When they reached the lodge he headed straight to the terrace. Elli had left a bottle of ouzo, a jug of iced water, two short glasses and two tall glasses on the table for him, as he’d instructed.
‘Drink?’
‘Just water for me, please.’ She smiled softly as she pulled a chair out and sat on it gracefully. ‘I think I’ve drunk enough alcohol for one weekend.’
Wishing she would look at him with the suspicion and venom she had blasted him with when he’d first brought her back to the peninsula, wishing he’d never embarked on this whole rotten act of vengeance, Theo poured her water then a large measure of ouzo for himself and raised his glass to her.
She clinked her glass to his. ‘What are we drinking to?’
‘To the successful completion of the plans.’
She blinked slowly. ‘Really?’
‘Nai. Everything is exactly as I envisaged.’ It was exactly as they had dreamed together three years ago. The perfect house in which to raise the perfect family in the ultimate luxury.
She put her glass to her mouth then hesitated. Placing it down on the table, she reached for the ouzo and poured herself a measure almost as large as the one Theo had poured for himself.
He watched her take a large sip, close her eyes and grimace. Then her eyes opened and her head shook ever so slightly before her shoulders relaxed a little. ‘I’m glad you’re pleased with it.’
‘You have more than fulfilled your brief. The completion payments will be sent to your account and your company’s account in the morning.’
‘You haven’t signed it off yet. I still need to produce the final draft...’
‘The blueprint is perfect. The 3D model you made brings it to life.’
‘Yes, but I still need to send them to Savina for—’
‘That won’t be necessary.’ Now he’d set the ball rolling to free her for good, he would not torture himself by prolonging their goodbye. Like a surgical procedure, it was best to sever it cleanly and precisely to prevent collateral damage.
Her brow furrowed. ‘It’s totally necessary.’
Theo closed his eyes and had a large gulp of his ouzo. ‘I’ve changed my mind. The house will not be built.’
It would never be built. He could never live in it. He couldn’t live in it without the woman he loved and he’d been a fool to ever think he could.
He would gift the lodge to Elli and Natassa and build a smaller dwelling for his grandmother to enjoy if she wished.
Time seemed to hang in suspended animation. Helena did nothing but stare at him, fingers continually squeezing and releasing her glass.
When she finally spoke, the strain in her voice was apparent. ‘Are you serious?’
Theo took a deep breath then gave a sharp nod. ‘It is too far from my business. It is impractical.’
‘Since when do you care if things are practical or not?’
He hooked an ankle over his knee. ‘It is a lot of money to spend on a party pad that will rarely be used.’
Her laughter sounded as strained as her voice. ‘Since when do you care about wasting money? You own properties you haven’t even spent a night in.’
‘They are properties that will one day serve a purpose.’
She fell into silence again, putting a finger to the bridge of her nose, another furrow appearing on her brow as her finger found no spectacles to push up. Helena hadn’t worn her glasses since they’d returned from his villa on Agon. ‘Forgive me for being dense, but I don’t get why you’ve spent all this money on something you’ve suddenly decided isn’t going to happen, and I’m not just talking about the fees you’ve paid me and my company. The levelling of the land, the sculpture commissions, Savina’s fee—you’ll have to pay her for her time at the very least or she’ll have every right to sue you.’
‘Savina will be recompensed.’ Theos, the thuds of his heart beat like a physical pain. ‘No one will suffer financially for my change of mind.’
‘Good.’ Biting into her bottom lip, she tucked her hair behind her ears then raised confused eyes to his. ‘What about your grandmother? How does she feel? Have you told her the house you promised to build on the land she gave you is not going to happen?’
‘I will explain the situation. She will understand.’ She would be upset, he acknowledged painfully, but his grandmother was not one for making judgements on people’s lives. All the same, he knew he’d built her hopes up. Her daughter—his mother—had never had any interest in returning to the island of her birth, so to discover her grandson falling in love with it had delighted her and she’d looked forward to seeing his new home there in all its glory.
‘I’m glad you’ll make her understand but I’m afraid I don’t understand. We’ve spent weeks working on this and now you’re saying it was all for nothing?’
‘I’m sorry.’ How he kept his voice calm when his insides were shredding into tiny pieces he would never know. ‘I appreciate it must be disappointing to learn your plans will never come to fruition but you can take pride in the work you produced.’ The slightest crack echoed in his voice when he added, ‘It’s spectacular. You, matia mou, have one hell of a career ahead of you.’
Her voice hardly above a whisper, seemingly not having heard his heartfelt compliment, she said, ‘What happens now?’
‘We’ll sail to Agon in the morning. I’ll arrange for my flight crew to fly you back to London on my jet. Take the plans and 3D model with you. They’re yours. Add them to your portfolio.’ He didn’t think he could bear to look at them. He didn’t think he could look at anything associated with Helena again.
Something flickered in her
