NOTHING WAS EVER completely straightforward, Lizzie thought as she climbed into Damon’s SUV outside the restaurant the next morning. Still intensely aware of him, thanks to a night that had left her wanting more, they were now on their way to the school to pick up Thea—just as regular parents picked up their children.
They had planned a return to the beach house to try and make a better go of things than they had last time. Thea would have a home in Greece as well as in England, Damon had told Lizzie before he’d dropped her off last night at the restaurant, and a music studio all her own. That had really chimed with Lizzie. Yes, she might have everything to lose—including her heart, to Damon—but she couldn’t keep an opportunity like that out of Thea’s reach.
‘Good night’s sleep?’ he asked dryly as they turned onto the main road.
‘Yes. You?’ she asked in an innocent tone, knowing she hadn’t slept a wink.
She’d told Damon to drop her off at the restaurant the previous night, but he’d wanted to take her back to the beach house, where they would be able to make love in comfort. She had shied away from that level of involvement. To wake up beside Damon and find herself wanting things she couldn’t have wouldn’t help anyone, and she needed to keep a clear head if she was to try and work out how to keep things running smoothly for Thea in their utterly changed lives.
Thea was waiting for them outside the school, and everything seemed to be going well to begin with. Thea was excited at the thought of going to the beach, and Damon was buzzing too.
‘I’ve got a gift for you,’ he told Thea, the moment they walked through the door of his beachside mansion.
‘For me?’ Thea said excitedly as Damon led the way into the house.
She was still a child, Lizzie thought, feeling more than ever protective. Thea loved presents, and Lizzie couldn’t afford nearly enough of them.
Damon took them into the room that Lizzie had already planned in her fantasy world would be Thea’s music studio. There was the grand piano, in one corner, and a new addition...a violin case...was resting on the piano stool.
‘It’s for you,’ Damon explained when Thea remained hovering uncertainly by the door. ‘The violin’s for you, Thea. Call it an early Christmas present.’
‘It’s only June,’ Thea said in a small voice.
That short comment was the only warning Lizzie needed that things weren’t all right with Thea. She knew her daughter’s moods.
Thea proved her right by being uncharacteristically subdued as she walked across the room. Reaching out one small hand, she tentatively trailed her fingertips across the violin case.
‘Well? Aren’t you going to open it?’ Lizzie asked, glancing anxiously at Damon, who had also tensed, she noticed.
Thea didn’t say anything. She snapped the catches, lifted the lid—and stood back.
‘Is something wrong?’ Damon asked.
Thea was pale when she turned around, and instead of saying any of the things they might have expected, asked simply, ‘Is everything going to change now?’
‘No, of course not!’ Rushing to Thea’s side, Lizzie gave her a hug.
‘What do you mean, Thea?’ Damon asked quietly.
They looked at each other over Thea’s head.
Breaking free of Lizzie, Thea explained, ‘I know this is a very valuable instrument, and I know I should be grateful. It’s a very thoughtful gift...and I thank you,’ she added in a small voice. ‘But it’s far too good for me—especially when I don’t even know if I’ll still be playing the violin when I grow up.’
This hammer-blow struck at Lizzie’s heart. It took all she’d got not to show how shocked she was by Thea’s remark. She couldn’t believe she’d never sensed this doubt in Thea before, and felt immediately guilty. Had she urged Thea down the wrong path? She couldn’t put her hand on her heart and be sure of anything.
Even Damon seemed lost for words for once, and Thea hadn’t finished yet.
‘My mother worked very hard to buy me my first full-sized violin,’ she explained patiently to Damon, with all the seriousness a ten-year-old could muster. ‘She worked long hours and put small payments down until she’d paid enough for me to take the violin home. We’d seen the violin I wanted in a pawnshop window, and my mother begged the owner of the shop not to sell it to anyone else,’ she explained. ‘And there’s something else... Can I tell him?’
‘No,’ Lizzie said, flashing a warning glance at Thea.
‘Tell me what?’ Damon prompted.
‘Nothing,’ Lizzie said quickly.
‘You speak for your daughter now?’
For an instant Thea looked as if she’d like to kill Damon and, pleased as she was at the way her daughter had leapt to her defence, Lizzie knew this was hardly helpful when it came to bringing the three of them closer.
