chapter 38

TWO weeks later, the celebration of Agios Giorgios began with a parade to the little church down by the harbour and a celebratory service, which Alexei and most of his staff attended.

A buffet lunch for all followed at the Drakos villa, where games and amusements were laid on for the island children. As a former teacher Hilary was a great help with organising fun activities to keep the children occupied. At Calisto's request, Billie had made arrangements for a private lunch for Alexei, Calisto and their house guests, but Alexei excused himself from the meal in the isolation of the separate dining room and attended the villagers' buffet instead. That there was tension between him and his girlfriend was obvious to everyone.

Billie watched him circulate. He cut a flawless figure in a superbly tailored silk-blend grey suit while his air of command and self-assurance left no one in any doubt of his elite status. But he mixed with the villagers at a much more comfortable level than his late father, Constantine, ever had. He kicked a stray ball back to the boys playing football on his immaculate lawns.

'Tell Alexei I want to speak to him,' Calisto instructed Billie, who was watching over events from the shade of the terrace.

Billie glanced at the beautiful blonde, gloriously if impractically clad in a pure white dress that was low of neck and very short of skirt. Her mouth compressing into an apologetic line as she approached Alexei, she did as she was asked.

His lean, darkly handsome features took on a forbidding aspect and Billie marvelled at Calisto's lack of savvy about the man she was hoping to marry. In certain moods, Alexei needed lots of space. A woman who clung or demanded more attention at that point could only infuriate him. And summoning him through a third party, who was also an employee, was an absolute no-no.

'Calisto and I will go out to Sea Queen now,' Alexei imparted. 'I'll leave you to oversee the transfer of our visitors.'

Billie nodded, sensing the anger he was controlling, grateful she was not the target. Alexei could be so unpredictable and volatile and she sensed that Calisto had very little idea of how his mind worked. All the seething passion and power of Alexei's strong personality could suddenly ignite like a volcano and—like lava—he would burn everything he came into contact with.

When she arrived on the yacht with Hilary and Nicky, Captain McGregor got talking to her aunt and offered to act as her escort for a personal tour of the luxurious vessel. It was fortunate that Billie was able to leave Hilary in good hands because, with Calisto nowhere to be seen, Billie was forced to act as host

ess and greet and organise the arrivals.

Much later that afternoon, Billie found Alexei squatting down on deck in an effort to calm a lost little boy who was crying noisily. She went to his assistance, lifting the child to comfort him and recognising him as the son of the island nurse. 'He needs his mum. I'll go and find her,' she told Alexei softly. 'He's probably over-tired and high on sugar from all those treats you laid on for the kids.'

'It's only once a year.' Straightening again, Alexei gazed down at his PA with hooded dark-as-ebony eyes that were unusually serious and contained no glint of gold. The toddler was now clinging trustingly to Billie with chocolate-stained fingers and sucking his thumb. 'Efharisto, moraki mou. You like children, don't you?'

Billie paled. 'Very much.'

His darkly handsome face shadowed and hardened as though that response was the wrong one and, without another word, he inclined his proud dark head in acknowledgement and left her to it. She restored the toddler to his grateful mother, who had assumed her youngest child was being looked after by his older siblings. When it was time for all the locals to return to dry land, Calisto finally put in a grudging appearance on deck. Her once-pristine white designer dress now bore stains and it looked as though an attempt to clean it had enjoyed little success. There was quite a breeze and seeing Billie—who had left her jacket on shore—shiver, Alexei had a word with one of the stewards, who went off and returned with a soft cream-coloured pashmina. Alexei draped the wrap round Billie's bare shoulders.

Taken aback by that considerate gesture and mortified by the angrily accusing stare she was receiving from Calisto, who seemed to be in a particularly bad mood, Billie busied herself with ensuring the guests enjoyed a smooth departure. She was hurrying off to look for Hilary and Nicky when Calisto cornered her as she walked past the main salon. 'Come in, I need to speak to you.'

Billie fell still, her anxious green eyes flying to the set of Calisto's petulant face. 'How can I help?'

'By keeping your distance from Alexei. For such a plain little thing, you're very good at attracting attention to yourself. You're far too familiar with Alexei and I won't tolerate you flirting with him right under my nose—'