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‘Because she’s family.’ He sighed and from the corner of her eye she saw him thrust his hand back through his immaculate hair.
‘My daughter is very ill.’ His voice now was brusque to the point of harshness. ‘She needs a bone-marrow transplant. I hoped your mother might be a match to donate what Eleni needs.’
The words, so prosaic, so simple, dropped between them with all the finesse of a bomb.
Appalled, Sophie felt the words sink in. She found herself facing him, aware for the first time that some of his formidable reserve must be a product of his need to clamp down on an unbearable mix of anguished emotions.
‘You’re not compatible yourself?’ she asked, then realised the answer was obvious. He wouldn’t be here if he’d been able to help his little girl.
But she wasn’t prepared for the wave of anger that swept through him. His hands clenched dangerously and his whole body seemed to stiffen. There was no mistaking the expression in his eyes this time. Fury. And pain.
Silently he shook his head.
‘And no one in your family—?’
‘No one in the Palamidis family is a suitable donor,’ he cut across her tentative question. ‘Nor are any of your relatives.’ He paused, dragging in a deliberate breath that made his chest and shoulders rise.
He must feel so helpless. And there was no doubt in her mind that Costas Palamidis was a man accustomed to controlling his world, not being at its mercy.
Sophie’s heart sank as she realised how dire the situation was.
If the girl’s own father wasn’t a match for her marrow type, how likely was it that she would be?
He might have read her mind. His voice was grim as he continued. ‘Nor did we have luck finding a match in the database of potential donors. But your mother and her sister were identical twins. So there’s a possibility.’
‘You think I might be able to donate bone marrow?’
‘That’s why I’m here.’ He spread his fingers across his thighs, stretching the fine wool of his dark suit. ‘Nothing else would have dragged me away from Eleni now.’
Sophie felt the weight of his expectation, his hope, press down on her, even heavier than the burden of grief she already carried. She had a horrible premonition that he was doomed to disappointment.
How desperate he must have been to fly to Australia, not even knowing if her mother was here. And how distraught when she’d hung up on him and deleted his messages. No wonder he’d looked like an avenging angel when he’d stormed the house and demanded to see her mother!
She shivered and wrapped her arms tight round her body as a sense of deep foreboding chilled her.
All his expectations, all his dark, potent energy, had shifted focus. He wanted her.
CHAPTER THREE
COSTAS FORCED HIMSELF into a semblance of patient stillness as the girl beside him digested the news.
Admitting that the chance of success was slim had brought the black fear surging back. The inescapable truth that for all his power and authority, this was one thing he couldn’t make go away.
He’d give anything to save his daughter. Do anything. He wouldn’t hesitate a second to take the illness into his own body, if only it were possible. Anything to save Eleni.
Instead he’d been forced into a role of unbearable powerlessness. He’d demanded the best medical attention, engaged the top physicians and bullied Eleni’s distant relatives into testing their compatibility to donate bone marrow. All to no avail.
If the doctors were to be believed, this girl beside him was the only hope his daughter had left.
It was the smallest of chances. But hope was all they had left, he and Eleni. He’d bargained with God and would tackle the devil, too, if it meant they could overcome this disease.
Why didn’t Sophie Paterson say something? Why not answer his unspoken question?
His hands fisted so tight that pain throbbed through them. The muscles of his neck and shoulders stiffened into adamantine hardness as he fought the impulse for action. He wanted to shake her into speech. Bellow out that she was their last hope. She had to take the test. She had to.
What was she thinking?
He reviewed the material the private enquiry agency had just phoned in about her and her mother. A pity they hadn’t reported before he’d arrived at her house. He winced, remembering his demand to see Christina Liakos.
