Yesterday's Sins

by Wine, Shirley

  "You have a milk moustache," Kate teased.

  Sarah giggled and darted to the bathroom to remove it and Kate began packing the dishes on the tray and picked it up.

  "Maria will come and get that."

  Kate raised her eyebrows in surprise at the commanding tone. "My legs are younger than Maria's."

  Sarah flushed at the sharp rebuke. "You can get busy and wipe down the table so Maria doesn't have to come back upstairs."

  That Sarah considered menial chores the work of servants, brought Kate up short. She must have a word with Alex. She stopped in mid step at the enormity of the thoughts. She had forfeited her right to question Sarah's upbringing.

  Back in the playroom Sarah inveigled her to play Snap. They were laughing over a simultaneous grab at the cards when the door opened.

  "Uncle Gregori." Sarah dashed across to him.

  Nicolaides scooped her up blowing noisy kisses on her neck until she squealed and wriggled to get down. He looked at Kate sprawled on the floor holding her cards.

  "Has she beaten you yet?"

  "Not quite." Kate straightened her clothes, colouring with embarrassment at being caught sprawling so casually in Alex's house.

  Gregori lowered himself down to the mat where the game was in progress.

  "Do you want to play?"

  "When you're finished."

  "We can finish this game and start a new one, Sarah." Kate scooped up the cards and deftly dealt a three handed game. For half an hour the nursery rang with squeals and laughter as the two adults pitted themselves against Sarah.

  "I give up." Gregori raised his hands in defeat as Sarah snapped his last remaining cards. He sat back, an amused smile softening his stem mouth, as he watched Sarah and Kate battle out the game, applauding cheerfully when Sarah snapped the last card to win.

  "You're too smart." Kate conceded defeat with a rueful laugh. "Do you play a lot?"

  "Daddy and I play every night." Sarah was flushed with triumph at her victory.

  "Alex gives her no quarter," Gregori drawled humorously. "They've had a nightly duel for the past couple of years."

  "No wonder you're so good. It's years since I've played."

  Their conversation was interrupted by Maria. "Your Dad's on the phone, Sarah."

  Sarah bounced downstairs at breakneck speed. Gregori and Kate followed more sedately.

  "Enjoyed your day?" His expression left her choked–up.

  Sarah was talking nonstop, her face animated as she regaled Alex with her doings. Kate paled as she heard her name mentioned in every second breath. It came as no surprise when Sarah handed her the phone. "Daddy would like to talk to you, Kate."

  With clammy hands, Kate took the receiver, nervous of Alex's reaction.

  "Hello." Her voice was so husky it came out as a squeak.

  She cleared her throat, turning her back on Gregori, hunching her shoulder so her hair concealed her face.

  "What the hell are you doing at my house?"

  Kate caught her breath at the furious question. She sought desperately for an answer to defuse his anger and not betray Sarah.

  "Is this all your word's worth, Catriona? You wait until my back is turned and then sneak up to see Sarah, betraying my trust. I knew I should never have agreed to allow you near her. You're no more to be trusted now than you ever were."

  The harsh accusations lacerated her spirit, cutting deeper with every furious word.

  "It's not like that—"

  He cut across her attempt to explain. "It's just like that. You're a lying, spoilt little witch. So much for my thinking you had changed. If you've upset Sarah—"

  Kate reached out an unsteady hand and depressed the button cutting him off in mid tirade before carefully replacing the receiver. Holding herself erect, calling on every ounce of pride she possessed, she turned and faced Gregori and Sarah.

  "I have to go." She brushed an unsteady finger down Sarah's cheek. "Goodbye."

  "I'll walk you to your car." Gregori gave her a comprehensive look, his expression grim and she knew there was little chance of evading him.

  Alex's tirade was a kick in the gut.

  The phone shrilled, distracting Gregori. As he answered it, she bent and kissed Sarah's cheek and fled.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kate drove mindlessly, but couldn't escape the agony tearing her apart. She pulled over and parked on a rugged headland overlooking the sea. In a few short minutes Alex had torn her life apart.

  Spoilt, lying, untrustworthy.

  His harsh indictment was wounding. If she'd ever had any of those faults, she'd paid an enormous price for them.

  I am a fool. I've let myself be lulled into expecting more. Alex has never changed.

  With his formidable self-control shattered by anger, he'd revealed his true frame of mind. Anything else was a figment of her imagination.

  Unable to bear sitting brooding, she changed her shoes for the sneakers she always carried in the boot and donning her windcheater, set off along the stony beach. A brisk headwind blew off the waters of Hauraki Gulf. The Coromandel ranges on the other side of the gulf were shrouded in mist, as sombre as her mood.

