In Petrakis's Power (17 page)

‘Good morning,’ she said with a smile, her hands curved round her still steaming cup of coffee.

‘Kalimera.’
He strode round the table and with a grin removed the cup of coffee and put it down on the table. Then he gently but firmly hauled her to her feet. ‘I was worried when I woke up and found you gone,’ he intoned huskily, moving her body intimately close to his.

‘There was no need. I only came down here for a cup of coffee and some bread. My appetite is at its sharpest in the morning.’

‘Really? Then why did you desert me? I would have willingly satisfied your hunger if you’d stayed in bed with me.’

Feeling as though she’d strayed to the edge of a cliff and was about to plunge headlong over the precipice, Natalie dug her fingers into Ludo’s hard lean waist as if her life depended on it. ‘You’re a very bad boy,’ she said softly, unable to help the slight quaver in her voice.

He lifted an amused eyebrow. ‘If I’m bad, it’s because you’re always tempting me, Miss Carr. Promise me you’ll never stop being the one temptation I can never resist?’

He kissed her hard, angling her jaw so that he could deepen the scalding contact even more. Natalie was dizzy with desire and longing for him. Her blood pounded hotly through her veins as though she was on fire. When he laid his hand over her breast beneath her shirt she couldn’t help wishing with all her heart that
she had indeed stayed in bed with him this morning, instead of leaving him to go in search of coffee.

‘Excuse me, Mr Petrakis, your father is here to see you.’

Allena’s slightly nervous but respectful voice had them both turning abruptly in shock and surprise. Ludo’s features suddenly turned unnaturally pale. With his blue eyes briefly conveying a silent apology, he moved away from Natalie to go and stand in front of his housekeeper.

‘Where is he?’ he asked her.

Allena told him that she’d taken him into the living room and was about to make him some coffee.

‘Tell him I’ll join him in a minute.’

When Allena had returned inside Natalie went straight over to Ludo and instinctively reached for his hand. He flinched as though abruptly woken from a dream. It was easy to see that this unexpected turn of events had caught him on the raw, and she wondered what he was thinking.

‘Are you all right?’

‘Not really.’ He freed his hand from hers to drag his fingers through the already mussed golden strands of his hair. ‘Whatever he wants to say to me, it can’t be good.’

‘You don’t know that yet. Why don’t you just go in and talk to him, help put your mind at rest, instead of standing out here worrying?’

He scowled, already turning away from her. ‘Like I said, whatever he has to say to me, it can’t be good. It never is. Go and finish your coffee, Natalie. No doubt I’ll be back soon.’

She watched him go as though he were about to present himself in front of a firing squad, and silently prayed that whatever Alekos Petrakis had to say to his son it wouldn’t make him despise himself even more than he already did over the tragic events of three years ago.

His father had his back to him when Ludo entered the living room, and he realised that he was twisting and turning a long string of tasselled orange marble worry beads known as
komboloi
that had been passed on to him by his own father when he was young. The sight jolted him into stillness for a moment. It had been a long time since he’d seen him use them. The last time had been at his brother’s funeral.

Sucking in a deep breath to steady himself, he announced his arrival with, ‘Hello, Father. You want to see me?’

The older man hastily slid the beads into the pocket of his immaculate suit jacket and turned round. Once again it shocked Ludo to see the deep new lines of worry that furrowed his brow.

‘Ludovic. You were not about to go out, I trust?’

‘Not immediately, no.’ Ludo did indeed have plans for himself and Natalie that morning, but it wouldn’t hurt to delay them.

‘Good. Shall we sit down? I believe that your excellent housekeeper is bringing some coffee.’

They moved across the room to the two lavish gold couches positioned either side of a carved mahogany table. Almost right on cue Allena appeared with a tray of coffee and a dish of small
baklavas
. Thanking her,
Ludo reached forward to hand his father a cup and saucer and poured him his beverage. It was such a simple, commonplace gesture, but somehow he had a sense that it had more significance than he perhaps realised.

