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“Are you saying they’ll pay me more than the paper?”
The admission barely mattered—Phoebe had easily worked out who the culprit must be, the moment she gave it a little clear-headed thought.
“No,” she tacked a smile onto the denial. “What they’ll do is sue you—for everything the paper paid you, and then, for damages. Given the provably false narrative, that would be quite a lot.”
Fiona gasped. “I don’t believe you.”
Phoebe shook her head slowly. “Yes, you do. People like that don’t play to lose. If you get in the game with them, you’re going to get knocked out. That’s a fact.” She lifted her hands in the air. “I know the truth, so article or not, it’s no skin off my nose, but you should think about this: no act is without consequence and these would be particularly high.”
She left the restaurant then, a watery smile on her face, that quickly turned to tears. It had taken every last shred of bravado to have that confrontation, but now, she was spent. The last few days had taken a toll on her. Her soul was broken. With her head bent and heart weary, she walked towards the underground, wanting only the peace of her bedsit and a quiet cup of tea.
“What are you doing here?”
Anastasios paused, just inside the door of their family home, grimacing. At just after midnight, what were the chances of being met by one of his brothers? He turned to see Thanasi, one shoulder propped against the doorframe. God, he wanted to be alone. So why come here? Good question. In the midst of the mess of his life, something had drawn him here, to this place he’d lived for so many years.
“I was in the area,” he said honestly. For two weeks, the yacht had drifted around the Med, leaving Anastasios alone with his thoughts, but then, he’d set a course for the Saronic gulf, bringing his yacht into dock at his family’s jetty. Based on the peninsula of Porto Mezi, their family enclave was completely private, with a main house and several separate dwellings, which the brothers had moved into during their teenage years. It was a compound, secluded from the rest of the peninsula by natural geography.
“It’s not exactly somewhere you stroll past,” Thanasi said probingly.
“What’s with the fifth degree?” Anastasios asked, too sharply. Then again, he hadn’t seen nor spoken to anyone since Phoebe had left the yacht. He was out of practice.
“Nothing,” Thanasi eyed him consideringly. “You good?”
“Of course. Why?”
“Just wondering. You seem quiet.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Same thing as you, I suspect.” Thanasi looked over his shoulder. “Checking on mum. Haven’t you seen my messages?”
Anastasios was ashamed to admit it, but he’d barely thought of his family, and his grieving mother, since Phoebe had left the boat. He’d read Thanasi’s messages, imploring him to come home, to help with Maggie, but he’d been paralysed, adrift. “How is she?”
“Stoic on the outside, shattered, I think, beneath that. She’ll be glad to see you in the morning. Want to share a nightcap?”
Anastasios instantly rejected the idea. He wanted to be alone. So why had he come here?
“No.” Too harsh. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He stalked through the house, into one of the guestrooms, and lay down on the bed. Even here, she pursued him.
His mood didn’t improve in the morning. He went through the motions with his mother, hearing about Leonidas’ recent visit, ignoring the barbed looks Thanasi was shooting him. It was only later, when the two brothers were alone, that Thanasi spoke.
“I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you.”
“What do you mean?” Anastasios was in no mood for this. He barely looked at his brother.
“First Leo, then you. I expect this of Dimi, but you two are supposed to be here, with me, helping her. Where the hell did everyone go?”
“Our father just died,” Anastasios said. “People deal with grief in different ways.”
“Some people seem to think they have the luxury of sticking their heads in the sand. What about mom? You’ve all but deserted her.”
Anastasios couldn’t argue that. Nor could he fight the sense of responsibility. But Thanasi was on a roll.
“I’ve been messaging you. I’ve left voicemails. You haven’t responded to a single one. What did you think was happening back here, Anastasios? You’ve completely disappeared, forgetting all about her and our family.”
“That’s not true,” he was forced to defend himself, jerking to his feet and moving towards the window. He stared out, unseeing, at the dark ocean and milky moonlight. “I might have been absent, but I’ve been very much focused on this family, believe me.”
