the island, Ellie fumed. He wasn’t prepared to listen to anyone else’s point of view, least of all hers. Just as she had imagined, the Olympus was more than a floating home; the yacht was Alexander Kosta’s kingdom—a kingdom he ruled without a council.
‘Why don’t you sit down and relax, Ms Mendoras?’
He pointed to the comfortable chair one of his lackeys had drawn up for her.
‘I’m here to make a point, not to make myself comfortable.’
‘Please yourself.’ He shrugged.
Ellie was deeply conscious that, sitting silently some distance away from them, Kiria Theodopulos was a party to everything. The old lady was both her rock and her sticking point. She felt safe, but she couldn’t say half the things she would have liked to. Respect for the old lady’s traditional values meant she had to keep a curb on her tongue. ‘Mr Kosta—’
‘Ms Mendoras? Or may I call you Ellie?’
As Kiria Theodopulos gave an almost imperceptible nod Ellie knew she didn’t have much alternative.
‘Good,’ he said smoothly, ‘and in that case I have no objection to you calling me Alexander…’
‘You’re too kind.’ She could think of plenty more things she’d like to call him, but for now Alexander would have to do.
‘So, tell me what’s on your mind,’ he prompted.
In truth? Very little right now. Ellie’s mind had emptied faster than a sieve. Calling Alexander Kosta by his first name was far too intimate for her liking. But she could handle it, Ellie reassured herself. ‘You can’t expect to throw Lefkis open to all comers, Alexander, and have no consequences…’
He took his time to answer her and rubbed one firm thumb pad across the stubble on his chin before he did.
‘You seem to know a lot about my future plans for the island, Ellie.’
His expression suggested quite the contrary; that she knew nothing.
‘Do you really care for this island, or was your protest today prompted by self-interest?’
‘What?’ Ellie couldn’t believe her ears.
‘It just seems to me to be too much of a coincidence that on the day you learn you are about to lose your berth in the deep-water harbour you launch a campaign against me…’
Kiria Theodopulos stiffened as if she would have liked to intervene. ‘Of course I care about my berth,’ Ellie said quickly, wanting to save the old lady further hurt. ‘It was my father’s, and his father’s before him.’ Her eyes turned to emerald ice as she held Alexander’s gaze, daring him to contradict her.
‘Well, I just can’t understand your concerns. What is wrong with your new berth on the other side of the island?’
‘Exactly my point!’ Ellie blazed. ‘It’s on the other side of the island. Why is that, Alexander? Is the fishing fleet too unsightly for your new visitors? Will everyone who fails to live up to your exacting standards be replaced or relocated where they can’t be seen? What will you do if your wealthy friends complain about the lack of local colour? Will you have us bussed in?’
Kiria Theodopulos nodded.
‘I’ll be sure to give some consideration to what you’ve said,’ Kosta said.
And that’s likely! Ellie thought grimly. How could she expect a man like Alexander Kosta to understand that the very thing that made Lefkis unique was about to be diluted by him, until the culture of the island, as well as the delicate balance of life in the sea, no longer existed? ‘You can’t go ahead without consultation—’
‘I can do what I like, since I own the island,’ he pointed out. ‘I have made the necessary investigations, and I have concluded that the deep-water harbour can’t be wasted. The revenue from visiting yachts alone—’
‘Profit. It all boils down to money with you—’
‘If only I had the luxury of being an idealist—’
‘But you do,’ Ellie protested. ‘Can’t you see? You could have it all—’
‘I think you’ll find that my way, the calm and reasoned way, will work better,’ Alexander insisted, not missing the opportunity to point out that she was losing control. ‘The influx of visitors means every one of those deep-water berths will be required. You should be pleased, Ellie. The shallow harbour I have reserved for you and for the other fishing boats will be ideal for your purpose.’
‘Say you!’
‘I have decided this,’ Alexander confirmed steadily, holding Ellie’s impassioned gaze.
‘Don’t you care that the fishing fleet has considered this harbour to be its home for centuries?’
‘That’s not strictly true…’
There was triumph, and humour too, on Alexander’s face, and even Kiria Theodopulos flinched a little at that last point. Ellie wasn’t totally sure of her facts; she had only lived on Lefkis for the past eight years, and now, maddeningly, her eyes had filled with tears. The truth was she loved her simple life on the island and she couldn’t bear to see anything change. It hadn’t taken much for a few hotheads amongst the locals to provoke her into action. ‘You can’t sweep generations of tradition away and expect Lefkis to retain its charm,’ she pointed out more calmly, thankful for an agreeing tilt of Kiria Theodopulos’s head.
‘When I require your advice, Ellie, I’ll be sure to ask for it—’
‘Why bother when you’d only ignore it?’
‘Anticipating my actions again, Ellie?’
‘Someone should stand up to you—’
‘And that person’s you?’
‘Why not me?’ Ellie said, firming her jaw as Alexander rose out of his chair.
‘Ellie Mendoras? A one-woman army?’
‘If I must be.’ It was a pity her voice quavered at that point, and an even bigger pity she had to crane her neck in order to hold his gaze.
He moved so fast she gasped out loud as he came towards her.
‘Tea?’ he said, reaching past her to ring a bell.
He asked Kiria Theodopulos the same question and, having received a positive response, flashed Ellie a triumphant glance. Oh, yes, everything appeared to be going Alexander Kosta’s way.
Was she strong enough to stand up to him? Ellie wondered as Alexander took up position in front of one of the picture windows. Only time would tell. So far he seemed totally unconcerned by everything that had happened.
He might have been fresh from the shower. Effortlessly elegant and perfectly groomed, he had made her feel doubly drab. A fact that shouldn’t concern her at all, but for some reason did.
‘May