Stirring a generous spoonful of sugar into his coffee, Alekos asked, ‘Where is your charming fiancée this morning?’

‘She’s waiting for me outside on the patio.’

‘As much as it would please me to have her join us, I think it best that she does not. At least not until we have had some private time together … do you agree?’

Taken aback that his father would even
consider
his opinion, Ludo lightly shrugged a shoulder. ‘I agree. There is no point in including her in our conversation if things are going to be unpleasant.’

Alekos Petrakis gravely shook his head, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he had just heard. ‘Am I such an ogre that you automatically expect things to be
unpleasant
between us? If you do, then all I can tell you is that I truly regret that.’

Stunned into silence, Ludo watched him wipe away the tear that had trickled down over his weathered bronzed cheek. Never before had he known his father to weep, or indeed to be sentimental in any way. What on earth was going on?

‘You had better tell me what you want to say, Father. I’m sure you must have some particular reason for coming here to see me today.’

Returning his cup and saucer to the table, Alekos Petrakis sighed heavily and linked his hands together across his lap. ‘I came here to tell you that I love you,
my son. And to express my deep regret that for all these years you did not know it. Your mother and I had a long talk last night after your visit, and she made me see how foolish and stubborn I have been … how
blind
I have been about you. It was fear that made me that way. Fear of losing you.’

His mouth drying, Ludo stared. ‘What do you mean, fear of losing me?’

Alekos’s dark eyes met and cleaved to his. ‘We have never told you, but you were born premature and we nearly lost you. The doctors worked day and night to save your life. One day our hopes would be high that you were going to survive, and the next …’ After a helpless catch in his voice he made himself continue. ‘The next day we’d prepare ourselves to bury you. We were told by the doctors that even if you lived you would never be strong. When you did survive, and we brought you home, your poor mother watched over you day and night like a hawk, and I somehow convinced myself that it was
my
fault you were so weak … that I had in me bad seed. What other reason could there be? Theo was big and strong—why weren’t you?’

Rising to his feet, Alekos pulled out a handkerchief to mop his brow. ‘My logic was ridiculous. I see that now. Your mother always told me that Theo might be the big and strong son but you—
you
were the handsome and clever one. I wish I had seen that when you were a boy, Ludovic, because your mother turned out to be absolutely right. But whether you are handsome and clever, or big and strong, it does not matter. What matters is that you know I am proud of you and love
you as deeply and strongly as I loved your dear brother. Can you forgive a very foolish old man for the stupidity of the past so that he may build a happier relationship with his beloved son in the future?’

Already on his feet, Ludo strode round the table and embraced his father hard. It was as though the dam that had been closed against the forceful sea of emotion behind the gates of his heart had suddenly burst open, and the relief it brought made him feel as if he could breathe freely again.

‘There is nothing to forgive, Father. I too have made a grave mistake in believing that you didn’t care for me as much as you did my brother. I also have a stubborn streak, and sometimes believe I am right when I am wrong. I deeply regret walking away after Theo died. I convinced myself that you had no time for me, that my achievements were not as worthy of regard as his were, and that if I stayed it would be like rubbing salt into the wound of losing him.’

‘He would be cross with us both for being so stubborn and wasting so much time in feeling aggrieved, no?’

Grinning, Ludo stepped out of the embrace and slapped his father on the back. ‘He would. But he’d also be happy that we have at last made amends. So will my mother when you tell her. Nothing would make me happier than knowing that she feels more at peace about our relationship.’

‘I have a question for you,’ said Ludo’s father.

‘What’s that?’ Old habits died hard, and Ludo
couldn’t help tensing a little in anticipation of what he was going to ask.

‘I wanted to ask you about Margaritari … your island. What do you intend to do about it now? It has been a long time since you have allowed people to stay on it, and it seems such a shame to leave such a beautiful place to lay in waste when it could bring people pleasure. Nor should you let what happened to Theo destroy your own pleasure in it, Ludo.’

‘I admit that I’ve missed visiting the island. It is like no other place on earth. When we visited it as children Theo and I knew it was special. That’s why as soon as I had the chance I bought it.’

