And Talos was allowing her to leave.
No, it really did not make any sense.
Since their last encounter she’d done nothing but think of him and his words. She’d known from the beginning that her playing his grandmother’s final composition was important to him—you didn’t blackmail and threaten someone for something trivial. Dining with his grandfather had brought the true importance of the gala to life for her. This was King Astraeus’s swansong. This was the final celebration of his life.
And now Talos was prepared to scrap what he’d fought so hard to attain.
His grandparents had raised him and his brothers since he was seven. His family meant everything to him. This piece of music meant everything to his entire family. Of all the things the gala represented, this was the performance that meant the most. It wasn’t just the icing on the cake; it was the sponge and filling too.
She thought back to that evening three days ago, and the contempt in his voice when he’d ordered her to leave his villa. She’d thought then that the contempt was directed at her, but suddenly she realised it had been directed inwards, at himself.
And suddenly she realised something else.
For Talos to release her from the contract now meant he was putting her emotional well-being above everything.
Talos Kalliakis was a warrior. He would fight to the bitter end, even if it meant frogmarching her onto the stage and holding her upright while she played. Their time together had proved she could play when she was with him—something he would use as a weapon in his arsenal He would carry on their affair until she’d outlived her use. He wouldn’t have lost faith in her because faith didn’t exist in his vocabulary. For Talos it was all about spirit and belief.
She thought back to the rehearsal earlier in the week, when his presence had enabled her to play the whole piece without having to hide behind a screen. There had been pride in his brown eyes, but mingled with it had been something troubled. Now she understood what that had meant—her distress had troubled him on a personal level.
She scrambled for her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found the gala coordinator’s name. She pressed the call button.
‘Has the schedule been changed?’ Amalie asked without preamble.
‘I was told an hour ago that the final orchestral piece has been changed,’ the coordinator replied. ‘I’m still waiting to hear what it’s been changed to.’
‘But my orchestra will still be performing the final piece?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you.’
Disconnecting the call, Amalie rubbed a hand over her mouth, then dialled Melina’s number. The kickboxing instructor’s froideur towards her had thawed over time—enough so that she’d given Amalie her number.
‘Melina? I need your help...’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE GALA WAS proving to be a huge success. The open-air theatre was filled; not a single seat was free. The day had started with Helios announcing his engagement to Princess Catalina of Monte Cleure, and then the guests had been treated to a variety of acts—from a children’s choir to a world-famous circus troupe—and each in turn had been given rapturous applause.
Talos was too keyed up to enjoy it.
He’d sat down with his grandfather that morning and explained that Amalie would not be performing after all. He’d told him that the orchestra had rehearsed in Paris with another violinist before flying over, and how that violinist was prepared to take the role.
His grandfather had looked him straight in the eye and replied, ‘An understudy won’t do. We both know Amalie is the one.’
Talos had responded with a sharp nod, refusing to think of the undertone in his grandfather’s words or the expression in his eyes as he’d said them.
The penultimate act was on stage now; Agon’s Royal Ballet School, performing a condensed version of the Nutcracker Suite with the accompaniment of Agon’s Royal Orchestra. Ballet bored him at the best of times, but tonight he didn’t notice a single thing about it. As hard as he tried to concentrate, his mind was with Amalie.
His grandfather, sitting to his left with a blanket snug over his lap, was thoroughly enjoying it all, nodding along to the more upbeat performances and snoozing his way through those that failed to capture his attention.
If Helios and his new fiancée were enjoying it they were doing a fine job of pretending otherwise, the atmosphere between them decidedly frosty. And Theseus... He might as well not be there, for all the attention he was paying to the acts.