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Authors: Maggie Cox

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BOOK: In Petrakis's Power
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‘And I am Ludovic … but my family and friends call me Ludo.’

She frowned, ‘Ludovic? How unusual.’

‘It’s a family name.’ Beneath his immaculate tailoring
the fair-haired Adonis’s broad shoulders lifted and fell as if the matter was of little concern. ‘And Natalie? Is that a name you inherited?’

‘No. Actually, it was the name of my mum’s best friend at school. She sadly died when she was a teenager and my mum called me Natalie as a tribute to her.’

‘That was a nice gesture. If you don’t mind my saying, there’s something about you that suggests you are not wholly English … am I right?’

‘I’m half-Greek. My mother was born and raised in Crete, although when she was seventeen she came to the UK to work.’

‘What about your father?’

‘He’s English … from London.’

The enigmatic Ludo raised an amused sandy-coloured eyebrow. ‘So you have the heat of the Mediterranean in your blood, along with the icy temperatures of the Thames? How intriguing.’

‘That’s certainly a novel way of putting it.’ Struggling hard not to display her pique at the comment, and wondering at the same time how she could convey without offending him that she really craved some quiet time to herself before reaching London, Natalie frowned.

‘I see I have offended you,’ her enigmatic fellow passenger murmured, low-voiced. ‘Forgive me. That was definitely not my intention.’

‘Not at all. I just—I just have a lot of thinking to do before my meeting.’

‘This meeting in London is work-related?’

Her lips briefly curved in a smile. ‘I told you that my dad sent me the train ticket? Well, I’m going to meet
him. I haven’t seen him for about three months, and when we last spoke I sensed he was extremely worried about something … I just hope it’s not his health. He’s already suffered one heart attack as it is.’ She shivered at the memory.

‘I’m sorry. Does he live in the city?’

‘Yes … he does.’

‘But you live in Hampshire?’

‘Yes … in a small village called Stillwater with my mum. Do you know it?’

‘Indeed I do. I have a house that’s about five miles from there in a place called Winter Lake.’

‘Oh!’ Winter Lake was known to be one of the most exclusive little enclaves in Hampshire. The locals referred to it as ‘Billionaire’s Row’. Natalie’s initial assessment that Ludovic was a man of means had been spot-on, and she didn’t know why but it made her feel strangely uneasy.

Leaning forward a little, he rested his hand on the arm of his seat and she briefly noticed the thick gold ring with an onyx setting he wore on his little finger. It might be some kind of family heirloom. But she was quickly distracted from the observation by his stunning sapphire gaze.

‘I presume your parents must be divorced if you live with your mother?’ he deduced.

‘Yes, they are. In any case, tonight I’ll be staying at my dad’s place … we have a lot of catching up to do.’

‘You are close … you and your father?’

The unexpected question took her aback. Staring into the fathomless, long-lashed blue eyes, for a long moment
Natalie didn’t know how to answer him. Or how much she might safely tell him.

‘We definitely were when I was younger. After my parents divorced it was … well, it was very difficult for a while. It’s got much better in the last couple of years, though. Anyway, he’s the only dad I have, and I do care about him—which is why I’m anxious to get to London and find out what’s been troubling him.’

‘I can tell that you are a devoted and kind daughter. Your father is a very fortunate man indeed to have you worry about him.’

‘I
endeavour
to be kind and devoted. Though, to be frank, there are times when it isn’t easy. He can be rather unpredictable and not always easy to understand.’ She couldn’t help reddening at the confession. What on earth was she doing, admitting such a personal thing to a total stranger? To divert her anxiety she asked, ‘Are you a father? I mean, do you have children?’

When she saw the wry quirk of his beautifully sculpted mouth she immediately regretted it, surmising that she’d transgressed some unspoken boundary.

‘No. It is my view that children need a steady and stable environment, and right now my life is far too demanding and busy to provide that.’

‘Presumably you’d have to be in a steady relationship too?’

Ludo’s magnetically blue eyes flashed a little, as though he was amused, but Natalie guessed he was in no hurry to enlighten her as to his romantic status. Why should he be? After all, she was just some nondescript girl he had spontaneously assisted because she’d
stupidly left her train ticket in the ladies’ room before boarding the train.

