Kitabı oku: «The Greek's Acquisition»

CHAPTER ONE

ATHENS at two-thirty on a summer’s afternoon baked beneath a cloudless sky. A heat haze shimmered above the steps leading to the entrance of Kalakos Shipping, and the glare from the sun seemed to set the office block’s bronzetinted glass windows aflame.

The automatic doors parted smoothly as Louise approached them. Inside, the décor was minimalist chic, and the air-conditioned atmosphere was as hushed as a cathedral. Her stiletto heels reverberated excruciatingly loudly on the black marble floor as she walked up to the desk.

The receptionist was as elegant as the surroundings, impeccably dressed, her face discreetly made up. Her smile was politely enquiring.

‘My name is Louise Frobisher. I’m here to see Dimitri Kalakos.’ Louise spoke in fluent Greek. One of the only good things to come from her nomadic childhood was that she had developed a flair for learning languages.

The receptionist glanced at the appointments diary on the desk and her expertly shaped brows drew together in a faint frown.

‘I’m sorry, but Mr Kalakos does not appear to have an appointment with you, Miss Frobisher.

Louise had planned for such a response. ‘My visit is on a personal, not a business matter. I assure you Mr Kalakos will be delighted to see me.’

The statement strained the truth thinner than an overstretched elastic band, she acknowledged. But she had gambled on the fact that Dimitri had a reputation as a playboy, and that with luck the reception staff would believe she was one of his—according to the gossip columns—numerous mistresses. That was the reason she was wearing a skirt several inches shorter than she had ever worn before, and killer heels that made her legs look as if they went on for ever.

She had left her hair loose for once, instead of bundling it into a knot on top of her head, and she was wearing more make-up than usual; the smoky grey shadow on her eyelids emphasised the deep blue of her eyes and her scarlet lipgloss matched exactly the colour of her skirt and jacket. The diamond fleur-de-lis pendant suspended on a fine gold chain around her neck had been her grandmother’s. It was the only piece of jewellery she owned, and she had chosen to wear it in the hope that if her grand-mère, Céline, was looking down on her she would send her good luck.

She had read somewhere that confidence tricksters were successful because they acted with absolute self-assurance. And so when the receptionist murmured that she would just check with Mr Kalakos’s PA, Louise laughed and tossed her blond curls over her shoulders as she strolled towards the lift. Many years ago she had visited Kalakos Shipping, when her mother had been Kostas Kalakos’s mistress, and she felt certain that Dimitri now occupied the luxurious office suite on the top floor of the building that had once been his father’s.

‘There’s no question that Dimitri will want to see me. And I promise you he won’t want us to be disturbed for quite a while,’ she drawled.

The receptionist stared at her uncertainly, but to Louise’s relief she made no further attempts to detain her. However, the moment the lift doors closed her bravado disappeared and she felt as awkward and unsure of herself as she had been at nineteen. She could recall as clearly as if it had happened yesterday the bitter confrontation that had taken place between her and Dimitri seven years ago, and the memory of his anger and her humiliation induced a churning sensation in the pit of her stomach.

The lift seemed horribly claustrophobic, but she took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm. Dimitri represented her best hope of helping her mother, and it was vital she remained composed and in control of the emotions that had been see-sawing between apprehension and anticipation at the prospect of coming face to face with him again after all this time.

She should have expected that getting past his PA would prove to be far more difficult than the receptionist in the downstairs lobby. To give Aletha Pagnotis—her name was on the door of her office—due credit, she did phone through to her boss and relay Louise’s request for five minutes of his time.

The request was met with a blank refusal.

‘If you could tell me the reason for your visit, Miss Frobisher, then perhaps Mr Kalakos will reconsider his decision,’ the PA murmured, after half an hour had passed and she was no doubt as tired of having a stranger sitting in her office as Louise was tired of waiting.

Her reason for wanting to see Dimitri was too personal and too important to discuss with anyone but him, but it suddenly occurred to Louise that on Eirenne she had been known as Loulou—the nickname her mother always called her by. And because she had a different surname from Tina maybe Dimitri did not realise her identity.

His PA looked mystified as she double-checked the new message Louise asked her to give to her boss, but she duly disappeared into his office.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee assailed Dimitri’s senses and told him without him having to check the platinum Rolex on his wrist that it was 3:00 p.m. His PA served him coffee at exactly the same time every afternoon. Aletha had been with him for five years, and she ensured that his office ran with the smooth efficiency of a well-oiled machine.

