drank a small glass of wine during dinner. Don’t try to make out that you were unaware of what you were doing when you undressed in front of me, or suggest that I took advantage of you. When I asked if you were sure you wanted to have sex, you more or less begged me to take you.’
She jerked upright and dropped her hands away from her face, shaking her head so that her hair swirled around her shoulders like a curtain of gold silk. ‘I did not beg.’ There was outrage in her voice but she continued in a low tone, ‘I know what I did. I was responsible for my behaviour and I’m not blaming you. But I shouldn’t have slept with you. What I mean is that I should have spoken to you...asked you... Oh, this is so awkward.’ Her eyes widened even more. ‘Did you say that it’s nine o’clock? Oh, my God.’
She scrambled off the bed and tugged the sheet around her, but not before Giannis had glimpsed her naked body. At some point during the night he had removed her stockings using his teeth to tug them down her legs. He watched Ava struggle to put her bra on while she clutched the sheet to her like a security blanket. ‘Don’t you think it’s a little late for modesty?’ he said sardonically.
She picked up her torn thong from the floor and looked as though she was about to burst into tears. ‘I have to go,’ she said wildly. ‘Sam will be going mad wondering where I am. I was supposed to have an important conversation with you last night.’
‘About what?’
She bit her lip. ‘It’s a delicate matter.’
Giannis counted to ten beneath his breath. ‘I’m in a hurry, so whatever it is you want to say—for God’s sake get on with it.’
This couldn’t be happening, Ava thought frantically. In a minute she would wake up from a nightmare. But in the cold light of morning she could not fool herself that having wild sex with Giannis last night had been a dream. She felt a sensation like wet cement congealing in the pit of her stomach with the knowledge that, as a result of her irresponsible behaviour, she had lost her chance to plead with Giannis to drop the charges against her brother. She felt sick with shame and guilt.
The sound of a familiar ringtone cut through the tense atmosphere and she scrabbled in her handbag to retrieve her phone. Her heart lurched when she saw that it was her brother calling.
‘Sam, I’ve been...unavoidably delayed.’ She dared not look at Giannis. ‘You will have to ring for a taxi to take you to the courthouse, and I’ll meet you there. You’ll have to hurry—’ she felt her anxiety rise ‘—your case is due to be heard by the magistrate in half an hour, and you mustn’t be late.’
‘The magistrate is ill,’ Sam said when Ava paused for breath. ‘I’ve just heard that the court cases today have been postponed.’
Ava heard relief in her brother’s voice and she felt a rush of emotion. Sam hadn’t said much in the weeks leading up to his court hearing, but she knew he was scared at the prospect of being sent to prison. ‘Thank goodness.’ She breathed out a heavy sigh. ‘I don’t mean it’s good that the magistrate is ill, of course, but it gives us a bit more time.’
‘Time to do what?’ her brother said flatly. ‘My case has only been delayed for a few days and it’s still likely that I’ll be sent to a YOI.’
Ava knew that young offender institutions tended to be grim places and she understood why Sam was scared. He might be eighteen but he would always be her kid brother. ‘Not necessarily.’ She tried to sound optimistic. ‘I can’t talk now. I’ll see you at home later.’
She replaced her phone in her bag, and her eyes widened as she watched Giannis open his briefcase and throw some documents on top of a pile of bank notes. He closed the briefcase but Ava had a sudden flashback to when she had been a little girl, and had seen her father counting piles of bank notes on the kitchen table.
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