Playing by the Greek's Rules (Puffin Island 0.50)

He dressed, aware that she was watching him the whole time, her conversation reduced to soothing, sympathetic noises.

It was the sort of exchange he’d never had in his life. The sort that involved listening while someone poured out their woes. When Nik had a problem he solved it or accepted it and moved on. He’d never understood the female urge to dissect and confide.

‘I know,’ she murmured. ‘There’s nothing more upsetting than a rift in the family, but you need to talk. Clear the air. Be open about your feelings.’

She was so warm and sympathetic it was obvious to Nik that the conversation was going to be a long one. Someone had rung in the belief that talking to Lily would make them feel better and he couldn’t see a way that this exchange would ever end as she poured a verbal Band-Aid over whatever wound she was being asked to heal. Who would want to hang up when they were getting the phone equivalent of a massive hug?

Outraged on her behalf, Nik sliced his finger across his throat to indicate that she should cut the connection.

When she didn’t, he was contemplating snatching the phone and telling whoever it was to get a grip, sort out their own problems and stop encroaching on Lily’s good nature when she gestured to the phone with her free hand.

‘It’s for you,’ she mouthed. ‘Your father.’

His father?

The person she’d been soothing and placating for the past twenty minutes was his father?

Nik froze. Only now did he notice that the phone in her hand was his. ‘You answered my phone?’

‘I wouldn’t have done normally, but I saw it was your dad and I knew you’d want to talk to him. I didn’t want you to miss his call because you were in the shower.’ Clearly believing she’d done him an enormous favour, she wished his father a cheery, caring goodbye and held out the phone to him. The front of his shirt gapped, revealing those tempting dips and curves he’d explored in minute detail the night before. The scrape of his jaw had left faint red marks over her creamy skin and the fact that he instantly wanted to drop the phone in the nearest body of water and take her straight back to bed simply added to his irritation.

‘That’s my shirt.’

‘You have so many, I didn’t think you’d miss one.’

Reflecting on the fact she was as chirpy in the morning as she was the rest of the day, Nik dragged his gaze from her smiling mouth, took the phone from her and switched to Greek. ‘You didn’t need to call again. I got your last four messages.’

‘Then why didn’t you call me back?’

‘I’ve been busy.’

‘Too busy to talk to your own father? I have rung you every day this week, Niklaus. Every single day.’

Aware that Lily was listening Nik paced to the window, turned his back on her and stared out over the sea. ‘Is the wedding still on?’

‘Of course it is on! Why wouldn’t it be? I love Diandra and she loves me. You would love her, too, if you took the time to meet her and what better time than the day in which we exchange our vows?’ There was a silence. ‘Nik, come home. It has been too long.’

Nik knew exactly how long it had been to the day.

‘I’ve been busy.’

‘Too busy to visit your own family? This is the place of your birth and you never come home. You have a villa here that you converted and you don’t even visit. I know you didn’t like Callie and it’s true that for a long time I was very angry with you for not making more of an effort when she showed you so much love, but that is behind us now.’

Reflecting on exactly what form that ‘love’ had taken, Nik tightened his hand on the phone and wondered if he’d been wrong not to tell his father the unpalatable truth about his third wife. He’d made the decision that since she’d ended the relationship anyway there was nothing to be gained from revealing the truth, but now he found himself in the rare position of questioning his own judgement.

‘Will Callie be at the wedding?’

‘No.’ His father was quiet. ‘I wanted her to bring little Chloe, but she hasn’t responded to my calls. I don’t mind admitting it’s a very upsetting situation all round for everyone.’

Not everyone, Nik thought. He was sure Callie wasn’t remotely upset. Why would she be? She’d extracted enough money from his father to ensure she could live comfortably without ever lifting a finger again. ‘You would really want her at your wedding?’

‘Callie, no. But Chloe? Yes, of course. If I had my way she would be living here with me. I still haven’t given up hope that might happen one day. Chloe is my child, Nik. My daughter. I want her to grow up knowing her father. I don’t want her thinking I abandoned her or chose not to have her in my life.’

Nik kept his eyes forward and the past firmly suppressed. ‘These things happen. They’re part of life and relationships.’

His father sighed. ‘I’m sorry you believe that. Family is the most important thing in the world. I want that for you.’

‘I set my own life goals, and that isn’t on the list,’ Nik drawled softly. Contemplating the complexity of human relationships, he was doubly glad he’d successfully avoided them himself. Like every other area of his life, he had his feelings firmly under control. ‘Would Diandra really want Chloe to be living with you?’