As her father spoke Jacy felt the full weight of Leo's betrayal sink deeper and deeper into every fibre of her being. She felt sic
k and, worse, utterly humiliated and ashamed. She had given her most precious gift to a liar and a cheat. 'Are you sure he's the same man?' She made one last appeal, hoping there might be some mistake.
'Jacy, I'm sure,' he confirmed soberly. 'But if he's hurt you in any way, I'll make him pay—even if I have to follow him for the rest of my days.'
She looked into her father's familiar face and was shocked by the grim determination in his usually easygoing features. His pale eyes gleamed as cold as the Arctic Ocean. 'If that man has seduced you, my baby...'
'No, Daddy.' She stopped him. 'It didn't go that far,' she lied. Even in her distress she recognised that there was no way a man like her father would ever win a fight against Leo.
Suddenly, all the little things that she'd puzzled over in the past few weeks made complete sense. The luxurious boat—of course he didn't take out tourists; he probably enjoyed game fishing... The lobsters she'd seen on the very first day they'd met—obviously he had bought the catch. The amount of free time Leo had spent with her; no fisherman could afford that kind of leisure.
She groaned inwardly at her own naive folly. The look of the man alone should have told her. Tonight, when he'd arrived at her door elegantly dressed, she had wondered for a moment how a Greek fisherman could afford that kind of attire. But perhaps most telling of all was his complete grasp of the English language, with hardly a trace of accent. She had once queried it, and Leo had laughingly said he'd picked it up from English friends.
'You're sure, Jacy? I know the man's reputation.'
'Positive,' she declared, and was amazed to hear how emphatic she sounded when it was taking every ounce of control she possessed to stop herself from screaming hysterically at the fate that had dealt her such a devastating blow. But somewhere in her subconscious she recognised the ruthless power of a man like Leo, and instinctively she knew that he was the type to crush her father without a second thought, if it suited him.
Exactly how she knew, she could not analyse. Her chaotic emotions weren't conducive to clear thinking. All she did recognise as she stood curved in her father's arm, was that the man she loved did not exist, and all she had left to cling to was her father. Later she would question every word, every gesture in bitter self-recrimination; but at the moment she just wanted some explanation, some excuse for the pain she was feeling. She recalled her father's face as he'd walked in the door and spotted Leo.
'But how do you know Leo, Daddy?' she asked, unconscious of the pained puzzlement in her delicately expressive features.
'Oh, baby, it's a long story, and not very pleasant.'
'Please, Daddy, I need to know, to understand.'
I guess I owe you that much, Jacy.' A deep frown marked his even features, the lines around his pale eyes exaggerated as he stared down into the trusting, upturned face of his daughter. 'It's not a pleasant story, child.' Taking a deep breath, he continued speaking in an even tone, showing little emotion. 'You know the paper I edit in Los Angeles? Well, a few months back Leo Kozakis was the headline story for quite some time. The lady he'd lived with for three years in San Francisco was suing him for palimony.'
Jacy's face went even paler, if that was possible, at the mention of another woman. 'Palimony?' She had never heard the word.
'Yes, Jacy; in California, a man doesn't have to be married to a woman to be sued for alimony—it's enough if they've lived together for a few years as man and wife. In Leo Kozakis' case, the woman claimed that she'd lived with him for three years in his penthouse apartment, and then he'd thrown her out. She applied to the court for palimony, and Kozakis fought the case. His argument was that the lady was his mistress, nothing more, and that she'd clearly understood the situation before she moved into the apartment.'
'That's disgusting,' Jacy murmured.
'Yes, well, Kozakis reckoned that it was a common arrangement in Europe. He gave the lady presents when he saw her, and when she declared that she was homeless he allowed her to use the company apartment. But at no time had he made any commitment to her. It was a very nasty fight.'
Jacy could not bear to believe it. It was something so outside of her teenage idea of love and life. To fight in a Court of law, not even over a marriage but simply over one's love-life, was too horrible to contemplate. 'What happened?' she whispered.
'Kozakis won, of course. Unfortunately for you, my pet. It was my paper, my decision to break the story to the public, and we tended towards the lady's side of the problem. Kozakis knows that, and he's never forgiven me. Obviously when I walked in here tonight, and you told him that I was your father, he must have thought it was a set-up—you and I working together on another expose of his lifestyle.'
'Oh God! So that's why he asked if I was going to be a reporter!' Jacy spoke her thoughts out loud. The worst thing was that she'd confirmed Leo's suspicions by agreeing that she had considered a career in journalism. He'd cut her off before she could add that she wasn't going to.
'I'm sorry, truly sorry, if I've ruined your budding romance, but as your father I've got to tell you that the man would never have married you. His type never do: he just enjoys beautiful women.'
Each word her father spoke was like a knife in Jacy's heart, but she didn't doubt for a moment that he was telling her the truth.
'He's known to have girlfriends dotted all over the world, wherever the firm of Kozakis does business. I had heard that his father is ill, which is probably why Leo is here at the family home in Corfu. I hate to see you disillusioned, child-' his hand gently stroked over her golden hair in a consoling gesture '—but I imagine that he found a young girl like you nothing more than a novel diversion while he has to stay here in Corfu.'
A blessed numbness had enveloped Jacy as she listened to the horrible truth, and she knew that her father was right. Almost dispassionately she recalled the first time Leo had made love to her, and a bitter, ironic smile twisted her full lips. He had almost taken her on the beach, but he'd been nowhere near as out of control as she herself had been. She understood clearly now why, when she'd admitted to being unprotected, he had quite cold-bloodedly left her and swum back to the boat. Later, when he was adequately protected, only then had he made love to her. While she'd been dreaming of wedding-bells and little brown-eyed babies, he'd been making quite sure that he wouldn't be compromised into a hasty marriage.
'You've had a lucky escape, Jacy. At least the man had the decency not to seduce you completely. You're young, and it's your first crush on an older man. I know it hurts, but believe me, child, you'll soon get over it. Once you get home and go to university, all this will seem like a brief holiday romance that didn't come to anything.'
Jacy turned over on her stomach and buried her head in the pillow. Her father had been right, in a way. They had left Corfu together the next day, and she'd gone on to university; but she had never been the same carefree young girl again. That summer in Corfu she had grown up... Then in the autumn, her parents had told her that they were getting a divorce—apparently they'd only stayed together until she left home.
It had been another blow to her, and she had seen little of her father over the next few years. Then when her mother was so tragically killed he had returned to London and bought this house, and Jacy had shared it with him until his death.
With hindsight, she could see why her faith in men and marriage was non-existent, but for a long time she'd been terribly hurt by what she saw as betrayal by the only men she had ever known. Her student years were spent studying hard and taking little part in the social side of college—and avoiding men like the plague. She obtained a First in Economics, and joined Mutual as an executive; and until tonight she'd been completely happy with her career and lifestyle.
Yawning widely, she snuggled down into the depths of her single bed. So Leo Kozakis had reappeared in her life! She would not allow him to ruin her happiness again. She was a mature, successful woman, not the silly girl he had known. She could handle him, she told herself as her eyelids drooped. In fact, it would be a pleasure to teach the arrogant devil that he couldn't have every woman he desired. She had read articles about him over the years, and it appeared to her that he'd never changed at all: he was still the womanising rake he'd always been, whereas Jacy considered that she had grown into a strong, capable woman—a match for any male chauvinist pig of the Kozakis type. And on that thought she finally drifted into sleep.