* * *
Alice blinked, suddenly breathless. Adoni’s words stripped the air from her lungs. He’d beenengaged?
Finally she found her voice. ‘Weren’t you young to be engaged?’
‘Nineteen.’ His voice was grim. ‘I thought I knew it all. Just as I thought Vassili couldn’t be serious about disowning me.’
‘What happened? To your fiancée?’
‘Nothing.’ Adoni’s mouth curved up in a smile that made Alice shiver. It lookedferal. ‘When she realised I had no money or prospects she ditched me.’
Alice watched Adoni’s face stiffen into an implacable mask. Clearly he’d never forgiven the woman.
Then it hit her—first his mother, then his fiancée, both teaching him women weren’t to be trusted. One such betrayal would warp any man’s opinion. But two?
No wonder he demanded she sign a contract. Everything had to be checked and double-checked by lawyers, because simple trust was impossible.
Alice sucked in a frantic breath as her stomach hollowed. It felt as if her insides were collapsing. Or maybe that was her stupid daydreams.
Fervently she wished she could turn back the clock to this morning, when they’d laughed together in Adoni’s vast bed. He’d teased her, kissing the couple of freckles on her nose, then proceeded to examine her all over, pretending to find and kiss more freckles in the most unlikely places. They’d been sohappy, so in tune.
She remembered the heavily lined face of the man she’d met this afternoon. The pain in his eyes that she suspected had nothing to do with his physical problems.
‘I saw him today.’ Just in time she stopped herself from sayingyour father. ‘Vassili.’
‘Youwhat?’ Adoni’s grip tightened, making her wince. Instantly he released her. ‘Where was this?’ He drew himself up, his expression ominous. He looked like a warrior preparing for battle.
‘Down near the shore. He saw me drawing.’
Adoni breathed deep. On the exhale he whispered a string of soft, savage words in Greek. ‘He knew who you were?’
Of course he did. It was a small community and she’d just learned his house sat on the next headland. She could see it now. Adoni must have built here to thumb his nose at the man who’d raised then rejected him. Alice shivered, recalling what Adoni had said about long-held grudges in this part of the world.
Was that the sort of world she wanted her child to grow up in?
‘He knew where I was staying. He asked how you were.’ Alice had read the effort it took for the older man to ask. With his chunky stature and square face he looked nothing like Adoni but in one thing they were the same—that look of austere pride. Adoni wore it now like a warning sign.
‘You didn’t answer him?’
Alice rubbed her hands up her suddenly chilled arms. ‘I told him you were well. I told him your business is thriving and...’
‘He has no right to hear any of that.’ Adoni’s voice was harsh, like forged metal.
‘I felt sorry for him. He’s had a stroke, I think. His face was lopsided and he walked with a stick.’ It was obvious he’d made a monumental effort to reach her. A man with his physical limitations didn’t just happen along the track where she painted. She’d ended up walking him back to the village, concerned despite his protestations.
Adoni said nothing. Nor did his expression soften.
‘I think...’ She hesitated. ‘I’m sure he’d like to see you, maybe make amends.’ The old man’s sorrow touched her. ‘If he contacted you would you...?’
Alice stopped as Adoni’s expression flickered.
‘Hehascontacted you, hasn’t he?’
Adoni shrugged. ‘We have nothing to discuss.’
Alice stared. ‘I know he did wrong, Adoni. But he was your father. Don’t you want to see him? See your brothers?’
The flicker became a scowl. ‘He made it clear they’re not my brothers.’