Alexio’s neck in automatic rejection of her thought, as if she could ward it off if she squashed it right away. But Alexio couldn’t read the stricken nature of her revelation. He saw only those wide aquamarine eyes and felt Sidonie’s arms tighten around him and he pulled her even closer.

Her breasts pressed against him, her hips welded to his, and his arousal was urgent and insistent. Damn her. He never lost it like this.

Wanting to punish her for something he wasn’t even sure of, Alexio cupped the back of her head and, as the throbbing beat of the music changed and got faster, bent his head and took her mouth in a bruising passionate kiss.

As if something was holding her back, Sidonie didn’t respond for a moment. Incensed by this, Alexio used every skill in his arsenal to make her respond—and when she did his blood ignited.

After long, drugging moments, Alexio struggled to drag himself away from Sidonie’s mouth. He felt dazed. The music was faster now. People were dancing around him. They were the only ones standing still. She was slow to open her eyes. They looked slumberous, filled with hidden depths. Filled with...emotion. Instantly Alexio waited for that cold feeling to infect him, but it didn’t.

Before he could feel any more disjointed he all but dragged Sidonie off the dance floor and back to the booth. The food had been cleared away. They sat down and Alexio took a swig of champagne. But it was no good. He couldn’t feel civilised sitting next to Sidonie with that provocative dress testing his control every time she moved.

He took her hand and she looked at him. Her mouth was swollen. Her eyes were huge, pupils dilated.

‘Let’s get out of here...’

She opened her mouth, paling slightly, as if she saw something in his expression that frightened her slightly. He felt feral.

‘But we only just got here.’

Alexio forced himself to calm down and tried not to think about the fact that when he usually came to a club with a woman it was a very different experience. He was usually a lot more in control.

Tightly he said, ‘If you don’t want to go we can stay...’

‘Why do you want to go?’ she asked, surprising him. Most women would have pouted or sidled up to him, trying to distract him, cajole him.

‘Because,’ he offered with brutal honesty, ‘I’m afraid if we don’t leave that I’ll get arrested for making love to you in front of an audience, and the last time I checked this wasn’t a sex club.’

‘Oh...’ Sidonie said, in a small voice barely audible above the music. She took a swift sip of her drink and then looked at him. She was all at once shy and confident—again that intriguing mix. ‘In that case maybe we should go...’

Relief and anticipation swept through Alexio as he grabbed for her hand and led her out of the booth—this time back to the VIP exit.

* * *

The return journey to Alexio’s villa in the car was torturous. Sidonie was acutely aware of the thick sexual tension that enveloped them. Alexio had looked so...primal back at the club. She hadn’t had a chance of pretending everything was normal after that dance and after his bald declaration. She’d wanted them to be alone as badly as he had.

Alexio looked at her now and lifted his arm for her to come close to his side. Sidonie didn’t hesitate. She slid her arms around his hard-muscled torso and rested her head on his chest. Alexio’s hand found the hole in the side of her dress and sneaked underneath, climbing up until he could cup her breast, his fingers pinching a nipple.

Sidonie’s breath grew choppy. Between her legs she was embarrassingly wet.

By the time they reached the garage and he stopped the car Sidonie had to peel herself off Alexio.

He growled softly, ‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Sidonie stopped and looked at him. He had that look again, and it sent tremors of excitement into her blood. ‘Inside?’ she said hopefully, already imagining the huge bed.

Alexio shook his head and as he did so moved his seat back. ‘No time. I can’t wait. Take off your knickers.’

Sidonie’s eyes went very big when she saw Alexio’s hands go to his belt. He started undoing it. They were going to do it here. Right now. Heat washed up through Sidonie and her hands shook with need as she did as she was bid, sliding her panties off and down her legs.

When they hit the floor of the car Alexio reached for her and brought her over to straddle his lap. Sidonie’s heart was out of control as Alexio dragged her dress down to bare one creamy white breast, its nipple already hard and pouting flagrantly for his mouth and tongue.

She groaned out loud when he surrounded it in sucking heat and clasped his head. Her hips were already grinding gently against his lap and the hard bulge she could feel there, still constrained by his trousers. Feeling frustration build, Sidonie reached down, lifting up slightly, and almost wept with relief when she could feel Alexio’s naked arousal pushing against her where she ached.