‘Efkharistó.’ He did not lift his eyes from the columns of figures on his computer screen, but he was aware of her setting the tray down on his desk. Subconsciously he listened for the faint click of the door to indicate that she had left the room.

The click did not come.

‘Dimitri—if I could have a word?’

Frowning at the unexpected interruption, he flicked his gaze from the financial report he was working on and glanced at his PA. ‘I asked not to be disturbed,’ he reminded her, impatience edging into his voice.

‘Yes, I’m sorry … but the young woman who arrived earlier and asked to see you is still here.’

He shrugged. ‘As I explained earlier, I don’t know Louise Frobisher. I’ve never heard of her before, and unless she can give a reason for her visit I suggest you call Security and have her escorted from the premises.’

Aletha Pagnotis read the warning signs that the head of Kalakos Shipping was becoming irritated. Nothing was more likely to trigger Dimitri’s temper than disruption to his routine. But running a billion-pound business empire must put huge demands on him, she conceded.

At thirty-three, Dimitri was one of the country’s most powerful businessmen. Even before he had taken up the reigns of Kalakos Shipping, after the death of his father, Dimitri had set up an internet company which specialised in selling designer goods to the rapidly expanding Asian market, and within only a few years he had become a self-made millionaire. His drive and determination were phenomenal, and his brilliance and ruthlessness in the boardroom legendary.

Aletha sometimes had the feeling that he was trying to prove something to his father, even though Kostas had been dead for three years. The rift between father and son had been public knowledge, and she had always thought it a pity that they had never resolved their differences.

Whatever was behind his motivation, Dimitri set himself a demanding work schedule, and paid his staff generous salaries to see to it that his life ran like clockwork. Ordinarily she would not have bothered him about a visitor who had turned up without an appointment and refused to explain why she wanted to see him. But beneath the Englishwoman Louise Frobisher’s quiet determination Aletha had sensed an air of desperation, which had prompted her to ignore Dimitri’s orders that he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances.

‘Miss Frobisher has asked me to tell you that you knew her several years ago by her nickname—Loulou. And that she wishes to discuss Eirenne.’

Aletha was sure she had repeated the message correctly, but now the words sounded rather ridiculous, and she braced herself for an explosion of Dimitri’s anger.

His eyes narrowed and he stared at her in silence for several seconds, before to her astonishment he said tersely, ‘Inform her that I can spare her precisely three minutes of my time and show her in.’

It was so quiet in the PA’s office that the ticking of the clock seemed to be in competition with the thud of Louise’s heart. The window offered a spectacular view over the city, but the Athens skyline did not hold her attention for long. Her nerves were frayed, and the sound of a door opening made her spin round as Aletha Pagnotis reappeared.

‘Mr Kalakos will see you very briefly,’ the PA said calmly. She was clearly intrigued by the situation but far too professional to reveal her curiosity. ‘Please come this way.’

Butterflies leapt in Louise’s stomach. If you act confident he won’t be able to intimidate you, she told herself. But the butterflies still danced, and her legs felt wobbly as she balanced on her four-inch heels and entered the lion’s den.

‘So, when did Loulou Hobbs become Louise Frobisher?’

Dimitri was seated behind a huge mahogany desk. He did not get to his feet when Louise walked in and his expression remained impassive, so that she had no idea what he was thinking, but he exuded an air of power and authority that she found daunting. Her brain also registered that he was utterly gorgeous, with his dark, Mediterranean colouring and sculpted features, and as she met his cool stare her heart jolted against her ribcage.

After his PA had slipped discreetly from the room Dimitri leaned back in his chair and surveyed Louise in a frank appraisal that brought a warm flush to her cheeks. She fought the urge to tug on the hem of her skirt to try and make it appear longer. It wasn’t even that short—only an inch or so above her knees, she reminded herself. But her elegant, sophisticated outfit, yes, a little bit provocative—chosen deliberately in the hope of boosting her self-confidence—was very different from the smart but practical navy suit she wore every day to the museum.

Unlike her mother, who had been an avid attention-seeker, Louise was quite happy to blend into the background. She wasn’t used to being looked at the way Dimitri was looking at her—as if she was an attractive woman and he was imagining her without any clothes on! Her face burned hotter. Of course he was not picturing her naked. That wasn’t a glint of sexual awareness in his olive-green eyes. It was just the sunlight slanting through the blinds and reflecting in his retinas.

