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‘It’s a mess, I know,’ her brother groaned. ‘I only needed one big win and I could have replaced all the money.’
Eleanor’s heart plummeted. ‘You promised that you had stopped gambling. I put you in charge of the Pangalos because you gave me an assurance that you had sorted your life out and were ready to take on the responsibility of managing the hotel.’
‘I swear I tried to give up. But the adrenalin rush is like a drug. I placed a few bets online and to start with I won back all I’d gambled and more. But then my losses started to mount up and I borrowed money from the hotel, intending to pay it back with my next big win.’
‘But, surprise, surprise, you didn’t win.’ Eleanor bit her lip. She knew that gambling could be an addiction as serious as alcoholism or drugs. Her brother needed help, not criticism. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I was sure my luck would change. I didn’t want to admit that I had mucked up again,’ Mark said in a low voice. ‘Grandfather was right when he made you his successor instead of me. I thought I had got lucky a few months ago when I was introduced to a Greek entrepreneur at a party. I’d had a fair bit to drink, to be honest, and when I mentioned that I had a cash flow problem, Jace was really understanding.’
‘Jace?’ Eleanor said sharply.
‘Jace Zagorakis. He owns a property development company, Zagorakis Estates, and has a stake in a luxury hotel chain called Perseus. He’s a well-known figure in Greece. Have you heard of him?’
‘Vaguely,’ Eleanor said through gritted teeth.
‘Well, he offered to lend me money so that I could replace what I’d taken from the Pangalos.’ Mark spoke quickly, stumbling over his words. ‘But I didn’t replace it. I gambled with it because the odds were in my favour. I was due a big win. It was my turn and I was certain I would hit the jackpot.’
‘How much did you lose?’ Eleanor felt sick when her brother told her. ‘So there is no money to pay the Pangalos’s bills.’
‘It’s worse than that. Zagorakis has demanded full repayment of the money I owe him, and he’s threatened to take me to court if I don’t pay up. As a named director of the Pangalos, I can be held personally liable for its debts. The hotel could be forced into insolvency and there is a good chance I would be sent to prison for tax evasion.’
Mark fell silent again and when he next spoke Eleanor was chilled by the darkness in his voice. ‘I’ll be honest, El. I’ve seriously thought about ending it all so that I can be with Mum and Dad.’
She inhaled sharply. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘I still miss them.’
‘I know,’ she said gently. ‘I miss them too.’
When her parents had died, Lissa, the baby of the family, had received the most attention from other relatives while Eleanor had retreated further inside herself. Grief had made Mark an angry and difficult teenager. But at night Eleanor had often heard him crying in his bedroom. She had wanted to go in and comfort him, but she’d felt unsure that he would welcome her, and she’d crept back to her own room.
‘I’ll find a way to sort out the problems at the Pangalos,’ she told her brother. How, she did not know, but she was desperate to reassure him. ‘Mark, please look after yourself. Where are you?’
‘Ireland. It was the last holiday we had with Mum and Dad. Do you remember we stayed at a riding stables and took the horses out every day?’
‘I didn’t go with you. It was before my back surgery and I couldn’t ride because I had to wear the body brace.’
Eleanor had overheard her parents discussing the difficulties of taking her on a horse-riding holiday because of her spinal condition. Their relief when she had offered to stay with her grandparents had been obvious, and she had tried not to feel hurt. After the holiday, her brother and sister had returned to England and her parents had flown to Sri Lanka, where they had died in an accident without her ever seeing them again.
Scoliosis had affected her childhood and her relationship with her family, she acknowledged sadly. But now Mark needed her help and she would do everything she possibly could to save him and the Pangalos hotel.
Eleanor ended the call after eliciting a promise from her brother that he would seek professional help for his problems. With mounting despair she studied the columns of figures in front of her, which added up to the staggering debt that Mark had accrued. Ordinarily, she would have been able to transfer money between Francine’s and the Pangalos to cover the unpaid bills, but the Oxford hotel had not made a profit for three months while it was being refurbished. Eleanor had taken out a business loan to pay for the work, and her application to the bank for more credit had been turned down.
Fortunately, Gilpin Leisure had reserves which she could use to pay the staff’s wages and cover most of the Pangalos’s running costs. But there was still the huge tax bill that Mark had omitted to pay, as well as the six-figure debt he owed to Jace Zagorakis.
Damn the man! Eleanor did not believe it had been a coincidence that Jace had met her brother at a party. He had used his charisma to gain Mark’s trust, like he had gained hers. But Jace’s ulterior motive was to take ownership of the Pangalos, which he insisted her grandfather had stolen from his father. When she had taken a look through the hotel’s records, she had not found any evidence to confirm Jace’s story. Dimitri Zagorakis had sold his share of the hotel to Kostas and the transaction had been overseen by lawyers.
She tried to quell a rising sense of panic as she faced the seriousness of the situation. It was stuffy in Mark’s office, where she had been holed up for much of the past two days. She needed air, and she stood up and walked over to open the window. The office was on the top floor of the hotel and overlooked the resort’s exclusive bungalows and the private beach that was one of the best on Sithonia. A long stretch of white sand ran down to a turquoise sea that was ideal for swimming, although most of the affluent guests preferred to sit on sun loungers, sipping cocktails.
Pappoús had been proud of the five-star holiday complex he had created but, unless Eleanor could find a solution to the Pangalos’s financial crisis, she would be unable to save the hotel from bankruptcy. Guiltily, she accepted that she should have kept a closer eye on her brother. She’d put her faith in Mark and made him a director of the hotel because she had wanted her brother to like her, Eleanor acknowledged with painful honesty.
She walked back to the desk and her gaze fell on Jace’s business card. He had been arrogantly confident that she would call him. Fury bubbled up inside her, but she could see no other option than to plead with him for more time to try to raise the money Mark owed him.
Her heart was thumping when she called the number on the card. A woman’s voice spoke and said that she was Jace’s PA. Jace was unlikely to have answered his office phone, Eleanor silently berated herself, feeling foolish because her mouth had dried at the prospect of speaking to him.
The PA listened to her request for a meeting with Jace before putting her on hold while she checked his diary. ‘Mr Zagorakis can fit you in tomorrow at five p.m., Miss Buchanan,’ she said when she came back on the line. ‘He says he has been expecting to hear from you.’
Eleanor pictured a self-satisfied smirk on Jace’s diabolically handsome face, and her temper sizzled. Feeling too restless to remain in the office, she took the lift down to the ground floor and walked through the magnificent marble-tiled lobby. When she’d visited the Pangalos as a child, she had thought it was a palace. Her grandfather had entrusted his beloved hotel to her, but she had allowed herself to be ruled by her emotions when she’d put her brother in charge.
