Chapter Twelve
‘WHAT WAS THE favour Leon agreed to do for you, Fotis?’ Rosamund fixed her earring and looked at his reflection in the mirror of the vast en suite bathroom.
The man looked utterly scrumptious in a dark suit and crisp, white shirt.
She was astounded she resisted the urge to drag him back to bed.
But then, she acknowledged ruefully, her legs were still wobbly from his early afternoon lovemaking and her body felt warm and heavy from satiation.
She probably didn’t have the energy to tug him to bed.
Though the glint of approval in his eyes as he met her gaze made her wonder.
‘He’s backing a range of initiatives, including an updated international convention, to strengthen protection for children worldwide.’
‘That sounds like something he’d do anyway.’ She mightn’t be close to Leon but he was a decent man. Anything to support vulnerable children would interest him.
Fotis nodded, his brow drawing down as he put on cuff-links. Because he was concentrating, or because of something else? He looked suddenly sombre.
‘Yes, he’d always intended to sign the new convention on behalf of Cardona.
But now he’s also lobbying countries that are wavering about signing.
Looking after children is one of those things everybody agrees on, but often their welfare ends up too low on the list of actual government priorities. It’s time for that to change.’
She secured her second earring and said, ‘Let me guess. They’re afraid that if they sign the agreement they’ll be held to account to do what they promise.’
His stern mouth rucked up at the corner and her heart gave a stupid little flutter. ‘You’ve been around politicians too long. That’s exactly it.’
‘You’ve been working on this for some time?’ She’d heard about the initiative but didn’t know details. She’d look it up tonight, or perhaps tomorrow morning, since they were attending a party today.
‘Years, but finally real progress is close.’
‘That’s wonderful.’ She had some idea how long it took to finalise international initiatives. But her attention wasn’t so much on the process as on Fotis and why this was important to him.
They’d spent a month on his island, an amazingly contented, wonderful month together with no sign of any threat, though the complicated fraud case against Ricardo was taking longer than expected to finalise.
Every day she woke with a feeling of well-being unlike anything she’d known. Not simply because she was safe, but because of Fotis and what they shared. Sex but friendship too, a bond she couldn’t describe but which she’d miss terribly when she left.
Rosamund straightened her sapphire-blue dress. Fotis had given her glimpses into his past but she yearned to know more. She wanted to know everything about him, especially what made him determined to remain a recluse all his life.
‘It’s an important cause, Fotis. But I’m surprised at your level of involvement. Is there a particular reason you’re so focused on this?’
He was knotting his tie but made a hash of it, jerking it too tight so he had to tug it undone and start again. ‘Isn’t it enough that it’s worth doing?’
The angle of his jaw and his guarded eyes made her want to step up and help him. Not because she was an expert on men’s ties—she wasn’t—but because some sixth sense warned he needed her.
Suddenly she sensed his disquiet. It rippled off him, an invisible force field designed to repel. She remembered it from the first days they’d known each other. Then he’d had an air of such self-containment she’d imagined nothing could breach it.
Or was she fooling herself? Fotis had always been self-possessed. Did he really need her?
She’d believed their intimacy was more than skin-deep but now she thought about it, she’d been the one to reveal so much about her past. Fotis had let her in but only a little way.
Mood dropping, she reached for her purse. For all their recent intimacy, there were still things he didn’t want to share and she wasn’t going to push.
‘I’m ready. I’ll wait in the bedroom.’
On her second step, warmth shackled her wrist. She looked down to see his hand loosely circling hers. Slowly she lifted her gaze. Blue-green eyes shimmered with a heat that scorched.
‘Stay. Please.’ His Adam’s apple jerked as he swallowed. ‘It’s not something I talk about, ever.’ His voice dropped to a rough-hewn, subterranean level that rumbled through her insides. ‘But maybe it’s time.’
Her hurt softened but she didn’t want a forced confidence. ‘It’s okay, Fotis. I respect your need for privacy.’
The man was entitled to his secrets. Given his reaction to an innocent question, she was sure there was a secret behind his unwillingness to talk. Their relationship hadn’t changed as much as she’d thought. Of course it hadn’t.
‘But I want to tell you.’
He didn’t look like a man happy at the prospect, so she said nothing.