‘Indeed.’

His short reply was intriguingly enigmatic. Feeling suddenly awkward at the thought of engaging in further conversation, Natalie stifled a helpless yawn and immediately seized on it as the escape route she was subconsciously searching for.

‘I think I’ll close my eyes for a while, if you don’t mind. I went out to dinner last night with a friend, to help celebrate her birthday, and didn’t get in until late. The lack of sleep has suddenly caught up with me.’

‘Go ahead. Try and get some rest. In any case I have some work to catch up on.’ Ludo gestured towards the slim silver laptop that was open on the table in front of him. ‘We will talk later.’

It sounded strangely like a promise.

With the memory of his smoky, arresting voice drifting tantalisingly through her mind like the most delicious warm breeze, Natalie leaned back in her luxurious seat, shut her eyes and promptly fell asleep …

In the generous landscaped garden of her childhood London home she squealed with excitement as her dad laughingly spun her round and round
.

‘Stop, Daddy, stop! You’re making me dizzy!’ she cried
.

As she spun, she glimpsed tantalising snatches of blue summer sky, and the sun on her face filled her with such a sense of well-being that she could have hugged herself. In the background the air was suffused with the lilting chorus of enchanting birdsong. The idyll was
briefly interrupted by her mother calling out to them that tea was ready
.

The poignant dream ended as abruptly as it had begun. Natalie felt distraught at not being able to summon it back immediately. When she was little, she’d truly believed that life was wonderful. She’d felt safe and secure and her parents had always seemed so happy together.

A short while after the memory of her dream started to fade, the muted sound of the doors opening stirred her awake just in time to see a uniformed member of staff enter the compartment with a refreshment trolley. She was a young, slim woman, with neatly tied back auburn hair and a cheery smile.

‘Would you like something to eat or drink, sir?’ She addressed Ludo.

With a gently amused lift of his eyebrows, he turned his head towards Natalie.

‘I see that you have returned to the land of the living. Are you ready for some coffee and a sandwich?’ he asked. ‘It’s almost lunchtime.’

‘Is it, really?’ Feeling a little groggy, she straightened in her seat and automatically checked her watch. She was stunned to realise that she’d been asleep for almost an hour. ‘A cup of coffee would be great,’ she said, digging into her purse for some change.

‘Put your money away,’ her companion ordered, frowning. ‘I will get this. How do you take your coffee? Black or white?’

‘White with one sugar, please.’

‘What about a sandwich?’ He turned to the uniformed assistant, ‘May I see a menu?’ he asked.

When the girl handed a copy of said menu over to him, he passed it straight to Natalie. About to tell him that she wasn’t hungry, she felt her stomach betray her with an audible growl. Feeling her face flame red, she glanced down at the list displayed in slim gold lettering on the leaflet in front of her.

‘I’ll have a ham and Dijon mustard sandwich on wholemeal bread, please. Thank you.’

‘Make that two of those, and a black coffee along with the white one.’ He gave the assistant their order, then waited until she’d arranged their drinks and sandwiches on the table and departed before speaking again. ‘You sounded a little disturbed when you were dozing,’ he commented.

Natalie froze. Remembering her dream, and thinking that she must have inadvertently cried out at the very real sensation of her dad spinning her round and round, she answered, ‘Do you mean I was talking in my sleep?’

‘No. You were, however, gently snoring,’ he teased.

Now she really
did
wish the floor would open up and swallow her. As the train powered through the lush green countryside she hardly registered the sublime views because she was so incensed.

‘I don’t snore. I’ve never snored in my life,’ she retorted defensively. Seeing that Ludo was still smiling, she added uncertainly, ‘At least … not that I know of.’

‘Your boyfriend is probably too polite to tell you.’ He grinned, taking a careful sip of his steaming black coffee.

Her heart thudded hard at the implication. Not remotely amused, she stared fixedly back at the perfectly sculpted profile on the other side of the aisle. ‘I don’t have a boyfriend. And even if I had you shouldn’t assume that we would—’ Her impassioned little speech tailed off beneath the disturbing beam of Ludo’s electric blue eyes.

‘Sleep together?’ he drawled softly.

