SHE MUSTN’T HOPE for too much, Lizzie thought. This was just the first meeting between the three of them since Damon and Thea had learned the truth. Touch wood, it all seemed to be going well. Damon had invited them to his beach house, and Thea’s eyes had rounded like golf balls as she’d stared around, but…
Why did there always have to be a but?
Because maybe she hadn’t gone about this the right way. Perhaps she should have given Damon and Thea a chance to get to know each other before telling them that they were father and daughter.
Was there a right way to do this?
And then there were the practical points that they hadn’t ironed out yet, Lizzie thought as Damon showed them around his glorious mansion. There were priceless rugs underfoot and striking works of art on the walls. The furniture was sleek and modern, and the house was kitted out with every luxury item imaginable—including an elegant grand piano in the hall beneath the sweeping marble staircase.
And still it echoed.
This was luxury on an unprecedented scale, but it told Lizzie nothing about Damon. There were no personal items, no photographs, no trophies, no memorabilia at all. And every footfall and whispered word between them travelled aimlessly around the vaulted space. It made Lizzie nostalgic for her cosy bedsit, where she had cuddled up on many a night with Thea.
This mansion was a sumptuous new build, waiting to have a family’s personality imprinted upon it. And, even supposing things could be ironed out between Lizzie and Damon, how were they going to manage this? From being two separate units, could they become one?
What would be lost along the way? Lizzie thought as they walked from a cinema room to an indoor gym and a swimming pool complex, and on again to a full-scale library. Her independence? Lizzie wondered with a frisson of alarm. Or Thea’s carefree take on life? Either way, she couldn’t relax into the tour of this fabulous house and pretend she belonged there.
Thea had to be worried about the future too. She wasn’t easily impressed—except maybe by a thrift shop find, or some priceless violin she’d seen in an auction house catalogue—and she had never lusted after riches. She had everything she needed, she would often tell Lizzie, but now Lizzie was beginning to wonder if Thea said it just to reassure her.
She would soon find out.
Lizzie’s trust fund was heavily depleted, she accepted. Her father and stepmother had seen to that. The only time Lizzie felt secure was when she was in control. She might not have much, but what she had she’d earned, and she was confident she could make a safe and loving home for Thea.
Watching Thea and Damon together, the two of them so seemingly relaxed, made Lizzie edgy. She knew Thea well enough to know when Thea was being polite, rather than genuinely enthusiastic, and she suspected that was the case now, but she couldn’t be sure until Thea expressed an opinion.
All she wanted was for Thea to be happy, but was this the way? Lizzie wondered as Thea reached out a hand, as if needing her mother’s support. She crossed the room quickly to take hold of Thea’s hand, sensing a need for reassurance beneath Thea’s outwardly happy front.
Thea wasn’t satisfied with holding hands, and threw herself into a hug, as if she needed to feel the security of her mother wrapped around her. ‘Stay with me,’ she insisted in a fierce whisper. ‘You’re part of this too.’
Was she? Lizzie wondered. Or was three a crowd?
* * *
He saw the concern on Lizzie’s face and knew she was holding her feelings in, not wanting to influence Thea. They were both keen to keep this first meeting between the three of them as relaxed as possible.
How was it going so far?
Not so well, judging by Thea’s white face.
‘I’ll leave you both to take a look around the house on your own,’ he said. ‘Take your time.’
‘You’re leaving us?’ Thea said suspiciously.
There was an undercurrent behind those words that told him in no uncertain terms that it would take a lot more than one day to make up for eleven missing years.
‘I’ll take you back to the school when you’re ready,’ he reassured her. ‘You two need some time alone to get used to the idea of having me in your life.’
‘Do we have to?’ he heard Thea ask Lizzie as he walked away.
* * *
Well, that was an unrivalled success, Lizzie thought cynically as Damon drove them back. If anything, things were tenser now than they had been before.
‘Don’t forget the party tomorrow,’ Thea reminded Lizzie as Damon pulled up outside Thea’s school.
