‘I’m saying... I don’t like tears.’ The words were uneasy. ‘If talking would help...’
Her heart lurched a little inside her chest. Alice didn’t want to think about how long it had been since she’d had anyone she could speak to. It felt like an eternity.
‘It’s hard to explain,’ she said, sipping the water with hands that were still unsteady.
He was quiet. Watchful. Some might have said calculating, but Alice didn’t know Thanos well enough to see that glint in his eye, nor was she looking for it. She paced towards the boardroom table, placing her water down, her eyes focussed on the stunning view of Manhattan. Somehow, it was easier to speak without looking at him.
‘It’s my mom,’ she said, shaking her head, because that wasn’t, strictly speaking, the truth. ‘I mean, it is and it isn’t. She’s...not well. And looking after her is hard, and expensive, and it’s been years now, and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to get on top of it, and I have no idea what to do or how I can make this any easier.’ She ground her teeth together, but it didn’t help; a sob bubbled up and out of her chest. She looked at him apologetically. ‘I’m never like this at work, I swear.’
‘I know that.’ His voice was carefully blanked of emotion.
‘I mean, I work really hard, because I can’t risk getting a bad reference, because I need the next job, and at the moment I’m one of the top-rated temps at the agency, so I work hard to make sure I don’t lose that.’
Thanos considered this. ‘Would permanent employment not suit you better? You’d get a steadier salary.’
‘True.’ Alice nodded. ‘But the pay is way less, and I need some flexibility. There are times when I have to be off work for two or three weeks to help with mom, and if I’m a temp, that’s a lot easier to arrange.’
‘So you support your mother?’
‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘She had a stroke. She’s in a coma. I can’t afford a bed in a home so she lives with me, and the cost of home nursing—which she needs through the day—is astronomical. I’m basically working to cover her medical bills and then there’s food and rent and...’ A tear slid down her cheek. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘What for?’ He surprised her then, pulling a tissue from the drawer of his desk and striding across to her. Instead of handing the tissue to her, he dabbed at her cheeks. It was a gesture of such kindness that it somehow made her feel worse, rather than better.
She wasn’t used to anyone helping her. Listening to her. And it was as if a crack had formed into which she wanted to pour all her grief, all her worries. But he was her boss, and this was a job, and she’d already created a bad enough impression without making it worse.
‘Thank you.’ She spoke firmly, taking a step back, away from him, away from sympathy. ‘I don’t know what came over me. It’s just been one of those days.’
She lifted the water glass from the table, intending to take it to the kitchen to wash it, but he put a hand on her wrist, stilling her. Only it didn’t still all of her. Alice’s blood thundered at the light, innocent touch.
‘I also have a problem, Alice,’ he said, his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. It was easy to see in that moment how he had, side by side with his brother, turned a crumbling business into a global behemoth. She felt strength slamming into her from every single pore of his body.
But his words didn’t quite make sense. Did he wish to unburden himself? Did he want a sympathetic ear? It didn’t exactly fit with the character profile she had of Thanos but Alice found herself listening intently.
‘And it occurs to me that we could be of use to one another.’
Her eyes flared wide at this idea. Without knowing any details, she knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up. And yet, it felt like...a light in the dark.
‘How so?’
‘My brother suggested last night that I should give Kosta Carinedes exactly what he wants.’
‘You’re going to stop getting photographed by paparazzi?’ Alice prompted, a hint of scepticism in her words, because the media loved Thanos and his antics like bees loved nectar.
‘I’m not sure that’s possible.’ He echoed her unspoken doubts. ‘But I’m going to give them the right thing to photograph.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If Kosta wants me to settle down, then I’ll do just that. I’ll get married.’
It was so absurd that Alice laughed. ‘You’re getting married?’
‘That depends.’
‘On...?’
‘On if you’ll agree to be my wife.’
CHAPTER THREE