Kostas caught his arm. ‘I have no idea what you’re planning, but I advise caution where Stavros Antaxos is concerned.’
Stefan shrugged him off. ‘Your advice is duly noted and ignored.’
* * *
‘You have brought shame upon me and upon yourself and you did it with a man I hate more than any other.’
Selene stood stubbornly to the spot, clutching her bag like a life raft as her father vented his fury. She knew better than to answer back. Better than to try and reason because his anger was never driven by reason. And she was angry with herself, too. Angry for deviating from her original plan. If she hadn’t flown to the villa with Stefan she wouldn’t be in this position now.
‘Why him?’ Her father’s eyes blazed with every emotion but love. ‘Why?’
‘Because he’s a businessman.’ Because he’d talked to her when no one else had. Because he’d paid her attention and flattered her and her stupid brain had built him up into a hero so when he’d invited her to the party it had seemed all her dreams had come true. Instead of questioning what a man like him would see in a girl like her, she’d been blinded by his stunning looks and masculine charisma.
She’d lived in the moment without thinking about tomorrow and now tomorrow had come.
‘A businessman? And what is your “business”?’ The derision hurt more than any blow.
‘I have an idea. A good idea.’
‘Then why didn’t you come to me?’
‘Because—’ Because you’d kill it, the way you kill everything that threatens to break up our ‘family’. ‘Because I want to do this by myself.’
And she almost had.
It made her sick to think how close she’d come to a new life.
All of this could have been avoided had she simply shaken hands at the point where Stefan had agreed to give her a business loan, but she’d mixed business with pleasure and even she knew you weren’t supposed to do that.
‘He used you. You know that, don’t you? He used you to get to me and you have no one to blame but yourself. I hope you feel cheap.’
Selene closed her eyes, remembering the way she had felt. Not cheap. Special. Beautiful. But it hadn’t been real. He’d done it so that he could get juicy fodder for the photographers. All those things he’d said. All those things he’d done. It hadn’t been about her—it had been about scoring points against her father. He’d sacrificed her on the altar of personal ambition. ‘I made a mistake.’
‘We’ll say he forced you. Physically he’s much bigger than you, and you’re so obviously innocent no one will have any trouble believing it.’
‘No!’ Horrified, her eyes flew open. ‘That isn’t what happened.’
‘It doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is what people think happened. I don’t want our family image tarnished with this. I have my reputation to protect.’
Image. It was all about image, not reality. ‘He has his reputation, too. And he’ll deny it because it isn’t true.’ Just thinking of that story in the papers made her feel faint because simmering beneath the layers of pain that he’d deceived her was guilt that she’d let him think he was responsi
ble for the bruises.
Her father’s expression was cold and calculating. ‘Who cares what’s true? Mud sticks. By the time he’s proved it wasn’t the case no one will remember your part in it, just his. People will always wonder. You’ll be the innocent girl he used.’
‘No.’ Selene lifted her chin. ‘I won’t do that to him. I won’t lie.’
There was a deadly silence. ‘Are you saying no to me?’
Her stomach cramped. ‘I can’t do that to him.’
She had money in her bag. If she could just calm the situation there might still be a way to get away. She’d persuade her mother to leave. They could slip away at night. She’d—
He stopped in front of her, too close, his hands clenched into fists that he was getting ready to use. ‘So if you liked being with him so much, why bother coming back?’
She knew better than to mention her mother. ‘I left because I wanted to have some fun. Freedom. Rebellion.’ She made free use of Stefan’s misconception. ‘I’ve been trapped here so long with no life and I wanted to get away. But I don’t actually want to leave my home. Or my family.’ She almost choked on the word because she knew that no family should be like hers. A family was supposed to be a unit knitted together by blood and love. All they had was blood, and too much of that had been shed.
‘So you admit you behaved badly?’ He flexed his fingers. ‘You admit you need discipline?’