Modern Romance October 2019 Books 5-8. Annie West

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СКАЧАТЬ Her smile was uneven.

      ‘I would have thought, having learned of your fiancé’s infidelity, you would be slow to trust anyone.’

      ‘So would I.’ Her voice was a little shaky. ‘But you’re nothing like Angus. You’re nothing like anyone I’ve ever met.’

      At this, Leonidas’s expression tightened, and she understood that he was closing himself off, that she’d moved them into territory he couldn’t yet traverse.

      ‘What did he do, anyway?’

      ‘Who?’

      ‘Your father.’

      ‘Ah.’ He expelled a slow breath, as though fortifying himself for what would come next.

      ‘I gather he’s in prison?’

      ‘Serving a twenty-year sentence.’

      ‘I’m so sorry.’

      ‘What for? Prison is where criminals should be.’

      ‘Yes, but he’s your dad…’

      ‘Not any more.’

      Hannah frowned. ‘You hate him?’

      ‘Yes.’

      She nodded thoughtfully. ‘Why?’

      ‘My father turned his back on the Stathakis Corporation. He almost destroyed what my grandfather, great-grandfather, and his father had spent their lifetimes building. Ancient, proud shipping lines that funded investments in foreign hotels and then hedge funds—our operations were crippled because of him.’

      ‘How? Surely your company’s too big for any one man to destroy?’

      ‘He began to fund the mob, Hannah.’ His eyes were haunted now, furious too, zipping with tightly coiled emotions. ‘My father—who was richer than Croesus—didn’t just want money and the lifestyle it afforded. He wanted power. No, not power; he wanted people to be afraid of him. He wanted notoriety and reach.’

      ‘I can’t even imagine what drives a man to think like that,’ she said with a gentle shake of her head. ‘How could he have even met that element?’

      ‘It’s everywhere. Casinos, bars, commercial investments.’ Leonidas expelled a harsh breath. ‘He was always enamoured of that lifestyle. I’m only surprised it took so long for him to be arrested.’

      ‘That must have been so hard for you.’

      ‘I think of myself as a strong person but I have no idea how I would have coped without Thanos.’ The confession surprised her, and softened her, all at once. ‘Investigators from every country in which we do business went over our records with a fine-tooth comb. We lost anything that had been used to fund crime. Despite the fact Thanos and I had been groomed from a young age, at our grandfather’s knee, to love our company like a member of this family, to work hard to better it, we had to watch it being pulled apart, piece by piece, to see it crumble and fail.’

      Sadness clouded Hannah’s eyes; the image he was painting was one that was loaded with grief.

      ‘What did you do?’

      His expression was laced with determination and she thought of a phoenix, rising from the ashes. ‘We cut the failing businesses, sold them off piece by piece, got what we could for them and recouped by aggressively buying into emerging markets. It was a high-risk strategy, but what did we have to lose?’

      Hannah felt the conversational ground shift a little beneath them. She knew there was danger ahead, but, again, something had changed, there was more clarity, as if a valve had given way and now there was a clear flow of comprehension, an understanding.

      ‘You said Amy was murdered in a vendetta against your father?’

      His features tightened, and his jet-black eyes glittered with hatred—not for her, but for the men responsible. ‘Yes.’

      It was like pulling fingernails, she knew. He didn’t want to do this, and yet, he wasn’t hiding from her, even when it was causing him pain.

      ‘He cut a deal with a prosecutor. Multiple life sentences were reduced to a twenty-year term, all because he handed over the names of his associates.’ Leonidas’s contempt was apparent, his lips little more than a snarl. ‘He didn’t, for one second, think of how that would affect us—those of us out here, living in this world.’

      ‘Perhaps he was just trying to do the right thing?’

      Leonidas surprised Hannah then, because he smiled—a smile that was tinged with grief. ‘You see the world through the veneer of your goodness,’ he said after a moment. ‘You think because your motivations are pure and good, everyone else’s must always be?’

      ‘No.’ She frowned; it wasn’t that at all.

      ‘Yes,’ he insisted. ‘How else could you have become engaged to a man who was cheating on you? You trust and you forgive.’

      ‘Is that a bad thing?’

      He was quiet, staring at her for several beats. ‘I hope not.’

      Hannah expelled a soft breath. ‘Maybe I do give people more than their fair chance. But I also see the truth—I know what people are capable of, Leonidas. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it.’

      She looked away from him then, her eyes gravitating to the yacht as it bobbed on the surface of the Mediterranean. Everything was clear and pristine, and so very beautiful, like stepping into a postcard.

      Leonidas’s fingers curled around her chin, gently pulling her back to face him.

      ‘He hurt you?’

      Hannah’s eyes widened, and it took her a moment to think who he was referring to.

      ‘He was my fiancé, and he had an affair… Of course that hurt. But it wasn’t him alone; it was her, too. It was the fact that two of the people who were supposed to love me most in the world had been happy to betray me with one another.’ She shuddered, the shock of that moment one she wasn’t sure she’d ever get over. ‘It wasn’t losing Angus. It was the whole situation.’

      His eyes devoured Hannah’s face, tasting her expression, digesting its meaning. ‘Have you spoken to her?’

      Hannah shook her head. ‘I couldn’t. I can’t. I don’t know what I’d say. Growing up, our relationship wasn’t always…easy.’

      ‘Why not?’ he pushed, and she had a glimpse of his formidable analytical skills. She felt his determination to comprehend her words, to seek out what was at the root of them.

      ‘She was competitive, and frankly insecure. Her mother—Aunt Cathy—spurred her on, making comments about how we looked, or about grades.’ Hannah sighed. ‘I never bought into it. I mean, we’re all our own person, right? Run your own race. That’s what my mum used to say.’ Her smile was nostalgic, and then, it slipped from her lips like the sun being consumed СКАЧАТЬ