“I do as they wish, of course. Their emotional wellbeing is my primary goal. I do, however, think you need to enable support for your sister.”
“I see.”
He lifted the ring to his cheek. Where was Sophie? He knew only that Harry had taken her to the airport, and that she hadn’t touched his bank accounts since leaving.
He didn’t know where she was living, and on what money she was surviving. Did she have savings? Did she have a job? Did she have a comfortable home? The thought of Sophie in discomfort or squalor flooded him with anger.
“Elaine, I’m going to come to London. Do not mention this to Eric until I arrive. I will … require an element of surprise.”
His mind made up, he set about organising the logistics. For a man like Alex, this was not difficult. With an army of staff and a jet at his disposal, it was only a matter of hours before he was back in London; staring at the house he’d first seen her. Sophie.
Then, he’d come to London to help his sister.
And now, he was there on the same chore, but with a far different goal in mind.
How long had this been going on? How long had Eric suspected? And why hadn’t he taken Alex into his confidence? What had Sophie said? Eric had been afraid Alex would take over. Well, he was damned right about that. Alex had every intention of helping his sister, to hell with what Eric thought.
In the end, Eric was actually relieved that Alex had swept in and taken over. Helena, too, seemed finally glad that someone was telling her what to do in order to feel better. An exceptional facility accepted her immediately – another benefit of being Alessandros Petrides – and the day after she’d left, Alex found himself sitting on the sofa, a scotch in one hand, and an expression of despair on his face. It was the same sofa he’d first seen Sophie scrambling under and he wished he could reach back through time to that moment and slap himself for not seeing her as she really was.
“Eric, I need to know.”
“To know what?” The other man was similarly bleak.
“About you and Sophie.”
“What about me and Sophie?” He was distracted, staring at the floor.
Alex ran a hand over his stubbled chin. “Helena believed the two of you were having an affair.”
That caught Eric’s attention. “She … what?”
If Alex needed any further confirmation of just how badly he’d got it wrong, his friend’s expression offered it. He spoke matter-of-factly. “Helena called me. Two months ago. It is why I came to London. She asked me to intervene.” The words tasted horrible in his mouth. Everything about it was disgusting to him.
“I can’t believe it. Poor Helena.”
“Poor Helena?” Alex shook his head. “Poor Sophie.”
“Why? Why poor Sophie?” Eric swirled his glass; the ice clinked against its edges.
Alex had successfully kept news of his separation from reaching his sister and her husband. But now, as Eric regarded his old friend carefully, something like suspicion moved within him.
“Alessandro? What are you talking about?”
He swallowed, so that his Adam’s apple moved visibly. “It does not matter. It’s my problem to resolve.” He fixed his friend with a serious stare. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” If only Eric had confided in him! So much of this could have been avoided.
“No offence, mate, but you’re the last person I would have told.” He lifted a hand to silence Alex’s imminent objection. “Helena wouldn’t even acknowledge she had a problem. It was a bloody nightmare. I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t look after her.” His eyes were haunted. “I worried you might think I couldn’t make her happy.”
Alex blanked out his feeling of pain.
“Sophie was wonderful,” Eric sighed heavily. “You know what she’s like. Such a gem. She became a part of our family instantly. She had only been here two days when she realised what was going on.”
“How?” His voice was raspy; his heart was hammering heavily in his chest. “How did she know, when I, Helena’s own brother, never realised anything was amiss?”
“Don’t beat yourself up. I was slow on the uptake too.”
“I do not understand how Sophie realised though. Helena held it together so well.”
“Not when you spent a lot of time with her. The cracks were there.”