When he thrust up and into her their mingled breaths were harsh in the quiet of the small space. Sidonie could feel the steering wheel digging into her back, the gearshift against her knee, but she didn’t care. Her body rose and fell against Alexio’s. They were both so turned on and ready that their mutual completion shattered around them in minutes. Sidonie could only sag against him afterwards, her mind a blissful blank of nothingness.

* * *

As dawn broke over the eastern side of the island and bathed the western edges in a pink glow Sidonie lay awake, with her cheek resting on Alexio’s chest. Despite their frantic coupling in the car as soon as they’d got back, their hunger for one another hadn’t been dented.

She knew he was awake too because she could feel the tension in his body. The master bedroom of the villa, despite its vast airiness, felt like a cocoon around them. Sidonie never wanted to leave this place, or this man. For a second she resented the inevitable intrusion of reality and responsibility—and then felt immediately guilty when she thought of Tante Josephine. Of course she couldn’t expect her aunt to deal with the debts incurred by her mother.

Sighing deeply, Sidonie snuggled closer to Alexio, hating how a shiver went down her spine, as if someone had just walked over her grave.

‘What’s wrong?’

Sidonie shook her head against him and whispered, ‘Nothing.’ Everything, she didn’t say.

A question she’d wanted to ask him for days rose up within her and, longing for a diversion from her own thoughts, she lifted her head and rested her chin on her hand against his chest.

He looked at her and she almost smiled at the wariness of him. As if she were some kind of unexploded device.

‘Can I ask you something?’

A small smile played around that gorgeous sexy mouth. ‘Do I have a choice?’

‘Not really,’ Sidonie said cheerfully, and then, ‘Why did you turn your back on your inheritance to make your own way?’

She’d asked him the question that first evening in his apartment but he’d deflected it easily. Now his face became inscrutable, and Sidonie prepared herself for another brush-off, but to her surprise his chest rose and fell in a deep sigh. As if he was giving in.

He said carefully, ‘You do know that if I tell you I’ll have to kill you?’

Sidonie nodded with mock seriousness. ‘I know. However, I feel like I’ve packed a lot into my twenty-three years, so I’m prepared to go if I have to.’

Alexio took some of her hair between his fingers and caressed it, saying, ‘Such a pity...but if you’re positive...?’

Mock resolute, Sidonie said, ‘I’m positive.’

Joking aside, Alexio lifted one shoulder and said, ‘It’s really not that exciting.’

‘I’m intrigued. It’s not many people who would turn their back on an Onassis-sized inheritance.’

Alexio grimaced. ‘The size of the inheritance was vastly exaggerated...’

Sidonie stayed quiet.

With clear reluctance Alexio told her, ‘I am my father’s only son. Even though my half-brother grew up with us, my father used to taunt him every day that he would not receive a cent from him. I always resented my father’s lack of generosity and the way he wielded his power over everyone else. But I saw how it forged in my brother a will to succeed and prosper on his own. I envied him because he wasn’t constrained like I was. Bound to my father’s expectations. My father used to pit us against each other all the time, me and my brother.’

Alexio grimaced.

‘Obviously this didn’t do our relationship much good, and by the time my brother left home it’s safe to say we hated each other’s guts. My father just assumed I would be joining him in his empire. He never listened to me long enough to know that I had no interest in his shipping business. I rebelled against that expectation. The business wasn’t even his—not rightfully. He was the second son and his brother had died at a young age, leaving him in line to take over. His own father hadn’t wanted it for him, but my father grabbed it with both hands and ousted my grandfather as soon as he could.’


Sidonie’s eyes grew wide. ‘But that’s so...’

‘Ruthless?’ Alexio interjected with a grim smile.

Sidonie nodded.

‘That’s my father’s way. To grab at things. Take them. He wanted me to inherit and join him—but not as an equal, as someone he could control.’ He sighed. ‘In the meantime I saw Rafaele, my brother, single-handedly resurrecting his own family name and business out of the ashes. All those years of rivalry were still in my blood—if he could do it so could I.’