‘Party?’ Lizzie exclaimed, and then she remembered. There was so much going on she could barely keep up.
‘Tomorrow afternoon at the old gentleman’s house.’ Thea glanced at Damon. ‘My…grandfather?’ Thea frowned as she tested a word that could mean very little to her yet.
‘That’s right,’ Damon confirmed. ‘And my father can’t wait to meet you.’
Things were moving fast, Lizzie reflected. Too fast, maybe, and none of it was easy for Thea.
‘I’ll be there,’ she promised Thea.
She’d have to juggle her work schedule, as in spite of Iannis insisting she must take a holiday Lizzie had said that she’d help out with some of the last-minute preparations for the party.
Seeing Lizzie’s concern, Damon stepped in. ‘I spoke to Iannis on your behalf, so you can leave the restaurant early. I hope you don’t mind?’
Before she could answer Thea piped up tensely, ‘Are you going to organise everything in my mother’s life now?’
‘Thea!’ Lizzie exclaimed, though she had to concede that Thea had a point.
‘Thea’s right,’ Damon admitted, saving himself at the eleventh hour. ‘I should have consulted you first, and I apologise. It’s just that music is my father’s joy, and he’s very excited about tomorrow and the chance to meet you both.’
Thea wasn’t taking things nearly as well as Lizzie had hoped. She would need a lot of reassurance going forward. And time. They both needed more time to get their heads around this new order.
‘You don’t have to work while you’re here,’ Damon told Lizzie, meaning to be helpful, no doubt, but only succeeding in garnering more black looks from Thea.
Thea wasn’t shy in expressing her feelings on the subject. ‘My mother likes to work. She tells me so all the time.’
Lizzie didn’t comment on that, but she did voice her concerns. ‘If I don’t work, how can I support us both?’
Damon’s expression was his answer. He would provide for them. But that didn’t suit Lizzie.
Meanwhile Thea’s head was snapping from side to side, like a spectator at a tennis match, with an expression on her face that clearly said, See? I told you what parents were like—which was the last thing Lizzie had wanted.
When Thea had climbed out of the SUV outside the school, Lizzie took off her seat belt. ‘I’ll get out here too,’ she told Damon. ‘Thanks for the lift. I’ll catch the bus back to the restaurant.’
It would be a relief to leave the tension in the enclosed cabin of the SUV behind, but that was only a minor reason for her taking this decision. She wanted to reassure Thea, and that was more important than anything. She also wanted to tell Damon that this wouldn’t work if he insisted on acting without listening.
But her priority was Thea, whose sigh of relief when Damon drove away was almost as deep as Lizzie’s.
* * *
The party at the grand old mansion was in full swing by the time Lizzie and Thea arrived. Lizzie had managed to reassure Thea a little by this point, and they both found it impossible not to smile when they were welcomed to the Gavros family home with the warmest of greetings by the man they now knew was Thea’s grandfather.
The man her father had defrauded, Lizzie remembered, incredulous that anyone could have a heart big enough to put the past in the past and give them such a warm welcome.
The large, impressive house was not what Lizzie had expected either. Far from being a stuffy museum, it was a cluttered home, slightly shabby, with dogs running around and cats commanding all the best chairs.
‘Thea!’ Thea’s grandfather grasped her hands. ‘I’ve heard so much about you. Welcome to our home,’ he said, shaking Thea’s hand formally—to give him chance to study Thea’s face without being too obvious about it, Lizzie thought. ‘Your home too now,’ he advised Thea gently.
As Lizzie watched on she felt a pang as Damon’s father continued to look at Thea as if he were drinking in every last detail, thirsty for knowledge of his granddaughter. Lizzie’s fears that Thea would remain tense, maybe even a little surly, quickly disappeared. They had both been reassured by the old gentleman’s warmth and his genuine manner. Thea had completely relaxed, and was returning his smile.
‘I’m very pleased to be here,’ Thea said politely, studying her grandfather with matching interest.
‘Welcome home,’ he declared, turning to Lizzie.
‘Thank you.’
