Doukakis's Apprentice

And he was about to make them worse still by telling her that their relationship was over. That whatever they’d shared was just a one off, never to be repeated.

‘You were worried about your sister. I get that. Don’t worry.’ Still smiling, she stretched her arms above her head and yawned. ‘Arianna is lucky to have you. You might be misguided sometimes, but I know you care. That’s the thing that matters.’

Damon dragged his eyes from her slender arms and tried to wipe the memories of her sliding those arms around his neck. ‘Misguided?’

‘Well, you smother her, which means she always feels the need to rebel. But don’t worry about it. Plenty of parents make that mistake and you’re not even her parent.’ There was a flash of admiration in her gaze. ‘I don’t know how you did it. None of the sixteen-year-old-boys I’ve met are capable of caring for themselves, let alone someone else. My dad, who was several decades older than you, completely freaked out when my mum walked out on him and left me with him. Not that I remember because I was only two. But I remember us both having a laugh about it one day. He told me that he sat there looking at me, and apparently I sat there looking at him. I didn’t quite have to change my own nappy, but I learned pretty early on that if I wanted something done I had to do it myself. And I did things for him too.’

Damon was appalled at her parents’ utterly selfish behaviour. ‘How long was it until your father remarried the first time?’

‘It felt like about five minutes. My dad is rubbish at being on his own. As soon as a relationship breaks down he latches onto the next person. I didn’t even think much of it until I went to senior school—’ She gave a matter-of-fact shrug. ‘Everything is so much more complicated at senior school. Younger children are much more accepting of differences.’

Examining his own behaviour, and not liking what he saw, Damon paced to the balcony and stared down at the Paris streets, jammed with traffic. ‘You are a very bright, very clever young woman. Why didn’t you go to university?’

His question was met with silence and when he turned his head to look at her she gave what could only be described as a forced smile.

‘I spent my childhood in and out of the company. The people were like my family. Once I started at the day school I often hung out there because it was more fun than going home to an empty house. I used to help Doris Cooper in the post room and then I’d find an empty desk somewhere and Mr Foster in Accounts used to help me with my maths homework. By the time I reached eighteen I could see the company was a mess. I could also see a way I could make a huge contribution and pay back some of their kindness to me. They were always worried that they’d lose their jobs. I didn’t want that to happen.’

‘My sources tell me your Mr Foster is struggling.’

‘Because the board never invested in training.’ She defended her colleague hotly. ‘He just needs help with spreadsheets. I’ve been doing my best to train him because frankly he’s the reason I did well at maths, but there isn’t a whole lot of time in the day.’

‘I imagine there isn’t when you’re running an entire company single-handed.’ His dry tone earned him a frown.

‘Don’t mock me.’

‘I’m not mocking you.’

‘If I was responsible for the company then I didn’t do a good job, did I?’ she said in a gloomy voice. ‘Because everyone could still be made redundant.’

‘Theé mou, if I give you my assurance no one will be made redundant can we talk about something other than work for five minutes?!’ Damon jabbed his fingers into his hair and wondered how the conversation he’d been planning had somehow been so dramatically derailed. Somehow what he had to say felt even harder in the light of what she’d just revealed. ‘Polly—’ with a huge effort, he controlled the tone of his voice ‘—we have to talk about what happens next.’

‘Well, if you’re serious about not making anyone redundant then I’ll get straight on the phone to reassure everyone and—’

‘Polly!’ His tone finally snagged her attention.

‘What? You’re not about to tell me you were joking, are you?’ Her face lost colour. ‘Because that would be a really cruel thing to do.’

‘I’m not joking. Everyone who previously worked for your father can keep their jobs.’

‘Really?’ Her expression was transformed from worry to wonderment and she flung her arms around him, dancing on the spot and hugging at the same time. ‘Oh, thank you, thank you, I take back every evil thing I ever said about you.’

Easing her away from him before he found himself repeating his mistakes of the previous night, Damon realised that her cheeks were wet. ‘Why are you crying?’

‘I’m just so happy! You have no idea—’ She covered her face with her hands and drew in a juddering breath. ‘I knew what a mess everything was but I just didn’t know how to sort it out.’ She wiped her cheeks on her sleeve. ‘Sorry. But those people have been part of my life since I was small.’

A small, lonely little girl whose father had no time for her, finding friends and comfort among the people he worked with. Shaken by a depth of emotion he hadn’t felt before, Damon instinctively withdrew. ‘If you could stop crying, that would be good.’

‘Sorry.’ She produced a tissue and blew her nose hard. ‘I expect you’re used to mopping up tears from all those women you make cry.’

‘I do not make women cry.’

‘Of course you do, but don’t worry about it. Today you’re my hero. You can do no wrong. Thank you so much. Can we fly straight back to London now? I want to tell everyone.’ Her nose was pink and her eyes glistened with tears and still she’d made no reference to what had happened between them.

He wondered whether she’d already mentally moved her things into his penthouse?

‘Polly, we have to talk about what happened last night.’

No longer looking at him, she pushed the tissue into her pocket. ‘What is there to talk about? We both know what happened, but honestly there’s nothing to talk about as far as I’m concerned.’