  She walked until she reached the settlement before turning back. It was just on dusk when she neared the headland where she'd parked. It was on this last stretch that she became aware of a man walking behind her. She'd been so intent on escaping her unhappy thoughts, she'd not noticed anyone else on the foreshore. Peering into the gloom she saw another car parked on the headland.

  Her heart kicked up speed sending adrenalin surging through her veins.

  She picked up her pace. The man picked up his pace. Too late, she remembered Alex's insistence that Sarah needed a bodyguard. Nerves jangling and impossible scenarios flashing through her mind, she broke into a run and the man shadowing her, also broke into a run.

  Don't run Catriona. Never tire yourself before a confrontation. Joe's instructions rang clearly in her memory. Look for any element that will catch an assailant by surprise.

  Deliberately, Kate slowed to a walk feeling in her pocket for her mace, she kept an eye on the man and her car, carefully gauging the distance.

  When she judged she was close enough to sprint for her car, she turned to confront her stalker and found him closer than she expected. He'd gained on her. She spread her legs slightly for maximum balance.

  "Who are you?" she demanded taking an aggressive step toward him.

  The man stopped eyeing her warily as he raised his hands. "Your bodyguard, Ms Audley."

  "My what?" Kate edged further away. Is he for real?

  The man put a hand inside his jacket took something out and strode toward her, hand extended.

  Kate reacted.

  She stepped forward and using his momentum, flipped him across her hip and shoulder. He landed on the rocky beach, the breath leaving his body with a resounding whoosh. She whipped out her mace and sprayed him full in the face.

  His virulent curse had her taking off, sprinting to her car. Fear made her fleet.

  As she unlocked it and got in, she saw him running up the beach towards her.

  She started the car, the central lock activated and she took off just as he reached her car. He hammered on the window as she drove off with a screech of tires. It was several miles before her heart beat resumed its usual even rhythm. She kept up a steady speed, watching for a tailing car in the rear vision mirror.

  It was late when Kate returned to her dark, silent house, weary from that long, punishing walk and the fright from encountering that man on the beach. Did I over-react?

  She shook her head, knowing she would do exactly the same again. Tired and unable to deal with another thing tonight, she ignored the red light flashing on her answer phone, undressed and fell into bed, dropping over the edge into exhaustion.

  *****

  The smell of coffee penetrated her sleep. Rolling over, she groaned as sunlight caught her eyes.

  "You're awake. Here's some coffee
."

  Kate's eye opened abruptly and she looked into Gregori's grim face.

  "What are you doing here?" She gripped the sheet and hugged it close, acutely aware she was naked beneath it.

  "Checking on you. Where did you disappear to last night?"

  "How did you get in here?" She sat up hugging the duvet to her chest

  "I borrowed Dave Storey's key." The blunt uncompromising words sent scalding heat up her face and neck. "Have your coffee and get dressed. You and I are going to discuss that ridiculous telephone conversation you had with Alex yesterday. So move it. "

  He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room shutting the door with a decisive bang. Kate took a shaky breath. She'd never faced an angry Nicolaides, but had little doubt he meant what he said.

  Showered, dressed and revived by coffee, Kate was more capable of dealing with him. Unaccountably nervous, she stepped out of the sanctuary of her bedroom. Nicolaides sprawled in an armchair, watched her, a brooding expression on his face. She glanced away and saw he'd set the table for breakfast. Talk about making himself at home.

  "You had a lot of people worried last night." He broke the uneasy silence. "Alex was beside himself and I was worried when none of your friends had seen you. Where were you?"

  "That's my business." Kate sat down in the other armchair, her eyebrows raised in haughty disdain. "If Alex was worried, tough."

  Why should I be concerned about him?

  "I've always thought Alex was too harsh when he said you were selfish. After worrying myself sick over you last night, I'm not so sure he's not right."

  Kate glared at him. "I'm not selfish. Alex was rude and insulting."

  Gregori gave a small laugh that made her even angrier. "Are you prepared to listen?"

  Kate stood and walked to the window, keeping her back to him.

  "Alex's anger yesterday was a knee jerk reaction."

  "The reaction of a total jerk." She turned and glared at him, clenching and unclenching her hands.

  "Something he freely admits now he's cooled down." This admission went some way towards defusing her anger. "As soon as you cut him off, he regretted his outburst."

  "Why was he so angry?" That was the question that plagued during those tortuous hours tramping the seashore.

  "He was jealous."

  "Jealous," Kate echoed incredulously. "Why for God's sake?"

  "Put yourself in his shoes. For more than seven years he has been the sun, moon and stars in Sarah's life. He's overseas and missing the kid desperately and when he phones all he hears is Kate this and Kate that. His reaction was to hit out at the person supplanting him in his little princess's life. You. Once he'd calmed down he was nearly crawling the walls trying to get in touch with you and apologize."

