“Very well, ma’am.”
She burst out laughing. It was hopeless. Better to accept her lot in life now that she was married to the all-powerful Alessandros Petrides.
“How far is town?”
“Under an hour.”
“So far. I hadn’t realised.” She pulled her phone out and texted her sister. “I’m an hour away. Sit tight.”
“Can’t wait to see you!!”
Sophie shook her head with a fond smile.
The road from Alex’s villa was so narrow that even the Alfa brushed the verge at times. It was right on the edge of a cliff, too, and beneath them, the ocean sparkled like diamonds dancing on liquid. Sophie was not nervous. Harry drove the car beautifully; he was confident and yet cautious, allowing her the freedom to simply enjoy the scenery. Much of the drive was through the less built up parts of the island. However, as they travelled further, eventually valleys and coves gave way to houses and shops. Before Sophie knew it, they were in downtown traffic, with the stunning laneways Olivia had referred to branching out in every direction.
“Oh!” She caught her breath as Harry turned a corner and the whole city opened up beneath them, like a blanket of terracotta rooves and sand-coloured walls. The buildings were straight-walled and flat-rooves, and they were built so close together that the car had to slow down to turn some corners. Shops with dark green awnings and gorgeous topiaried trees lined the sides of the road, and fountains cropped up as if from nowhere.
“This is stunning.”
“Yes. We think so. Alena and I live in the old-town.”
“Does it get older than this?” She queried with a tilt of her head.
He nodded. “The locals would call this the new part of town.” She sent him a disbelieving look and he laughed. “It’s only middle-aged. Where we live dates back to around twelve hundred BC. Not many of those buildings survive, of course, but the streets take a similar layout.”
“That’s absolutely mind-blowing.”
“Where is your sister?”
“Ummm…” She checked her phone and then placed it in the console. “The Farfalla bar?”
He lifted his brows. “She has expensive taste.”
Sophie laughed. “She has impeccable taste. More often than not, it tends to be expensive too, yes. Why? Is it a good place to go?”
“It is one of the premiere establishments on the island. Another favourite of your husband’s.”
Sophie nodded, but the little shards of jealousy were impossible to ignore. One didn’t go to bars solo, after all. No doubt Alex had frequented this ‘impeccable’ establishment with his past lovers.
She swallowed the unpalatable thought. She was about to see Liv for the first time in almost a year. That, and only that, required her attention.
“Oh.” She looked down at her dress with a grimace. “Will I be dressed … I mean …” her cheeks took on a becoming shade of pink and Harry found himself warming to his boss’s wife. “Is there a dress-code?” She finished her question, smiling apologetically at the man.
“Believe me, ma’am, no one will turn away Mrs Petrides. You could go in there wearing little more than a rag and you’d still get the best table in the place.”
Though he’d answered her question, his words were far from reassuring. Sophie caught her reflection in a tinted window as she moved towards the bar. Patrons were sitting at tables on the footpath in the very European al fresco style and there were little vases of bright purple flowers in the centre of each. Sophie moved past the other diners and towards the large glass and timber doors. They were opened inwards as she approached.
“Good afternoon,” the man greeted in Greek.
Sophie checked her wrist watch and was surprised to see it was almost one o’clock. She scanned the restaurant and almost immediately saw her. Olivia Henderson, with her shimmering white-blonde hair, dark golden tan and sparkling green eyes, stood out anywhere. Here, in the midst of this glamorous bar, she looked like she’d walked off a catwalk, rather than a long-haul flight. And, unsurprisingly, she’d gathered a small crowd of admirers in the short time she’d been left waiting.
Sophie shook her head with a sense of amusement, and cut through the crowds.
“Hey!” Liv cried, cutting off one of the young men who was mid-sentence. “There you are!” She was taller than Sophie, and curvier too – with the kind of cleavage that was so generous it was almost an impediment. Or so Liv had complained on numerous occasions, when she’d found her dates so transfixed by her breasts that they were incapable of looking anywhere else for the duration of the meal. “Oh, my, God. I have missed you!” She wrapped her arms around Sophie’s neck and held her tight.
Sophie sobbed into her sister’s shoulder and nodded. The words she wanted to say were heavy in her mouth.
Liv pulled away, tears sparkling in her own eyes, as she lifted a hand to Sophie’s cheek. “God, you look great. You look so polished!” She lifted Sophie’s hand and made a low-whistle as she inspected the engagement ring Alex had surprised her with.