Anxious not to come across as hopelessly inexperienced and naive to someone who was clearly an accomplished and polished man of the world and about as far out of her reach socially as the earth was from the planet Jupiter, Natalie bit into her sandwich and quickly stirred some sugar into her coffee.

‘This is good,’ she murmured. ‘I didn’t realise how hungry I was. But then I suppose it’s because I didn’t have any breakfast this morning.’

‘You should always endeavour to eat breakfast.’

‘That’s what my mum says.’

‘You told me earlier that she was from Crete?’

The less tricky question alleviated her previous embarrassment a little. Even though she had only visited the country a couple of times, she’d grown up on her mother’s enchanting tales of her childhood homeland, and she would happily talk about Greece until the cows came home. ‘That’s right. Have you been there?’

‘I have. It is a very beautiful island.’

‘I’ve only been there a couple of times but I’d love to go again.’ Her grey eyes shone. ‘But somehow or other, time passes and work and other commitments inevitably get in the way.’

‘You must have a demanding career?’

Natalie smiled. ‘It’s hardly a career, but I’m extremely glad that I chose it. My mum and I run a small but busy bed and breakfast together.’

‘And what do you enjoy most about the enterprise? The day-to-day practicalities, such as greeting guests, making beds and cooking meals? Or do you perhaps like running the business side of things?’

Privately she confessed to being inspired to do what she did because her dad had run an extremely successful hotel business. As she’d grown older she’d picked up some useful tips from him along the way, in spite of the eventual dissolution of her parents’ marriage.

‘A bit of both, really,’ she replied. ‘But it’s my mum that does most of the meeting and greeting. She’s the most sublime hostess and cook, and the guests just adore her. Taking care of the business side of things and making sure that everything runs smoothly is my responsibility. I suppose it comes more naturally to me than to her.’

Ludo’s compelling sapphire-coloured eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘So … you like being in charge?’

The comment instigated an unsettling sensation of vague embarrassment. Did he perhaps think that she was boasting? ‘Does that make me sound bossy and controlling?’ she quizzed him.

Her handsome companion shook his head, ‘Not at all. Why be defensive about an ability to take charge when a situation calls for it … especially in business? A going concern could hardly be successful if someone
didn’t take the reins. In my view it is a very admirable and desirable asset.’

‘Thanks.’ Even as she shyly acknowledged the unexpected compliment it suddenly dawned on Natalie that Ludo had revealed very little about himself. Yet he had somehow got her to divulge quite a lot about her own life.

Was he a psychologist, perhaps? Judging by his extremely confident manner and expensive clothing, whatever profession he was in it must earn him a fortune. She realised that she really
wanted
to know a bit more about him. What sentient woman wouldn’t be interested in such a rivetingly attractive man? Maybe it was time she turned the tables and asked
him
some questions.

‘Do you mind if I ask you what
you
do for a living?’ she ventured.

Ludo blinked. Then he stared straight ahead of him for seemingly interminable seconds, before finally turning his head and gifting her with one of his magnetically compelling smiles. Her heart jumped as she found her glance irretrievably captured and taken hostage.

‘My business is diverse. I have interests in many different things, Natalie.’

‘So you run a business?’

He shrugged disconcertingly. Why was he being so cagey? Did he think she was hitting on him because he was wealthy? The very idea made her squirm—especially when he had displayed such rare kindness in paying for her train ticket. Not one in a thousand people would have been so generous towards a complete stranger, she was sure.

‘I would rather not spoil this unexpectedly enjoyable train journey with you by discussing what I do,’ he explained. ‘Besides … I would much rather talk about you.’

‘I’ve already told you what I do.’

‘But what you do, Natalie, is not who you are. I would like to know a little bit more about your life … the things that interest you and why.’

She flushed. Such a bold and unexpected declaration briefly struck her dumb, and coupled with the admission that he was enjoying travelling with her, it made her feel strangely weak with pleasure. The last time she could recall feeling a similar pleasure was when she’d had her first kiss from a boy at school she’d had a massive crush on. Her interest in him hadn’t lasted for more than a few months, but she’d never forgotten the tingle of fierce excitement the kiss had given her. It had been tender and innocently explorative, and she remembered it fondly.

BOOK: In Petrakis's Power
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