He had found her attractive once before, whispered a voice in her head. And if she was absolutely honest hadn’t she chosen her outfit because she’d hoped to impress him—to show him what he had lost? Once he had told her she was beautiful. But that hadn’t been real, her common sense pointed out. It had been part of the cruel game he’d been playing with her, and the memories of what had happened between them on Eirenne were best left undisturbed.

‘Are you married? Is Frobisher your husband’s name?’

The curt questions took her by surprise. Dimitri’s face was still inscrutable but she suddenly sensed an inexplicable tension about him.

She shook her head. ‘No—I’m not married. I have always been Louise Frobisher. My mother called me by that silly nickname when I was younger, but I prefer to use my real name. And I was never Hobbs. I was given my father’s surname, even though Tina wasn’t married to him. They split up when I was a few months old and he refused to support her or me.’

Dimitri’s face hardened at the mention of her mother. ‘It doesn’t surprise me to hear that your father was one of a long list of Tina’s lovers. You’re lucky she even remembered his name.’

‘You’re hardly one to talk,’ Louise shot back, instantly defensive.

In truth Tina had not been the best parent in the world. Louise had spent much of her childhood dumped in various boarding schools, while her mother had flitted around Europe with whichever man she’d hooked up with at the time. But now Tina was ill, and it no longer mattered that as a child Louise had often felt she was a nuisance who disrupted her mother’s busy social life. Even in today’s world of advanced medical science the word cancer evoked a feeling of dread, and the prospect of losing her mother had made Louise realise how much she cared about her.

‘From what I’ve seen in media reports you relish being a billionaire playboy with an endless supply of beautiful mistresses. I accept that my mother isn’t perfect, but are you any better, Dimitri?’

‘I don’t break up marriages,’ he said harshly. ‘I’ve never stolen someone’s partner or wrecked a perfectly happy relationship. It is an irrefutable fact that your mother broke my mother’s heart.’

His bitter words hit Louise like bullets, and even though she had nothing to feel guilty about she wished for the millionth time that her mother had not had an affair with Kostas Kalakos.

‘It takes two people to make a relationship,’ she said quietly. ‘Your father chose to leave your mother for Tina …’

‘Only because she chased him relentlessly and seduced him with every trick in her no doubt extensive sexual repertoire.’ Dimitri’s voice dripped with contempt. ‘Tina Hobbs knew exactly who my father was when she “bumped into him” at a party in Monaco. It was not the chance meeting she convinced you it was. She knew Kostas would be there, and she managed to wangle an invitation to that party with the absolute intention of catching herself a rich lover.’

Dimitri’s nostrils flared as he sought to control the anger that still burned inside him whenever he thought of his father’s mistress. The first time he’d set eyes on Tina Hobbs he had seen her for what she was—an avaricious harlot who attached herself like a leech to any rich man stupid enough to fall for a pair of big breasts and the promise of sexual nirvana.

That was what had got to him the most. The realisation that his father hadn’t been as clever or wonderful as he had believed had hurt. He’d lost respect for Kostas, who had been his idol, and even now he still felt a hard knot inside when he remembered how his illusions had been shattered.

Anger filled him with a restless energy, and he scraped back his chair and jerked to his feet. He frowned when Louise immediately edged backwards towards the door. It wasn’t her fault that her mother was a greedy, manipulating bitch, he reminded himself. Louise had been a child when Tina had met Kostas—a gawky kid with braces on her teeth and an annoying habit of staring down at the ground as if she hoped she would sink through it and become invisible.

To tell the truth he hadn’t taken much notice of her on the occasions when he had visited his father on the Kalakos family’s private Aegean island and she had been staying there with her mother during the school holidays.

It had been a shock when he had gone to the island that final time—after the row with his father—and the girl he had known as Loulou had been there alone. Only she hadn’t been a girl. She had been nineteen—on the brink of womanhood and innocently unaware of her allure. He’d had no idea when exactly the awkward teenager who had been too shy to say a word to him had transformed into an articulate, intelligent and beautiful adult. For the first time in his life his usual self-assurance had deserted him and he had found himself struggling to know what to say to her.

He had resolved the problem by kissing her …

Dimitri hauled his mind back to the present. Trips down memory lane were never a good idea. But as he stared at the unexpected visitor who had interrupted his tightly organised work schedule, he acknowledged that in the past seven years Loulou—or Louise—had realised the potential she had shown at nineteen and developed into a stunner.

