if I want to carry on doing this. I’m exploring other options. Museum work doesn’t pay much and anyway, I don’t want to live in a big city. I could never teach—’ She shrugged, depressed by the options. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
‘You’re an expert in ceramics and you’ve made some beautiful pots.’
‘That’s a hobby.’
‘You’re creative and artistic. You should do something with that.’
‘It isn’t practical to think I can make a living that way and dreaming doesn’t pay the bills.’ She finished her drink. ‘Sometimes I wish I’d read law, not archaeology, except that I don’t think I’m cut out for office work. I’m not good with technology. I broke the photocopier last week and the coffee machine hates me, but apparently having ZervaCo on your résumé makes prospective employers sit up. It shows you have staying power. If you can work there and not be intimidated, you’re obviously robust. And before you tell me that an educated woman shouldn’t allow herself to be intimidated by a guy, try meeting him.’
Spyros rose to his feet. ‘Plenty of people would be intimidated by Nik Zervakis. There are some who say his name along with the gods.’
Brittany pushed her water bottle back into her backpack. ‘Those would be the people whose salary he pays, or the women he sleeps with.’
Lily took off her hat and fanned herself. ‘His security team is briefed to keep them away from him. We are not allowed to put any calls through to him unless the name is on an approved list and that list changes pretty much every week. I have terrible trouble keeping up.’
‘So his protection squad is there to protect him from women?’ Brittany looked fascinated. ‘Unreal.’
‘I admire him. They say his emotions have never played a part in anything he does, business or pleasure. He is the opposite of everything I am. No one has ever dumped him or made him feel less of a person and he always knows what to say in any situation.’ She glanced once across the heat-baked ruins of the archaeological site towards the man who had lied so glibly. Thinking of all the things she could have said and hadn’t plunged her into another fit of gloom. ‘I’m going to try and be more like Nik Zervakis.’
Brittany laughed. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘No, I’m not kidding. He is like an ice machine. I want to be like that. How about you? Have either of you ever been in love?’
‘No!’ Spy looked alarmed, but Brittany didn’t answer. Instead she stared sightlessly across the plateau to the ocean.
‘Brittany?’ Lily prompted her. ‘Have you been in love?’
‘Not sure.’ Her friend’s voice was husky. ‘Maybe.’
‘Wow. Ball-breaking Brittany, in love?’ Spy raised his eyebrows. ‘Did you literally fire an arrow through his heart?’ He spread his hands as Lily glared at him. ‘What? She’s a Bronze Age weapons expert and a terrifyingly good archer. It’s a logical suggestion.’
Lily ignored him. ‘What makes you think you might have been in love? What were the clues?’
‘I married him.’
Spyros doubled up with soundless laughter and Lily stared.
‘You—? Okay. Well that’s a fairly big clue right there.’
‘It was a mistake.’ Brittany tugged the trowel out of the ground. ‘When I make mistakes I make sure they’re big. I guess you could call it a whirlwind romance.’
‘That sounds more like a hurricane than a whirlwind. How long did it last?’
Brittany stood up and brushed dust off her legs. ‘Ten days. Spy, if you don’t wipe that smile off your face I’m going to kick you into this trench and cover your corpse with a thick layer of dirt and shards of pottery.’
‘You mean ten years,’ Lily said and Brittany shook her head.
‘No. I mean days. We made it through the honeymoon without killing each other.’
Lily felt her mouth drop open and closed it again quickly. ‘What happened?’
‘I let my emotions get in the way of making sane decisions.’ Brittany gave a faint smile. ‘I haven’t fallen in love since.’
‘Because you learned how not to do it. You didn’t go and make the same mistake again and again. Give me some tips.’
‘I can’t. Avoiding emotional entanglement came naturally after I met Zach.’
‘Sexy name.’
‘Sexy guy.’ She shaded her eyes from the sun. ‘Sexy rat bastard guy.’
‘Another one,’ Lily said gloomily. ‘But you were young and everyone is allowed to make mistakes when they’re young. Not only do I not have that excuse, but I’m a habitual offender. I should be locked up until I’m safe to be rehabilitated. I need to be taken back to the store and reprogrammed.’
‘You do not need to be reprogrammed.’ Brittany stuffed her trowel into the front of her backpack. ‘You’re warm, friendly and lovable. That’s what guys like about you.’
‘That and the fact it takes one glance to know you’d look great naked,’ Spy said affably.
Lily turned her back on him. ‘Warm, friendly and lovable are great qualities for a puppy, but not so great for a woman. They say a person can change, don’t they? Well, I’m going to change.’ She scrambled to her feet. ‘I am not falling in love again. I’m going to take your advice and have rebound sex.’
‘Good plan.’ Spy glanced at his watch. ‘You get your clothes off, I’ll get us a room.’
‘Not funny.’ Lily glared at him. ‘I am going to pick someone I don’t know, don’t feel anything for and couldn’t fall in love with in a million years.’
Brittany looked doubtful. ‘Now I’m second-guessing myself. Coming from you it sounds like a recipe for disaster.’
‘It’s going to be perfect. All I have to do is find a man who doesn’t tick a single box on my list and have sex with him. It can’t possibly go wrong. I’m going to call it Operation Ice Maiden.’
Nik Zervakis stood with his back to the office, staring at the glittering blue of the sea while his assistant updated him. ‘Did he call?’
‘Yes, exactly as you predicted. How do you always know these things? I would have lost my nerve days ago with those sums of money involved. You don’t even break out in a sweat.’
Nik could have told him the deal wasn’t about money, it was about power. ‘Did you call the lawyers?’
‘They’re meeting with the team from Lexos first thing tomorrow. So it’s done. Congratulations, boss. The US media have turned the phones red-hot asking for interviews.’
‘It’s
