Kate Proctor - No Mistress But Love

‘It means I’ve a boatman waiting to take me off this damned island,’ he informed her, crouching down to the holdall at his feet and closing it.

Lindy’s eyes widened in startled disbelief. In the two months she had been here, as his petty moodiness had hardened to vindictive hectoring and she had lost all memory of the man she had once believed him to be, she had grown to despise him. As for his qualifications for the job, she had yet to puzzle out whether he was very good at hotel management or simply adept at delegating most things, as he invariably did, to the highly trained staff at his disposal. Her friends had been right in their belief that he was expecting more from her than he had admitted, and she recognised his unpleasant behaviour towards her as his way of trying to punish her for so naively having believed him—behaviour she responded to with open contempt. This vindictive specimen of manhood she could handle with ease, she told herself, but Niko Leandros was another matter altogether, and for that reason Tim Russell was going nowhere without her!

‘Right—let’s go,’ she stated, anger searing through her as he began laughing derisively. ‘If you’re worried about honouring your gambling debts I suggest you send Mr Leandros a fiver when we get back to England—that should just about cover my worth, shouldn’t it?’

‘If I’d known Leandros was likely to be part of it I’d never have got involved in that particular card school,’ he muttered, rising to his feet and hooking the holdall over his shoulder. ‘Unfortunately I’d had a bit too much to drink by the time he put in his unexpected appearance.’

‘Oh, I see. You were drunk, and that makes it perfectly all right for me to be left to the mercies of a self-opinionated playboy, is that it?’

‘Who do you think you’re kidding, Lindy?’ he jeered. ‘You fancy him like mad and make no effort to hide it—a fact that makes me see red when I think of the “I wish men would leave me alone” routine you’ve been dishing out to me. But I’d say Leandros can’t exactly be described as impervious to you, as he’s the one who suggested I stake you.’

‘And how many of you were there in this card game?’ demanded Lindy frigidly, refusing even to acknowledge his opening gibes. ‘Tell me, Tim, how many other of the degenerate gambling fraternity had the opportunity to win me?’

‘He bought the rest of them out of the game—it was just the two of us.’ His gaze hardened visibly. ‘Damn it, Lindy, none of this would have happened if you’d behaved like a normal woman towards me. And don’t try telling me you expected things to carry on between us as they had in England, because even I refuse to believe you could be that stupid!’

‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ she rounded on him, trying desperately not to lose her temper, ‘but that’s exactly what I believed—and what you led me to believe. And to blame me for your bouts of drunkenness, your womanising and your——’

‘I hate to interrupt this litany of praise,’ he snapped, ‘but I really have to get a move on.’

‘ We have to get a move on,’ she informed him coldly.

‘I’m afraid you’re going nowhere while Leandros has your passport.’

Lindy’s eyes flew to the safe, in which her passport should have been, uncertainty mixed with horror filling them.

‘Sorry, but Leandros insisted on sending one of his henchmen back here for it as a sort of bond,’ explained Tim with no discernible trace of remorse.

‘I don’t believe you,’ she croaked weakly. ‘My God, you really are the most loathsome apology for a man I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across!’

He gave a harsh laugh. ‘And how would you describe the dashing young Leandros heir?’ he sneered. ‘I’m sure you’ll be only too willing to drop your virginal airs where he’s concerned and wheedle your way——’

‘I shan’t need to wheedle,’ she informed him, her’ words hoarse with disgust. ‘Because I intend going to him right this minute and telling him the truth.’

‘Oh, yes?’ he enquired, his expression mocking. ‘You fancy a spell in a Greek gaol, do you? Because that’s where he’d have the two of us slapped, make no mistake about that.’

‘We haven’t broken any laws!’ exclaimed Lindy, thrown by a momentary flash of fear darting through her. ‘None that could warrant gaol, anyway,’ she added uncertainly.

‘You have some experience with Greek law, have you?’ he sneered, then paused as though savouring an idea. ‘Mind you, if the pair of us ended up inside perhaps I’d get an uninterrupted chance to show you exactly the lines along which I’d planned our relationship to develop …though I can no longer guarantee my intentions would be as honourable as they once were.’ He smiled wolfishly, hitching the holdall more securely on his shoulder as he did so. ‘So yes, why don’t you go ahead and confide all in Leandros? It might just have some very interesting repercussions.’

‘Get out of here!’ she spat at him, trembling with rage, yet startled to detect fear flashing through her once more.

‘Yes—I suppose I should, if that’s your answer.’ He sighed with false regret. ‘And I really shouldn’t keep that boatman waiting, even though I am paying him a small fortune to get me discreetly over to the mainland…your entire share of our salary, in fact. But I’m sure that, if you play your cards better than I did with Leandros, money won’t be one of your worries—the guy’s loaded.’

He had actually managed to frighten her with his talk of prison, she admitted bemusedly to herself as the door closed behind him and silence began filling the room with an almost palpable oppressiveness. She frowned, trying to examine that fleeting, puzzling fear, only to find it had disappeared along with the loathsome Tim. Her frown deepened as she remembered how her friends had tried to warn her of how naïve she was being where Tim was concerned. She gave a small shudder as she wondered what their reaction would be to the way things had now turned out—not one of them, she was certain, would have envisaged anything remotely as bad as this. How could she have been so incredibly pig-headed?

‘With embarrassing ease,’ she gloomily answered herself aloud, suddenly acutely conscious of how completely bereft she was of someone to confide in. Her status as the manager’s wife had erected an intangible barrier between herself and the rest of the staff, most of whom spoke quite good English and were unanimously friendly—but it was a friendliness that stopped short of allowing her to seek the actual friendship someone of her open and outgoing nature would naturally have sought. And she had to admit that it had troubled her, she thought unhappily, gazing around the room and frowning suddenly as her attention was caught by the unusual dimness of the light.

She turned and looked behind her, her gaze falling on the graceful marble-pillared lampstand in the corner, the single source lighting the room. She walked over to it, her frown deepening as she removed the heavy manila file balanced on top of the shade which had so dimmed the amount of light being emitted. So, she pondered, mystified and wary, Tim had been sneaking around almost in the dark—obviously intent on slipping in and out unnoticed.

After a few moments’ bemused thought she gave a dismissive shrug and tossed the file on to one of the cabinets, gazing around her once more in the now improved light. One thing was for sure, she thought wryly: she wouldn’t be taking on the little amount of work Tim hadn’t managed to delegate—her lack of Greek ensured that. In fact, though she had found plenty to do in the way of work to keep herself occupied, there had been few specific duties for her to perform. At first, Tim had taken delight in delegating menial tasks to her whenever an opportunity had arisen, though his pleasure had soon diminished with the unconcerned enthusiasm with which she would turn her hand even to something as dull as making beds.