He ran his eyes over her, taking in her long honey-blond hair which was parted on one side so that it curved around her heart-shaped face and fell halfway down her back in a tumble of glossy curls. Her eyes were a deep sapphire-blue, and her red-glossed lips were a serious temptation.

Desire corkscrewed in his gut as he lowered his gaze and noted the way her fitted scarlet jacket moulded the firm thrust of her breasts and emphasised her narrow waist. Her skirt was short and her legs, sheathed in pale hose, were long and slender. Black stiletto heels added at least three inches to her height.

He trailed his eyes slowly back up her body and lingered on her mouth. Soft, moist lips slightly parted … He felt himself harden as an image flashed into his mind of slanting his lips over hers and kissing her as he had done many years ago.

Louise’s breath seemed to be trapped in her lungs. Something was happening between her and Dimitri—some curious connection had made the atmosphere in the room almost crackle with electricity. She could not look away from him. It seemed as if an invisible force had locked her eyes with his, and as she stared at him she felt her blood pound in her ears, echoing the frantic rhythm of her heartbeat.

When she had walked into his office her first thought had been that he hadn’t changed. He still held his head at that arrogant angle, as if he believed he was superior to everyone else. And although he must be in his thirties now there was no hint of grey in his dark-as-ebony hair.

But of course there were differences about him. In the seven years since she had last seen him his sleek, handsome, could-have-been-a-model-in-an-aftershave-advert looks had grown more rugged. His face was leaner, harder, with razor-sharp cheekbones and a square jaw that warned of an implacable determination to always have his own way. The boyish air that she remembered had disappeared, and now he was a blatantly virile man at the prime of physical perfection.

Now that he was standing she was conscious of his exceptional height. He must be four or five inches over six feet tall, she estimated, and powerfully built, with the finely honed musculature of an athlete. Superbly tailored grey trousers hugged his lean hips, and at some point during the day he had discarded his tie—it was draped over the back of his chair—and undone the top buttons of his shirt to reveal a vee of darkly tanned skin and a smattering of the dark hair that she knew covered his chest.

Memories assailed her—images of a younger Dimitri, standing at the edge of the pool at the villa on Eirenne, wearing a pair of wet swim-shorts that moulded his hard thighs and left little to the imagination. Not that she had needed to imagine him naked. She had seen every inch of his glorious golden-skinned body. She had touched him, stroked him, felt the weight of him pressing her into the mattress as he lowered himself onto her …

‘Why are you here?’

His abrupt question was a welcome interruption to her wayward thoughts. She released her pent-up breath on a faint sigh.

‘I need to talk to you.’

‘That’s funny,’ he said sardonically. ‘I remember saying those exact words to you once, but you refused to listen to me. Why should I listen to you now?’

Louise was startled by his reference to the past. She’d assumed that he would have forgotten the brief time they had spent together. They had been magical, golden days for her, but she had meant nothing to him—as she had later found out.

She moistened her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘I think you’ll be interested in what I have to say. I’m putting Eirenne up for sale—and I thought you might want to buy it.’

Dimitri gave a harsh laugh. ‘You mean buy back the island that belonged to my family for forty years before your mother persuaded my father on his deathbed to amend his will and leave Eirenne to her? Morally, it is not yours to sell.’ He frowned. ‘Nor do you have the right to sell it. Kostas named Tina as his beneficiary, and the island belongs to her.’

‘Actually, I am the legal owner. My mother transferred the deeds into my name and I can do what I like with Eirenne—although Tina is in agreement with my decision to sell it.’

The first part of that statement at least was true, Louise thought. Her mother had been advised by her accountant to transfer ownership of the island for tax purposes. But Louise had never regarded Eirenne as hers, and her decision to sell it was a last resort to raise the huge sum of money needed to pay for Tina to have lifesaving pioneering medical treatment in the U.S. She had not discussed it with her mother, who was too ill to cope with anything more than getting through each day. Tina’s chances of survival were slim, but Louise was determined she would have a chance.

She held Dimitri’s gaze and tried not to feel intimidated by the aggression emanating from him. ‘The island has been valued at three million pounds. I’m prepared to sell it to you for one million.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Why?’

