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‘I was always surprised…’
He lifted a brow.
‘Well, not surprised as much as intrigued when I heard of the huge success of Kouros Shipping…’ She blushed. ‘Even though Thea told me it was touch and go for a while…it’s the opposite now.’ She shrugged and suddenly wished she hadn’t broached the subject. ‘You just…you’d always said you didn’t think you had the killer instinct…’
She stopped and could see the hole widen at her feet. What was she thinking? She was trying to avoid controversial topics, not bring them up. He’d no doubt be remembering the article, how he’d been made to look weak.
Alexandros was glad of his sunglasses as he watched Kallie squirm. He felt like she’d lifted up a protective layer of skin and looked underneath. He willed down the anger that threatened to rise as he thought of everything he’d been through, which she claimed not to have been aware of. Of course it had brought out the killer instinct, he’d had to fight for his very survival. And he had survived, spectacularly. But for the first time that thought didn’t fill him with the satisfaction it normally did. What was this witch doing to him?
‘Well,’ he drawled, sitting back on one arm, long legs stretched out, ‘as you can see, I found it from somewhere.’
He idly picked a grape from the bunch and Kallie flicked him a wary glance.
‘Let’s talk about you. Your business…it must be hard to keep it going with all that socialising…’
Kallie welcomed his attention being taken off her woeful attempt to be neutral. And registered his obvious attempt to rile her back. She dampened down the irritation and smiled sweetly. ‘I just take copious amounts of drugs to keep going—isn’t that what all people in PR do?’
He smiled and it nearly threw her off balance. ‘I might have thought so before, but with your abstinence and aversion to alcohol I doubt it. I’d hate to see you try anything stronger.’
And then despite himself, he found that he was actually curious. ‘Tell me about your job…really, I’d like to know.’
She shrugged, not trusting him. ‘It’s a job like any other. It’s pressured, intense. When I’m working for someone, that’s it for two or three months. I always have time to recuperate when it’s over. But I do have to be available twenty-four seven.’
He looked at her but she couldn’t see his eyes. He nodded. Something about his stillness told Kallie that she’d struck a chord somehow.
‘But I can’t imagine your kind of pressure. You have millions at stake…hundreds of people to think about, their livelihoods.’
Which was why it must have been so awful for him to have to fight for his company alone…
The gnawing guilt made Kallie falter for a second, and she forced a smile. ‘My worst nightmare is a client’s function being a disaster or that they might not make the papers…or make the papers, whichever they want at the time.’
It always amazed her, how one month one client would be doing everything to keep out of the papers and the next doing everything to get in.
Very quietly, Alexandros said, ‘I know.’ As if he’d heard her thoughts.
Kallie settled back into a comfortable cross-legged position. ‘And as for the parties.’ She shrugged and picked at small flowers. ‘They’re just a part of it. Usually I’m only there for a short time, just to make sure everything is OK, then I leave them to it and read about it the next day, like everyone else.’
‘You could have had a bigger business…it’s just you and Cécile?’
She nodded and frowned. ‘How do you mean?’
‘Your shares, of course, the ones you sold off…’ His mouth tightened in obvious distaste. ‘You didn’t think it worth investing in the business? Wanted to spend it all on—?’
Kallie tensed, beyond incensed. Hands in fists by her sides, she spat, ‘How dare you? I have worked my fingers to the bone getting that place off the ground. We made best new business through sheer graft. There were times I was so tired I couldn’t see straight.’
He sat up and pushed his glasses up onto his head. She’d whipped hers off and cursed now. He’d seen too much, she was getting emotional again. She jumped up.
She could sense him get up behind her and turned back to face him. ‘I’m not a bad person, Alexandros. I’m not.’
Despite her best efforts, she knew she was close to tears again, and she turned away again. Even though they were in a park in the middle of Athens, the city lay somewhere beneath them, silent. She willed him away, willed him not to touch her, and he must have felt it because he didn’t. She found herself speaking quietly, quickly.
‘After Mum and Dad died, I had no interest in the business. I never had. You know that. Even if you say you didn’t. I gave my uncle those shares. I didn’t sell them. I couldn’t.’ She turned around again and as he was closer than she’d anticipated, she backed away another step. ‘What kind of person do you think I am?’
Stupid question, Kallie…
He felt at a loss, amazed at her passionate reaction. Her expressive eyes. Shining blue and green. And thought, The kind of person most of us would be in that situation, who would demand every penny of their inheritance…
‘Kallie—’
