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Xandros glanced sideways at his passenger in the chauffeured car She still had that blank expression on her face, as if she was not really taking in as happening
Make that two of us, Xandros thought grimly
He’d come to London with no intention other than to warn Stavros’s English daughter against her father’s scheer at Stavros had found a new cause Hell, he’d always known theAriadne was proof of that!—but what he’d done to this wretched other daughter of his wasunforgivable
Keeping her in ignorance about her father—keeping her in abject poverty
Elitter in his eyes Stavros wanted his English daughter delivered to hie! No way could he just walk away from her, leave her there in that slum
She’d coh—but then, ouldn’t she? She’d just discovered she had a father she’d never known about—of course she’d want tofor her here in London! Not if she was reduced to cleaning for a living!
So he’d waited as she abandoned her bucket and ed on a cheap, worn jacket, picked up a shabby tote bag and left with hih the letterbox and cli car
She hadn’t asked anythem would have been difficult—especially any about how her father had found out about her existence
His ain Let Stavros tell her that to her face
There had been practical issues about getting her to Athens that had required immediate intention Most importantly, did she have a passport? The answer had been an affirmative, and she’d told him it was in her bedsit The car had stopped there—on another rundown street not far fro—and Xandros’s frown had deepened The terraced house was peeling, its railings broken and rusty Eing curtains at theA total dump
She hadn’t taken long, e a battered suitcase and cli back into the car
His eyes flicked over her now She was looking ed into cheap faded jeans and a sweatshirt Her hair was neater, and she had a strong odour of deodorant now—not stale sweat fro Her skin was still pallid and blotchy, though, her features tired and drawn Only her luave her beauty
He snapped his gaze away, getting out his phone What was it to hihter looked like? His impulsive decision to take her to Athens had been er at the callous way Stavros had so obviously abandoned her to abject poverty
Maybe Stavros will be sha her now! Or she can hire a lawyer to make a claim—even take her story to the tabloids How one of Greece’s richest men left his own flesh and blood to live in squalor
One thing that would not be happening, though, was Stavros’s crazy idea that he lish daughter—a total stranger to hi Ariadne