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In the darkness he felt her eyes on him. It was a touch that heated his skin to fever pitch.
‘No! Don’t go. I didn’t mean to intrude on your privacy.’ She sounded breathless, distressed.
His mother’s warning this afternoon came back to him again. She could be so easily hurt, Costa. Treat her well.
Caution didn’t come easily to him. But he wasn’t reckless enough to give in to this beckoning temptation and cross the demarcation line that kept them apart. Anyone could see that disaster lay that way. For both of them.
‘It’s all right, Sophie. I was going in to check on Eleni anyway.’
He forced himself to move forward, passed her so close that her body heat warmed his side. Her enticing fragrance filled his nostrils and his fists clenched so tight that they throbbed. Tension gripped his neck and shoulders in a vice.
He kept his eyes fixed on the door to Eleni’s room further along the balcony and made himself keep walking. ‘Enjoy the peace for a little longer. Then get a good night’s sleep.’
She’d need it for tomorrow.
Yes, that was what he needed to concentrate on—the blood test, the options for Eleni’s treatment. The long discussion he’d have with the medics tomorrow. Anything but Sophie’s lithe body, warm and inviting, just metres away.
‘Goodnight.’ Her voice was a light whisper that made him falter. Then he hunched his shoulders and strode on.
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS LATE IN THE MORNING when Sophie woke and her head felt thick and heavy. She’d slept through the night but disturbing dreams had plagued her. Fortunately for her peace of mind, she couldn’t remember them. But she suspected they’d featured a pair of probing black eyes.
She ate her solitary breakfast in a sunny parlour while another maid explained that the kyrios, the master, was busy conferring with his daughter’s doctor. Her meal finished, Sophie took the opportunity to explore.
The French windows on this side of the house led to a wide flagged terrace, then down to an immaculate lawn. She strolled across it, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, hearing the unfamiliar birdsong and, in the distance, a dog barking. There were scents here too, from the border of bright flowers that edged the lawn, from fruit blossom somewhere near, and inevitably from the waves that she could just hear rolling in to shore in gentle rhythm.
Sophie closed her eyes and breathed it in. The sounds and warmth and smell of the place.
A sense of peace settled on her. Perhaps because she was so far from home and her real life. From the pain and drudgery of the everyday. She felt that, just for now, she could relax and enjoy the moment.
A gurgle of laughter caught her attention and her eyes snapped open. There, rounding a path at the end of the garden, was Eleni, pedalling unsteadily on a bright orange tricycle. Behind her followed a young woman, close enough to ensure she kept her balance.
Sophie watched as, inevitably, Eleni looked up and saw her. She didn’t understand it, but she felt almost guilty. As if she shouldn’t be here, strong and healthy, when such a tiny child was battling the odds for survival. As if somehow it would be her fault if the transplant couldn’t take place.
But it was too late to slink away.
The laughter died away as Eleni saw her, her eyes widening. She stopped pedalling and planted her feet on either side of the tricycle.
Her face was grave as she said, ‘Kalimera sas.’ Good morning to you.
‘Kalimera, Eleni.’
Immediately the little girl’s eyes brightened and she tilted her head to one side as if to get a better view of her new cousin. Then she launched into a hurried spate of Greek that Sophie had no hope of following.
‘Siga, paratalo,’ Sophie said, smiling. Slow, please. ‘Then katalaveno.’ I don’t understand.
Eleni’s mouth rounded in astonishment and the girl with her bent to explain that Sophie didn’t understand Greek.
‘I speak a little,’ Sophie said. ‘But it’s been a long time since I used it.’ They’d spoken English at home.
‘Unfortunately Eleni doesn’t speak English,’ said the girl, who introduced herself as Eleni’s nanny.
But the language barrier didn’t deter Eleni. She climbed off her trike and headed straight over to Sophie, barely pausing before she reached up for her hand.
Sophie felt the tiny, warm fingers close round hers. She looked down at Eleni’s pale, serious face, at her dark eyes, old beyond their years, and something, a hard, cold knot deep inside her, shifted suddenly and began to thaw.
