This was crazy! They’d almost killed each other not ten minutes ago; now here they were, standing halfway up a hill discussing bloody driftwood when they should be—
‘Shall we go down?’ he suggested on a thick, driven rasp.
She nodded, lowered her eyes all the way to the ground and pushed her feet into movement again. When she drew level with him he fell into step beside her and the tension inside him pounded in his chest as they walked side by side without uttering another damn word.
When they reached the house, Thea was standing anxiously in the doorway.
‘Oh, there you are!’ She hurried forward to close Nell’s pale face between gnarled fingers in a gesture of relief. ‘Alexander was so worried when he could not find you. The foolish boy went crazy, upsetting everyone by turning the whole house upside down and searching the wood before he jumped in his helicopter to look for you from the air.’
The foolish boy stood by in grim silence while Nell quietly soothed the old lady’s anxious nerves. ‘I was walking on the other side of the island,’ she said gently.
‘This explains why you did not hear us calling to you.’ Thea nodded. ‘Now you must hurry and change out of those beach clothes or he will grow truly impatient and go without you.’
Nell started frowning. ‘Go where?’ she asked.
‘With Alexander to London, of course!’ Thea exclaimed in beaming triumph. She turned to her great-nephew. ‘Did you not tell her that you have changed your mind?’ Then before he could answer she was hustling Nell inside. ‘Come—come. Your case has been packed for you. All you need to do is choose something to wear to travel in, then we …’
Nell was glancing back over her shoulder, a puzzled frown on her face. Xander was saying nothing—nothing, and his grim, dark stance did not encourage questions.
What was going on? Why had he changed his mind? ‘Xander—’
‘Do as Thea says,’ he cut in. ‘We must leave in ten minutes if we are to make our air slot out of Athens.’
With that he spun and strode away.
Bewildered and confused, Nell allowed herself to be hurried upstairs. Xander had to have decided to take her with him before he started looking for her but—why?
‘You must not get so upset when he lets off the anger, pethi mou,’ the old lady murmured beside her. ‘He loves you. That makes him jealous and possessive. All Pascalis men are the same. He worries that you might meet some other fine young man in London and leave him—as if you would be so cruel …’
Nell felt a blush stain her cheeks at Thea’s faith in Nell’s loyalty to her great-nephew, because she knew that she could be so cruel—would be so cruel if she was given the opportunity.
This marriage was over as far as she was concerned.
The flight to Athens airport was quick and smooth and trouble-free. As they flew across the island before heading towards the mainland, Nell didn’t even bother to glance down.
She’d come to love that little island but she would not be coming back to it. And her only regret at leaving it behind was having to leave a tearful Thea behind too.
‘You will come and see me soon,’ the old lady made her promise. Nell didn’t have the heart to say no, never again.
Landing in Athens was like being dropped from heaven into hell. The moment they began the transfer from helicopter to waiting plane, people stopped to stand and stare. Xander didn’t seem to notice. Nell had a feeling he didn’t see anything beyond his next target, which in this case was his private plane waiting on the tarmac.
With only a few minutes to spare to hit their slot, they boarded the plane and were taxiing towards the runway only moments after they’d strapped themselves into their seats.
And the whole shift from island to plane had been achieved in an empty hollow of perfect silence. It was awful. Neither spoke, neither attempted to, neither looked at the other. Body language did it all for them. Dressed in a razor-sharp business suit, he was grim, tight-lipped and supremely contained within himself.
Nell, on the other hand, had nothing she wanted to say. She was wearing the same clothes she’d travelled to Greece in—mainly because they were hanging in the closet and she hadn’t cared what she wore so long as she got back down the stairs within the allotted time. The only difference being that her hair had been left loose because she didn’t dare waste time in braiding it in case he left the island without her. As she’d walked out into the sunshine where Xander was waiting for her, he’d taken one look at her from behind those miserable sunglasses, his mouth had compressed then he’d just turned and stridden away.
She’d suffered his help into the helicopter without flinching and kept her gaze fixed directly ahead as he settled himself in his seat. Tension had fizzed all around them throughout the short hop to Athens Airport—making it almost impossible to breathe.
Now they sat surrounded by the kind of luxury travel most people only read about, yet they could have been two strangers on a packed package flight, the way they sat across the aisle from each other, ignoring the other’s presence. As soon as the plane levelled out Xander was climbing to his feet. The sunglasses had gone but it made no difference; his long, glossy eyelashes had taken their place and Nell refused to look up at him anyway.
He disappeared into his custom-built office area towards the back of the plane and a smiling Greek stewardess brought Nell refreshment—at Xander’s instruction, she presumed, because no one had asked her if she wanted anything.
Still, the freshly brewed tea was like manna from heaven after her having drunk nothing for hours. And she even managed to nibble at the selection of freshly made sandwiches before she gave up and pushed the tray away. After that she spent some time flipping through a couple of magazines without focusing on a single page. Then, in the end, because she felt so utterly dragged down and exhausted by all the emotional stresses, she rested her head back against the seat and went to sleep.
When she eventually opened her eyes again she found Xander standing over her. Her nerve-ends leapt on edge, her defences shooting back into place so violently that what she’d gained by managing to fall asleep was lost in that instant.