Free The Virgin's Secret by Abby Green

she’d got it. So either way it was still theft, albeit not by her. She was back to square one: damned by the actions of her father and her own impetuous desire to rectify matters.
    Angel longed to toss her head and tell Leo she’d prefer to see the police, but she realised that she couldn’t do that. It would cause the whole thing to explode in the press and she couldn’t do that to Delphi. The noose was tightening.
    Leo merely stood there and rocked back on his heels for a moment before saying, ‘We do have a relationship, Angel, it started the evening of the party. And since then I’ve found out quite a wealth of information about you.’
    Angel’s hands were gripping the doorknob, shock still reverberating through her. ‘What kind of information?’
    â€˜Well,’ Leo started almost conversationally, ‘I found outthat you went to art college and studied jewellery design. And yet at no point since leaving college have you made any attempt to leave home, which can only point to a close relationship with your father.’
    Angel bit back the explanation. It was her sister she was close to, her sister she cared for, and her sister she had tried to create a stable environment for, because they’d never got it from their parents. After Damia’s death, when Angel had come home from school in Ireland, she and Delphi had turned to each other for support.
    A look of mock sympathy came over his harsh features. ‘But since the collapse of Tito’s business you’ve had to make ends meet by working for that catering company, and now working as a chamber maid for the Grand Bretagne. Tell me,’ he said musingly, ‘it must be hard, changing the sheets for people who were once your peers… I did wonder why someone as educated as you had resorted to menial work, but then I realised that you obviously want to avoid any unnecessary investigation into your disgraced name. No doubt you figured that you’d re-emerge on the social scene and find yourself a rich husband once the Kassianides name had lost some of its notoriety.’
    Angel could feel the colour draining from her face at having it confirmed that he knew where she worked, and why she’d taken those jobs, albeit not quite for all the reasons he’d so cynically outlined. She thought of her dreams to set up a jewellery-making studio as soon as she had enough money. She thought of the aching disappointment she’d had to keep to herself every day that she hadn’t yet been able to realise that dream.
    â€˜You have it all wrong. So wrong.’
    He ignored her, and she could have had no warning for what he was to say next.
    â€˜Most interesting of all, perhaps, is that I also know that Stavros Eugenides and your sister are so-called sweethearts and want to marry, but his father won’t let them.’
    Angel’s legs nearly gave way. ‘How do you know that?’
    He ignored her question. ‘I will ask you this—is it important to you that your sister marries Stavros Eugenides?’
    Angel felt sick inside. Her brain clicked into high gear and she shrugged minutely, trying not to let it show how hard her heart was thumping. She knew instinctively that if Leo guessed for a second just how important it was he’d go out of his way to not let it happen.
    She tried to smile cynically, but it felt all wrong. ‘They’re young and in love. Personally I think it’s too soon. But, yes, they want to marry.’
    â€˜I think you’re lying, Angel. I think it’s of the utmost importance to you and her that they get married. After all, why would you have gone to speak on their behalf with Dimitri Eugenides otherwise?’
    Angel found herself starting to tremble violently. How on earth did he know this? Was he a magician?
    â€˜I—’ But she got no further.
    â€˜I think that your sister is looking to get herself a rich husband just before you lose