Read Online The Konstantos Marriage Demand by Kate Walker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kate Walker
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eat pasta—however good it might be.’
‘You’re right…’
Nikos set his own menu aside and folded his hands together on the tabletop. The movement made a sudden flash of gold catch the light from the candle flame, and Sadie felt her heart thud just once, hard and sharp against her ribs, as she realised that she had no idea whether Nikos was married or if there was a woman in his life.
Someone to replace her.
Outside a heavy rumble of thunder announced the fact that a storm was approaching. Sadie noted it with only half her mind, the rest of her attention focussed on those long, strong, tanned fingers resting on the red and white checked cloth.Fingers where she now saw the gold was just a signet ring, worn on Nikos’s right hand. At the realisation her breath escaped her in a rush. Breath that she hadn’t even been aware of holding in.
‘I haven’t just invited you here to spend the evening with me. I asked you to meet me because I wanted to offer you a job.’
‘A job?’
And now the waiter was back with the wine, interrupting them again. Was Nikos really making a particular thing about checking the label, having the bottle opened, tasting the small amount the waiter poured into his glass? Or was it just that it seemed that way to her, with every long drawn out second seeming to grate more on her already overstretched nerves, making her want to scream or make some protest. Instead she had to settle for waiting, her back tense, teeth digging into the softness of her bottom lip, until he had nodded his satisfaction and indicated that the waiter should pour her a drink.
‘No, thanks,’ Sadie put in hastily, pressing her hand over the top of her glass. She needed to keep a clear head until she found out just what Nikos was up to. If he pressed her…
Nikos took her decision with surprising equanimity, sipping appreciatively at the rich red liquid in his own glass, once again taking his time before he moved the conversation on at all. Sadie couldn’t stand the waiting any longer.
‘What sort of a job?’ she demanded when the silence had stretched out just too long to bear. ‘Why would you want to employ me? And what makes you think that I would ever want to work for you?’
‘You did,’ Nikos told her coolly, taking another swallow of his wine.
‘I never!’
‘Oh, yes, you did.’
And when she frowned in blank incomprehension, he shook his head slightly, as if in disbelief.
‘What a very short memory you have, Miss Carteret. Whatever happened to “There must be some arrangement we can come to! Surely there’s something I can do—anything”? Anything,’ he added, with soft menace and deadly emphasis.
Recalling the interpretation he had put on that ‘anything’ earlier that day, Sadie suddenly wished she had accepted some of the wine. Right now it might ease the painful knot of tension tight in her chest, ease the uncomfortably jerky pounding of her heart. She knew she would do anything in her power to gain some extra time that her mother and George could spend in the home that meant so much to them. But did Nikos really mean…?
‘What exactly did you have in mind?’ she managed to croak, another rumble of distant thunder seeming to underline the apprehension in her tone.
Once more Nikos took his time in replying, stony, hard eyes never leaving her face as he leaned back in his chair and seemed to consider his response. Not that he had any need to, Sadie reflected. She had little doubt that he knew exactly what he was going to say and how it would affect her. She had the most uncomfortable feeling that she was as powerless as a puppet, with its strings dangling from the hands of a ruthless and cruel master.
‘We’ll come to that in a moment,’ he said evenly. ‘But first I want you to tell me exactly why you want the house so much.’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Sadie hedged, unwilling to expose her mother’s story to his pitiless gaze.
‘Oh, yes, totally obvious.’
Could
‘You’re right…’
Nikos set his own menu aside and folded his hands together on the tabletop. The movement made a sudden flash of gold catch the light from the candle flame, and Sadie felt her heart thud just once, hard and sharp against her ribs, as she realised that she had no idea whether Nikos was married or if there was a woman in his life.
Someone to replace her.
Outside a heavy rumble of thunder announced the fact that a storm was approaching. Sadie noted it with only half her mind, the rest of her attention focussed on those long, strong, tanned fingers resting on the red and white checked cloth.Fingers where she now saw the gold was just a signet ring, worn on Nikos’s right hand. At the realisation her breath escaped her in a rush. Breath that she hadn’t even been aware of holding in.
‘I haven’t just invited you here to spend the evening with me. I asked you to meet me because I wanted to offer you a job.’
‘A job?’
And now the waiter was back with the wine, interrupting them again. Was Nikos really making a particular thing about checking the label, having the bottle opened, tasting the small amount the waiter poured into his glass? Or was it just that it seemed that way to her, with every long drawn out second seeming to grate more on her already overstretched nerves, making her want to scream or make some protest. Instead she had to settle for waiting, her back tense, teeth digging into the softness of her bottom lip, until he had nodded his satisfaction and indicated that the waiter should pour her a drink.
‘No, thanks,’ Sadie put in hastily, pressing her hand over the top of her glass. She needed to keep a clear head until she found out just what Nikos was up to. If he pressed her…
Nikos took her decision with surprising equanimity, sipping appreciatively at the rich red liquid in his own glass, once again taking his time before he moved the conversation on at all. Sadie couldn’t stand the waiting any longer.
‘What sort of a job?’ she demanded when the silence had stretched out just too long to bear. ‘Why would you want to employ me? And what makes you think that I would ever want to work for you?’
‘You did,’ Nikos told her coolly, taking another swallow of his wine.
‘I never!’
‘Oh, yes, you did.’
And when she frowned in blank incomprehension, he shook his head slightly, as if in disbelief.
‘What a very short memory you have, Miss Carteret. Whatever happened to “There must be some arrangement we can come to! Surely there’s something I can do—anything”? Anything,’ he added, with soft menace and deadly emphasis.
Recalling the interpretation he had put on that ‘anything’ earlier that day, Sadie suddenly wished she had accepted some of the wine. Right now it might ease the painful knot of tension tight in her chest, ease the uncomfortably jerky pounding of her heart. She knew she would do anything in her power to gain some extra time that her mother and George could spend in the home that meant so much to them. But did Nikos really mean…?
‘What exactly did you have in mind?’ she managed to croak, another rumble of distant thunder seeming to underline the apprehension in her tone.
Once more Nikos took his time in replying, stony, hard eyes never leaving her face as he leaned back in his chair and seemed to consider his response. Not that he had any need to, Sadie reflected. She had little doubt that he knew exactly what he was going to say and how it would affect her. She had the most uncomfortable feeling that she was as powerless as a puppet, with its strings dangling from the hands of a ruthless and cruel master.
‘We’ll come to that in a moment,’ he said evenly. ‘But first I want you to tell me exactly why you want the house so much.’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Sadie hedged, unwilling to expose her mother’s story to his pitiless gaze.
‘Oh, yes, totally obvious.’
Could
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