NIKOLOS ANGELIS STUDIED his father in rampant disbelief. âYouâre not serious. You canât be serious. We own one of the biggest companies in Greece!â
Symeon, a handsome man with silvering dark hair, was not looking his ebullient best. His complexion was grey and heavy lines of exhaustion marked his features. âI took a gamble and it didnât pay off. In fact, it was a disaster. The company is overstretched and the bank is getting very nervous. They made me pledge everything we possess but theyâre still not happy. If they pull the plug now, weâll lose the lot!â
Nikolos said nothing. Everything? Even the family home? He was so angry that he did not trust himself to speak. His grandfather, Orestes, had taught him that a man should put the honour and security of his family first. While the old man had lived the family fortune had been in safe, protective hands. But Symeon Angelis didnât operate that way. Even though he was in his fifties, he was still desperate to prove that he could wheel and deal as successfully as his legendary father and he had lost millions pursuing high-risk deals.
âIf itâs any consolation,â Symeon muttered heavily, âyou were right about the Arnott development being too good to be true.â
Nikolos swung round, stung beyond bearing by that admission. âYou bought in even after the Kutras brothers warned you to stay clear?â
Symeon Angelis winced and gave his eldest son a rueful look. âI thought they were trying to corner all the action for themselves.â
Nikolos ground his even white teeth together in silence. He did not allow himself to look in his parentâs direction. He was ashamed of the fierce contempt he was feeling. Symeon was a good man, a good father, a good husband. He was universally well-liked and respected but his intellect was not powerful and he was a lousy entrepreneur. Nikolos, on the other hand, had devoted his spare time as a teenager to some highly profitable trading in stocks and shares that had made him a millionaire before he even left school. To stand by powerless and watch his less clever and shrewd father stumble and make stupid mistakes was, for Nikolos, a punishment of no mean order.
âIâll be frank with you. This may be our darkest hour but we have been offered an escape clause,â the older man confided in a taut undertone. âIt came from a surprising source. In fact, I was astonishedâ¦However, I said it couldnât be done. It wouldnât be rightââ
Mastering his impatience, Nikolos rested grim eyes on Symeon. âWhat wouldnât be right?â
His father seemed reluctant to meet his sonâs enquiring scrutiny. âI canât ask you to make such a sacrifice at your age. Youâre only twenty-twoââ
âWhatâs that got to do with anything?â
Symeon Angelis expelled his breath in a hiss. âTheo Demakis approached me and offered to bail us out.â
Nikolos vented a startled laugh of incredulity. âTheo Demakis? Are you winding me up? Since when did we move in such exalted circles?â
âIt seems that we could move in those circles if we wanted to,â Symeon murmured with the air of a man choosing his words with extreme care.
His sonâs lean, bronzed face stayed unimpressed. âDemakis is as cold as a corpse. If you get into bed with him youâll wake up with a knife stuck between your ribs.â
âIn other circumstances, that might have been my attitude as well. But Theo is offering a family connection rather than just a business transaction.â
At those words, Nikolos fell very still. âYou canât mean what I think you meanâ¦â
The older man flushed a mottled pink. âI can see where Demakis is coming fromââ
âI think your view must be foggedââ
Refusing to be discouraged, Symeon pressed on. âTheoâs only son must be dead ten years now, heâs on his third wife and he still doesnât have another child. He only has his English granddaughter. He wants Prudence to marry a Greek boy from a good background and thatâs not surprising when sheâs half-English and illegitimate into the bargain. Demakis is an old-fashioned man and heâs offering an old-fashioned deal.â
An appalled inability to credit what he was hearing kept Nikolos silent.