Lizzie was floored by the welcome. Damon’s father had so many reasons to hate everything about her family, and yet he was greeting them with such warmth. Her emotions surged, regret and wistfulness competing as she thought back to another time, when her mother had been alive and they had lived in a loving and slightly chaotic home just like this.
‘I hardly dare to shake your hand, young lady,’ Thea’s grandfather was confiding in Thea. ‘In case I damage it!’ he explained, which made them both laugh.
Infected by their joie de vivre, Lizzie relaxed enough to laugh too, while Thea insisted, ‘My hand’s made of tougher stuff than that.’
‘And is your mother made of the same tough stuff?’ Thea’s grandfather asked, turning his wise gaze on Lizzie.
‘My mother’s the best mother in the world—and the most beautiful!’
‘Thea—’ Lizzie protested. Her cheeks fired red. ‘We mustn’t hog all of Kirio Gavros’s time. He does have other guests.’
‘But none as important as you,’ Damon’s father assured Lizzie. ‘Your daughter speaks with passion. You’re a very lucky woman. Please,’ he added, gesturing towards an open door through which they could see the garden, ‘enjoy the sunshine and the music. There’s an ice cream cart, Thea—and it looks as if your friends are here to escort you,’ he exclaimed as a group from the youth orchestra crowded round.
‘You’re very generous. Thank you,’ Lizzie said warmly, turning to go.
‘No. You are generous,’ Thea’s grandfather argued softly. ‘You didn’t need to come here. You didn’t need to allow Thea to come here. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart.’
Hearing the break in his voice, Lizzie turned. ‘Thank you for inviting us.’ It still didn’t seem enough after what her father had put him through, and impulsively she went back to kiss Damon’s father on both cheeks.
‘Don’t be a stranger, Lizzie,’ he whispered. ‘The past is the past. Remember that always, and never let the past hold you back.’
When she finally broke away she had tears in her eyes. ‘Thea—what do you say?’ she called out, needing a few moments to rein in her emotions.
‘Thank you!’ Thea called back to her grandfather with a happy wave, before her friends dragged her away.
‘Go and enjoy yourself,’ Damon’s father insisted, chivvying Lizzie across the hall with great warmth.
She had a lot to think about by the time she left the cool of the hall for the heat of the blazing sun.
* * *
‘Over here, Mama—here, beneath the trees.’
Shading her eyes, Lizzie saw that with unerring good sense Thea and her friends had set up camp beneath the generous canopy of a jacaranda tree.
An elderly lady was introducing herself to the children as Lizzie approached. Was this humorous, twinkly sparrow of a woman Damon’s mother? Lizzie wondered. Somehow she’d expected to find a tall, elegant, possibly fearsome lady, rather than this instantly likeable person.
She missed her own mother so badly for a moment she had to pause to let her emotions subside before she could walk up and introduce herself.
Damon’s mother took her hand in both of hers. ‘Welcome, Lizzie,’ she said, smiling. She scanned Lizzie’s face and her smile widened. ‘We’re so very pleased to have you here.’
This was said with such warmth that Lizzie’s eyes brimmed a second time.
‘Anything the two of you want,’ Damon’s mother added, glancing at Thea, ‘please know that you only have to ask.’
‘Thank you.’
This was so much more than Lizzie had hoped for. And the sincerity of Damon’s parents said a lot about Damon. No wonder he’d worked so hard to put things right for them, to ensure that their retirement was worry-free. They all had a lot of lost time to make up for, but for the first time Lizzie wanted to believe that it might be possible.
‘I’m glad you came.’
Damon’s voice was deep and husky, and Lizzie tingled all over to hear him so close behind her. His mother had moved closer to the children to talk to them, leaving the two of them alone.
‘Shall we?’ he asked, leading Lizzie away from the happy tableau of Thea and her grandmother and Thea’s friends.
Her body heated beneath his dark gaze. His sensuality was overpowering. She was spellbound by his sexual charisma, Lizzie concluded, and she badly needed not to be if she was to think clearly.
