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‘How long have you been working for me, Miss James?’ he asked after another endless moment

‘Nearly six et He had no reason to fire her, surely? No cause for complaint For the last five and a half arden, and paid all the household bills As housekeeper for a house that was empty most of the time, she knew she had an easy job, but she loved the villa and the island of Naxos, and she’d been very glad for the work—and the pay

Although soht have found her life lonely, it suited Milly perfectly After too es of her parents’ chaotic social scene, bounced fro school, with an endless round of vapid and dissipated parties in between, she’d been looking forward to soenerous salary Alexandro had offered He couldn’t take it away now, not when she was getting closer to saving the kind of money she needed to make Anna safe and happy, for ever

‘Six htly so she could ht nose, the angled cheekbone and full lip He looked like a statue—a dark, dangerous and beautiful block of marble, perfect and so very cold Even in the dim room, she sensed a remoteness about hiled his head ‘Are you happy here?’

‘Happy?’ The question, the idea, startled her Why should he care for her happiness? ‘Yes Very’

‘It h’

‘I don’t mind my own company’ She relaxed a fraction, because it seemed as if he were merely concerned for her welfare And yetthat didn’t see to the Internet, at least, was a cold, driven workaholic, hispers of ruthlessness towards his coraphed at various social scenes looking hard and unsant woman draped on his arm, but he rarely paid them any attention, at least in the photos and videos she’d looked at It was almost as if they weren’t there at all

‘Still, you’re quite young’ He paused, and Milly waited ‘How old?’

‘Twenty-four’ Which he must have known from her rather brief and unremarkable CV

‘And you went to university’

‘Yes, in England’ Four years studying es, and she was fluent in Italian and French as well as her native English, and now she had a s of Greek, as well But Alexandro Santos knew all this

‘Surely you haverooms?’

‘I’m perfectly happy as I am, Kyrie Santos’

‘Please, callback to Paris? You orking as a translator, I believe, before you came here?’

‘Yes’ And being paid peanuts coht of her days in a drab office, translating dreary business letters Then she thought of Philippe, with his golden hair and glea smile, his oh-so-honeyed words, and her insides shuddered ‘I have no desire to go back to Paris, Kyrie—’

‘Alex’