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‘I’ll take you after lunch.’ Nik was studying her carefully through narrowed eyes, a questioning expression on his face.
‘I want to go on my own,’ she said, squinting up at him in the bright reflected sunlight. She suddenly wished she had her sunglasses on. She didn’t like the feeling that he was seeing right through her, that maybe he could tell something was different about her. She held up her arms for him to pass Danny to her.
‘I’ll take you,’ he said, bending to place the baby carefully on her lap. ‘If Danny’s sleeping we can leave him with Irene.’
‘I’m not leaving Danny here alone,’ she said stiffly, evading his eyes and staring out to sea.
‘Why are you being like this? I thought things were going well between us. Last night—’
‘All we did last night was make love—except it wasn’t exactly making love,’ she interrupted, her green eyes snapping back to his. ‘We didn’t have a proper conversation. Nothing meaningful happened between us.’
‘Didn’t making love mean anything to you?’ he asked.
She stared at him in surprise, startled that he could dare to ask such a question considering the circumstances of their marriage.
‘What would mean something to me is a little respect—a little freedom,’ she said hotly. ‘You’ve got me here against my wishes and I’m not even permitted to go shopping on my own.’
‘What’s so important about shopping?’ He was keeping his voice level, but Carrie could hear undertones of suspicion hardening it. ‘You can have anything you need delivered to the villa at any time you choose.’
‘It’s not about shopping,’ she said, realising it had been a mistake to draw his attention so strongly to that. ‘It’s just that I don’t want to be watched all the time,’ she added, pointing up at the camera that was silently sweeping the beach. ‘And I don’t want to be locked up here all the time.’
‘What do you want to buy that I can’t see?’ he pressed, clearly not thrown off the scent by her attempted diversion. ‘I thought we’d agreed to have no secrets between us.’
‘No. We didn’t agree that,’ Carrie snapped. She was close to breaking point and she could feel tears pricking her eyes. She pressed her face instinctively against Dan
ny’s curls and closed her eyelids for a moment, drawing comfort from the feel of him in her arms. ‘Like everything else in this marriage, you dictated it. You announced that was how it should be.’
Nik stood towering over her. She could feel his anger radiating out despite the rigid way he held himself. He leant down abruptly and took Danny from her, and before she had time to protest he pulled her to her feet and held her firmly in front of him.
‘It’s time to get back to the villa now.’ He fixed her with eyes so cold that an involuntary shudder ran through her.
‘Why?’ she demanded, shaking his hand roughly off her arm and pulling Danny safely back into her embrace. ‘Because you say so?’
‘Because Danny’s getting tired,’ Nik said. ‘And this conversation has gone as far as it’s going to right now.’
Carrie stared at him for a second longer, suddenly feeling as if he’d wrong-footed her. Then she looked at Danny. Nik was right. He did look ready for his nap.
‘You don’t know he needs to sleep!’ Carrie said crossly, irritated that despite their argument Nik had noticed the signs that Danny was getting tired before she did. ‘You can’t just sweep into his life and assume you know exactly what he needs.’
‘We’re going back.’ Nik took her arm and set a brisk pace across the beach to the buggy.
‘You go back if you’re so determined to. I’m not going yet,’ Carrie said. She fastened Danny securely in the pushchair with the harness, gripped the handles and moved him away from Nik. ‘I’ll push him into the shade while he sleeps, and then I can enjoy the peace and quiet on my own.’
‘You’re not staying here alone,’ Nik said through gritted teeth. ‘Not when you’re acting so erratically.’
‘Why not? This bay is totally cut off. You don’t seriously think I’ll try to swim away?’ Carrie turned towards the sea and made a sweeping gesture with her arm. Her eyes suddenly settled on a little boat that she hadn’t noticed before. Without thinking she raised her arm and waved. ‘Perhaps you’re worried I’ll flag down that boat!’ she said.
‘Don’t be so ridiculous,’ Nik grated, grabbing her arm and moving her roughly through the wrought-iron gateway. He followed closely with the buggy, pausing for a moment to bark something in rapid Greek into the intercom system just inside the gateway. Then, before Carrie had a chance to catch her breath, he was striding up the hill, pushing the buggy in front of him.
Her heart was pounding with shock and anger as she heard the heavy gate clang shut behind her. She turned and rattled it, then looked up at the camera, but nothing happened. She spun round and stared at Nik’s retreating back.
She was trapped! Locked on his property once again.
And he was leaving with Danny! She started running up the hill immediately. He had a head start, and was already out of her sight, but she ran until her lungs were burning. She rounded the corner by the villa and saw Nik lifting Danny up.
‘You’re not going to take him away from me!’ she cried. ‘I’ll never let you have him.’
‘I was simply bringing him inside for his sleep,’ he said. He let her take the baby but there was a lethal calmness in his eyes.