Sidonie spoke softly. ‘So when your father expected you to follow in his footsteps you said no?’

Alexio looked into Sidonie’s clear eyes and felt in that moment as if he could just spill all the secrets in his guts and keep spilling. It was dangerous. Too dangerous. He stifled the impulse with effort.

‘I said no. And walked away. He disinherited me and now here I am.’

‘Probably more successful than he is...’

Alexio was surprised that she’d surmised that but it was true. What he didn’t tell her, though, was how his success hadn’t given him any measure of satisfaction where his father was concerned. It had never been about besting his father. It had been about distancing himself from a man who had made him fear he had the same lack of emotional control in his own make-up. Fear that he might be similarly greedy and never experience the thrill of making it on his own as his brother had. Fear that he’d never get away from that sterile house full of tension and hatred. Violence.

He felt cold inside all of a sudden.

Just then Alexio’s mobile phone beeped on the nearby bedside cabinet. He reached for it and saw the text message icon winking. He opened it and saw it was from his solicitor.





I have information about your Miss Fitzgerald. Call when you get a chance. D.





Instantly something cold slithered into Alexio’s gut.

‘What is it?’ Sidonie asked with obvious concern.

Alexio put the phone back, face down, and looked at her. ‘Nothing important.’

Guilt warred with something much deeper inside him. Superstitiously he wanted to pretend he hadn’t just seen that text and that there wasn’t something dark lurking in the wings.

He came up and hovered over her, feeling that familiar heady rush of desire when he looked at her body, breasts bared and tempting. Her mouth was enticing him ever downwards, where he wouldn’t have to think about anything...for a little longer.

* * *

‘What did you just say?’ Alexio asked faintly.

He was stunned. The sun was high outside his villa’s office. His body was still humming in the aftermath of seriously pleasurable lovemaking and he couldn’t really compute this information.

His solicitor repeated himself. ‘Her mother went to jail for two years.’

Alexio went cold all over. ‘Jail? Why?’

Demetrius sighed. ‘I really wish I didn’t have to tell you this. Her mother was prosecuted for stalking and blackmailing her married lover. She’d been doing it for years, in ever increasing amounts. It would appear that her husband, Miss Fitzgerald’s father, wasn’t making enough to keep her in the style to which she wanted to be accustomed. Even though it also appears he did his best to try and keep both his wife and daughter in comfort and relative luxury.’

Alexio struggled against the shock. This information was not pleasant, but it hardly condemned Sidonie.

His friend continued, ‘When her mother was released they moved to another part of the country to avoid the scandal and Miss Fitzgerald’s father’s business started to boom. Sidonie went to one of the best local schools, had a pony...the works. Her mother was a regular on the social scene...designer clothes and jewellery. They managed to keep her past a secret for the most part. When the property market collapsed so did her father’s business and they lost everything.’

Alexio was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. ‘Demetrius, is that it? I think I’ve heard enough.’

‘Well, not quite. I think you should hear the rest. After Mr Fitzgerald died his wife went back to Paris to move in with her younger sister.’

‘Demetrius—’

The man butted in. ‘Alexio, I did some more digging via some colleagues in Paris and you need to hear this... Sidonie’s mother persuaded her sister to take out a mortgage on a flat her husband had bought and paid for years before. She also maxed out credit cards in her sister’s name. She died leaving the woman in so much debt that she’ll never recover.’

Alexio felt angry now and gritted out, ‘What does this have to do with Sidonie?’

‘You met her when she was on her way home from Paris?’

‘Yes,’ Alexio agreed curtly, regretting having ever involved his friend like this.

‘She’d just signed an agreement to accept responsibility for all those debts on her aunt’s behalf. Now, let me ask you this—has she given any hint at all that she’s a woman with a huge financial burden on her shoulders? If not,’ his friend went on heavily, ‘you have to ask yourself why she’s acting as if nothing is wrong.’

* * *

When Sidonie woke again she was alone in the bed and for some reason her belly went into a ball of tension. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

She lifted her head and looked around. No sign of Alexio. Maybe he’d gone for a swim? He was a powerful swimmer and liked the sea as opposed to the pool.

