The Mistress's Secret

He stood up. Totally unconcerned by his nudity, his superb body glistening in the half light. She felt her insides turn over and jolted backward with a step. His eyes glanced dismissively around the small bedroom and into the narrow hallway beyond.

"You've sunk low," said Leon, his dismissive glance coming back. "You must have blown Nikos's money in a big way to be reduced to this dump. Well, I'll bank roll you again, but —"

"Get out!" Her voice was a shriek. She groped for her clothes, finding her baggy sweatshirt and pulling it over her head. It came down to mid-thigh, concealing the essentials.

As for Leon, he simply started to dress again as calmly as if nothing had happened.

"You always were greedy for Andreakos money," he said, his tone almost conversational, as Alanna stood there, heart pounding, limbs trembling and emotion bucketing through her like a hurricane.

How could he be doing this to her? How? She was over him, over. But he'd walked in and without a word taken her to bed….

She started to shiver, but not with cold. Disbelief was washing through her just as his words — so cruel, so hateful — were washing over her.

"You'll have an allowance but nothing more," he was saying as he shrugged on the shirt she had all but torn off him. "I'll be generous — but don't even think of getting more out of me this time around! Tell me —" he jerked his head up and looked at her across the bed, as he calmly did up his cuffs "— just how long did it take you to spend Nikos's money? One year? Two? Or has it only just run out? Was that why you'd gone clothes shopping that day when I saw you? To tart yourself up again so you could catch another sucker at a Christmas party? Looks like you didn't get lucky…."

The sneer was open, and suddenly, quite suddenly, Alanna’s shaking stopped. In its place anger, raw and vehement, burned through her. She whirled around, flicked on the bedside lamp, then yanked open a wardrobe door and tugged out a large cardboard box from the base. Thrusting her hand inside, she pulled free an envelope with a letter still inside.

She hurled it at Leon.

"Read it!" she snarled. "Go on, read it!"

With a faint frown he picked up the envelope, pulling out the letter and opening it up.

She watched his face change. His eyes snapped to hers. The letter dropped from nerveless fingers to the bed, the printed heading from the famous London's children's hospital quite visible.

"You gave it away. You gave Nikos's money away."

His voice was blank.

She stood, chest heaving still.

Then, into the absolute silence between them, another sound was heard from beyond the bedroom.

"Mummy!"

Shock etched Leon's face.

Chapter Six

As Nicky's plaintive cry came again, Alanna galvanized into action. She hurried from the room, intent only on reaching Nicky. Her yelling must have woken him. Panic started to engulf her. She had to get Leon out of the flat. Had to get rid of him totally. She'd been an idiot to throw that letter at him from the hospital thanking her for so magnificent a donation — but something had snapped inside her as he'd rained down such vile insults on her head. But Nicky calling out was an even worse disaster.

Nicky was sitting up in bed, half distressed at being woken, still half sleepy. She sat down on the bed and cuddled him up to her, sheltering him from view.

"It's all right, darling, just lie down and go to sleep again. It was just something noisy on the telly, that's all."

But Nicky was craning his neck to try to stare over her shoulder.

She heard something in Greek behind her and froze. Then heavy tread across the shabby carpet.

"You have a child?"

She didn't let go of Nicky and kept her back to Leon.

"Yes." Her teeth were gritted, stomach hollowing with fear. "I met…someone else. My — my son is three. Just turned three."

Her voice was strained. Would Leon believe her?