Page 24 of Vows of Revenge

‘Hang on to your napkin!’ Kassia whispered. ‘We’re supposed to mingle with new people now.’

They did, one of whom was a classicist, and Damos held back and let Kassia engage with him happily on a comparison of Mycenaean, Homeric and Classical Attic Greek. She was in her element, he could see, and that same silvery glow was in her expressive, grey-blue eyes as he’d seen when she’d enthused about the broken bits of pots she spent her time uncovering.

He sat quietly and watched. Even in that dress that did nothing for her, with her severe hairstyle and unmade-up face, there was still something about her...something that made him want to go on looking at her. Hearing her voice... Being close to her...

He realised he was being addressed by the classicist, who was asking him if he, too, were an archaeologist.

He shook his head. ‘But I’ve agreed to sponsor Kassia’s museum’s dig next season, if that exonerates me,’ he said, and smiled.

‘Oh, indeed,’ came the reply. ‘I would keep quiet about that here, though, if I were you. Archaeology is an expensive business, and always hungry for funding! You’ll be plagued to death if word gets out!’

Damos gave the expected laugh, but his thoughts were sober. He had sponsored Dr Michaelis’s excavation not out of the slightest interest in archaeology, but for the sole purpose of engineering an introduction to Kassia. Moving in on her. Lining her up to clear the path for him to acquire Cosmo Palandrou’s logistics company. It would significantly enlarge his own business interests, increasing his own wealth yet more, the way he’d striven to do all his life, from poverty to riches, in order to fulfil his driving, relentless ambition...

Yet somehow, here and now, with Kassia beside him in this historic, atmospheric panelled room at this ancient Oxford college, having spent the day with her among the baroque splendours of Blenheim in the heart of England, that all seemed very far away.

But I am only here with her to drive my purpose forward. That is my only reason for being here at all.

He must not forget it. Whatever his thoughts about Kassia now, they did not obviate his intention in that respect. Yes, he might have come to be drawn to her, irrespective of who she was, but for all that she remained Yorgos Andrakis’s daughter—and it was for that reason alone that he had an interest in her.

Then tell her.

The words were in his head out of nowhere. Stark and bare. Impelling.

Tell her. Tell her what you suspect her father is up to. Tell her that the sure-fire way to stop him in his tracks is to let Cosmo Palandrou see you are involved with her. Just tell her that. It’s all you have to do.

But if he did...?

More words came. Words he could not silence, or dispute, or deny.

How do you know what her reaction will be?

He didn’t—that was the blunt answer.

She might not believe him...might think he was exaggerating...might dismiss it out of hand. He could feel tension tighten across his shoulders as he drove the logic forward. And even if she didn’t—even if she did credit what he was telling her—why should she go along with his method of disposing of her father’s plans? She might think it quite unnecessary—might believe that all she had to do was tell her father she didn’t want to marry Cosmo. And maybe, for all his bullying ways, Yorgos Andrakis wouldn’t succeed in pressurising her to do his will.

But he’ll keep that from Cosmo for as long as he can. He’ll drag things out...tell Cosmo she’ll come round...keep him hopeful. And that means Cosmo won’t be open to any other offers—including mine. And while it drags on other buyers might get wind of what’s going on, see that Cosmo’s company is vulnerable and start to circle too. And then there’ll be a bidding war, pushing the price up.

He drew a breath. No, the surest way to outmanoeuvre Yorgos Andrakis and make the way clear for his own bid for Cosmo’s business was to spike his guns. By making Cosmo not want to marry Kassia at all—putting him off completely by the means he’d determined on right from the start. Getting to Kassia first himself, thereby putting Cosmo off for good—the way he was already doing.

His eyes rested on her. She was sipping her sweet wine and still discussing Ancient Greece with her fellow academic. Damos was all too darkly conscious that she was oblivious to what was going through his head. To the decision he was coming to—the only safe one to make.

He felt himself steel.

It’s just too risky to tell her.

And there was no need to, he reminded himself tightly. No need to do anything other than what he was already doing. Keep going on the path he had selected.

It was working, and it would go on working—right to the end.

And by then...

Kassia will be mine.

He felt his thoughts soften, his eyes lighten, the tension in his shoulders ease. He joined in with the conversation again, taking a refill of port as it circulated, feeling its richness mellowing him even more. The evening wore on, and he knew he was enjoying it—not just because of being here, but because he was sharing the evening with Kassia.

He said as much to her as, with the guests finally dispersing, they strolled across the quad.

‘Are you glad you came?’ he asked. ‘Because I am—very glad. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.’

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