‘Forgetting this Tom, Dick and Harry for a moment, you are saying you will not accompany me to dinner tomorrow night because of your responsibility towards Jill?’ he said softly. ‘That is it?’ His expression told her all too clearly what he thought of that.
She glared at him but was saved the embarrassment of a reply by the other three emerging from the open doors of the dining room, Evangelos carrying another carafe of the milky white ouzo in one hand which he raised to Andreas, saying, ‘It is a night for sitting and drinking while we put the world to rights, yes?’
‘Sorry, but no.’ Andreas rose lazily to his feet, his smiling face taking in the others as he said, ‘I’ve some papers to look at tonight at home and Paul has been waiting outside for the last few minutes. I told him we were leaving at ten-thirty.’
‘All work and no play?’ Dimitra was smiling at her son as she spoke and it was clear the bond between them was a strong one.
‘That has never been one of my attributes—or failings, depending on which way you look at it,’ Andreas returned drily. ‘But it might apply more aptly to Sophy. Do you know she is insisting she cannot be my guest at the Pallini tomorrow because she is here only as Jill’s companion?’
The dirty, rotten rat. Sophy was too taken aback by the effortless fait accompli to say anything as the others instantly voiced their insistence that of course she must go out for the night and enjoy herself. They wouldn’t hear otherwise.
‘You don’t need to keep me company, Sophy, you know that,’ Jill said earnestly.
Her voice had barely finished before Dimitra was saying, ‘Please, Sophy, I hope we have not made you feel you are only here in some minor capacity. We love having you stay with us, my dear, but you are perfectly free to come and go as you wish, and I promise you we will take good care of Jill.’
Only Evangelos remained silent, his dark eyes on his son’s face as Andreas smiled easily, saying, ‘You see, Sophy? This is your holiday too, and you will be doing me a great honour in allowing me to show you a little of the real Greece while you are here, starting tomorrow night, yes?’
He had backed her into a corner and there was absolutely no way out without making it clear they were at logger-heads, and thereby upsetting everyone and causing tension. If ever there was a sly, underhand double-dealer, Andreas Karydis was one, Sophy thought furiously as she fought not to betray her thoughts.
And further proof of this came when Andreas turned to Jill, his voice pleasant as he said, ‘Of course you are more than welcome to come too, Jill, although I thought you would prefer to remain close to the house in case Michael should wake up and want you.’
‘Definitely,’ Jill agreed at once.
As he had known she would. Sophy bent down and fiddled with the strap of her sandal, pretending it was undone, in an effort to hide the contortions her face had fallen into as she struggled not to scream abuse at him. Who did he think he was, manipulating everyone like this? Talk about a cheek! He thought he was so clever. It was a good thirty seconds before she could trust both her face and her voice, and even then her voice had a clipped edge to it when she said, ‘What time would you like me to be ready?’
‘Seven okay?’ he returned easily, the charm fairly oozing out of him. ‘And it’s smart casual, not dinner dress, at the Pallini, unless you would like to go somewhere more formal?’
‘The Pallini will be fine,’ Sophy answered hollowly, wondering what the reaction would be if she threw the last of her cool coffee into his face.
‘Until seven tomorrow, then.’ He smiled at her, nodded at the others and kissed his mother lightly on the forehead before walking into the house, leaving Sophy sitting in a state of semi-shock as she listened to the others talking. She heard his voice once he was outside the house again—obviously conversing with Paul—and then the sound of a car’s engine and the scrunch of tyres as it drew away.
Well, okay, Andreas Karydis, she thought furiously, I might be having dinner with you tomorrow night but that will be all. If you think for one second you can twist me round your little finger like you seem to do everyone else, you’ve got a big shock coming. She frowned to herself and then something made her glance up to see Evangelos watching her, his eyes—Andreas’s eyes—narrowed and thoughtful.
She forced a smile and made a light, complimentary remark about the beautiful gardens, and Evangelos immediately switched into attentive host mode, the awkward moment passing.
But an hour or so later, when the four of them rose to retire, Evangelos caught her arm as they walked into the house letting Dimitra and Jill walk on ahead of them. ‘He has annoyed you,’ Evangelos said quietly, the words a statement and not a question. And he didn’t need to mention Andreas’s name.
Sophy thought about prevaricating but somehow, with Evangelos’s kind eyes fixed on her face, it wasn’t an honest option. ‘Yes,’ she said simply as they stood in the middle of the dining room looking at each other. ‘He has.’
‘You do not want to go to dinner with Andreas?’ There was no condemnation in the question, merely mild and somewhat surprised enquiry. ‘I think you will enjoy yourself at the Pallini.’
Did she want to be with him? The idea was thrilling on the one hand, but possessed of such danger she couldn’t ignore the tension the thought produced. Also, the way he had manipulated her had caught her on the raw, to the point where she would have given anything to throw his dinner back in his face! And all these feelings, every one of them, was so alien to the calm, composed and matter-of-fact woman she normally was that she felt she didn’t know herself anymore. So all in all, no—she didn’t think she wanted to go to dinner with Evangelos’s son!
Sophy was aware as she looked into the handsome face of Andreas’s father that she was seeing Andreas as he would be in thirty years or so, and it took a moment for her to say quietly, ‘I prefer to make my own mind up on such matters,’ and this time she knew she had avoided a direct answer.
‘I can understand this. Andreas can be…persistent when his mind is set on something.’ Evangelos’s voice was apologetic.
Persistent? Persistent didn’t even begin to describe it!
Sophy’s face must have given her away because in the next instant Evangelos chuckled quietly, and his voice carried the amusement evident in his face when he said, ‘It would be good for Andreas to find he cannot have things all his own way for once. He is used—’ He stopped abruptly and then said, ‘Pardon me, Sophy. May I speak frankly?’ And at her nod, continued, ‘My son is used to being the pursued rather than the pursuer, you know what I mean? He is wealthy and good-looking, and this has a magnetism all of its own for some women. Most women.’
Sophy stared at Evangelos, not at all sure if Andreas’s father was warning her off his son or quite the reverse. ‘This is not good for someone of Andreas’s disposition,’ Evangelos c
ontinued after a moment or two, ‘because it produces a feeling of contempt in him for the women concerned. He is a highly intelligent man and tires easily of being told what he knows the woman concerned imagines he wishes to hear.’
Sophy nodded. Yes, she could understand that. Wealth and privilege brought its own problems. Her brow wrinkled. ‘I don’t quite see why you are telling me all this,’ she said quietly. ‘I have absolutely no intention of flattering Andreas’s ego.’ Not if he was the last man on earth!
‘I know that, my dear.’ Evangelos patted her arm in a fatherly fashion. ‘I am merely explaining the reason for my son’s lack of…sensitivity this evening.’