Read Online The Passionate Greek by Catherine Dane - Free Book Online Page B

further
out in the deeper waters of the bay the “Athena”, Nicos’s 200 ft
motor yacht stood at anchor, its steep white sides gleaming in the
morning sun. Melanie’s heart lurched. Electra was pointing
excitedly at it and chortling with excitement.
    ‘Yes, Daddy’s boat,’ she said absently her
mind in a whirl, hoping against hope that only the captain and crew
were aboard and not Nicos. But as she looked she could see a motor
launch speeding away from the yacht towards the harbor's landing
stage, a familiar figure at the wheel. Nicos was back.
    She was dimly aware before she turned
hurriedly away that he had a passenger beside him. She began to
wheel the buggy as quickly as she could back to the path that led
up to the villa. Electra, her morning’s fun curtailed, set up an
indignant wail.
    But the buggy encumbered Melanie’s haste and
her speed was no match for Nicos’s long stride. Suddenly, he was
beside her, a restraining hand on the buggy. With barely greeting
for Melanie he unfastened the straps that held Electra and lifting
her high in the air swung her round and round as she squealed with
joy. Laughing, he carried her back to where the motor launch was
tied up, leaving Melanie to trail awkwardly behind him.
    As she drew close she saw the passenger
being helped ashore from the launch was female, young, blonde and
undeniably glamorous. Melanie felt an unwarranted surge of
jealousy. The newcomer did not look to be in a very good mood. She
stood shaking out the skirt of her white dress and rubbing at a
mark where she had brushed against a damp mooring rope.
    ‘Nicos, I am wet,’ she complained.
    Nicos, intent on Electra, said shortly,
‘Well, it is the sea.’ Melanie hid a smile. Nicos hated what
he called “Princess Precious” behavior But, as if regretting his
rudeness, his arms full of his daughter, he inclined his head
towards Melanie and said, ‘Katerina, this is …’ The girl cut him
off. ‘The nanny,’ she said dismissively.
    Melanie seethed silently and resolved to
keep Electra as far away from this woman as possible.
    The party set off up the path to the villa,
Nicos still carrying Electra, while Katerina clamped herself firmly
to his side. Melanie, left to push the empty buggy, took her anger
out on the wheels crashing them savagely over the rocks. Apart from
his brief introduction to Katerina Nicos had barely acknowledged
her.
    ‘Well, if he doesn’t want me here I don’t
want him here, either, especially with his lady friend in tow,’ she
muttered to herself, wishing fervently that she and Electra still
had the island to themselves.
    At the villa Nicos, still with his daughter
in his arms, went straight to the terrace at the front of the house
where, anticipating their arrival, cooling drinks had been set out
on a low table. Nicos placed Electra carefully on a swing seat and
pushed her gently to and fro. Melanie, left at the bottom of the
villa steps, folded the buggy and wondered just what she was
supposed to do now. The sound of Katerina’s tinkling laugh
stiffened her resolve. She was not going to leave her daughter
anywhere near that woman a second longer than she had to.
    Marching up the steps and along the terrace
she scooped Electra off the swing seat and up into her arms,
announcing firmly, ‘It’s time for her lunch.’
    ‘No kiss for Daddy, then,’ said Nicos,
meeting her eyes with grim amusement. The inference infuriated
Melanie. She wanted to lash out at him. Before she could think of a
suitable stinging reply, Katerina butted in. ‘Yes, take her away.
Don’t babies have to sleep in the afternoon?’ She was rewarded with
a daggered look from Nicos, but examining her nails, she seemed not
to notice.
    Melanie hurried from the terrace up to the
sanctuary of the nursery. Once there, busying herself with her
daughter’s needs and chatting to Maria, she began to calm down.
‘I’ll just go on doing what I’ve been doing since he went away,’
she told herself.