‘I had things I had to do, Mum.’
Sadie kept her voice low, hunched herself over the phone, as if by doing so she could cut herself off from the man at the other side of the desk, where she hoped that the click of keyboard keys meant Nikos was concentrating on what he was doing and so wouldn’t catch anything of her mother’s words.
‘I’m here to do a job, remember?’
‘I know you said that—but do you have to be away so long?’
Sadie’s heart sank at the querulous note in her mother’s voice, the way it rose so sharply on the final words. She was very much afraid that, without her there to supervise, Sarah hadn’t taken her medication and so was worryingly off balance.
‘It’s only a couple of days.’
But that was longer than her mother had been left alone at any time since George’s birth, she acknowledged. And clearly the older woman was finding it hard to cope.
‘What is it, Mum? What’s wrong?’
And suddenly it was as if her question had pressed a switch, making the words flow. Sadie could almost see her mother perched on the edge of her chair, her fine-boned face drawn taut with nervous tension as she gave voice to her fears. She couldn’t believe that the letter Nikos had sent yesterday was real. It seemed impossible that it was true. Impossible that they wouldn’t be forced out of their home after all.
‘It will be fine, Mum.’ She could only pray that she sounded convincing. That there was enough conviction in her words to get through the panicked haze inside her mother’s head and reassure her. ‘I promise you that everything’s going to be fine.’
If she could believe that herself then everything would be so much easier.
‘But how do you know that, Sadie? How can you be sure? How do you know that Nikos Konstantos will keep his word? What if he changes his mind?’
‘That isn’t going to happen. I won’t let it happen, Mum. I’ve made sure of that.’
What else could she say? she asked herself. When she was so far away from home, how else could she persuade Sarah to calm down? And it seemed to have worked. The nervous questions eased, and she could hear her mother’s breathing settle from the frantic, uneven gasps that had so worried her.
‘I’ve got everything in hand,’ she said again. ‘You know you can rely on me.’
‘You’re sure? We can stay?’
‘Mmm…’
The non-committal sound was all Sadie could manage. Painfully aware of Nikos’s dark, silent presence behind her, she didn’t dare to try for more. And even more than before she prayed that nothing her mother had said could reach him.
When she had explained the situation to Sarah on that first evening after her meeting with Nikos at Cambrelli’s, she had deliberately aimed to emphasise the positive. Nikos was letting them stay in the house for now. And at least as long as Sadie was working for him they were safe. That was what she had to hold on to until she had any sort of a chance to think of any other way out of their situation. But she knew that by highlighting the good things she was risking letting her mother think that all was completely well and their future in Thorn Trees was assured.
But she hadn’t dared risk anything else.
If Nikos had caught her mother’s words then what was he going to think? Would he believe that she had taken too much for granted? That she had assumed he would hand over a house worth millions simply because she was doing a job for him, planning his wedding? A sneaking cold shiver ran down her spine at the thought of his possible reaction.
‘Promise me.’
‘I promise, Mum.’
And now at last it seemed that Sarah was convinced enough to let her go. Reluctantly, Sadie managed to say goodbye, switching off the phone as she fought to get her own disturbed and shaken mood back under control.
‘Is something wrong?’
Nikos had caught her sigh, and it made her stomach lurch in apprehension at the thought that he might also have heard her mother’s unwary comments after all.
‘No—nothing. Everything’s—fine.’
Her voice caught on that word, but she pulled herself together and returned the phone to its stand on the desk. The movement brought her close to an array of family photographs nearby. Some of them looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place why.
‘Who’s that?’ She waved her hand in the direction of one particular frame.
It was a question she was obviously not supposed to ask, judging by the dark frown that Nikos turned in her direction.
‘My father.’
‘Really?’
Sadie’s eyes went back to the man in the picture. A man who looked so very different from the one time she had met Nikos’s father—thinner and older, and with his black hair almost totally grey—that she shook her head in confusion.
‘He’s changed a lot.’
‘He’s been ill.’
Nikos clearly had no intention of explaining further, and Sadie was about to give up on the photos when something about another picture tugged on her attention again.
‘And the one behind it…?’
‘My uncle Georgiou. He died five years ago.’
And that was all he was going to tell her.
‘So—do you have any questions about the wedding—other than who exactly the members of my family are?’ he prompted harshly, cutting across her hasty, uncomfortable apology in a way that made it plain that she had been slapped down, verbally at least.
She was to keep her mind on her job and nothing else. Besides, if Nikos’s uncle had died so long ago then she had obviously never met him.
‘Well, yes, lots—starting with the obvious. You know it’s ridiculous to expect me to work on this without any idea about your—your bride. I understand your need for privacy—but surely just a few basic facts…?’
She pulled a notepad towards her, picked up a pen.
‘Like her age, colouring, name.’
‘Why the hell do you do this?’ Nikos said, so suddenly and unexpectedly that the pen that was resting on the notepad jerked sharply in her hand, shooting up across the page and etching a wild straight line into the paper.
Hastily she recovered herself.
‘What?’
Did she know what it did to him, Nikos wondered, when she looked at him like that, with her eyes wide and shocked, blinking in confusion? Very possibly she did, and that was exactly why she reacted in that way—wide-eyed and innocent, like a startled deer.
‘Why do I do what?’
‘Why does a woman who walked out on her own wedding spend her time planning other people’s big days?’
‘Because I believe in marriage.’
She was definitely on edge as a result of his question, tension showing in her shoulders and the elegant line of her beautiful neck. It was just a damn torment that the way she held her head, the rapid rise and fall of her breathing, brought those creamy breasts into his line of vision, creating a devastating temptation with every breath she took.
‘Marriage?’ he scorned. ‘Do you really? Why would you of all people think that marriage is important? Ah—but of course…’
He snapped his fingers, as if he had really just come to the realisation but the way that Sadie’s