Grace once more went quiet as the woman on the other end of the phone had talked.
“Please meet me…we can talk about it” more silence, relief on her face as she had nodded to something the other person had said, her eyes looking over at Alexos.
“Tonight?” her eyes questioning as he had nodded, lifting his phone and once more calling back the helicopter.
Ringing off she had leapt from the bed, pacing naked backwards and forwards her hands wringing by her side “My mother told my father that she was leaving him”
Alexos watching her carefully
“He told her that if she does then he is going to reveal something, something that she seems terrified of. He also said that he will cut her off without a penny”
Stopping she had fixed him with a look so full of pain “He is blackmailing her to stay”
Her eyes filled up with tears as she had looked heavenwards a flash of anger running through her before she had looked back at him her lips curling with contempt.
“Seems to run in our family doesn’t it……..manipulated by men through the use of blackmail”
Alexos had felt the guilt hit him hard, as speechlessly he had held her look “Is she going to leave him?” his question making Grace groan softly
“She says that she needs to talk to me before she can think about it. I promised her that I would meet her on the mainland - the two of them are still there”
Nodding softly he had risen “The helicopter is coming back for us in two hours. Enough time for a shower and dinner”
As she had made to turn down food he had taken her hand in his leading her into the bathroom
“No dinner, no helicopter” Grace closing her mouth at the insistence of his tone, part of her knowing that having eaten nothing all day she was indeed hungry and would need the strength for the talk with her mother.
Her mother was pale and tired the first thoughts that had crossed Grace’s mind as she had moved into the foyer of the exclusive hotel. Scanning the room for any sign of her father she had quickly joined the woman sitting so small and alone on the large couch, she standing to hug her daughter closely, tears coming to the older woman’s eyes.
“Oh Grace…this is such a mess…I’m so sorry to drag you into this”
Sitting down she had held her mother’s hands, looking resolutely into her eyes.
“Don’t be…I am glad that you are including me” a small smile lighting her lips “I have missed you so much mum”
The sob from the other woman had tugged at Grace as she had whispered for her not to cry, her mother normally so staunch as she had put up with all she had from her husband, always seeming to rise above his petty comments and jibes.
However, now she seemed to be falling apart, Grace moving closer and placing a comforting arm around her shoulders “Whatever it is mum…I promise that we can deal with it together”
Her mother had raised her head, anguish on her lovely face “You don’t understand Grace…the secret he is prepared to make public is about you”
The surprise on her face had been hard to ignore as she had given another grin. “I don’t think that there is much that he can say about me that isn’t already public knowledge”, squeezing her mother’s hand, her look becoming concerned as the other woman had given another sob looking away
“Oh Grace…I don’t know what to do…if I leave him…it will be hard for you too”
Shaking her head firmly she had given a reassuring smile. “There is nothing that can be so bad that you have to put up with him”
For a few moments her mother had sat in silence, a myriad of emotions running through her expressive face before finally she had looked up at her daughter, her voice shaky “He is not your father Grace”
Grace’s eyes widened in shock, her mother looking away, pain on her face.
“When I was 19, I fell in love. He was everything you could ever hope for in a man. Kind, gentle, caring and I was lost, ready to do exactly what you did…run off and elope because my father thought him beneath our family”
Her voice had broken as sadness had filled her “One day there was an accident…and he was killed…it broke my heart”
Grace could hear the pain in her voice, even after all that time
“Then I found out I was pregnant and your father agreed to marry me, even though I was carrying another man’s child…I was so upset that I just let them push me into it…I didn’t love him, and I don’t think that he ever really loved me. Just wanted someone to produce his children”
Anger now in her tone “He always blamed me for not having his sons…but truth is that I don’t think that he could have children, so he blamed me and you for having no suitable heirs”