The Touch of Aphrodite

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The Touch of Aphrodite Page 10

by Joanna Mansell


  Emily decided that there was one way to find out. She would go over and ask. She didn't stop to think if that was a wise thing to do, she simply got to her feet and began to walk over. The person at the other table swiftly jumped up, turned round and hurried away. There was time, though, for Emily to see that it was a woman. She had black hair, and was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt, as if she had come here tonight with the intention of blending into the shadows and remaining unseen.

  Emily didn't run after her. For one thing, it had been a long day and she was too tired. And for another, the woman had quickly disappeared into the crowds of tourists and locals who had come down to the waterfront for the evening, either for a meal or simply to enjoy the atmosphere of the harbour at night.

  Her pale brows drew together again in a puzzled frown. Who was the woman? An old girlfriend of Nikolaos's who had suddenly spotted him, and been rather stunned by his unexpected appearance? She supposed that was an explanation that made sense. Emily could quite understand how the sight of Nikolaos could knock your entire nervous system completely off balance!

  During the couple of weeks that followed, Emily didn't have time to think any more about the mystery woman who had watched her and Nikolaos on the quayside. She had thought that she had worked hard at Nikoloas's hotel in Limassol, but that had been nothing compared to the hours she now put in.

  She followed Nikolaos's advice, and spent the first few days simply getting to know the staff, the routine of the hotel, and studying its financial structure. Because of the size of the hotel, and the number of staff it employed, that in itself was exhausting. Emily tackled the task steadily, though, making time to talk to everyone, from the girls who cleaned the rooms to the under-managers who were in charge of the different functions of the hotel.

  Emily had known from the very start that she would have to move with tact and care. Some of the older and more experienced staff would find it very easy to resent her, stepping straight into the top job. And the younger staff might not want to take orders from someone who was no older than they were. It was much less of a problem that she had expected, though. The smooth and highly efficient running of the hotel was due almost entirely to the attitude of its staff. They worked together with a friendly, easy cheerfulness, and Emily found everyone amazingly helpful as she fumbled her way around during those first few days. And, of course, Nikolaos was there to give advice when it was needed and guide her through all the problems she encountered.

  She found that understanding the financial structure was an enormous help. By going through the accounts, she could see at once which areas of the hotel were the most profitable, where there was room for improvement, and how all the different segments fitted together to form a very profitable whole.

  By the end of the first couple of weeks, she was exhausted, but confident that she knew how the hotel was run, its character, and the general attitude of its staff. She was ready to tackle the really difficult part now — actually taking over the overall responsibility for the running of the hotel, and trying out one or two of the ideas that she had already had to improve it still further.

  On the Monday morning, though, when she was ready to begin, Nikolaos walked into her office unannounced and sat on the edge of her desk. His dark eyes fixed on her face, and then he gave a small frown. 'You look as if you haven't slept for several days.'

  'I've been very busy,' she said pointedly.

  'Too busy. I didn't expect you to try and learn absolutely everything in these first couple of weeks.'

  'Did you think I'd just sit back and let the hotel run itself while I lazed around in the sun all day?'

  'No, but it's possible to go to the other extreme. You need a break.' He thought for a few moments. 'I'm going to visit my aunt this afternoon,' he said at last. 'You can come with me.'

  Emily looked at him in astonishment. 'But I thought that none of your family wanted to meet me?'

  'There has been some — curiosity expressed about you,' Nikolaos said drily.

  'Perhaps it's time that you finally met one or two of your relatives.'

  'They're not my relatives.' Emily reminded him. 'I'm not a Konstantin, I didn't even change my surname when Dimitri married my mother.'

  'You're still connected to the Konstantins by marriage. That makes you part of the family.'

  To her surprise, Emily found that she liked the idea of belonging to a family. She had so few relatives of her own, it would be nice to be able to add to them.

  Then she gave a reluctant shake of her head. 'I can't possibly go and visit your aunt, I'm far too busy.'

  'No, you're not,' Nikolaos said calmly. 'I'm ordering you to take the afternoon off. That still gives you the rest of the morning to deal with anything urgent, and get yourself ready.'

