No one will get up for at least another hour or so. I’m about to have a swim. Why don’t you join me?’ Theo could have kicked himself. The first rule of making the kill was to avoid scaring off the prey. So what did he do? Jump right in and start with the accusations.
‘Join you?’ Abby asked, aghast. ‘No, really, it’s very kind of you to offer but I’ll leave you in peace…’ She took a couple of steps backwards, and then he smiled. It was a smile of such devastating charm that it almost knocked her sideways.
‘I am a man who finds peace very hard to deal with,’ he murmured persuasively. ‘Is that very sad, do you think?’
‘Yes, yes I do, actually,’ Abby replied breathlessly, and he frowned.
‘Why?’
‘I’ve got to go.’
‘You can’t possibly. It would be cruel of you to call me sad and then run away without bothering to elaborate on it.’
‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean…what I meant was…’
‘Go and get your swimsuit. We can finish this conversation in the pool. Or perhaps you would be happier just to sit by the side of the pool while I swim? Hmm?’
‘Yes! I mean…no!’
‘Besides,’ Theo said lazily, ‘Michael would like us to get to know one another, I am sure. He and I may not have grown up together in the normal fashion, what with me being sent to board from thirteen, but we are still close. He would be appalled if he thought that I…intimidated you…’
CHAPTER TWO
OF COURSE, that was what did it.
The implication that he intimidated her, that she wanted to run away from him.
Abigail thought of herself as something of a fighter. She had brought up Jamie on her own, had gone through the entire pregnancy without the support of anyone, and had been almost mortally wounded by the spectacular collapse of her relationship with her son’s father. She herself had no parents on whom to fall back and no handy network of caring relatives who could rush to her clarion call when she needed them. The only two weapons in her armoury had been her resolve to bring this baby into the world and her determination to give him all the love she was capable of giving.
To have Theo Toyas insinuate that she was running scared was like a red cloth to a bull.
Michael, as she expected, was soundly asleep when she quietly entered the bedroom to get her hat, her sun-cream and her book. The restaurant and nightclub business meant that he kept unsocial hours and could never resist the temptation to lie in whenever he could. She decided against breaking into his deep slumber for the second time to tell him where she was going, and instead headed back out towards the pool.
Just as Theo had predicted, no one was as yet up.
An hour ago it would have sent her into a tailspin to think that she was going to be alone with the man, who she was beginning to think of as a bully whatever Michael had to say on the subject, but now she strode out with the bit very firmly between her teeth.
It was to find him already in the pool, cutting through the water with the fluidity of a fish. She watched for a few minutes, fascinated by the movement of muscle, and then slowly walked towards one of the sun loungers.
She tried to take in the breathtaking view, to relish the illusion of the pool leading straight out on to the horizon, but time and again she found herself staring at the body scything through the water until finally she stuck her hat on and relaxed back, linking her fingers lightly together.
This time she was aware of his approach even though her eyes were closed. She heard him emerge from the pool and then the slap of his feet as he dragged a chair over to her and sat down.
‘I didn’t think that you would take up my invitation to join me,’ Theo said, looking down at her, at that slither of pale skin where her top ended and her jeans began. Her breasts were two small mounds pushing against the thin cotton of her T-shirt.
‘Why shouldn’t I? Besides, you’re right; Michael would want us to be friends or at least to make an effort to be amicable.’
Women didn’t usually view him as an object of dislike with whom effort was needed to be amicable but he let it go.
‘Is this your first visit to Greece?’ he asked instead, keeping his voice even. Her eyes were still closed and he found himself looking, unobserved, at those small, rounded breasts. A handful, no more. With some effort he looked away.
Abby opened her eyes and reluctantly looked at him. His hair was wet and slicked back and his body had that still damp sheen from the water. Frankly, she wished he would put his shirt back on because that hardened, well-muscled torso was just a little too much in her face for her liking.
‘My first visit to Santorini,’ Abby said coolly, averting her eyes and staring straight ahead, which was a far more calming view. ‘I’ve been to Athens. A few years ago.’
‘With your family?’ Theo asked.
‘No.’
Since she obviously didn’t want to expand on her answer, he sat back and waited in silence. Sooner or later she would fill it. People were predictable. And, since he wanted to find out as much about her as he could in the limited time at his disposal, he would wait for her to supply the details that would eventually bury her.
‘I don’t have any family. At least not in England,’ Abby eventually said irritably. ‘My parents went to Australia to live seven years ago. We don’t see one another very often, I’m afraid.’
‘You went with friends, then?’ Theo prompted. ‘Athens is a beautiful city, but I’m surprised you would have chosen that as a destination with friends. It lacks the rampant night-life of some other places, like Ibiza. Isn’t that where most young English people go to have a good time?’
‘Most,’ Abby agreed, resisting the bait. Athens was just one of those things she had no intention of talking about. Actually, even thinking about that long weekend there made her feel slightly sick. It had been the last time that she had known complete, innocent happiness. She had been in love, or so she had thought, and the world had been a very rosy place. Looking back on the person she had been then was like looking back at a stranger.
‘So you don’t know much about our island.’ Theo could barely contain the impatience in his voice. ‘Or do you? Did Michael tell you anything about it? I can’t remember the last time he was here.’
‘Oh, no. He didn’t discuss it much. Just said that the villa was your grandfather’s holiday home and that he was having his birthday celebrations here.’
‘And has the villa lived up to your expectations?’ he enquired silkily.
Abby stiffened. ‘I didn’t really think what to expect.’
‘Come now, surely that’s not true. Everyone has a vision in their mind when they’re heading off somewhere on a holiday.’ He omitted to mention the word free to describe her one week stay but it was on the tip of his tongue.
‘It’s a magnificent house,’ Abby said neutrally. She turned towards him and gave him a long, cool look. ‘Is that the right answer or is there something else I ought to say? I’m surprised by its size but only insofar as it seems big for one person to use as a holiday home.’
She might look like a girl of nineteen, he thought, but there was nothing infantile about her mind. Had he really expected that there would be? Any gold-digger worth her salt would have the shrewdness of a fox and would be clever enough to know how and when to use it. Of course she wouldn’t have tried to squeeze too much information out of his brother about where they were going. That would lead to suspicions. Even his trusting brother would be wary of the third degree, no matter how skilfully handled.
‘It was built at a time where there were far more family members around to use