‘Thea, please...’ she cautioned gently, but Thea refused to be stopped.
‘My mother had to sell things at the pawnshop,’ Thea said bluntly, with an angry frown on her face as she remembered. ‘Special things she really cared about. She did that so she could buy me all the extras I needed at school and pay for my violin. Why would I want another instrument when mine was bought with so much love?’
A long silence followed.
‘Maybe when you’re older?’ Lizzie suggested in the awkward break.
‘No,’ Thea argued. ‘If I play the violin at all, no other violin could ever mean as much to me. The only reason I play so well is because you bought my instrument for me. I might not even want to be a professional musician when I’m older. I might want to be an airline pilot, or an engineer—or maybe a comedian?’ Thea raised her chin as she considered this last option.
‘You can be anything you want to be,’ Lizzie agreed.
Damon’s face remained expressionless throughout, and Lizzie almost felt sorry for him. Once again it came down to the fact that not everything could be bought with money and a gap of eleven years could not be easily filled. That was something they both had to come to terms with.
‘You’re right, Thea,’ Damon conceded. ‘I should have asked what you wanted before I bought the violin.’
‘No—it’s good. It’s lovely,’ Thea said quickly, obviously eager to make amends.
She wasn’t a cruel child. Thea was sensitive, which showed in her music, and she knew when someone was hurt. Lizzie had never been prouder of Thea than she was right now.
‘Can you return it to the shop and get your money back?’ Thea suggested with concern.
‘I’m sure I can,’ Damon said confidently.
They were all on a steep learning curve, and no doubt they’d all make more mistakes, Lizzie thought as Thea turned to her. ‘You’re not upset that I might not want to be a professional violinist, are you?’ she asked, staring into Lizzie’s eyes with concern.
‘It’s your life,’ Lizzie said gently. ‘You have to follow your star.’
‘I knew you’d understand!’ Thea exclaimed, relaxing into a happy smile at once. ‘And you will get your mother’s wedding ring back one day, I promise. I’ll get it back for you—Oops.’ She glanced at Damon, and then at Lizzie. ‘I shouldn’t have said that, should I?’
Lizzie reassured Thea with a smile. This was exactly what she’d dreaded—that Thea would end up like Lizzie, feeling guilty all the time. So what if her secret was out? Thea hadn’t meant any harm by it. And it was the truth. There had never been enough money for Lizzie to buy back her mother’s ring.
She wanted Damon to know that she appreciated his gesture—that she understood that he was trying to make up for all the lost years by wrapping every birthday and Christmas present he’d missed into one fabulous gift. He’d done a really great thing, and for all the right reasons, but because he didn’t know Thea his gesture had fallen flat.
* * *
A week later Damon watched Lizzie and Thea’s plane take off into the mid-afternoon sky on its way to London. He’d worked hard in the intervening days to make up for his gaffe with the violin, and his reward had been seeing Thea gradually return to the ease they’d shared before they’d known they were father and daughter.
He understood Thea’s stout defence of her mother, and could only admire her for it. As Lizzie had said, it would take time to reassure Thea that things would be better now, not worse. And he was prepared to wait for as long as it took. For the first time in his life he couldn’t afford to be impatient. Thea was too important for him to get this wrong.
It was only when he turned to go to his car that he realised how alone he felt now they’d gone. Had he always felt this way? The answer was an unequivocal no. He’d never known what he was missing before today.
He stood by the car, gazing up at the sky until the jet carrying Lizzie and Thea away became a silver dot before disappearing. He and Lizzie had made certain decisions, which included taking things slowly, but those decisions, so carefully made, didn’t feel right to him now.
Climbing into the car, he released the handbrake and pulled away from the kerb.
Would Lizzie ever return to Greece?
He was so busy scrutinising the sky in the direction Lizzie’s jet had taken that he almost drove into a ditch. He adjusted his steering fast.
Maybe it was time to adjust his life and his thinking too.
* * *
Thea had buried herself in a book for the duration of the flight home, giving Lizzie plenty of time to think. Everything had been almost perfect during their last few days on the island, she mused. If there was a problem it was Lizzie, with her courage for others and caution for herself. She had never used to be like that, but she had to keep everything safe and steady for Thea.