She understood his surprise. The real-estate agent had clearly thought she was mad when she’d told him she was prepared to offer the small but charming Greek island set amid the turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea for considerably less than its market value.

She shrugged. ‘Because I need a quick sale.’

She did not attempt to explain that she had never felt comfortable with the fact that Kostas Kalakos had left the island to her mother rather than to his family. For one thing she doubted Dimitri would believe her, and for another she did not want to bring personal feelings into what was essentially a business proposition. She needed to sell Eirenne and she was sure Dimitri would be keen to buy it. End of story.

‘I know you tried to buy the island from my mother shortly after Kostas died, and she refused to sell it. Now I’m giving you the chance to own it again.’

Dimitri snorted. ‘Let me guess. Tina wants you to sell Eirenne because she has spent all the money my father left her and has decided to cash in her remaining asset.’

His comment was painfully close to the truth, Louise acknowledged heavily. Since Kostas’s death her mother had lived an extravagant lifestyle, and failed to heed warnings from the bank that her inheritance fund was running out.

‘I don’t intend to discuss the reason for the sale. But if you turn down my offer I will advertise Eirenne, and I’ve been told that it should attract a lot of interest.’

‘Interest, possibly. But in case you hadn’t noticed the world is in the middle of an economic recession and I doubt you’ll sell quickly. Businesses in the leisure industry won’t be attracted to Eirenne because it isn’t big enough to be developed as a tourist destination—thankfully.’

Dimitri’s words echoed what the real-estate agent had told Louise. ‘Buying a private island is not a top priority for most people right now. Even billionaires are being cautious in this uncertain economic climate, and it could be months before a buyer comes forward.’

Panic coiled in her stomach. Her mother did not have months.

Dimitri studied Louise speculatively, curious when he saw the colour drain from her face. She gave the impression of self-confidence, but he sensed a vulnerability about her that reminded him of the younger woman he had known seven years ago.

She had been in her first year at university, just stepping out into the world and brimming with enthusiasm for life. Her passion for everything, especially the arts, had captivated him. Although he’d only been in his twenties, he had already been jaded by a diet of sophisticated socialites who fell into his bed with a willingness that he’d begun to find tedious. But the Loulou he had met on Eirenne that spring had been different from any other woman he’d ever known—just as she had been different from the shy teenager he’d largely ignored on the few previous occasions when he had seen her at his father’s villa.

He had been intrigued by her new maturity, and they had talked for hours. Not pointless small-talk, but interesting conversations. As the days had passed he’d found that he valued her friendship and her honesty as much as he was entranced by her beauty, which was not just skin-deep but truly came from within her.

He had thought he had found something special—someone special. But he had been wrong.

Dimitri was conscious of a faint feeling of regret, which he immediately dismissed as he slammed the door on his memories.

‘There’s more to this than you’re telling me,’ he guessed intuitively. ‘Why are you prepared to sell the island for significantly less than it’s worth?’

When she did not reply he shrugged dismissively. ‘Thanks for the offer, but I am no longer interested in Eirenne.’ He shot her an intent look. ‘It holds too many memories that I’d prefer to forget.’

Louise wondered if he deliberately meant to hurt her. He could have been referring to his father’s affair with her mother, of course. Kostas had left Dimitri’s mother to live with Tina on Eirenne. But somehow she knew he had been talking about more personal memories—of the few wonderful days they had spent together and that one incredible night.

He drew back his shirt-cuff and glanced at his watch. ‘Your three minutes are up. A member of my security staff will escort you from the building.’

‘No … Wait!’ Shocked by his abrupt dismissal, Louise jerked forward and reached out to prevent him from picking up the phone on his desk. Her fingers touched his and the brief contact sent a quiver of electricity shooting up her arm. She could not restrain an audible gasp and snatched her hand back.

She felt his eyes on her, but she was so shaken by her reaction to him that she could not bring herself to meet his gaze. She was stunned by his refusal to buy the island. She had been sure he would agree.

Her mind whirled. If Dimitri did not want to buy Eirenne she could advertise it at the same below-value price she had offered it to him. But there was still no guarantee that it would be sold quickly, and time for Tina was running out.

She pictured her mother’s painfully thin face the last time she had visited her. The slash of bright lipstick Tina still applied every day with the help of a nurse had looked garish against her grey skin.

‘I’m scared, Loulou,’ Tina had whispered, when Louise had leaned over the bed to kiss her the day before she had flown to Greece.