Eligible Greeks: Tycoon's Revenge: Proud Greek, Ruthless Revenge / The Power of the Legendary Greek / The Greek Millionaire's Mistress. CATHERINE GEORGE

It must have seemed as though history was repeating itself when his sister had discovered that her husband was having an affair.

      ‘I never spoke to my father after he married again,’ he continued grimly. ‘Eighteen months after the wedding he was killed in a horrific accident. Wendy had insisted on having a swimming pool, and he was crushed when the mechanical digger he was driving overturned.’He ignored Tahlia’s shocked gasp and continued. ‘My father had not made a will, and everything he owned—namely the house where my mother, Melina and I still lived—passed to his wife. Within a week of his funeral Wendy demanded that we leave her property. It was the final blow to my mother, to be evicted from the home where she had lived for her entire married life by my father’s whore. She died of pneumonia six months later, leaving me to care for Melina, who was then just five years old.’

      Tahlia tried to imagine Thanos at seventeen—a boy who overnight had had to become a man and take responsibility for his young sister while he was grieving for both his parents. ‘You must feel very protective of Melina,’ she murmured.

      He turned his head and stared at her, his dark eyes blazing. ‘I would give my life for her,’ he vowed fiercely. ‘I promised my mother as she lay dying that I would always take care of Melina. When I first saw her after the accident and I was told she had less than a fifty percent chance of surviving…’ His throat moved convulsively. ‘I was haunted by the knowledge that I had failed to protect her.’

      Tahlia was shocked by the raw emotion in his eyes. There was no doubt that Thanos adored his sister, and she realised that far from being the hard, ruthless man she had once believed his feelings ran deep. If he ever fell in love he would give his heart utterly, she brooded, aware of a faint tug of envy for the woman who might one day win his devotion.

      He had fallen silent, seemingly lost in his thoughts, but after a moment he picked up her stole and placed it around her shoulders. ‘Are you ready to leave?’