When she arrived on the yacht with Hilary and Nicky, Captain McGregor got talking to her aunt and offered to act as her escort for a personal tour of the luxurious vessel. It was fortunate that Billie was able to leave Hilary in good hands because, with Calisto nowhere to be seen, Billie was forced to act as host
ess and greet and organise the arrivals.
Much later that afternoon, Billie found Alexei squatting down on deck in an effort to calm a lost little boy who was crying noisily. She went to his assistance, lifting the child to comfort him and recognising him as the son of the island nurse. ‘He needs his mum. I’ll go and find her,’ she told Alexei softly. ‘He’s probably over-tired and high on sugar from all those treats you laid on for the kids.’
‘It’s only once a year.’ Straightening again, Alexei gazed down at his PA with hooded dark-as-ebony eyes that were unusually serious and contained no glint of gold. The toddler was now clinging trustingly to Billie with chocolate-stained fingers and sucking his thumb. ‘Efharisto, moraki mou. You like children, don’t you?’
Billie paled. ‘Very much.’
His darkly handsome face shadowed and hardened as though that response was the wrong one and, without another word, he inclined his proud dark head in acknowledgement and left her to it. She restored the toddler to his grateful mother, who had assumed her youngest child was being looked after by his older siblings. When it was time for all the locals to return to dry land, Calisto finally put in a grudging appearance on deck. Her once-pristine white designer dress now bore stains and it looked as though an attempt to clean it had enjoyed little success. There was quite a breeze and seeing Billie—who had left her jacket on shore—shiver, Alexei had a word with one of the stewards, who went off and returned with a soft cream-coloured pashmina. Alexei draped the wrap round Billie’s bare shoulders.
Taken aback by that considerate gesture and mortified by the angrily accusing stare she was receiving from Calisto, who seemed to be in a particularly bad mood, Billie busied herself with ensuring the guests enjoyed a smooth departure. She was hurrying off to look for Hilary and Nicky when Calisto cornered her as she walked past the main salon. ‘Come in, I need to speak to you.’
Billie fell still, her anxious green eyes flying to the set of Calisto’s petulant face. ‘How can I help?’
‘By keeping your distance from Alexei. For such a plain little thing, you’re very good at attracting attention to yourself. You’re far too familiar with Alexei and I won’t tolerate you flirting with him right under my nose—’
Rigid with resentment, Billie lifted her chin. ‘I don’t behave like that. Now if you don’t mind, I have to find my aunt—’
‘I do mind. How dare you walk away from me when I haven’t finished speaking to you?’ Calisto launched at her an octave higher and several notches louder in volume. Billie decided that flight would be wiser than an argument with her employer’s enraged partner.
‘Hilary and her son are out on deck with McGregor, Billie. Go and join her. Thank you for your assistance today,’ Alexei interposed from behind Calisto, his lean, strong face grim. ‘I will deal with this.’
Relieved by his intervention, even though she feared that it would win her Calisto’s undying hatred, Billie did as she was told. Behind her she heard Calisto raise her voice again and breathed in deep. If only Alexei hadn’t made that gesture with the wrap! But Alexei was like that, prone to little random acts of thoughtfulness that people didn’t expect from so rich and powerful a man. There had been nothing remotely intimate or flirtatious in his behaviour. A little old lady could just as easily have been the recipient of his consideration. Billie pressed clammy hands to her hot cheeks. No, indeed, Calisto had misunderstood what she saw. When Alexei got truly intimate with a woman, he crossed boundaries with the speed, power and high visibility of a champion racehorse.
Hilary looked unusually distracted when they finally got back to the house after the bonfires and the firework display on the beach. Billie reclaimed Nicky and urged her aunt to put her feet up for what little remained of the evening.
‘I’m fine…I do like Stuart,’ the blonde woman confided.
‘Stuart?’ Billie hadn’t a clue who the other woman was referring to.
‘Stuart McGregor, the captain of Alexei’s yacht. He’s a lovely man, quiet but very well read,’ Hilary declared.
‘I don’t know him very well,’ Billie admitted. ‘The yacht crew don’t mix much with Alexei’s other employees, but I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.’
When Billie started work the next morning at the villa, she was surprised to discover that Alexei had already flown to New York.
‘Did Calisto accompany him?’ Billie asked the housekeeper.
‘No. She flew back to Athens last night.’ Anatalya came closer and lowered her voice. ‘I think Mr Alexei has broken up with her. I heard her shouting and when she left she took everything she owned with her.’
‘Probably just a tiff,’ Billie suggested, less prone to jumping to conclusions than the older woman. ‘They’ve been together for almost a year now.’
But Anatalya was right on target: the gossip columns and the celebrity magazines confirmed that the relationship was over later that week. On the cover of one glossy journal there was a photo of Alexei and Calisto together with a jagged line like lightning separating them. Alexei had refused to comment when asked why, but Calisto had given a couple of interviews and implied that Alexei’s reputation and party lifestyle had given her pause for thought.
At the start of the following week, Alexei phoned Billie and told her that he needed her to fly over to his English country house. He was staging an important business meeting there and he wanted Billie to ensure that all the arrangements flowed smoothly.
‘We knew you’d have to travel. It’s part of your job,’ Hilary reminded her niece as Billie held her baby son close and wondered anxiously how long she would be away from him. Secrecy was all very well, she began to appreciate, but there were definite drawbacks. Had Alexei known that she was a mother he would never have expected her to leave her child for days on end.
‘When he left you behind here on the island, you worried that your role was being reduced,’ Hilary added. ‘So, you can’t complain now.’
Billie breathed in the sweet familiar scent of her baby and hugged him, loving the weight and feel of his little trusting body in her arms. ‘I just don’t want to leave him.’
‘You can phone every hour of the day and I’ll put him on the webcam,’ her aunt promised sympathetically.
It was well over a year since Billie had visited Hazlehurst Manor in Kent. Although she had planned to hire a car at the airport, Alexei had sent a vehicle to pick her up. From the instant the car turned up the long stately driveway to the imposing Georgian pile, her eyes were anxiously scanning from left to right for maintenance issues that would require attention. But the verges were neat, the parkland picturesque and what she could see of the manicured hedges suggested that the gardens were just as well groomed. She was greeted by the manor’s highly efficient housekeeper and taken straight off for a tour.
A suite on the ground floor, complete with a facility for tea and coffee, had already been set up as a conference centre. The bedrooms were as well prepared for occupation as any in an exclusive hotel. Billie was impressed and said so—on the accommodation front there was nothing left for her to do. Alexei arrived in a helicopter late the following morning while Billie was going over some estimates for renovations to the kitchen quarters. He strode into the office where she was working, his black hair blown back from his lean bronzed features, an unexpected smile tilting his passionate and wilful mouth. It lightened the often forbidding aspect that had long characterised the Drakos reputation in the business world.