Bond of Hatred(14)

Damon had not been able to meet Sarah's questioning gaze. Finally, when he could no longer bear the silence, he had said almost pleadingly, 'I cannot defy my brother...at least, not at present.'

And Sarah's heart had sunk. It had been an excuse and not a good enough one in the circumstances. Callie had become hysterical. Sarah suspected that somehow her kid sister had expected her to be able to wave a magic wand and make everything fine again. But the reality had been that Damon was a grown man. If he did not have the courage to stand up to his tyrannical brother and forge his own path in life until such time as his family came round to accepting his choice of bride, nobody else could give him that courage. A week later, Damon had taken off for Greece again with very little warning.

'Did you know that he was going?' Sarah had asked her sister worriedly.

'Don't worry... he'll be back. He really wants this baby,' Callie had asserted doggedly, seemingly uncon­cerned by the suspicions assailing Sarah.

Sarah had gone over and over Damon's demeanour that evening in her own mind, wondering if it was wickedly cynical of her to suspect that the young Greek was no longer quite so sure of his feelings for her sister. He had not reiterated his once dramatic assurances that he loved Callie. His strain and the alteration in his be­haviour had been pronounced. She had not wanted to worry her sister with her fears.

But a fortnight later a suave lawyer had turned up at Damon's Oxford apartment and served Callie with a notice of eviction. Callie had run home to Sarah, out­raged by what had happened but convinced that the eviction could not possibly have had anything to do with Damon. It was, she'd insisted, a stupid misunder­standing with the landlord. She had refused to return to university. Sarah had pleaded with her but Callie had refused to listen to her.

In despair, Sarah had decided that perhaps it was her duty to confront Alex Terzakis and attempt to reason with him. Callie had asked her to do it but Sarah hadn't wanted to do it. Only her sister's unblemished faith in Damon had persuaded her. She had been pleasantly sur­prised when Alex's very correctly spoken secretary had come back to her within the hour with his agreement. He would meet them the next time he was in London.

She remembered that day in his office. It had been unforgettable. Now that day he had intimidated her. Right from the first moment she'd laid eyes on him, her stomach had churned. She had gone in good faith to that meeting, angry and defensive on Callie's behalf, butso foolishly certain that when he met Callie he would realise that his prejudice against her was unreasonable.

But Alex Terzakis had never actually met Callie. He had let the two of them enter his palatial office and had then fixed his attention solely on Sarah. 'I think that you and I should talk alone, Miss Hartwell.'

A chill ran over her flesh, remembering that instant. He had been so very clever about it. She had not realised that the room he smoothly showed Callie into was about to be invaded by two nasty lawyers, set on frightening her sister to death. Divide and conquer. He had delib­erately separated her from Callie.

And Sarah had been so stupid; she had been relieved by Callie's removal from the proceedings, believing that she would be able to talk more freely without her sister's presence and assuming that Callie would be invited back in once the trickiest part of the confrontation was over.

Alex had lounged back in his imposing chair behind his equally imposing desk and murmured silkily, 'You have my full attention, Miss Hartwell.'

'I'm here to ask what you find so objectionable about my sister,' Sarah had framed tightly. 'And why you re­fused even to consider meeting her.'

An ebony brow had elevated, a sardonic smile that was incredibly chilling curving his mouth. 'That you should even ask that question tells me much. I have no desire to meet your sister. I merely want her out of Damon's life.'

'You haven't answered my question,' Sarah had persisted.

'Why should I?' he had countered with unvarnished insolence. 'Your sister shared a bed with my brother...that is all.'

'He asked her to marry him...'

He had shot her a blatant look of ridicule, backed by cold aggression. 'Pillow-talk...what else? This is notthe nineteenth century, Miss Hartwell. Damon is Greek and his blood runs hot. He is also very young-----'

'So is Callie!' Sarah had gasped in outrage. 'And she is also pregnant.'

'I don't believe that. I don't think either of you is that stupid,' he had dismissed without hesitation.

'Callie is expecting your brother's child-----'

'I cannot see where you imagine this claim could possibly lead,' he had interrupted very drily. 'And I had hoped that you would have the intelligence to know when you are beaten. The bird that lays the golden eggs has flown, Miss Hartwell. He's back in Greece and he's staying there. His affair with your sister is finished.'