  Like a drowning person clutching at straws, Kate wanted to believe him, but Alex's furious tirade had seriously undermined her confidence. She chewed her lip, unsure about believing this simplistic explanation.

  "Why don't you listen to your answer phone, Kate?"

  He flipped the switch and rewound the message tape.

  Alex's agonized voice was loud in the suffocating silence. "Catriona. For God's sake if you're there... answer your phone. Please. I'm sorry I never meant a word of it... Cat you know me when I lose my temper... Please... Pick up the damn phone... Why in hell am I so far away—"

  For ten minutes Kate listened to his hoarse, angry pleading unable to believe her ears. The hard knot coiled in her chest loosened its grip. Stunned, she looked at Gregori but could read nothing from his expression. "Believe me now?"

  "I guess I have to." Some of her tension eased. How dare Alex put her through that?

  "After breakfast you are going to talk to him."

  "No." She glared at him. She'd had more than enough of macho men.

  "Yes you will. I can't take another seven years of Alex if you don't get this misunderstanding cleared up," he said with imperturbable calm as he walked into the kitchenette and returned carrying two plates. "Come and eat."

  He put scrambled eggs and bacon to the table, and poured her another coffee and an orange juice. Her stomach chose that moment to grumble. He held out her chair and short of being blatantly rude, she had little option but to sit down to the breakfast he had prepared. "You cook too?"

  "I'm competent enough, but don't cook for the sheer pleasure of it, like Alex does." Gregori took the chair opposite and handed her the toast rack of toast.

  As she took a slice and spread it with butter she remembered the man on the beach. "Has Alex had a goon following me?"

  He looked at her, clearly surprised. "I don't know, why do you ask?"

  Remembering her fright on the beach she watched him through narrowed eyes. "I drove out to Matingarahi last night and as I was walking back to my car, I saw a guy following me."

  "And?" Gregori stopped eating, his fork suspended in mid-air.

  "When I challenged him, he said he was my bodyguard."

  Gregori laid down his fork, staring at her, brows drawn together in a fierce frown. "Did he show you any ID?"

  "I didn't wait around to ask. When he put a hand in his jacket pocket, I caught him and flipped him on his back, and then sprayed him with mace."

  "You what?" He gaped at her.

  "What is it with you and Alex?" she demanded, now thoroughly nettled. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

  "What happened to him?"

  "He made it to my car before I drove off. But if you think I waited around to exchange pleasantries, you're way off beam."

  Gregori looked at her shaking his head. "If it was one of Alex's security team there will be hell to pay."

  "That was lovely, thank you." Intrigued, she put down her fork, pushing her plate aside. "Why?"

  "An ex-SAS man bested by a bit of a woman?" Gregori chuckled. "The man will never live it down."

  He finished eating and pushed aside his plate. "I'm going to ring Alex."

  She shrugged with feigned nonchalance, although her heart was beating a mile a minute. "By all means, make yourself at home."

  He grinned as he picked up the phone and dialled. "Alex? Here's Kate."

  He held out the receiver and she shook her head. She wasn't ready for this.

  "Coward," Gregori taunted softly.

  Angry colour flooded her face. She snatched the phone. "Alex?"

  "Forgive me, Catriona. I hurt you yesterday. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

  Sweetheart. Tears misted behind her eyes. "I shouldn't have gone to see Sarah while you were away."

  "Knowing Sarah, I doubt you had much choice."

  "Not a lot."

  "If I'd used the brains God gave me, I'd have realized. And that Gregori had approved," Alex's voice was husky. "I've worried you'd done something stupid."

  His implication was clear. "Oh for heaven's sake, Alex, I'm not suicidal. And that reminds me, have you had one of your goons following me?"

  His silence made her uncomfortable. "Why do you ask?"

  "You have," she said shaking her head. "The least you could have done is told me."

  "Why?" he demanded.

  "He frightened the life out of me, last night," she said through her teeth, seething with anger. "You can call him off. That is, if he still wants to work for you."

  "Is Nicolaides still there?" he asked, a dangerous edge to his voice. "Can I speak to him?"

  "I'll get him." Kate handed the phone over to Gregori and then walked out through the terrace doors into the garden. How dare Alex have her followed without so much as a by-your-leave?

  Gregori soon joined her grinning widely and shaking his head.

  "What are you so happy about?"

  "That goon you flattened last night was the head of Alex's security team. Reuben Cade will never live it down. Where did you learn dirty street fighting? You are just full of surprises."

  Kate laughed and shook her head not prepared to touch that comment.

  Not long after Gregori left, Kate re
ceived a huge basket of roses. Her hand shook as she opened the accompanying message.

  Forgive me, Catriona. Dare I hope you've missed me? Alex.

  Alex knew her so well.

  Did he know she was missing him so badly she couldn't eat or sleep or work? So badly she wasn't sure how to survive the days before he came home.