She slumped in the chair. At least some good had come from this disaster.
Christo stopped as he reached her. Sliding his hand into his pocket, he placed something carefully on the desktop. Thea saw the gleaming gold of her mother’s necklace. She picked it up. The metal was warm from his hand. Tears pricked her eyes, burned her nose as she blinked hard.
She didn’t look back as Christo walked away from her, as the door of his office clicked open. She felt his hesitation, heard the scuff of leather soles on carpet.
‘Goodbye, Thea.’
The door closed behind him and he was gone from her life for ever.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THEA TOYED WITH her lunch, chasing a rogue olive around the plate. Another meal. Another hour passing in this, the eighty-seventh day since she’d walked from Christo’s home with everything and nothing.
Not that she’d been counting since that moment. Not at all. Not since those awful minutes when she’d left his office and a distraught Anna had handed her a bunch of keys and an envelope. No, it was done now.
She sipped at a glass of wine, which could have been vinegar for all she cared. Today her mission was to choose a gown for a function at the American Embassy in a few days’ time. She was having fun. It was what she’d always wanted. It should have been perfect. No, it was perfect. It was...
‘Are you missing Alexis?’ Elena sat opposite, her lunch long devoured. She peered at Thea over a pair of oversized sunglasses.
A week earlier Alexis had left for Australia to visit his father. And, yes, she missed him. Their reunion had been full of joy and hugs and tears, and it hadn’t been long enough after everything that had happened. Now he was spending six months travelling the world, and when he returned to Greece he was taking up a role in Raul’s security company. She suspected that was Christo’s doing too...
‘Paidi mou. You’re not happy.’
Wasn’t she happy? She had everything she’d ever desired. A house. Wealth. Freedom. And what she didn’t want—her father’s money—she’d put to good use in funding a refuge for women who were escaping family violence. Achieving something worthwhile.
She had a wide circle of acquaintances. Her life was hers to control. All the freedom she’d ever wanted and yet those old fears returned late at night. Of being trapped in a cage. Rattling the bars till cold sweat prickled down her neck. The same fear which once had her clenching her fists till her nails bit into her palms.
Now those fears took her out early, riding her motorcycle in the predawn air. Riding till the sun rose. Pretending she could fly. Always pretending...
Elena reached out and squeezed her hand. ‘What happened, Thea?’
Why did she feel so rooted to the ground when she could do anything she wanted?
Thea stared into her empty glass.
Christo.
She’d hated him in those days after she’d left his home. In those lonely days when she’d forgotten the words he’d repeated so often. ‘It’s all for you.’ Now, everywhere she turned, that was all she heard. His voice, whispering that truth in her ear.
When she’d walked into the exquisite house he’d chosen for her...when she’d waved Alexis away at the airport...when she’d heard the rumour that Demetri had betrayed her father to the authorities to save himself.
Christo had given it all to her. Everything she craved. Almost. But the most important part was missing. Leaving an ache which hadn’t eased.
Thea looked up at her friend.
‘I fell in love.’
Those simple words freed her. She smiled at the power of her admission. Felt a spark telling her that if she acknowledged that truth, anything was possible.
‘I love Christo.’
Elena slapped her thigh. ‘I knew it! So what are you going to do about it?’
Thea flopped in her seat. She had no answers. Did Christo love her in return? He’d loved her body—there she had no doubts. As for the rest...she didn’t know. Their last conversation had left her questioning everything, hearing the chill in his voice as he froze her out of his life. But his actions... His desolation when he’d let her go...
Because in the end everything he’d done had all been for her. She couldn’t sit back ignoring the truth any longer. She loved him. She wanted him. And moping about it was not an acceptable option.
‘I’ve got to go.’
She stood, bumping the table as she rose. Her wine glass teetered. She steadied it.
Elena raised her eyebrows. ‘Where?’
There was only one thing to do. Her first real choice. No more pretending.
‘To tell Christo I love him.’
Thea rode her motorcycle through the open gates of Christo’s mansion, pulling to a stop near the immense pots overflowing with the magenta riot of bougainvillea. As she removed her helmet the cast-iron gates behind her slid to a close. She tried to ignore the ominous clang as they locked.
Swinging from her seat, she stuffed her gloves into the helmet and hung it from the handlebars. Everything would be fine.
Tell that to her terrified heart.
She stopped and took a few deep breaths, catching the scent of citrus blossom drifting on the warm air, reminding her of a day when all she’d wanted to do was run. Well, she wasn’t running away now. Instead, she strode to the front door, which opened as she reached it.
Anna.
Thea pulled her into a tight hug. ‘I hope I haven’t made things difficult for you by coming?’
‘As I said when you called, you’re worth the trouble. Anyway, nothing could make things more difficult than they are now.’
Anna led her into the bright foyer and closed the door behind them.
Thea unzipped her jacket, the cool air of the house washing over her. ‘If anything happens today, you’ll always have a job with me.’
Anna waved her hand, a tightness pinching her eyes. ‘I’m not worried about my job... I’m hoping you can help Mr Callas.’
At his name, Thea felt a shock of