‘It felt good the other day, telling you about my parents and my inheritance.’ He must have noticed her eyes widen because he nodded, the lines of tension around his mouth disappearing. ‘It’s true. I haven’t talked about that before, but it felt like a weight had lifted, sharing that.’
She stared. ‘You haven’t talked with anyone?’
He shook his head. ‘Only with Costas Politis. He already knew the situation.’
Rosamund shook her head in disbelief.
But how many confidantes have you got? You’ve learnt to bottle up your problems too.
‘I’ll be ready in a second, once I get this tie right. We can talk on the way to the wedding.’
‘If you like.’
‘I do like.’ He released her wrist, his fingers skimming up her forearm, making her shiver when they reached her inner elbow. Abruptly he dropped his hand but the expression in his eyes turned that shiver into a languid shudder of arousal. ‘Have I told you you’re beautiful?’
Pleased, she stroked her hand down the smooth fabric. ‘Thank you. I wasn’t sure what to wear to a village wedding.’
‘What you’re wearing is perfect. Dressy but not fussy. But I wasn’t talking about the dress, I meant you.’
To Rosamund’s surprise, she felt flustered as well as delighted. She was used to compliments, just as she was used to criticism about what she wore or how she carried herself. It came with the territory. People either flattered royals or found fault.
But this was different, not a careless compliment but meaningful.
‘So are you.’ There was beauty in the hard-hewn lines of his face and as for his body… Her breathing quickened.
Something flared in his eyes and he whipped around to face the mirror, concentrating on his tie. ‘Maybe it’s best if you wait in the bedroom. Otherwise we’ll be late.’
Rosamund was still secretly smiling as they drove down the winding road in his four-wheel-drive.
‘You asked why I’m interested in protecting children.
’ That tore her attention from the stunning view and to the man beside her, easily handling the vehicle down the narrow road.
‘They bear the brunt of social problems. They’re vulnerable and too often we take it for granted that their families will look after them. That’s not always the case.’
‘I know. Sometimes families and children struggle.’ That was a factor in her own work. As well as bringing joy, she hoped her stories encouraged resilience in the children and young people who read them.
‘Plus…’ He paused and she deliberately turned her attention from his strong profile to the road, giving him space. ‘Things happened that make me want to make changes for the better.’
He’s talking about his mother, trying to steal his inheritance. What else did she do?
Rosamund suppressed a shiver. She suspected this wasn’t going to be pleasant, but for his sake, and her own, she needed to hear.
‘I understand that.’
After a pause he said, ‘My mother was beautiful and vivacious but not maternal. I assume she had me to please my father and after he died her focus was on finding another rich man to support her. I realised much later that I cramped her style so she sent me off to boarding school. But when she sent for me again, I thought she’d changed and wanted to be with me. ’
Another pause. Longer this time. ‘It turned out her lover wanted kids and she wanted to prove what a doting mother she was. It was confusing. She’d never played with me or read bedtime stories before. Only my Baba had done that. She got angry when I asked why she’d changed.’
Rosamund couldn’t help it, she reached out and touched his sleeve. ‘One loving parent and one cold and distant. It sounds like my parents but in reverse. But your situation—’
‘It’s okay. I was safe and well fed.’
Yet her heart squeezed for the little boy confused to find himself at the centre of his mother’s affection for the first time.
‘Did they marry?’
‘They did and I was glad. I liked my stepfather and I wasn’t sent back to boarding school because he liked having me at home. Then my half-brother was born. Little Nico used to follow me around.’
‘And you were a protective big brother.’
His head swung around. ‘How did you know?’
‘It’s there in your voice.’ That made her terribly sad, because she guessed this didn’t have a happy ending. She knew how loyal Fotis was to his father’s friend, Costas, and the man’s granddaughter. She couldn’t imagine Fotis being so isolated now if his brother were around.
‘He was a good kid.’ Fotis steered them around a curve.
‘But my mother didn’t have luck with her husbands.
Mine died in an accident and Nico’s was diagnosed with aggressive leukaemia when he was still young.
She was widowed again, but that time she had more money to enjoy herself.
She packed us both off overseas to boarding school. ’
Rosamund cleared her tight throat. Now she understood his coldness when speaking of his mother.