Smokescreen Marriage. Sara Craven
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of course. He’d appeared on her horizon like some great dark planet, and she’d been the moon drawn helplessly into his orbit. And by the time she’d realised the danger she was in, it was already too late.
But from the first time she’d seen him, she’d been in too deep, out of her depth and sinking.
As the drier hummed, Kate let her tired mind drift back over the months to where it had all begun…
‘Oh, come on, Katie, don’t let me down. It’ll be a laugh.’ Lisa’s tone was cajoling. ‘After all, when do we get a chance to get inside a hotel like the Zycos Regina? Don’t you want to see how the other half live? Besides, I really need you to make up the foursome.’
Kate bit her lip. It had been a long season on the Greek island of Zycos, and, although on the whole she’d enjoyed being a tour rep for Halcyon Club Travel, she felt bone-weary now that it was over.
All she wanted to do that evening was complete her packing for the following day’s flight, have a hot shower, and an early night. But Lisa, the fellow rep with whom she’d shared a small apartment all summer, wanted a night on the town.
She said cautiously, ‘Who did you say was going?’
‘His name’s Stavros,’ Lisa said. ‘And he’s the disc jockey at the Nite Spot down on the waterfront.’
‘Oh,’ Kate said. ‘That place.’
Lisa tossed her head. ‘You’re such a snob,’ she accused.
Kate sighed. ‘Not at all. It just hasn’t got a very good reputation, and you know it. It’s always being raided.’
‘Well, we’re not taking clients there,’ Lisa said. ‘And Stavros just plays the music. He’s gorgeous.’ She rolled her eyes lasciviously. ‘The other guy’s his cousin Dimitris from Athens.’
Kate began, ‘I don’t think…’ but Lisa cut across her.
‘Oh, come on, Katie. Let your hair down for once. It’s an evening out, not a lifetime commitment, for God’s sake. And we’ll be out of here tomorrow.’
Well that was true, Kate acknowledged. It was just one evening, and she could always invent a diplomatic headache if things got heavy.
Besides, if she was honest, she’d always had a sneaking curiosity about the Zycos Regina, the largest but also most exclusive hotel on the island, and set in its own private grounds well away from the lively coastal resorts favoured by the majority of tourists.
She knew that it was part of a chain of equally prestigious hotels dotted round the Mediterranean, their standards of luxury and service putting them out of the reach of the package tour market.
It might be fun, she thought, not just to see how the other half lived, but join them too for a brief while.
She smiled at Lisa. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘You talked me into it.’
She chose carefully from her limited wardrobe that evening, opting for a black linen shift, knee-length, sleeveless and discreetly square necked. Lisa, blonde and bubbly, favoured the outrageous look out of uniform, and would be wearing something skimpy and cut-off, but Kate felt that restraint was her best bet.
For that reason, she twisted her hair into its usual tidy pleat instead of leaving it loose on her shoulders, as she’d originally intended. And she applied just a modicum of makeup, darkening her long lashes, and applying a light coral glow to her mouth.
She slipped on a pair of strappy sandals, then stood back to view herself in the mirror.
The evening was warm and still, but she suddenly found herself shivering as if a small chill wind had penetrated the shutters of her room.
And heard a warning voice in her head say quietly, ‘Be careful.’
Oh, for God’s sake, she thought impatiently as she turned towards the door. What can possibly happen in such a public—and eminently high-class—place?
Stavros, she disliked on sight. His coarse good looks might attract Lisa, but held no appeal for her. He looked her up and down smilingly, and she felt as if she’d been touched by a finger dipped in slime.
And Dimitris, with his flashy clothes and abundance of gold jewellery, set her teeth on edge too. As did the way he looked at her, as if he was mentally stripping her.
Oh, well, she thought with a mental shrug. The evening won’t last forever. It will just seem like it.
The club at the Zycos Regina impressed her immediately with its understated elegance, and subdued lighting. The clientele, mostly couples expensively dressed, were seated at tables set round an oval dance floor, and, on a corner dais, a quartet was playing soft dance music interspersed with interesting jazz.
‘It’s not very lively,’ Lisa complained loudly, twisting round in her chair to survey the other patrons. ‘If they’re all so rich, why aren’t they happier?’
Kate, uncomfortably aware of raised eyebrows and disapproving glances from adjoining tables, winced as she took a sip from the lurid cocktail that had been served to them all by an impassive waiter, and thought how much she’d have preferred a glass of wine.
It embarrassed her to see Dimitris flourishing a wallet full of notes, and clearly believing an extravagant tip allowed him to treat the staff like dirt.
It crucified her too to see Stavros stroking Lisa’s exposed skin with a proprietorial hand and leering into her cleavage, then finding Dimitris leaning towards her, murmuring throatily with a suggestive smile, and reaching for her hand.
Deliberately, Kate edged her own chair away, feeling as if she’d woken to find herself in the middle of her worst nightmare.
We don’t belong here she thought, with a sigh, as she began to plan her own strategic withdrawal. And we’d better leave before they ask us to go.
She wasn’t sure of the moment when she knew she was being watched, but she felt the impact of the glance like a hand on her shoulder.
She drank some more of the unpleasant cocktail, then risked a swift look round, wondering resignedly if the management had already been summoned.
It was a corner table, set slightly apart from the others, and occupied by three men.
And the man watching her sat in the middle. In his early thirties, he was clearly younger than the other two, and, equally obviously, he was the one in control.
Even that first lightning assessment told her that he was good-looking, although not classically handsome. The dark face was strong, the lines of nose and jaw arrogantly marked. But more than that he exuded power, a charismatic force that could reach across a crowded room and touch its object like the caress of a hand.
She knew she should look away, but it was already too late. For an electrifying moment their eyes met, and locked, and Kate felt her breathing quicken and her throat tighten in an odd excitement.
But there was no warmth in his gaze. His expression was cool and watchful, his brows drawn together in a slight frown, as if something had displeased him.
And no prizes for guessing what that was, Kate thought, as she turned back to her companions, her face hot with embarrassed colour.
‘Who’s that?’ Lisa had noticed the direction of her gaze, and was staring herself with open interest. ‘Do you know him?’ She giggled. ‘Have you been holding out on me, Katie?’
‘Not in the least,’ Kate said crisply. ‘Nor do I want to know him. I think he feels we’re lowering the tone of the establishment.’
The fact that she thought exactly the same herself seemed paradoxically to increase her resentment.
‘But I know him.’ Stavros leaned forward, eyes gleaming. ‘That is Michalis Theodakis. His father owns the whole Regina chain of hotels, and a great deal more, but the son now runs the company.’
Kate’s