Muscles protesting pleasurably as she sat up, Sidonie got out of bed and went to the bathroom, tying her hair up so that it wouldn’t get wet in the shower.

When she came out again she rubbed her body dry with a towel and looked at the vast array of clothes hanging in the walk-in wardrobe. Something bitter struck her again to think of his other women, but Sidonie shoved it down. She didn’t have the right to feel jealous, possessive.

She found some shorts and a green halterneck top and stuck them on and then went to find Alexio, still with that odd feeling of foreboding in her belly. Before she could leave the bedroom, though, she heard the sound of her phone ringing. She kept it on mainly in case Tante Josephine was looking for her, and when she located it at the bottom of her bag she saw that it was her aunt.

Expecting nothing more than her aunt wanting to chat, Sidonie sat on the edge of the bed and answered warmly in French. Her smile faded in an instant, though, when all she could hear were racking sobs from the other end of the phone.

Instantly Sidonie stood up. ‘Tante Josephine, what is it? Please try to stop crying...’

Eventually her aunt was able to calm down enough to start talking, after Sidonie had encouraged her to breathe slowly. Her aunt was prone to panic attacks and Sidonie didn’t want one to happen before she could find out what was wrong.

Through fits and starts it transpired that someone on her vacances had heard about Tante Josephine’s financial woes and put the fear of God into her by telling her all sorts of horror stories about repossessions and jail sentences for not paying debts. No wonder her aunt was hysterical.

But no matter what Sidonie said it didn’t seem to have any effect. Her aunt was working herself up into another bout of hysterics. Desperate, Sidonie racked her brains for what she could say that might calm her down. Tante Josephine didn’t understand nuances, and Sidonie knew that if she tried to placate her with reassurances that the debts were now in her name it would have no effect. Her aunt still believed the debts were hers.

Her aunt only understood right now—and right now, she was panicking. Sidonie knew that in her aunt’s mind the threat was as real as if gendarmes had just turned up to arrest her.

Tante Josephine needed to hear something concrete, even if it was a white lie. ‘Okay, look, Jojo—are you listening to me? I need you to listen because I’m going to tell you why you don’t have to worry about a thing.’

To Sidonie’s relief her aunt stopped crying abruptly at the use of the nickname that had come about when, as a toddler, Sidonie hadn’t been able to pronounce Josephine. She hiccuped softly. Sidonie’s heart ached for this poor, sweet and innocent woman who did not deserve this stress.

‘Jojo, everything is going to be fine...I promise you.’

Unbeknownst to Sidonie, who stood facing away from the view and the open terrace doors, a tall dark shape had approached and stopped.

‘But Sidonie...how?’

Sidonie could hear the hysteria approaching again and cursed the distance between them. ‘I’m not going to let you go through this alone, Jojo, do you hear me? Didn’t I promise to do everything in my power to get us out of this mess?’

Her aunt sniffled and Sidonie pressed on, seizing the advantage, knowing how fragile her aunt was mentally.

‘You don’t have to worry about a thing because I’ve...’

Sidonie faltered. She’d been about to say she had everything in hand, but she knew that would sound vague to her aunt, so she mentally crossed her fingers, squeezed her eyes shut and said, ‘I’ve met someone, Jojo...and he’s really, really rich. One of the richest men in the world. And you won’t believe how we met—it was on a plane, and he owned the plane.’

Immediately her aunt, who was always enthralled by stories like this, perked up. ‘Really, Sidonie? Truly? Is he your boyfriend?’


Sidonie opened her eyes. ‘Yes, he is. He’s crazy about me. And I’ve told him all about you and he’s promised to take care of everything.’

As much as Sidonie hated using Alexio like this, she knew it would resonate with her aunt, who was simplistically old-fashioned. After her father had bought the apartment for Tante Josephine she’d believed all men had the power to sweep in and make magic happen.

Her aunt’s voice quavered, but this time it sounded like relief. ‘Oh, Sidonie...I’m so happy... I was so worried—and then when Marcel told me those things and—’

Sidonie cut her off before she could work herself up again and behind her the tall, dark shadow melted away, unnoticed.