Was Damon right in saying she should have a life too? Did Thea deserve a mother who could never pull back and see what was under her nose? Was she smothering Thea? Was that why Thea had said what she’d said about not necessarily following a career as a musician when she was older?
On the other hand Damon had got things right these past few days. His family had been more involved with Thea, and the more Lizzie had got to know them, the more she’d come to believe that having them in their lives could only be a good thing for Thea.
Now there was just the problem of Lizzie and Damon, and where they went from here...if they went anywhere.
There were grey clouds over London as the plane came in to land. The aircraft hit turbulence and juddered suddenly and Lizzie gasped and gripped the armrest.
‘What’s wrong?’ Thea asked.
‘Nothing. Everything’s perfect.’
So why did she have to try so hard to convince herself that this was true? Couldn’t she do as Damon asked and trust him for once?
Lizzie couldn’t even put a name to the doubt inside her, except to say that it refused to go away. It was a relief when the plane broke through the clouds and they landed safely.
* * *
Lizzie kissed Thea goodbye at the gates of the school boarding house where Thea stayed during term time. Thea was popular, which made parting easier, though it was never easy for Lizzie on the bus ride home. She always felt sad when she left Thea at school—and especially now, when she knew that Thea wasn’t wholly committed to a future as a professional musician.
Some fairly big decisions would have to be made soon. If Thea did decide to become a day pupil Lizzie would be the happiest mother alive. The complications it would throw up would just have to be worked through, like everything else. Flexi-working, Lizzie thought as she put the key in the door. That was the answer.
She’d just have to hope she could earn enough money working part-time and still be available when Thea needed her. She’d always found a solution in the past, so there was no reason to suppose that she couldn’t do so again.
The house that encompassed her bedsit was empty...echoing and empty. The owners were obviously away.
Shaking off the feeling of loneliness, Lizzie picked up her mail and wheeled her suitcase into her room. A coffee first, and then she’d look at the important things.
There was a lot of mail to throw away first—flyers, menus from the local take-away restaurants—and then one very official-looking envelope, with the name of a legal firm that shot fear into her heart stamped in confident black letters across the top.
Coffee would have to wait, she decided as she turned the envelope over in her hands. The last time she’d heard the name of this law firm had been eleven years ago, in court.
Might as well get it over with...
She didn’t even pause to shrug off her jacket. She just ripped the thick velum envelope open and took out the letter. She unfolded it and started to read.
For once she was glad of the small room and the bed immediately behind her as she sank down, trembling.
Was this what Damon meant by trust? Trust was as ephemeral as a puff of smoke. Trust was a state of mind for fools and romantics. And she had proved to be both, Lizzie concluded as she read the letter again.
Acting on behalf of Damon Gavros, the lawyer was asking—no, demanding—that a DNA test to establish Thea’s genetic link to Damon must be undertaken at a clinic of his choice at the earliest opportunity.
You will appreciate that my client is an extremely wealthy man who must take sensible precautions. A legal paternity test can settle matters such as child support, child custody, visitation dispute, and inheritance issues, and will satisfy immigration requirements.
A strict chain of custody under the supervision of this firm will ensure that samples taken remain in compliance with all legal requirements—
There was a lot more legalese, but she’d read enough. It wasn’t so much the request made by Damon’s legal representatives, but the fact that she’d been with Damon only a few hours before the letter had arrived and he hadn’t thought to mention it.
Holding the letter, she sat on the bed with her head bowed, thinking. It had never once occurred to her that Damon would doubt Thea’s parentage. She’d been a virgin when they’d met—which he knew—and she hadn’t slept with anyone else—which he also knew. Thea was Damon’s child. There wasn’t the smallest doubt about it. And yet he still wanted proof?
Maybe he thought the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree.
Lizzie blazed inwardly as she thought about that. She took after her mother—as Thea did—not her weak and imprudent father.
The main thing now was to protect Thea at all costs. She must remain calm. She wouldn’t allow the test to happen. She had that power at least.
Even as she thought about it Lizzie felt her spirits reviving. Thea would not be made to think there was something wrong with her. And as for this lawyer suggesting that a man as rich as Croesus must take sensible precautions—perhaps Damon should have thought of that when they’d made love.
