When Christakos Meets His Match(8)

                That green gaze was steady, unsettling.

                ‘It’s a spot-check. I like to do them from time to time, to make sure things are running smoothly.’

                Sidonie breathed out as something clicked in her brain. ‘Of course. I read about that.’

                He frowned and she clarified reluctantly, feeling hot and self-conscious. ‘You were a case study in my business module at college.’

                That information didn’t appear to be news to him. ‘What else did you study at college?’

                Embarrassed now, Sidonie admitted, ‘Technically I’m still in college... I had to leave before the start of my final year just over a year ago, due to personal events. I’m saving money to try and complete my course... My degree is in Business and French.’

                ‘What happened?’

                Sidonie looked at him. On some level she was shocked at his directness, but it was also curiously refreshing. She couldn’t seem to remove her gaze from his. The small space they occupied felt strangely intimate, cocoon-like.

                ‘I... Well, my father lost his construction business when the property boom crashed in Ireland. He struggled for a while but it was useless. He only managed to get himself into debt.’ Sidonie went cold inside. ‘He passed away not long afterwards. Everything was gone—the business, the house... College was paid for up to a point, but then the money ran out. I had to leave and work.’

                Sidonie felt uncomfortable under his gaze. It was intense, unsettling.

                ‘And why were you in Paris?’

                Sidonie arched a brow. ‘What is this? Twenty questions? What were you doing in Paris?’

                Alexio crossed his arms and Sidonie’s belly clenched when she saw how the muscles in his arm bunched under the thin silk of his shirt. She gulped and looked back into that hypnotising gaze.

                ‘I was in Milan yesterday at my brother’s wedding, he said. ‘Then I flew to Paris this morning to catch this flight, so that I could do my check while en route to London.’

                ‘Are you not concerned about missing your meeting?’

                Alexio smiled and the bottom dropped out of Sidonie’s belly.

                ‘It’s not ideal, but they’ll wait for me.’

                Of course they would, she thought faintly. Who wouldn’t wait for this man?

                ‘So,’ he said patiently, ‘now will you tell me why you were in Paris?’

                Sidonie looked at him and unbidden a lump came to her throat for her wayward. selfish mother and her poor Tante Josephine who was so worried. She swallowed it down.

                ‘I was here to meet with a solicitor to deal with my mother’s affairs. She passed away in Paris a couple of months ago. She’d been living with my aunt; she’s from here originally.’ She corrected herself. ‘Was from here, I mean. She moved back after my father died.’

                Alexio uncrossed his arms and his expression sobered. ‘That’s rough—to lose both parents in such a short space of time. I lost my mother too—five months ago.’

                Sidonie’s chest tightened. A moment of empathy. union    . ‘I’m sorry... It’s hard, isn’t it?’