His father looked thoughtful. ‘Then go and visit it again. Take Natalie and go and create some happy memories there to alleviate the sorrowful ones. For what it’s worth, my son, I really think you should take my advice.’

Ludo thought he should, too
. But first there was something important he had to do … something that involved purchasing an engagement ring.

As if reading his mind, Alekos put his arm round his shoulders and said, ‘Now, let us go and find your beautiful fiancée. I want to reassure her that you and I no longer bear any grudges. I also want to tell her that I am proud my son has been guided by his heart and not his head in choosing such a lovely woman to be his wife. Which reminds me—weren’t you two supposed to be getting an engagement ring today?’

Not missing a beat, Ludo replied, ‘We were—we
are
.’

‘Good. Then later on tonight we must meet up again,
so that your mother and I can see the ring, and then go out to dinner and celebrate.’

Natalie was over the moon when Ludo appeared with his father and they told her that all previous tensions or grudges between them were no more. Following the wonderful revelation that both men were now willing to forgive and forget, she made the discovery over more coffee and
baklava
that Alekos Petrakis had a wicked sense of humour as he regaled her with illuminating tales from his boyhood and the mischief he had got up to.

‘I was not always the upstanding citizen you see before you today!’ he confessed laughingly.

But even as she enjoyed his jokes and stories Natalie couldn’t help feeling a little down. It was clear that Alekos was regarding her as his son’s
bona fide
wife-to-be, and yet again she couldn’t help feeling hurt because it wasn’t true. How would he and his charming wife Eva react when they found out that her engagement to Ludo was nothing but a sham? That as soon as they left Greece in all probability she’d be going back to work in the bed and breakfast she ran with her mother, never to see their charismatic son again … even though in secret she loved him with all her heart?

When Alekos had bade them goodbye, making them promise they would drive over that evening to show them the engagement ring they had chosen, Natalie felt almost sick with guilt and regret.

In complete contrast to the blues that had descended on
her
, Ludo was uncharacteristically relaxed and
happy. ‘Will you do something for me?’ he asked, impelling her into his arms as they returned inside the house after waving his father goodbye.

Her nerves jangled a little and her mouth dried. Her gaze was wary. ‘What’s that?’

His blue eyes sparkling, as though nothing was amiss or possibly
could
be, he replied, ‘I want you to go upstairs and find something pretty to wear. Perhaps the beautiful dress you wore on our first night here? I’d like to get some photographs of us together when we buy the engagement ring.’

Natalie blinked and stared. ‘Don’t you think this charade has gone far enough, Ludo?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Are you honestly saying you want to keep up the pretence that we’re engaged? It’s going to break your father’s heart when he learns that it’s not true, and, personally, I
really
don’t want to be responsible for that. He’s a good man, and you’ve just made up with him after years of hardly speaking to each other. How do you think he’s going to feel when he finds out you’ve been playing him for a fool?’

His hands dropping away from her waist as if he’d been mortally stung, Ludo flashed her a piercing blue gaze like the precursor to an all-out thunderstorm.

‘Again I have to ask you—have you forgotten the deal we made before we flew out here?’

Her heart knocking painfully against her ribs, Natalie shook her head sadly. ‘I’ve forgotten nothing, Ludo … including giving you my word that I’d pretend to be your fiancée unless things became too difficult or untenable.

I have to tell you that that’s exactly what they’ve become.
Untenable
.’

With her head held high and her heart pierced by unbearable sorrow, she headed for the marble staircase without sparing him a second glance.

T
HE BEDROOM DOOR
was flung open just as Natalie was hauling her suitcase onto the bed in order to pack. With the heel of her hand she hastily scrubbed away the scalding tears that had been blurring her vision and spun round to find Ludo standing in the doorway, with his arms crossed over his chest and an enigmatic smile hitching his lips.

She was immediately incensed. ‘I can’t believe you think the situation is remotely amusing! The fact that you do tells me you’re not the man I thought you were.’