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Roxy put down her magazine. ‘Better?’

Shauna nodded. ‘Much … Well, a little.’

‘No regrets?’

‘About telling Demetrios?’ She put her head on one side, thinking. ‘No. It was time that secret came out into the light. He’s as much a part of that child’s story as I am.’

‘Do you believe him, that he tried to find you?’

Shauna considered this. ‘I think that’s what he wants to believe himself. He was under so much pressure from his parents to save the company, to build a dynasty.’ She ran her hand through the sand, enjoying the heat of it through her fingers. ‘I think he could be strong when we were together, but once I was gone …’

‘Maybe it was for the best. You might never have made it to where you are now if you’d stayed together.’

‘We were too young. We’d probably have ended up divorced a few years later.’ She lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘Could giving up a child you love ever be for the best?’

Roxy reached out for her hand. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I know. But he made his choice, and so did I.’

‘So, when are we leaving?’ Roxy asked her gently. ‘It’s going to be hard saying goodbye to this place, I can tell you.’

‘You’re right, but every holiday must come to an end.’

‘How about we go to Níko’s for an early dinner? We can head over late afternoon. I’d like to say goodbye to Grace. I know Alex is going to miss her.’

‘I still haven’t met her.’

‘Now’s your chance.’

Elana poured herself a cup of Earl Grey tea from the silver teapot. She never thought of herself as an anglophile, but there was something so civilized about afternoon tea. She had heard that the English claimed tea cooled you down on a hot day, which sounded like nonsense to her, but she found a serenity in the ritual of brewing, pouring and drinking that was uniquely pleasurable. She looked out from the terrace, past the pool to the olive grove and beyond that to the sea. How many thousands of times had she looked out at this scene? People liked to assume that the Theodosis villa belonged to her husband, but the opposite was true. This had been her childhood home and her parents had gifted it to them as part of her dowry. She had been born in this place. She would die here, and that thought gave her comfort. Elana took consolation in the simple cycle of life, but today she felt troubled, a nagging unease was sending anxious ripples through her mind, chipping away her composure until even a cup of Earl Grey couldn’t make things better. Something was bothering her, something she couldn’t quite identify.

She tapped her foot fretfully. Where was everyone today? Ariana had not yet shown her face, probably still sleeping off another late night with her friends. She would normally have come looking for something to eat by now. Elana decided to cook her grandaughter’s favourite dish: youvetsi, the perfect comfort food.

As she got to her feet and smoothed out the creases in her printed floor-length dress, she heard footsteps coming through the house in her direction. Seconds later, Demetrios came out onto the terrace, dressed not for leisure but in a pair of smart linen trousers and a crisp white shirt. He did not greet her with his usual kiss.

‘You are going somewhere,’ she observed.

‘Yes, Mother. I have decided that I have lingered here long enough. I am going to my office in Athens to make arrangements. I have decided to move to London and take Ariana with me. She needs someone to provide a positive influence in her life, and who better than her parents. Maybe we should have tried harder to work together when she was younger, instead of fighting each other. But I’m sure we can coexist in the same city for the good of our daughter.’

‘What has got into you, Demi? Where has this come from all of a sudden? Why have you said nothing of these plans before now?’

‘I have always known that you are a scheming, devious woman, Mother, but I had no idea how much your interference had cost me. I cannot stand by and let you wreck my daughter’s life too.’

Elana felt a tremble in her legs. ‘What are you talking about?’

Demetrios walked across the terrace, but his mind was not on the view. ‘We get many visitors to this island, Mother, some of them returning ones. This week, an old acquaintance of yours arrived – or should I say an old triumph.’

‘Triumph? Demi, I have no idea what you mean.’

‘Don’t you? Well then, let me help you understand. Twenty years ago, you took it upon yourself to decide my future. When I refused to go along with your plans, you took matters into your own hands.’ His voice was full of vitriol and white-hot anger. ‘You banished the woman I loved as if you were a god on Olympus.’

‘Twenty years … I can’t remember, it’s so long ago …’ Her voice was shaking but, despite her protestations, her mind was as sharp as it had always been and she remembered well the events of that day …

Summer, 1982

‘Let’s drink to the future, yours and the business, to a grand dynasty.’ She had handed Demetrios a glass and tipped her own to him. ‘What do you say? To the future? Stay for dinner this evening and we can talk some more.’

Her son looked at her coldly, ‘Mother, this is not a game of chess and I am not one of your pawns.’