signed over the land, walked out, not just on her but the truth, and it felt as if right now, this minute, he was washing his hands of Xanos.
Cleansing himself of her.
HE TRIED.
Every part of him tried to remove Xanos from his heart. For the first time he ordered his team to respond to the expressions of interest in the hotel, the land, the entire development. He wanted it sold, he simply wanted it gone.
Zander wasn’t baiting Nico, but it came as no surprise that Nico was a serious bidder. There were few who could afford it, fewer still who had a heart in the place, and of course his brother wanted it.
Nico wanted something else too, something Zander could never give.
‘No.’ Zander’s response to his legal team was instant, for it was all done through them, there had been no conversations between the brothers. ‘I’m not interested in a partnership.’ He moved to the window, stared out to what was surely the most beautiful harbour in the world, to glimpses of beaches that should, after all this time, feel like home, so why was his heart in Xanos? ‘He can buy it all or nothing.’
Why did it hurt as his lawyers made calls, as he shed a painful past and moved towards his future? Why did it hurt to listen to his lawyer inform Nico’s team they would be looking at all offers and get back to them soon.
‘She wants to know how soon is soon.’ The lawyer put the phone on mute. ‘Apparently, Nico Eliades does not want to be kept waiting for your decision as he has been in the past. He has another development he is keen on and will be retracting his offer at the end of the week.’
‘Tell Paulo—’
‘It’s not his lawyer on the line, it’s his PA, with a direct message from Eliades.’
It was Nico baiting him this time, Zander realised, for Charlotte was the only thing that had bound them. Were it not for her, he might not even have bothered going to Xanos to confront his brother. It had been the lure of her voice that had changed his plans, had made him go to the island he hated. It had been Charlotte who’d had him stay on those extra days and Nico knew it.
‘Tell her …’ Zander said, but his voice trailed off, because it was late afternoon in Australia and early morning in London, and he wanted her voice and the image of her in bed; he wanted to go back to what they’d had before. Which was impossible of course, and it was impossible too to move forward, for he did not have a heart to give—except it seemed to be beating just now, pounding in his chest and demanding the sound of her voice to soothe it. And there beneath his heart, his soul also demanded, but he shut it down with bile, would not give in to Nico, would not let him use Charlotte as his pawn. ‘Give me the phone,’ Zander said, but did not ask for privacy, for there were few words to be said. ‘My staff will get back to you when I tell them to. Tell your boss that, tell him too that he is the one using you, but I don’t care who calls, I don’t care—’
‘I’ll pass it on.’ The clipped words halted him, the sound of a woman’s voice, but not hers.
‘I thought I was speaking with Eliades’s PA.’
‘You are.’
He did ask for privacy then, flicked his staff out of his office with a brief wave of his hand, before resuming the conversation. ‘I usually deal with Charlotte.’
‘Ms Edwards is no longer working for Mr Eliades.’
‘Since?’
‘I’ll pass on your message to Mr Eliades.’ Nico’s incredibly efficient new PA was not going to waste a moment of her boss’s valuable time discussing her predecessor.
It was she who rang off and Zander stood there as he lost that last link to Charlotte. She was away from Nico. It should bring relief.
But relief was absent.
He had looked forward to their calls far more than he should.
He gazed out at the richest view in Australia, felt a chill in his skin beneath his luxurious suit, for he had everything, yet he had nothing.
When you hurt Nico, you hurt me.
It was as if she were in the room with him.
He picked up the phone and rang what had once been Charlotte’s number and, of course, Nico’s new PA answered. He knew there was only one way to find out about her. ‘Can you arrange a meeting for me?’ He would do it only for Charlotte. ‘With my brother.’
‘WHY would you want a partnership?’
Zander had been surprised at the choice of venue, sure they would sit in a meeting room at Ravels or perhaps in an office in Athens, but instead Nico had asked him to come to his home. Zander could taste bile as he walked through the stone arch and up the steps of what had once been his grandfather’s house. He had accepted the cool greeting of Nico’s wife and now sat, grateful for the drink she offered him, as he asked his brother a question that burned.
‘Is that not what brothers do?’ Nico answered. ‘I do not like the plans you have for the remaining part of the island, but I cannot deny what you have achieved so far—’
‘At the expense of the people.’
‘You have sorted that,’ Nico said. ‘You have repaid them. There are locals now working at the hotel, in the shops and bars. Xanos is a happier place now. Why would you want to walk away from it, from all you have achieved?’
‘Because …’ Zander said, but did not qualify it, did not tell Nico that achieving prosperity for Xanos had never been his intention. He had wanted it gone, to change the landscape he so hated, as if somehow he could erase the past. But he did not share his thoughts with others, did not confide, well, not usually. He had with Charlotte, but he chose not to go there yet. He wanted to know if Nico had fired her, wanted to know if she was doing okay, and if sitting here meant he found out, he’d do it.
‘I am not going to play games. Your offer is fair and I accept it. I will have my staff move things along.’ He glanced up at the wall behind Nico, to a picture that looked like a jigsaw, and saw that it was the garden he had just walked through. He could see two babies sitting in the grass and he tore his eyes away, would not ask if it was Nicos himself, would not stand and walk over to examine it more closely, he just would not be drawn in. He wanted Xanos gone, wanted distance, he was here for one thing only. ‘I will speak with your PA …’ He tried to do it casually, tried to change the subject naturally. ‘I note that Charlotte is no longer working for you.’
‘That’s right.’ His brother was far too like him, Zander realized, for he gave nothing away uninvited.
‘Did you fire her?’
‘My staff are not your concern.’
‘I
