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‘Darling,’ he called loudly in English as he made his way towards her table, his purpose in reaching her quite clear. A few heads at surrounding tables turned to him and as she looked up her eyes widened to near comical proportions—only there was nothing funny about the gold and green that glittered in her hazel eyes. It was such a sight he nearly stopped. But didn’t.
‘Sorry I’m late—forgive me?’ he asked as he rounded the table and placed a kiss on her head. He felt her flinch beneath him, but he didn’t give her the time to question what was going on. ‘You have company?’
‘Mr Thiakos,’ said the first man, half rising out of his chair—to greet him or run away, it seemed the man himself wasn’t sure. It wasn’t unusual for strangers to recognise him, and in this instance it would make things considerably easier.
Theron held his hand out and when the man reached his out, Theron’s grip would have crushed walnuts. The second man in the chair beside him rose and Theron placed his other hand heavily down on the man’s shoulder and pushed him back into his seat.
‘Gentlemen,’ he all but snarled. To the outsider they looked like a group of friends meeting for a drink, but the undertone was as dangerous as a riptide. ‘Allow me to explain,’ he said in rapid Greek. ‘I overheard your littlebet.’ The guy beside him jerked beneath his hand, but Theron simply held him in place. ‘Now, as you can imagine, the man who wins this bet, who takes this lovely young woman to bed, will have to contend with me. Or not? I suppose, then, it could be said thatIwill win this bet, no?’
The first man paled considerably, and Theron waved off the verbal fountain of apologies that streamed forth. ‘The money?’ he demanded. The man’s eyes flashed with anger, but Theron had seen and been worse. He simply nodded, forestalling any further objection.
The first guy reached for his pocket and pulled out two hundred euros as the second guy did the same.
‘I believe it was three hundred. I havephotos,’ he said, offering his phone and displaying their images, the threat clear. After a reckless moment of deliberation, each man finally handed over three hundred euros and left.
Theron watched them until he was sure they were gone and turned back to find the blonde watchinghim. Again. As someone used to being the observer, it was a novel experience.
‘Theron Thiakos,’ he said, holding out a much gentler hand in greeting, wondering if she had any idea how close she’d come to a very dangerous situation.
She looked up at him with huge wide hazel eyes, not once glancing at the six hundred euros on the table. She reached out her hand and, as it slipped into his, the smooth skin gliding against his flashed the most indecent images into his head.
‘Summer,’ she said by way of introduction.
Heat. Warmth. The feeling of the sun against his skin.
It wasn’t her name that conjured such impressions. It washer. He needed to leave. Theron nodded to the money on the table. ‘That’s yours,’ he said and got up to leave.
‘Why?’
It was the way she asked. As if it was completely foreign to her that she would be given something for nothing. ‘It was a con,’ he bit out.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘They had a bet as to which one could sleep with you tonight.’
The colour ran from her face, leaving her looking pale and shocked.
‘They were being perfectly nice,’ she said in the way that people did when they didn’t want to believe they were victims.
‘And take the photos to prove it,’ he explained.
‘And the money? That you took off them?’ she demanded as if she wanted to see all the workings of what had just happened before she could believe him.
‘They’ll only learn if it hits them where it hurts.’
Andif Theron delivered the photos to his investigative team to see if there would be enough evidence to take to the police. This probably wasn’t their first time. He had turned away and was about to leave, determined not to give her another thought, when he heard what she said next.
‘Thank you,’ she said, sounding a little unsure if that was what she meant.
Against his will, he turned back to her. He came from a world wherethank youwas a forgotten word and the conclusion of business was the payment of an invoice. But she was looking at him as if he sat on a white horse and had just slayed a dragon. And he didn’t thinkanyonehad looked at him like that before.
Before he could leave, a waiter arrived with three drinks, oblivious to the disappearance of two of his customers, mainly because he was eyeing the pile of banknotes on the table. Theron resumed his seat and waited for the server to leave.
He gathered up the money and passed it toSummer. Her name in his mind did things that he didn’t want to look at too closely.
‘Please. Put this away before you draw even more unwanted attention.’
She took the handful of notes from him, blinking as if only now realising just how much it was. ‘I can’t take—’