  'I really can't go,' Emily said again, although with far less conviction this time. She knew very well that she was dying to take up this very unexpected invitation to visit Nikolaos's aunt. So far, apart from Nikolaos, the only other Konstantin she had met was Sofia, and that hadn't been a riotous success! But, with luck, his aunt would be a true Cypriot, friendly and talkative — and a mine of information. Emily was beginning to realise that there were a great many things she was itching to know about the Konstantins —and, in particular, about Nikolaos.

  'I'll pick you up at one o'clock,' Nikolaos told her firmly. 'Make sure you're ready on time.'

  For once, Emily was glad that he had overridden her arguments. Nikolaos was right, she did need a break from work. And she simply couldn't resist this opportunity to meet one of his family.

  She whizzed through the morning's work, gulped down a sandwich and some coffee, and then rushed to get ready. After a moment's thought, she put on a plain white blouse, a navy skirt, and a pair of flat shoes. She forced her thickly curling hair under control with the help of a couple of large slides. Then she went down to meet Nikolaos.

  When he saw her coming towards him, his eyebrows drew together in a distinct frown. 'You look like a schoolgirl,' he commented, obviously not pleased by her appearance. 'Why are you dressed like that?'

  'I thought that your aunt might be elderly. And rather conventional. I wanted to look —well, respectable,' she admitted sheepishly.

  Nikolaos gave an unexpected smile, which completely changed his face.

  'My aunt isn't elderly and she certainly isn't conventional. We've a few minutes to spare. Go and put something on that makes you look older than sixteen! I don't want everyone to look at me disapprovingly because they think I'm trying to seduce someone half my age.'

  Emily felt herself go bright red, wasn't sure why she had gone that embarrassing colour, but thought it might have something to do with the fact that the prospect of being seduced by Nikolaos did the oddest things to her entire nervous system. She mumbled something under her breath, hurriedly turned round and rushed back to her room.

  Ten minutes later, she reappeared in a short skirt that clung to her slender hips, a loose top that barely disguised the fact that she had unexpectedly full breasts for a slim girl, and high-heeled sandals that showed off her lightly tanned legs to stunning advantage. Her golden hair, released from the slides, fell in its usual riot of untamed curls around her face, and she had used just the minimum of make-up to emphasise her long lashes, the vivid blue of her eyes and the generous line of her mouth.

  For just a moment, Nikolaos seemed startled by the transformation. His dark eyes briefly glowed and the hard line of his mouth relaxed into a more sensual outline. Then he was quickly in control of himself again.

  'Let's get going,' he said briefly. 'I don't want to be late.'

  Sitting beside him in the car, Emily asked, 'Where does your aunt live?'

  'A few kilometres north of here, in my villa at Coral Bay.'

  'You've got a villa?' she said, surprised.

  'Do you think that I live in hotels all the time?' he said drily.

  'No —I suppose not —well, I've never actually thought about it,' she
confessed.

  'I've also got a house in the Troodos mountains, and apartments in Limassol, Nicosia, London and Paris.'

  'That's a lot of houses and apartments to stand empty when you're not using them,' she said slightly disapprovingly.

  'Oh, they're rarely empty,' Nikolaos said in a wry tone. 'Some member of my family always manages to move in as soon as I move out. My aunt's staying at my villa, as I've already told you, two cousins are using my apartment in Nicosia, another aunt is staying at the Limassol apartment while her house is being redecorated, and both the London and Paris flats are being used by younger members of the family who are spending a few months abroad, supposedly to study languages.'

  'And your house in the Troodos mountains?'

  Nikolaos didn't answer straight away, this time. 'My father is living there,'

  he said at last, in a very different tone of voice.

  Emily could tell from his sudden change of mood that she had accidentally strayed on to dangerous ground. She also realised that he never spoke about his father, which was surprising since his family was obviously very important to him. She wanted to ask more questions, but stopped herself. There was obviously some kind of problem between Nikolaos and his father, and it wasn't her business to try and find out what it was. It didn't take them long to reach Coral Bay. Low hills shimmered in the distance, and the bay itself was surrounded by white cliffs, with pinkish sand sloping down to the clear blue sea. Since it wasn't yet the height of the tourist season, the beach wasn't overcrowded, and the great sweep of the bay meant that there was plenty of room for everyone.

