Sara Craven - Dark Apollo

‘She knows of your activities, then—and she permitted them?’ Spiro Xandreou raised clenched fists towards the ceiling. ‘Unbelievable.’

‘No,’ Camilla said, with a sigh. ‘This was all my own idea. And clearly a bad one.’

‘At least we agree on something,’ he said silkily.

The old woman in her black dress and snowy apron came back into the room, carrying a bowl of steaming water, a bottle of antiseptic, and some cotton wool.

Camilla eyed them with misgiving. ‘There’s no need…’

‘There is every need,’ he contradicted flatly. ‘This is not England, Kyria Dryden. Grazes such as this carry a risk of infection, and need immediate attention.’

He knelt beside the sofa, his face coolly intent, soaking a swab of cotton wool in the antiseptic solution.

Camilla wanted to draw away. He was altogether too close for comfort, she thought, dry-mouthed, as she absorbed the clean, fresh scent of his sun-warmed skin. His bare shoulder brushed against her knee, and she felt a sharp pang deep inside her that had nothing to do with pain.

She said huskily, ‘No—please…’

He gave her a look of withering contempt and began to swab the dirt and grains of gravel from her leg. She bit her lip, her body tautening instinctively at his touch.

He looked up at her, his mouth slanting sardonically. ‘If it’s only a graze, thespinis, you’re not being very brave about it.’

She said between her teeth, ‘Maybe I’d prefer to wait for the doctor.’

He shrugged. ‘The Hippocratic oath is not needed for simple first aid,’ he returned. ‘I am not enjoying this either, Kyria Dryden.’

The oath, she thought, that the medical profession still used. ‘I swear by Apollo…’ And Apollo himself was here, or so it seemed, kneeling at her feet.

He was deft enough, and even quite gentle, she was forced to admit, but some of the dirt was deeply embedded, and there were tears in her eyes before he’d finished, although she kept her teeth firmly fastened in her bottom lip.

But the smarting was only part of it, she realised. The truth was she didn’t want to accept this kind of intimate service from him.

When he had cleaned her arm, he hesitated. ‘The shirt is already ruined, I think, so…’ He put two fingers in the jagged tear at the side, and ripped it completely down to the hem.

Camilla gasped, dragging the torn edges together. ‘How dare you…?’ Her voice was unsteady. For one brief instant, his fingers had brushed the curve of her bare breast, and his touch had scalded her.

‘So modest?’ His voice taunted. ‘Your fellow-tourists show more on our beaches every day.’

‘But I don’t,’ she said huskily.

The old woman stepped forward, gesturing him imperatively out of the way. With another shrug, he got to his feet, and walked to the window, turning his back while Camilla’s scraped ribs were bathed.

‘Arianna,’ he tossed over his shoulder, ‘you will provide Kyria Dryden with a blouse from your wardrobe as a temporary measure.’

‘Of course, I shall be pleased. She can come upstairs to my room, and choose. Petros can examine her there too.’

He frowned. ‘Is that necessary?’

‘But of course.’ Arianna Xandreou looked scandalised. ‘Such a procedure requires privacy.’

His frown deepened. ‘Then stay with her—all the time, you understand?’

He’d spoken in English, so presumably Camilla wasn’t to be left in any doubt either.

‘What the hell are you implying?’ she demanded.

‘I intend to ensure you do not turn this accident to your advantage, thespinis .’

‘What do you think I’m going to do—steal something?’ Camilla pulled away from the old woman’s restraining hand, her eyes blazing. ‘God, you’ve an almighty nerve.’

‘And I think the same of you, thespinis. You will play no tricks in this house.’

Her lips were parting to tell him unequivocally what she thought of him, when the door opened and a young man, swarthy and stockily built, wearing glasses, walked in. He paused, surveying the tableau in front of him.

‘I understand I have a new patient,’ he remarked. ‘A road accident, ne ? Thank you, Eleni.’ The old woman stepped back, and he inspected her handiwork critically, and nodded. ‘You are lucky, thespinis. I have known similar incidents where skin grafts have been needed. But you, I think, will be left without a scar. A shot, maybe, to protect against infection and you will be as good as new.’

Spiro Xandreou took him to one side, and said something softly in Greek.

‘ Po, po, po. ’ The doctor’s brows lifted sharply. ‘Then I should examine without delay. Eleni can act as chaperon.’

‘This is ridiculous,’ Camilla protested. ‘I’m fine.’

The doctor smiled at her. ‘I’m sure that is true. You seem a perfectly healthy young woman. But your pregnancy is in its early stages. We need to establish that all is well.’

‘Pregnancy?’ Camilla stared at him stupidly. ‘What are you talking about? I’m not pregnant.’

‘So you lied.’ Spiro Xandreou’s voice was almost gloating. ‘I knew it.’ He walked to the door of the saloni, and threw it wide, his face a mask of icy anger. ‘You will leave my house, thespinis, and not come back.’

His voice dropped to pure menace. ‘And you will never trouble me or mine again. That is, if you know what’s good for you. Now go.’

CAMILLA stared at him.

She said quietly, ‘I think you must be insane, Kyrios Xandreou. Or has your womanising now reached such proportions that you can’t even tell one girl from another?’

‘How dare you speak to me like that?’ His voice was molten. ‘How dare you…?’

Camilla met his gaze. Eyes dark as obsidian, she thought with a strange clarity, and as hard as flint. But with a small flame burning…

Just as she was burning inside.

‘Oh, I dare.’ She drew a deep angry breath. ‘Because it wasn’t me that you—seduced and abandoned in Athens a few months ago. It was my younger sister, Katie.’ A sob rose in her throat. ‘And you can’t even remember what she really looks like—you bastard.’

Her words fell into a silence so profound it was almost tangible.

It was broken by the doctor, his face expressionless. ‘I think, my dear Nic, there has been some misunderstanding. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will go up to my other patient.’

As he turned away, Camilla caught his arm. ‘Just a moment—please. You called this man—Nic?’

‘ Ne, thespinis. Is something wrong?’

She swallowed. ‘You mean—he’s not—Spiro?’

The doctor looked astonished. ‘Spiro is Kyrios Xandreou’s younger brother, thespinis. He was also injured in an accident, a short while ago, rather more seriously than yourself. In fact, I should be with him now. If you will call at the clinic in town tomorrow morning, I will prescribe some medication for you—as a precaution only, you understand,’ he added kindly, misunderstanding the sudden pallor of her face. ‘Infection breeds fast in our climate.’

He nodded briskly, and left the room, Arianna sliding after him.

Camilla found herself alone with Nic Xandreou.

She ran the tip of her tongue round her dry lips. ‘You thought I was Katie,’ she said. ‘I thought you were Spiro. We’ve been at cross purposes from the start.’

‘So it would seem.’ His voice was even.

‘But Katie’s only just eighteen,’ she protested. ‘You must have known I was older than that.’

He shrugged. ‘I thought Spiro had been deceived.’ His glance flicked over her. ‘There was also the initial on your shirt—a C, presumably for Catherine.’