‘If you really loved Andreas then surely he would be far more important to you than your own feelings. Andreas is devoted to his grandfather. Oh, I know he may not show it, but I can promise you that he is. Think what it would do to him emotionally, not to mention financially, if there were to be a rift between them. Andreas’s mother and his sisters are both financially dependent on their grandfather... If he were to banish Andreas from his life then Andreas would be banished from their lives as well.’
Athena gave a deep, theatrical sigh and then asked pseudo-gently, ‘How long do you think he would continue to want you once that had happened? And I can make it happen, Saskia...you know that, don’t you. His grandfather listens to me. It is because he wants my business to be joined to his, of course. That is the Greek way of doing things.’ She bared her teeth and gave Saskia an unkind smile. ‘It is not the Greek way of doing things for a millionaire to allow his heir to marry a penniless foreigner.
‘But let’s talk of something more pleasant. There is no reason why we shouldn’t come to a mutually happy arrangement—you and I. I could sit back and wait for Andreas to leave you, but I will be honest with you. I am approaching the age when it may become less easy for me to give Andreas the sons he will want. So, to make it easy for us both, I have a proposition to put to you. I am willing to pay you one million pounds to remove you from Andreas’s life—permanently.’
Saskia could feel the blood draining out of her face as shock hit her. Somehow she managed to drag herself into a sitting position on the sun lounger and then to stand up, so that she and Athena were face to face.
‘Money can’t buy love,’ she told her fiercely. ‘And it can’t buy me. Not one million pounds, not one hundred million pounds! No amount.’ Tears stung her eyes and she told herself that shock had put them there. ‘If at any time Andreas wants to end our engagement then that is his prerogative, but—’
‘You’re a fool—do you know that?’ Athena breathed, her whole face contorted with fury and malice. ‘Do you really think Andreas meant what he said about not insisting on a prenuptial agreement? Ha! His grandfather will make him have you sign one, and when Andreas grows tired of you, as he undoubtedly will, you will get nothing...not even any child he may have given you. Greek men do not give up their children. Greek families do not give up their heirs.’
Saskia didn’t want to hear any more. Without even bothering to pick up her wrap she started to walk towards the house, only just managing to prevent herself from breaking into a run.
As Saskia reached the house Pia was coming out of it through the open patio door.
‘Saskia...’ she began in concern, but Saskia shook her head, knowing she was in no fit state to talk to her—to her or indeed to anyone. She felt degraded by what Athena had said to her, degraded and angry. How dared Athena believe that her love was for sale...that money mattered more to her than Andreas...that she would ever...? Abruptly Saskia stopped. What was she thinking? She turned round and went back outside, heading not for the pool area but beyond it...to the island and the pathway along the cliffs. She needed to be on her own.
The full irony of what had happened was only just beginning to sink in. She had agreed to come to the island only because Andreas had blackmailed her into doing so and because she couldn’t afford to lose the income from her job. Yet when she was offered what amounted to financial security for life, not just for herself but more importantly for her beloved grandmother, as well as an immediate escape from her intolerable situation, she turned both down.
* * *
ANGRILY PIA started to hurry towards where Athena was lying sunning herself. After what she had just overheard there was no way she was not going to tell Athena what she thought of her. How dared she treat Saskia like that, trying to bribe her into leaving Andreas?
Andreas!
Pia came to an abrupt halt. Perhaps she ought to tell her brother what Athena had been up to and let him deal with her. Saskia had looked so dreadfully upset, and no wonder. Reluctantly Pia listened to the inner voice warning her that Andreas would not thank her for pre-empting his right to be the one to confront Athena. Turning on her heel, she walked back inside the villa in search of Andreas.