Mediterranean Seduction. Кэрол Мортимер

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ mean, what were you doing with it?’

      He made a sound of disgust and Charlotte was horrified to see him starting to remove the film card. ‘What are you doing?’ she exclaimed angrily.

      But Iannis was too fast for her. Catching hold of her wrists in one fist he held her still. ‘I’m removing the film card,’ he said evenly.

      ‘How dare you?’

      ‘Oh, I dare,’ he said easily, and, slipping it onto the palm of his hand, closed his fingers around it.

      ‘You can’t steal that—’

      ‘Watch me.’

      ‘Give it back to me this minute or I’ll—’

      ‘You’ll what?’ Iannis demanded harshly. ‘Call your lawyers?’

      Charlotte stalled a moment in bemusement as he let her go. No one in their right mind would call in lawyers to retrieve a film card with—what?—twenty shots taken. Pictures she would still have time to replace before she returned home the next day. But it was the principle that inflamed her most of all. Iannis couldn’t just walk into her bedroom, pick up her camera and steal all the photographs she had taken on Iskos.

      ‘Well?’

      His curt question was the last straw. She snatched the camera away from him, and tried to get the film card out of his hand too.

      ‘Not so fast,’ Iannis warned, seizing hold of her again. He held her so close their breath mingled. ‘You haven’t given me an answer yet,’ he reminded her coldly.

      ‘Keep the damned photographs,’ Charlotte hissed furiously, whipping her face away because it hurt too much to see the change in him. ‘I can get plenty more where they came from!’

      ‘I bet you can,’ he agreed bitterly. ‘But you won’t be taking any more pictures of me.’

      Charlotte’s heart banged against her ribcage. Was he going to leave the island—leave her?

      ‘Did you really imagine that temporary access to my body gave you rights over my life?’

      Charlotte’s lips moved, but no sound came out. ‘I can’t believe you just said that,’ she said at last, shaking her head in stunned disbelief. ‘Did you have to think long and hard how to hurt me most, or does it just come naturally to you?’ And if that was the case then it was over between them, she realised. She hadn’t come to Iskos to lick her emotional wounds only to leave with a fresh set.

      ‘I hurt you?’ Iannis demanded with a snarl of derision. ‘I’m surprised you have the gall to accuse me of doing such a thing when you have sunk so low.’

      The series of verbal blows left Charlotte dumbstruck. ‘If I had any idea what you were talking about,’ she said at last, hoarsely, ‘then perhaps I could defend myself.’

      ‘Try this,’ Iannis said coldly, holding some crumpled sheets of paper up in front of her.

      Taking them from him, Charlotte blenched as she read the notes for her article. ‘These are just some notes I made for an article I’m writing—a draft—’

      ‘A draft?’ he said derisively. ‘So you didn’t finish it?’

      His face told her he already knew the answer to that.

      ‘So?’ he said when she remained silent. ‘You don’t even bother to deny it?’

      Of all the emotions washing over her, it was guilt that made Charlotte feel the most wretched. ‘Perhaps I should have discussed it with you first—’

      ‘Perhaps?’ Iannis echoed incredulously. ‘And now?’

      ‘I wrote it, and I stand by it,’ Charlotte said. Her voice was soft and steady.

      The laugh Iannis gave was short and contemptuous. ‘And how much money will this little effort make you?’

      Was money all he cared about?

      ‘I said,’ Iannis repeated, and his voice was tight with fury, ‘how much do you hope to make from this, Charlotte? Enough to make you feel better when you realise how much damage you’ve done to me?’

      ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Charlotte protested. ‘This won’t damage you, Iannis. It will make people sit up and wonder where their own lives are going wrong. You’ve got it all—can’t you see that?’

      He laughed in her face, and then shook his head. ‘You really don’t understand anything, do you, Charlotte? You just don’t know what you’ve done.’

      ‘Of course I know what I’ve done,’ Charlotte said, defending herself fiercely. ‘Looking for stories like this one is what I do every day of my working life—’

      ‘I bet it is,’ Iannis snarled. ‘Go on.’

      He made Charlotte feel as if she was standing on a cliff-edge and he was about to push her off. ‘I have written an article,’ she said, ‘and it’s a good one, according to my editor—for which I will be paid enough to cover my bills back home.’

      ‘And that’s it?’ Iannis challenged derisively. ‘What about the worldwide rights?’

      ‘Worldwide what?’ Charlotte cut in incredulously.

      ‘You heard me,’ Iannis said, picking up her camera again. ‘And don’t let’s forget the photographs.’

      ‘The photographs will add colour to the article,’ Charlotte pointed out distractedly, while her mind whirled with possibilities. What was he thinking? What was he getting at?

      ‘I can just imagine—’

      ‘Don’t tell me you’re superstitious?’ she broke in suddenly, as realisation dawned. Remembering Marianna’s warning not to take photographs at the taverna, she knew it had to be that. ‘If you’re offended because I took a photograph—’

      ‘Offended? Superstitious?’ Iannis repeated incredulously. ‘Do you think we live in the Dark Ages on Iskos?’ When Charlotte only stared blankly at him he added icily, ‘You patronising woman. How dare you insult me and my kinsmen in such a manner?’ And with a sharp gesture he flung the printed sheets at her.

      Charlotte made no move to retrieve them from the floor.

      ‘Where’s the rest of the article?’ Iannis demanded, staring at her coldly. ‘Let me have it now.’

      ‘On the kitchen table,’ Charlotte said evenly. ‘Why don’t you take it with you, Iannis? Perhaps when you’ve read the finished article you might feel like making me an apology.’

      Iannis narrowed his eyes and looked at her as if she had gone quite mad. Shaking his head, he said coldly, ‘I shall take it away with me—but only so that it can be checked against the published version.’

      ‘Do as you please,’ Charlotte said, meeting his gaze steadily. ‘I should have told you from the outset that I was writing СКАЧАТЬ