Damon halted at the side of a swimming pool, beneath the shade of an awning, where they could talk discreetly.
‘Your parents couldn’t have been more welcoming. You’re a very lucky man.’
‘They worked hard to make me what I am,’ he countered dryly. ‘And I didn’t make it easy for them.’
She was sure he had not.
‘This is a wonderful occasion…’
Lizzie’s mouth dried as she gazed around. She felt threatened by this very different, very privileged lifestyle. Even her father, at the height of his showing off, had never lived in a property remotely comparable to this majestic home.
Bunting fluttered from the huge white marquee set in the centre of a flawless emerald-green lawn, while the surrounding garden was like a park full of colour, with ponds and streams and majestic fountains flowing. Behind this the grand old house watched over the proceedings with the elegance of centuries emblazoned on its grey stone. Lizzie wouldn’t blame Thea if she was tempted to throw aside their bedsit for the chance to live somewhere like this.
‘Everything needs careful handling,’ Damon said, as if reading her mind.
She turned to look at him. ‘Of course it does.’ She followed his gaze to where Thea was chatting happily with his parents, both of whom had now joined the group of children.
‘Shall we?’ Damon suggested again, angling his chin towards the house.
She almost didn’t want to leave. It was as if she feared losing her place in Thea’s affections, was worried that she might be pushed out to make room for a new family and a new life.
‘Now?’ he prompted.
Why could neither of them be honest about their feelings? Lizzie wondered. The sexual tension between her and Damon was as fierce as ever, and they never seemed to have any problem expressing that, but where emotions were concerned they were both equally skilled at hiding them.
It was a lot to take in, Lizzie reasoned, but decided to break the ice first.
‘I wish your parents hadn’t been left out of the loop for so long,’ she admitted as Damon held open the door into the main house for her.
‘They do too,’ he said frankly. ‘But what can’t be changed must be accepted and dealt with. The main thing is that they’re both overjoyed to discover they have a granddaughter at this stage of their lives. Thea’s happiness is all they care about. They have no resentment. In fact, far from it. They’re grateful to you. They can’t thank you enough. They know you’ve had a difficult life, and they also know I didn’t make it any easier for you. They certainly don’t pity you,’ he added, anticipating her possible reaction. ‘If anything, they admire you more than they can say. Come in,’ he added, beckoning her into the house when she hesitated on the threshold.
She looked around with interest as Damon led the way through a hallway packed with a selection of boots and gardening tools to open the door on to a comfortably ramshackle sitting room. Everything she looked at wore the patina of age with grace. There were chunks out of chair legs where dogs had chewed, and threaded curtains where cats had climbed, and in spite of everything going on in their lives Lizzie felt wistful, knowing Damon had grown up in a real family home—which was exactly what she’d always dreamed of for Thea.
‘You’ve never been frightened of change before, Lizzie.’
‘Is that how it looks to you?’ She laughed softly. ‘I am afraid of change,’ she admitted. ‘I just hide it well.’
‘And now I’m in your life you know there’s more change coming?’
She shivered involuntarily. That sounded like a threat. ‘There’s change, and then there’s your billionaire lifestyle,’ she admitted. ‘It might take Thea and me a long time to get used to that.’
‘I think you’d both adapt pretty quickly.’
‘We might not want to,’ Lizzie pointed out. ‘Thea still has to get used to the idea of having a father in her life and I’ll resent losing my independence. I know you have a lot,’ she said, with magnificent understatement, ‘but you can’t buy Thea or me. Nor can you direct a child to love or even accept you. That will take time, and even then there are no guarantees. I’m sorry.’ She really was. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see.’
‘That’s not my way,’ Damon assured her.
‘Then you might want to rethink your way,’ Lizzie countered, as mildly as she could. ‘Thea is a young person with an independent mind—as I think you’ve seen for yourself.’
‘And what about you, Lizzie?’
‘The same goes for me—though my primary concern is Thea, and any decision I make will be based on that.’
‘It’s not my intention to steal Thea from you,’ Damon was quick to add.
Then why even mention it? Lizzie thought.