“We lived rough for several years. There is a big gypsy population in Athens and they were kind to us. I worked for them.”
“But what about school? Didn’t you have school?”
“Not for many years. I didn’t feel comfortable to leave Helena for long. Though we found friends on the street, she was young and always very trusting. I lived in fear of her being taken.” Indeed, his face paled at the recollection of the worry he’d carried for so long.
“So you see, Sophie,” her name was a caress on his chiselled lips, “I have spent my life protecting Helena. It comes naturally to me to enquire as to her well-being.”
Sophie, in that moment, longed to confide her own worries in him. For Helena was not happy. She was not well. And no one was prepared to face the truth of that. The burden of being the only one who truly appreciated her illness was heavy to carry.
Only Eric’s plea kept her silent.
He was married to Helena, and Helena loved him. She’d chosen to make a life with him, and have children with him. Surely Eric’s wishes trumped Alex’s?
She swallowed. “How did you get out of that life?”
He noticed the way she’d deflected his question, but he allowed it to pass. His eyes assumed a faraway look as he reflected on that fateful time. “When I was fifteen, I broke into one of the mansions in the centre of the city.” He shook his head ruefully. “Up until then, I’d stolen wallets from tourists and food from restaurants, but never anything more ambitions. Those houses though …” He shrugged his broad shoulders and laughed, though it had been a desperate, hungry time in his life. “It was to be my first and last house burglary.”
“What happened?” She was, quite literally, on the edge of her seat. The thought of food was forgotten.
“It was the home of Pierre Lisoura; perhaps you have heard of him?”
“The guy who owns the airline?”
“The very same.” He nodded. “He was in his sixties then, but he was not afraid of me. He could have taken me to the police and had me charged. I do not know why he chose not to.”
“What did he do instead?”
“He made me work for him. He told me he’d give me a job for as long as I went to school.”
“And Helena?”
“She was old enough for school by then, too. He helped me to enrol us, and he hired tutors to catch me up. Instead of giving me money, he rented a small flat for us, and made sure we had enough to eat. And after school, I would go to his house, and work until late at night.”
“What kind of things would you do for him?”
“Menial work initially. At the time, that is what I thought at least. But now I realise he was always teaching me. He allowed me to pour coffee while he had meetings; he asked me to type notes for him on top level negotiations. He noticed early on that I had a keen interest in finance and corporate acquisitions and he began to include me in more and more of this kind of work.”
“A perfect benefactor for a man such as you.”
“An angel sent from the heavens; for without him, I would probably be dead or in jail.”
A shiver ran down Sophie’s spine. “Was it horrible?”
“The streets? Not as awful as foster care,” he denied with a tight smile.
“You are still living proof that miracles happen. To have turned your life around like that … I’m in awe, frankly.”
Yes, he was proof that miracles happened. It was amazing that a street kid like him had climbed the corporate ranks to become almost sickeningly wealthy. “You never really shake it though.”
“What’s that?”
“The looking over your shoulder, waiting for something bad to happen.”
The searingly honest statement was news to him. Alex shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
He would have said, until that moment, that he’d dumped the ghosts of his youth many moons ago. So why was he professing something different to this woman?
It occurred to him that she was one of the seirenes; the sirens, a mythical creature who existed purely to lure men upon the craggy rocks of the islands. She spoke, and it was as if she was singing a song only he heard; was it leading him to his own destruction, like the myths forewarned?