‘Not to me, Carrie,’ he said in a voice that was suddenly harsh with bitterness and anger. ‘To my sister—Helen, as you would call her in English.’
A cold hand clamped itself over her heart and she bit her lip. It was clear to her now. She knew the importance of family honour to men such as him. The idea of a practically penniless deckhand, and a foreigner at that, presuming to cast an eye on his sister must have been the ultimate insult.
‘Look,’ she said quietly, ‘Jimmy listens to me. I…I’ll warn him to keep away from your precious sister in future. Anyway I’m sure he meant no harm.’
The cold green eyes studied her in nerve-racking silence once more then he said bitterly, ‘Helen is a beautiful girl. Eighteen years old. She was betrothed to the son of a friend. They were to be married in six months’ time but thanks to your brother that wedding can no longer take place.’
‘Oh, come on now,’ she protested. ‘Just because Jimmy went out with your sister there’s no need to—’
His voice cut into her like a whip. ‘He did more than just “go out” with her. He dishonoured her. She is pregnant and your brother is the father.’
The colour drained from her face and she stared at him in shocked disbelief. Finally she whispered, ‘That…that can’t be true. Jimmy wouldn’t be so stupid…I mean…you couldn’t be mistaken about this, could you?’ As soon as she’d said it she knew that it was the kind of question only a fool would ask and she flinched at his withering reply.
‘Don’t take me for a fool. Did you think I’d come here unless I was absolutely certain of the facts?’
Feeling sick to the stomach, she bit her lip in frustration. How could Jimmy have been so bloody stupid? The damned idiot. It would have been bad enough had it been any other girl but he’d had to go and get himself involved with one of the Spirakis clan! Well, perhaps he hadn’t known who she was and the girl had neglected to tell him. But he should have had more respect for a girl no matter who she was. She felt nothing but shame that her own brother could do such a thing.
She looked hesitantly at the mask of anger directed at her and was on the point of asking him if he was quite sure that his sister hadn’t led Jimmy on then she thought better of it. He’d probably throttle her on the spot.
Adopting an air of quiet resignation, she said, ‘This is as distressing to me as it is to you. I really do feel sorry for your sister. There’s absolutely no excuse for what Jimmy did. He’s old enough to know better. But I really don’t see what I can do about it.’
‘You at least agree that he should be punished?’
‘What do you mean—punished?’ she asked warily. She’d heard some pretty graphic descriptions of the way these proud and arrogant Greeks repaid insults to their family honour. And if the family was rich and powerful enough the guardians of the law had a habit of looking the other way.
‘An eye for an eye, Miss Stevens,’ he said with a grim smile, ‘a tooth for a tooth. I’m sure you’re familiar with the biblical reference?’
For a moment she couldn’t fathom what he was talking about then a seed of suspicion exploded and bloomed sickeningly in her mind.
Seeing the effect his threat had on her, he nodded with ironic amusement. ‘Yes, Miss Stevens. It’s only common justice, after all. What your brother did to my sister I can easily do to his.’ He paused, then, as if to make sure that she was in no doubt as to the fate he planned for her, he showed his teeth in another smile of grim anticipation. ‘I’m going to make you pregnant, Miss Stevens. Gloriously and abundantly pregnant.’
For a moment her breath was taken away by the sheer callousness of the man then she glared at him with a mixture of scorn and downright anger. ‘So you lied. You do intend to rape me after all. Just like the brute you really are.’ She gave him a withering snort of contempt. ‘You may be rich and you may think of yourself as a man of honour but as far as I’m concerned any man who’d contemplate such a thing is worth less than the scum in the gutters of Piraeus.’
It was a deliberate and calculated insult made with an outward show of bravado but the cold smile remained to taunt her.
‘You’ve got it all wrong, my dear Carrie. I’m not going to rape you. On the contrary. You’re the one who is going to make the running. You’re going to plead with me to make love to you. You’re going to beg me on your hands and knees.’
Uncertainty flickered in her eyes and she attempted a laugh of derision. ‘You must be stark raving mad. Hell would have to freeze over before I’d do that.’
‘You have a month,’ he told her calmly. ‘This trip will last a month and by the end of it you’d better be pregnant. Or else.. .’
‘Or else what?’ she demanded with a sneer.
His green eyes bored into her and he spoke every word slowly and carefully so that she was left in no doubt whatsoever. ‘In that case your brother will be returned to you. But my cousins will make sure that he has neither the desire nor the ability to father any more children.’
He smiled contentedly at her look of horror then he rubbed his hands together briskly. ‘Now why don’t you go below and make us some coffee while I look after the boat? We’ve got a very interesting and exhausting month ahead of us, I should say.’
CARRIE stood on the makeshift wooden jetty and watched as Nikos expertly used the derrick to lift the last of the cargo from the hold and swing it ashore.
John Chambers, the man in charge of the archaeological team, checked the items against his list. ‘Everything seems to be there, Carrie. You just made it on time. We were getting worried. We’re down to our last gallon of paraffin and tin of beans.’ He took an envelope from the pocket of his bush shirt. ‘This is a list of the supplies we’ll be needing by the end of September. Just the usual stuff.’
She smiled brightly. ‘No problem, Mr Chambers. The Miranda has never let you down yet, has she?’
‘Who’s the new deckhand?’ asked John in a loud voice, nodding in Nikos’s direction.
‘Just a temporary replacement,’ she said in an equally loud voice. ‘The more temporary the better, as far as I’m concerned.’
John guffawed. ‘I suppose Jimmy is up to his usual tricks, eh, chasing the young dolly birds on Mykonos? By God, I wouldn’t mind being nineteen again myself.’
It hadn’t been the most tactful thing to say in Nikos’s hearing and from the corner of her eye she saw him stiffen. At least now that night had fallen he’d had the decency to put on his shirt again, she noted with relief. She stood idly chatting with John while he loaded the stores into the Land Rover then she waved goodbye as he drove off then stepped over the bulwark on to Miranda’s deck.
Nikos had finished securing the derrick and now he glanced at his watch and grunted, ‘We can be on Paraxis within an hour. Cast off the lines and I’ll start the main engine.’
She glared at him and said stiffly, ‘This is still my boat. I’m not taking orders from you. Tomorrow we’re heading south. Paraxis is in the other direction.’
‘I need to buy some clothes,’ he said sharply. ‘I’ve nothing but the things I’m wearing.’
‘That’s not my fault,’ she retorted. ‘You should have thought of that before you took it on yourself to—’ Her sentence ended in a squeal as he grabbed her and unceremoniously lifted her up and dumped her back on the jetty.
‘Have it your own way,’ he growled. ‘You can stay here tonight. I’ll be back to pick you