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Theo Dehed at her attempt to stand up to him ‘Do you take me for a fool? Why do you think I invited you to visitI’ve thrown at you because your ain and the bailiffs are back at the door!’

Dis to aze As she dropped her head in shame-faced embarrassment, a curtain of chestnut-brown hair fell forward to screen her rounded profile and she looked very much her nineteen years

‘Aht?’ the older man sneered

‘Yes…’ The admission almost choked Prudence, for she would have loved to tell hi and that her mother, Trixie, had cleaned up her act and turned her life around Sadly, that wasn’t possible and her grandfather’s contemptuous satisfactionevenhiht almost two decades earlier when he had told his son to ditch his pregnant girlfriend

‘What a winner Apollo picked to father randchild with! He had the pick of the world’s heiresses He could have brought a royal princess houst ‘Even then I was rich as Midas and ree But my son wasn’t the sharpest knife in the draas he? He picked a woman as a lush, a spendthrift and a whore-’

Her face fla to you talking about my mother like that!’

The older man surveyed her with ironic a her out of trouble’

At that blunt declaration, Prudence lost colour She lowered her head and sed hard on her angry pain Slowly, heavily, she sank back down in her seat again As she had learned at an early age, penury and dignity rarely went hand in hand In any case, Theo Deht and the truth was not very pleasant: she did need hisheavily and currently facing court action over unpaid bills But Prudence was convinced that if the stress of the older woman’s financial problems was reo through rehab again Painful as it was to accept, Prudence reflected with a sinking sensation in her tummy, Demakisor dying Years of alcohol abuse had dangerously weakened Trixie’s health

The older hter a harsh look of iht you to Greece only because I believe you can be of use toto see if you have the brains to recognise a lucky break when it’s on the table in front of you ‘

Her brow indented, Prudence was bewildered by that statement

‘What do you think of Nikolos Angelis?’ Theo asked with the teeth-baring smile that sent a shiver down most people’s backs

The disconcerting sound of that particular na like randfather without even noticing the chilling curl of his thinback a whole host of other, more enthusiastic words which she felt would have exposed her to the older man’s derision

How could she possibly speak freely about Nikolos without revealing the depth of her feelings for him? She was in love for the first time in her life but that was her secret and she had no intention of sharing it with anyone After all, Nikolos had the dark, dangerous beauty of a fallen angel and she was overweight and plain It was a hopeless passion and she knew it

‘How do you think Nikolos will handle poverty? At this veryfinancial ruin They’ll lose their hoer children out of their fancy schools and that will just be the beginning of their sufferings After more than a century of wealth and ease, his parents will find it very difficult to adapt to such heavy losses’ Theo watched the surprise and i in her expressive eyes ‘But you have it within your power to save them all from that unhappy fate’

‘How could I help them?’ Prudence exclaimed, shaken by the picture he had drawn

‘By helping elis boy I’ll rescue his family and also take care of all your enerous to all parties concerned and I aenerous man as a rule’

Prudence stared back at him in wide-eyed astonishment As he spoke, her soft full h she intended to break into speech but each tiree to elis? How on earth could that come about? It sounds totallyyou,’ she framed shakily

‘There’s method in my madness’ The portly older lass ‘I want a male heir, but with the exception of your father my own efforts in that direction have been unsuccessful However, you’re young and healthy and so is the Angelis boy If even half of the rumours about his virility are true, it shouldn’t take hi to achieve the required result’

His coarse laugh hter’s skin ‘I can’t believe you’re talking to oodness’ sake, Nikolos wouldn’t marry me…he wouldn’t want me-’

‘It’s not a , which is just as well, isn’t it? You’re no beauty,’ her grandfather pointed out with a casual cruelty that turned her white ‘But, believehis precious faelis will take you as his bride-’

‘No…’ she htly clenched in on the by his taunts

‘He will He is not a fool like his father He’s strong and very loyal to his family As for you, you do have De you both a wonderful opportunity’

‘That’s not how I see it…you’re talking about black me!’

The older aze on her ‘I dislike wild accusations There is no black hand in return for a favour Turn your back on enerosity if you wish’

‘It’s not a question of ed him in desperation

‘Accept that I don’t care whether your mo

ther goes to prison or drinks herself to death,’ Theo Demakis fielded drily ‘Why would I care? What is she to me?’

‘Trixie ht not be in the mess she’s in now if she hadn’t had such a battle to survive when I was a kid!’

His scorn unconcealed, Theo Demakis checked his watch ‘Look out of the …’

After a moment’s hesitation, Prudence scraardens She wondered what she was supposed to see when her mind was in so much turmoil that she was incapable of concentration Belatedly she noticed the taxi waiting by the i front door

‘That taxi is waiting to take you to the airport’

Prudence was as startled by that announcement as he could have wished ‘Now…you want me to leave?’

‘Your luggage has already been packed If you say no to elis boy, I will send you hoain Make your mind up and do it quickly’

A sense of panic gripped Prudence ‘Can’t you be reasonable about this? It’s so unfair to spring this on me and demand-’

The older reement ‘I think it unfair that you should show no appreciation for the fabulous future I am prepared to buy for you You have your choice Run back to your rateful she is when she learns that you could have made her financially secure for life!’

Prudence flinched at that crack, for she knew that Trixie would consider such a reward her due after the sacrifices her single parenthood had entailed In fact she clearly sahat her grandfather was doing and recognised the pressure he was bringing to bear on her She considered herself strong and resilient, but the certainty of his cold, unforgiving ed her into despair She knew that he meant what he said He really didn’t care what happened to her and he would not give her the funds she needed to support her mother unless she did as he asked