  Nikolaos's villa was a long, elegant white building perched on the very edge of the cliff, its great arched windows looking over the bay, right out to sea. Emily wished that they could stay until early evening, so that she could sit at those windows and watch one of the spectacular sunsets for which this coast was famous.

  Inside the villa, it felt pleasantly cool, in contrast to the hot, bright sun that shone down outside. She was glad of that. Any time spent with Nikolaos seemed to leave her feeling distinctly flushed!

  Nikolaos led her through to a large room at the back of the villa, which had stunning views of the bay. Emily was rather more interested in the rather plump, smiling woman sitting beside one of the windows, though.

  'Aunt Anna, this is Emily Peterson, Dimitri's stepdaughter,' Nikolaos said formally. 'Emily, this is my aunt Anna.'

  'Kalimera,' Emily said a little shyly. 'Pos iste?''

  'Kala, efkharisto, ke sis?'

  'Yes, I'm also well,' Emily replied, still in Greek.

  'We were all so very sorry to hear about Dimitri; he was much loved. You must miss him very much. But it's nice that you could come here to Cyprus, his home.'

  'Efkharisto —' began Emily, but Nikolaos interrupted a little abruptly.

  'Emily, there's no need to struggle along in Greek. My aunt speaks excellent English.'

  'Emily isn't struggling,' said his aunt at once. "Her Greek is very good. And I think that she could give you a few lessons in politeness, Nikolaos.'

  'Emily has already given me lessons in quite a few things,' he said in a more resigned voice. 'Is your ankle better, Aunt Anna?'

  She lifted up her brightly coloured skirt to show a surprisingly well shaped ankle. "The swelling has almost gone,' she said with some satisfaction. 'I walked down to the beach and back this morning.'

  Emily blinked, because she could see the path down to the beach from the window. It was very steep, and even someone with two perfectly good ankles would have to go very carefully.

  'How did you hurt your ankle?' she asked Nikolaos's aunt. Nikolaos answered for her. 'My aunt decided that she wanted to learn to water ski,' he said drily.

  This time, Emily's eyes nearly popped out as she tried —and failed! —to imagine this plump, middle-aged woman on water skis.

  'The first few lessons went very well,' Aunt Anna said indignantly. 'The accident really wasn't my fault. There was a bow-wave from a boat that came much too close, and I didn't see it until it was too late —I won't make the same mistake again next time,' she said confidently.

  'You're going to carry on with the lessons?' Emily said in growing admiration.

  'Of course,' she said without hesitation. 'Everyone should try something new now and then. If you don't, you just get old and boring.'

  'I'm sure that no one's ever considered you boring,' Nikolaos said, his dark eyebrows gently raised.

  'And they never will,' said his aunt, with some determination. 'I'm going to windsurf next year. I've sat at this window and watched people doing it in the bay, and it looks great fun. Can you windsurf?' she asked Emily.

  'Er —no,' Emily admitted. 'But I've always wanted to have a go.'

  'We could learn together,' suggested his aunt.

  'I'd really like that. I've been here for nearly three months now, but there's still so much that I haven't done or seen.'

  'Nikolaos, you must organise some breaks for both yourself and Emily. And you must take some time off and show her around the island,' Aunt Anna ordered.

  'Yes, Aunt Anna,' Nikolaos said with some resignation, as if he was used to receiving orders from his aunt. Then he glanced at his watch. 'I've some phone calls to make. Do you mind if I leave the two of you for half an hour?'

  'Of course not,' said his aunt. 'It will give me a chance to talk to Emily.'

  Nikolaos left the room, and Aunt Anna spent the next quarter of an hour skilfully finding out a great deal about Emily. Her questions were put in such a way, though, that Emily found she didn't mind answering them. Eventually, she gave a wry grin.

  'You must know just about everything about me by now. Why are you so interested?'

  'Because this is the first time Nikolaos has ever brought a woman here to his house. Except for Sofia, of course.'

