Free PAGAN ADVERSARY by Sara Craven, Chieko Hara Page A

muttered
    something in his own language and released her, walking round to the
    other side of the car. The return journey was accomplished in an
    uneasy silence which Nicky, sitting between them, filled with his
    own happy chatter about the 'Long ducks'. At any other time Harriet
    would have laughed and hugged him to her, but now it seemed
    unwise. He was going to be taken from her, she knew, and her best
    course was to start letting him go, in her mind at least.
    As the car purred through the suburbs, she glanced at Alex. 'Would it
    be too much trouble to drop me at the flat? I—I'm sure you'll
    enjoy-your afternoon with Nicky far better without me.'
    His mouth twisted. 'Saint Harriet the Martyr,' he jibed. 'I think not,
    however. Nicos might decide to stage another demonstration of how
    indispensable you are to him.'
    'I don't think so. He seems to be much more used to you now and. . . .'
    Alex shook his head. 'The moment you are out of his sight he is
    looking for you, becoming anxious,' he said impatiently. 'He can be
    diverted, but only for a short time.'
    She said colourlessly, 'He stays with Manda—the girl who looks after
    him while I work.'
    'Ah yes,' he said. 'Because he knows that when work is over, you will
    come for him.'
    'You speak as if I were to blame in some way. What was I supposed to
    do after—after....' She-paused, swallowing, recapturing her
    self-control. 'The authorities suggested I let him be fostered, but I
    didn't want that. I felt I'd be betraying Kostas and Becca if I let that
    happen. Are you telling me now I was wrong? How did I know that
    you were going to arrive, staking your claim?'
    'You did not, of course, but you might have guessed,' he said. 'Did
    Kostas never warn you that what our family has, it holds—for ever?'
    'You didn't hold him,' Harriet said unevenly.
    Alex smiled cynically. 'He would have returned eventually,' he said.
    'When he came to realise how much his little bid for independence
    had deprived him of, and once his infatuation for your sister had
    faded, as it surely would have done.'
    Her lips were parting to call him a swine when she was aware of a
    tiny whimper from Nicky. He couldn't grasp the conversation, but he
    could pick up the vibrations and be upset by them, and Harriet, with a
    little gasp of compunction, turned away and stared out of the window,
    her" eyes blinded with angry tears that she refused to shed.
    Once back in Alex's suite, she excused herself in a small taut voice
    and went into the bathroom, bolting the door behind her. She bathed
    her stinging eyes with cool water, and let the tap splash over her
    wrists, calming her racing pulses. She found it impossible to
    understand why Alex was so bitter still about Kostas and Becca. Even
    if he felt, as he obviously did, that his brother had married beneath
    himself and his family, then surely it couldn't matter any longer.
    Harriet sighed, wishing that Alex had met Becca just once. Her
    vibrant gaiety and charm must surely have captivated him as it had
    done Kostas.
    When she was sure she was once more in control of her temper and
    emotions, she returned to the sitting room.
    Alex was standing alone by the window, staring down into the street
    below. He turned as she entered, and gave her a long thoughtful look.
    'Where's Nicky?' Harriet looked around her, puzzled by the hush
    which had fallen over the suite.
    'Yannina has taken him for a walk,' he said coolly, it seemed to me it
    would be best if we continued our discussion in private.'
    'There's nothing to discuss,' she said in a low voice. 'I—I can't win
    against you. I won't stop you taking Nicky, or make any kind of fuss.
    It would be selfish to try and deprive him of the kind of advantages
    you could give him. I've always known that—I just didn't want to
    admit it.' She swallowed. 'But you will be— kind to him? You won't
    blame him because he's Becca's child as well as your brother's?'
    'Holy God,' he said slowly, 'what kind of a monster do