‘Jojo, don’t talk about this to anyone again—and if Marcel says anything just know that you have nothing to worry about.’

Sidonie felt awful, lying like this, but she knew that her physical presence would reassure her aunt when she got back to Paris. She could then tell her that something had happened with the ‘boyfriend’. The idea was laughable. Alexio was no boyfriend.

‘Oh, Sidonie...is he handsome?’

Sidonie felt ashamed, but she was relieved to hear her aunt’s natural effervescence return—she loved stories about people meeting and falling in love. Sidonie tried to gloss over the details about Alexio as much as possible, and before her aunt terminated the conversation she made sure to have a chat with one of the supervisors, to warn them that she was particularly vulnerable at the moment. She castigated herself for not thinking of doing it before the holiday.

When she put her phone down she felt drained, but at least happier that Tante Josephine should be okay until the end of her holiday. The supervisor had promised to keep a close watch over her.

Sidonie turned round and her eyes widened when she saw the tall figure of Alexio, standing with his back to her at the railing of the terrace outside. He was dressed in faded jeans and a T-shirt. That feeling of foreboding was back but Sidonie tried to shake it off. And also the sudden fear that he might have heard some of her conversation.

She padded out on bare feet and went to stand beside Alexio at the railing. He didn’t look at her. Sidonie forced her voice to be bright. ‘Hey, you...I was wondering where you’d got to.’

* * *

Alexio was trying to hold in the cold rage that had filled his belly when he’d overheard her poisonous words: ‘He’s crazy about me...he’ll take care of things...’

Here was the very unpalatable proof that his solicitor had been right to make Alexio question why Sidonie hadn’t told him about this before.

Forcing his voice to sound neutral, he asked, ‘Who were you on the phone to just now?’

He couldn’t look at her. His hands tightened on the railings.

Sidonie was evasive. ‘Er...just my aunt. She’s away at the moment, on holiday...’

Alexio felt a hard weight settle into his belly. Everything from the moment he’d met her unspooled like a bad film in his mind. All the little moments when she’d appeared shy, na?ve, mocked him now.

So this was how she was going to do it: she was going to bide her time, wait to catch him in a weak moment and then launch into her sob story, seducing money out of him. And maybe even more. Maybe he’d be so weak by then he’d offer to buy her a place, set up her and her aunt completely? He felt dizzy at the thought.

He thought of how weak he’d felt in the aftermath of their lovemaking—how he’d blithely allowed himself to spill his guts, how he’d almost spilled more, telling her everything. How close he’d come to making a complete fool of himself.

Thank goodness he’d had the sense to investigate her. When he thought of how guilty he’d felt to have instigated such a thing, the conversation he’d heard just now taunted him. Where had his cynical shell gone?

Sidonie touched his arm. ‘What is it, Alexio? You’re scaring me.’

Alexio jerked his arm from her as if burnt and stepped back, finally looking at her. He saw her go pale and welcomed it. He couldn’t hide his disgust and despised the way his body reacted to seeing her in short shorts and that sexy halterneck top.

‘You really think I’m that stupid?’ he sneered.

Sidonie looked at him and blinked. He could see something like fear flash in her eyes.

‘What did you hear?’

Alexio felt murderous now, because her guilt was obvious.

‘Enough,’ he spat out. ‘Enough to know that you and your aunt think that you can use me to clear your debts.’

Sidonie just stood there, looking a little shell-shocked. No doubt because she’d been found out.

She said faintly, ‘You speak French.’

‘Of course I speak French—along with two or three other European languages.’

He was dismissive.

Sidonie’s eyes seemed to clear and she reached out with a hand that Alexio stepped back from. ‘You don’t understand. I didn’t mean a word of it. I was just saying what I could to reassure her—she was upset.’

Alexio could have laughed at her earnest expression, which was a travesty now that he knew everything was twisted and black and nothing had been real. He felt betrayed, and that made him even more incandescent with rage. He never let women get close enough to do this to him.

‘You expect me to believe a single word from the daughter of a criminal? You obviously learnt well from her—but not well enough. If you had had the decency to tell me about this—come to me and merely asked me for help—I might have given it. Instead you insisted on this elaborate charade. Maybe you got off on the drama?’