Page 18 (1/2)

CHAPTER ONE

'You have ruined your life just as your mother did,' Spyros Manoulis condemned

Olyrandfather with shuttered eyes the colour of sea jade She was sick with nerves but she had co his spleen put the older man into a better mood and ht, she could stand the heat of any attack

Well-built and fit, for all his seventy-plus years, the white-haired older e of his luxurious London hotel suite, his lined features forbidding 'Look at you, still single at the age of twenty-seven! No husband, no children,' he cited grio, I opened my home to you and I attempted to do my best for you'

As he paused for a necessary breath, broad chest expanding, Olyany hair she wore confined in a French plait, her pallor became pronounced

'And hoashiht dish­onour on the faraced ivable insult to the Cozakis family—'

'Yes' Olyh to own up to ave her the chance to plead her mother's cause

'Such a rateful you were to have Nikos Cozakis at the ti I remember the occasion well!'

Olyether: a necessary self-restraint Hot, cringing hu into her self-discipline

'Then you threw it all away in a wanton er 'Shamed me, shamed yourself—'

Oly time—'

'Not long enough to endoith forgetfulness!' her grandfather countered harshly 'I was curious to see you again That's why I agreed to thisfor it But let me tell you noithout further waste of time that you will receive no financial assistance from me'

Oly for hter—'

Spyros interrupted her before she could hter raised you to be a decent young wo to our Greek traditions, you would never have brought dishonour upon me!'

At that judgmental assurance, Olympia's heart sank So her innocent parent was still to suffer for her daughter's sins Squaring her slim shoulders, she lifted a chin every bit as determined as his own 'Please let me speak freely—'

'No, I will not hear you!' Spyros stalked over to the win­dow 'I want you to go home and think about what you have lost for you and your mother Had you married Nik Cozakis—'

'I'd have castrated him!' Olympia's control over her tem­per slipped as the olderwas already at an end

Her grandfather's beetling brows rose alh as his hairline

Olympia coloured 'I'm sorry—'

'At least Nik would have taught you to keep a still tongue when ato you!'

Oly breath He was asbut add fuel to the flaht to have arrived steeped in sack­cloth and ashes and hung her head with anguished regret when he referred to her broken engagement

Spyros Manoulis esture of finality 'You could only winNik'

Fierce disappoint 'Why don't you just throw in cli Everest too?'

'I see you get the picture,' her grandfather said dryly

But there was a little red devil buzzing about now inside Olyet him to marry me, would I still come dowered with the Manoulis empire?'

The older ? Get him to marry you? Nikos Cozakis, who woman he wanted—'

'Few young woe a dowry as you offered as a sweetener to the deal over o'

Spyros Manoulis was aghast at her bluntness 'Have you no shame?'

'When you tried to flog me off like one of your tankers, I lost hter as­serted curtly 'You still haven't answered my question'

'But what is the point of a question that crazy?' The olderboth hands up in complete exasperation

'I'd just like to know'

'I would have signed control of Manoulis Industries over to Nik on your wedding dayand I would still gladly do so, were it possible!' Weary now, his big shoulders sluh at what he saw as a total impossibility 'My only desire was to pass on the business I spent a lifeti into capable hands Was that so much to ask?'

Olyevity of his narandfather than faentleto be reconciled with her estranged father, but the older wo his back on her However, an increasing sense of despair was creeping over Olyrandfather was i her out of curiosity So as she still hanging around where she wasn't welcome?

Olympia walked stiff-backed to the door and then decided to make one last atte—'

Spyros growled soed Greek, his refusal to listen instantaneous

Olyems 'If she dies poor and miserable, as she is now, I hope your con­science haunts you to the grave and beyond, because that's what you'll deserve!'

For a second, Spyros Manoulis stared at her with expres­sionless dark eyes Then he swung away, his broad back stiff as an iron bar

Leaving her grandfather's suite, Olyot into the lift before she sluot herself back under control, she crossed the busy hotel foyer back out into the open air Maybe she should run really insane and kidnap Nik Cozakis, she thought with enormous bitterness If she'd had the money she could have hired hitmen to snatch him out of his stretch limo And she could have personally starved and tortured Nik in some dark, dank cellar with a completely clear conscience After all, she hated him She really, really hated him