Yes, she’d been willing enough, and, yes, he’d used protection. But there had been a lot of sex that night, and maybe Damon hadn’t been as meticulous as he’d thought. She took responsibility too, and now it was up to her to protect Thea from every possible hurt.
But what angered Lizzie most was the way this had been done. What would have been so hard about Damon telling her to her face that he wanted a DNA test?
Her offer to give him time to integrate into Thea’s life was a joke now. She’d had no idea that love came with a price tag attached. It seemed to her that Damon was only interested in protecting his precious bank balance. And how would Thea feel, having started to build a tentative relationship with her father only to be told that he needed proof that he was her father?
If new love was a tender green shoot, Damon had just trampled it. Thea would be heartbroken if she ever learned about this. Lizzie had never forgotten the feelings of abandonment she had suffered as a child, and was determined that Thea would never suffer anything similar.
It all boiled down to one simple question: was Damon Gavros fit to be Thea’s father?
Going on this evidence? No. He was not. Either Damon wanted to build a relationship with Thea or he didn’t, and no amount of test results could change that.
* * *
The twenty-four hours before he’d been able to file a flight plan to London had left him in a state of advanced impatience and frustration. He headed straight for the Greek restaurant when he arrived in the city, where he found Stavros in the kitchen. There was no sign of Lizzie, and his welcome from Stavros was unusually cool.
‘She’s at home,’ Stavros told him, in what Damon could only describe as a hostile tone. ‘Recovering,’ Stavros added significantly.
‘Is she ill?’ Alarm iced him.
‘Heartsick,’ Stavros said, staring pointedly at the door.
He took the hint. ‘Okay, I get it. I’m going. Her address...?’
‘If Lizzie had wanted you to know where she lives she would have given you her address,’ Stavros informed him with a cold stare.
‘I need that address now,’ he insisted. ‘And her mobile number, in case she’s not there.’
‘Can’t your lawyer supply those?’
‘My lawyer?’ Damon frowned. ‘What’s my lawyer got to do with this?’
The way Stavros shrugged sent an icy finger of suspicion tracking down Damon’s spine. The head lawyer on his legal team had a notoriously itchy trigger finger, and remembering the warning he’d given Damon set alarm bells ringing.
‘Lizzie’s address and number now,’ he urged, in a tone that even the loyal Stavros couldn’t ignore. ‘Please,’ he added, consciously softening his tone as the restaurateur stared at him belligerently.
Finding Lizzie was too important to risk on a point of pride. He had only realised what he’d lost when she’d left the island. They’d started to build something that in these very early stages might all too easily be destroyed. He had to stop that happening now—not some time in the future. There had been too much delay on both parts.
‘If you care anything at all for Lizzie and Thea, please help me,’ he begged. When Stavros blinked with surprise at his obvious distress, he added, ‘I have to see her now.’
Rather reluctantly Stavros jotted something down on a scrap of paper. When he handed it over Damon was reminded that he took too much for granted. He shouldn’t have to ask for Lizzie’s address. He should know her address. If he cared anything for Lizzie and Thea he should have every detail concerning them locked down.
He had lived a charmed life up to now, Damon concluded as he thanked Stavros and stowed the precious piece of paper in his pocket.
He left the restaurant at speed and leapt into his car. Tapping Lizzie’s address into the sat nav, he sped away. The head of his legal team had always acted in Damon’s best interests before—as seen through his legal eyes—and in fairness Damon expected him to take the initiative at his level, rather than always wait for instruction. But there were some things that should be out of his lawyer’s control—and this was one of them. If he didn’t make things right straight away Damon would be a man who had learned too late how much he had to lose.
He headed towards the suburbs at speed. An adored only son, he had entered the world on a cloud of privilege, and that sense of entitlement had continued on into his adult life. He saw. He seized. He conquered and his empire grew.
He’d always been able to see the path ahead clearly—until Lizzie had come into his life and changed the rules. Lizzie had changed everything, and he couldn’t even be sure if she would agree to see him now.
Only one thing was certain in his immediate future, and that was that it was going to be the fight of his life.