  Emily gave a small shrug. 'Perhaps he likes to keep his home life private.'

  'Nikolaos likes to keep everything private,' said his aunt, with a small sigh. Then her eyes brightened again. 'But don't you understand what I am saying? On Cyprus, it is very significant when a man brings a woman to his home like this.'

  'Oh, no,' Emily said at once, her heart suddenly thumping, 'you're wrong. It isn't significant at all. He only brought me because he thought I'd been working too hard and needed a break.'

  Aunt Anna looked disappointed. "Are you sure? Only a woman who is very special would be invited here to his house, and brought to meet me, his closest relative apart from his mother and father.'

  But Emily refused to believe that Nikolaos's invitation to come here had been anything except casual. 'There's no significance behind it,' she repeated firmly. Then, wanting to change the subject rather quickly, she went on, 'How exactly are you related to Nikolaos?'

  'His mother is my sister.' replied Aunt Anna.

  'Is your sister?' Emily said in surprise. 'But I thought —I mean, no one actually said so, but I assumed —'

  'Assumed what?' asked his aunt.

  'Well —that his mother was dead,' she said awkwardly.

  Aunt Anna immediately looked doleful. 'Nikolaos behaves as if she is dead. It's a very sad story. And it was a great scandal in the family, of course.'

  'I know about Dimitri breaking his engagement to Nikolaos's mother. And that she married Dimitri's brother on the rebound, and it didn't work out.'

  'No, it didn't,' agreed his aunt. 'But some years later Nikolaos's mother did fall in love again. It was with an American, who was here on holiday. It was one of these "love at first sight" affairs. And when he left to go back to America Eleni— Nikolaos's mother —went with him.'

  'She ran off?' said Emily, her eyes opening very wide because she knew how sacrosanct the family was on Cyprus. 'She left her husband and her son?'

  Aunt Anna nodded sadly. 'Nikolaos was twelve at the time, not a child but not a man. It's a very difficult age, when you feel things intensely. He never forgave his mother, refused to have any contact with her. H
e destroyed the letters she sent, wouldn't speak to her on the phone. Even today, he won't even mention her name. And his father--' Aunt Anna sighed heavily. "His father has never been the same since Eleni left. That is another reason why Nikolaos feels so bitterly towards his mother.'

  "And why he's so cynical about love,' said Emily almost to herself. 'He's seen how destructive it can be when it runs out of control.'

  "But it's also destructive to live without any love at all,' said his aunt, shaking her head.

  'But —he's fond of Sofia, isn't he?' Emily asked hesitantly. Aunt Anna gave a small snort. -Sofia! She's no good for Nikolaos. She wants him for all the wrong reasons, because of his wealth, his position, his eligibility. I've told Nikolaos again and again that he'll be miserable for the rest of his life if he marries her.'

  Emily swallowed very hard. 'And —and will he marry her?' It was extraordinarily difficult to get out that one short question.

  'I don't know,' said Aunt Anna gloomily. 'It's alwaysbeen understood in the family, ever since they were children, that they would one day marry. But he would be much happier with someone like you,' she went on, her eyes suddenly brightening. 'I think that I will tell him that before he leaves.'

  'No —don't,' Emily said in sudden panic. 'I'm not — I mean, I don't want

  —'

  'Of course you do,' his aunt interrupted her. 'I can see it in the way you look at him. But don't worry,' she went on kindly, 'I won't tell him, if you don't want me to. Anyway, this is something that he perhaps needs to find out for himself.'

  'What do I need to find out?' asked Nikolaos, walking back into the room. Emily immediately went a brilliant scarlet, and shot an imploring look at his aunt.

  'Nothing important,' said Aunt Anna. Then she reconsidered. 'Yes, it is important,' she corrected herself. 'But you are the one who will have to discover just how important it is.'

  'My aunt likes riddles,' said Nikolaos drily, turning to Emily. 'Do you have the slightest idea what she's talking about?'

  'No, I don't,' she lied, hoping the frantic colour had faded from her face. Nikolaos looked at her curiously but, to her intense relief, didn't question her further.

 

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