and she stared down at the sheets while she tried to regain her composure. But the weeks and months of worry about her mother’s health, and her fears that her father could lose his company, combined with the emotional trauma of giving her virginity to a man who despised her, had shattered her tenuous hold on her self-control, and she buried her face in her hands in a frantic attempt to muffle the sound of her weeping.
Once the storm had begun, it raged out of control. She did not know how long she cried, and was only vaguely aware of the mattress dipping as Thanos dropped down onto the bed beside her. She stiffened when she felt his hand on her shoulder, unbearably embarrassed by her breakdown but unable to check the sobs that still tore through her body. Her chest hurt, and her head felt as though it were about to explode, but the hand on her shoulder slid up her neck to massage her nape in a soothing motion that gradually calmed her.
‘I’m sorry,’ she choked at last, scrubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and staring fixedly into her lap, so mortified by her outburst that she could not bring herself to meet his gaze. ‘I’m not usually so pathetic.’
The hand on her neck continued its gentle stroking, and when she dared to glance up she discovered that Thanos had donned a black bathrobe and was sitting so close to her that she could see the tiny lines that fanned around his eyes. He was watching her impassively, but she was startled to glimpse the faintest hint of compassion in their depths.
‘What was wrong with your mother?’ he asked quietly
‘She had breast cancer. It was a particularly aggressive form of the disease, and her initial prognosis was not good.’ Tahlia took a shaky breath, shocked by the ferocity of the storm that had ripped through her. ‘She had surgery immediately to remove the tumour, followed by intensive chemotherapy which left her desperately weak.’ She swallowed, wondering why she was confiding in Thanos, but the words kept tumbling out.
‘At one point it seemed that she would not survive the treatment, but somehow she found the strength to keep fighting. My father did everything he could to help her; he went to every chemo session with her, and we took it in turns to sleep in a chair by her bed every time she went into hospital. It’s strange how those few hours before dawn seem to last for ever,’ she said in a low tone. ‘You can’t sleep, but you dare not move away from the bed, and as the first light glimmers between the blinds you pray that this is the day there will be some improvement, a turning point.’
‘Yes.’Thanos’s voice was harsh, and she jerked her head up, catching her breath at the agony etched on his face. ‘And every evening, when all hope has gone from that day, you pray that tomorrow will bring the sign you have been waiting for. And so it goes on, day after day. In Melina’s case, week after week.’
Tahlia’s hand flew to her mouth. How could she have been so crass as to bring up the subject of hospitals when Thanos’s sister had been in a coma for weeks? She tensed, expecting him to be angry with her again, and accepted that in all honesty she could not blame him. Since she had learned about the accident she had been tormented by guilt that she should have run after Melina—although it was difficult to imagine what she could have said to the young Greek woman. Even if she had managed to convince Melina she had not known James was married, nothing would have changed the fact that he was a liar and a cheat.
‘I can only imagine how awful it must have been,’ she said softly, her heart clenching as she pictured Thanos’s vigil at his sister’s bedside. ‘Did other members of your family come to the hospital to wait with you?’
He shrugged. ‘I have no other family. My parents died when Melina was five years old, leaving me to bring her up. At first my aunt helped to look after her, but she was elderly and passed away a few months later. Then it was just the two of us.’A nerve flickered in his cheek and he looked away from Tahlia, battling to bring his emotions under control. ‘There were times when Melina showed no sign of coming out of her coma and I feared I would be the only surviving member of the Savakis family.’
He must have felt so alone, Tahlia thought gently. As powerless as she had felt as she had watched her mother struggle with the illness that could so easily have ended her life. Instinctively she placed her hand over his, but when he stiffened she realised how stupid her action had been. Thanos now had irrefutable proof that she had not been his brother-in-law’s mistress, but she was sure he still blamed her for Melina’s accident. She expected him to reject her sympathy, and she made to snatch her hand back. But to her shock he curled his tanned fingers around her paler ones and held her prisoner.
‘How is your mother now?’
‘Completely recovered—thankfully. Actually, her recovery is a miracle—even her consultant says so,’ Tahlia said with a ghost of a smile. ‘Dad was overjoyed when we heard the news.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat as she recalled how her father had wept tears of relief when he had phoned her with the news. ‘That’s why it seemed so…so cruel that on the same day Mum was given the all-clear Dad learned that Carlton House was in danger of being repossessed by the bank. He took out a mortgage on the house to finance Reynolds Gems,’ she explained when Thanos frowned. ‘My mother has no idea of the situation. She thinks they are going to enjoy a wonderful retirement in the house that has been in her family for generations. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen,’ she added fiercely. ‘My parents have been through two years of hell, and now they deserve to be happy. Dad was so relieved when he heard that Vantage Investments were prepared to buy Reynolds because it meant that he could pay back the bank loan and the mortgage, and Carlton would be safe…’
‘And that is why—after you learned that Vantage is a subsidiary of Savakis Holdings, and I made it clear that I had no intention of saving Reynolds Gems—you agreed to sell yourself to me?’ Thanos suggested grimly.
Tahlia bit her lip, sensing his renewed anger. ‘Yes.’
‘Theos!’ he exploded, aware of a curious hollow sensation in his stomach. ‘Why didn’t you tell me your parents were in danger of losing their home?
Tahlia gave him a puzzled look. ‘Why would you have cared? You made it clear that you would never help my father. Time was running out, and I knew I would never find another buyer for Reynolds before the bank seized Carlton. The only thing I had to trade was my body,’ she finished huskily.
The silence that fell between them simmered with tension. Thanos could not bring himself to look at Tahlia as guilt at the way he had misjudged her surged through him. Far from being an immoral slut, like his father’s mistress, it seemed that she was a devoted daughter who had been desperate to help her parents. her motivation in agreeing to be his mistress had not been to ensure her own financial security but to prevent her parents from being evicted from their home. And she had made the ultimate sacrifice, he thought bleakly. She had given him her virginity, aware that his motivation for taking her to bed was to seek revenge for a crime she had not committed.
He closed his eyes, shutting out the image of her pale, tear-stained face. In the name of heaven, what had he done?
‘How did you meet James Hamilton?’ he asked abruptly.
Tahlia shot him a startled glance. ‘A friend of mine was starring in a play, and James was a member of the cast. We got chatting when I went backstage after the performance, and he…swept me off my feet.’ She shook her head, remembering the buzz she had felt when James had singled her out. ‘He was handsome, charming, funny…My mother was desperately ill, and I was sick with worry about her, but when I was with James he made me forget my fears for a few hours. I hadn’t dated anyone in the years since Michael died,’ she explained quietly. ‘I was devastated by his death. He was so young and vibrant. We weren’t lovers, but our friendship had been developing into something deeper, and I was
