The Touch of Aphrodite Read online

  THE TOUCH OF

  APHRODITE

  Joanna Mansell

  ' Love! Love is just an excuse for a man to behave like a fool!'

  It was clear to Emily that the legends of love surrounding the beautiful island of Cyprus had not touched Nikolaos Konstantin's cynical heart. He had scorned his uncle Dimitri's decision to leave his country, his family, his part in the Konstantin hotel empire - all for the love of a woman who had already split the family apart on another occasion - Emily's mother. Now Dmitri had done the unthinkable, in bequeathing his hotel on Cyprus to an outsider - Emily. And Nikolaos was not pleased...

  Emily's stepfather had insisted she spend a year in Cyprus managing his hotel empire. His will also stipulated that she learn the business under the guidance of his nephew, Nikolaos Konstantin. Nik's condescending air guaranteed trouble, but when business turned to pleasure, Emily simply couldn't resist. Unfortunately, Nik inisisted that falling in love wasn't part of the deal.

  CHAPTER ONE

  EMILY sat bolt upright in her chair and stared in amazement at the solicitor.

  'Let's get this straight,' she said in a disbelieving voice. 'My stepfather has left everything — absolutely everything — to me? But I can't inherit his estate unless I go and live on Cyprus for a whole year? And, as well as that, I also have to work for my stepfather's nephew, this Nikolaos Konstantin?'

  'I'm afraid so,' the solicitor said apologetically. 'The terms of the will are certainly rather unusual, but your stepfather, Dimitri Konstantin, was very specific on this matter.'

  On top of all the shocks and upsets of the past few months, it was almost too much to take in. Why had Dimitri wanted to turn her life completely upside-down at the very time when she desperately needed some stability? Emily thought dazedly.

  'The whole thing's quite impossible,' she said, with a slow shake of her head.

  'My home is here. I can't just sell up and move to a strange country. And what about my job? I'm in the middle of my training as an accountant, I've my next set of exams to take in a few months' time. No,' Emily finished, shaking her head again more firmly, so that her pale gold curls flew out in all directions, 'I simply can't do it. You'll have to find a way around the terms of the will.'

  'I'm afraid that's impossible,' the solicitor said politely. 'The will is perfectly valid. Your only chance of creaking it would be if you could prove that your stepfather was mentally incompetent when he made it. Is that a path you would wish to take?'

  'No, it certainly isn't,' Emily said, without hesitation. She had adored her stepfather; there was no way she was going to cast any kind of slur on his name. She bit her lip. ' Why did Dimitri make a will like this?'

  'When your stepfather came to me,' said the solicitor in a gentler tone, 'he already knew that he was dying. He told me that his main concern was for you, and what would happen to you after he had gone. He knew that you would be devastated by his death, especially coming so soon after the death of your mother. He believed that it would help you to come to terms with it if you moved right away to a new country, made a fresh start. And Cyprus was the obvious choice, since it was the island of his birth. He also wanted you to meet and be reconciled with the rest of the Konstantin family. I understand that there was a deep rift, following his marriage to your mother?'

  'His remarriage to my mother,' Emily said absently. 'And Dimitri's family didn't approve of either marriage.' Then, when the solicitor looked surprised, her fair eyebrows lifted. 'Didn't you know? Dimitri and my mother were married when they were very young, but things went wrong, and they split up. Dimitri remained on Cyprus and my mother returned to England. My mother married again, and a couple of years later I was born. My father died when I was ten, though —he worked on the oil rigs, there was an accident. . .' Her voice trailed away for a moment, as a lot of unhappy memories briefly resurfaced. That period of her childhood was a time that she definitely preferred to forget. Then she straightened her shoulders and went on, 'Several years ago, my mother met Dimitri again when he was on a business trip to London. They discovered they were still in love with each other, and remarried.'

  'That's a very romantic story,' said the solicitor, with a small smile.

  'Except that the happy ending didn't last,' Emily said sadly. 'And now you're telling me that my stepfather has made all these arrangements for me, without even telling me?'

  'He believed it was for the best,' the solicitor assured her. 'And he did very much want you to be reconciled with his family, since you now have no close relatives of your own.'

  'But why do I have to work for his nephew, this Nikolaos Konstantin?'

  Emily said, puzzled.

  'Your stepfather wanted you to gain a better understanding of his business interests. As you probably know, he owned a large five-star hotel on Cyprus. When he came to England to marry your mother, he kept a controlling interest in the hotel, although it was run in his absence by his nephew, Nikolaos. That hotel now forms the major part of your inheritance, and it was your stepfather's wish that you learn how to run it. Nikolaos Konstantin can teach you everything that you need to know."

  'Run the hotel?' Emily repeated, her golden eyebrows shooting up in fresh surprise. She had known, of course, that her stepfather had owned a hotel on Cyprus, and that he had received regular financial reports from his nephew, but she had certainly never expected that Dimitri would want to leave it to her. She wasn't even sure that she wanted it; she didn't know the first thing about running a hotel. Did she want to learn? she asked herself. She didn't know. Right now, the thought of leaving behind everything that was familiar was rather frightening. She felt as if, having lost the two people closest to her, she wanted to cling on to her home, her job, her friends, not go venturing off into the unknown.

  'If you live and work on Cyprus for the one year stipulated in the will,' the solicitor went on, 'you'll inherit the hotel, and after that you'll be free to do whatever you want. You can sell up and live off the capital, appoint a manager to run the hotel, or take it over yourself.'

  'I really don't think that I could take it over,' she said rather indecisively.

  'Of course she can't,' said a male voice dismissively behind her. 'She's just an inexperienced girl. And she isn't even a Konstantin.'

  Emily whirled round. Even the solicitor looked briefly startled. A tall, black-haired man stood just inside the doorway to the office. His dark gaze locked on to Emily's face and then seemed to stay there for an uncomfortable length of time, perhaps longer than he had intended. She found herself holding her breath, and didn't understand why. Except that there was something about this man —his height; the breadth of his shoulders; the dark planes of his face; his sheer presence— that would stop most people in their tracks. And his vivid Mediterranean colouring contrasted starkly with the winter pallor of the solicitor's face and Emily's own colourless skin, drained by grief, exhaustion and the shock of so recently losing the two people she had loved most in all the world. His English was perfect, with only the faintest trace of an accent. Emily realised that she was still staring at him as if hypnotised, and she quickly gathered herself together again.

  'Who are, you?' she demanded, raw-edged nerves making her voice sharp.

  'And what are you doing here? Were you eavesdropping?'

  'I was waiting in the outer office,' the black-haired man said tautly. 'I intended to introduce myself to you later, but in the circumstances I think we should meet right now. I am Nikolaos Konstantin.'

  Emily found herself swallowing hard. This was Dimitri's nephew? The man that her stepfather had wanted her to work for? She swallowed again, an almost audible gulp, because even her battered, tired, nervous system had responded to the raw sensuality that
glowed in this man's dark eyes, seemed to ooze from his very pores. He was so very alive— and definitely in control. Even the solicitor looked on edge. Nikolaos Konstantin seemed to have that kind of effect on everyone.

  'I've just been explaining the conditions of your uncle's will to Miss Peterson

  —' the solicitor began, in a slightly flustered voice.

  'So I heard,' Nikolaos Konstantin cut in. 'The terms of the will are, of course, ridiculous. There is no way that this girl can take over the running of my uncle's hotel.'

  His scathing tone of voice made Emily instinctively bristle in response. 'I'm not totally incompetent —' she began.

  He didn't even allow her to finish the sentence. 'I can't stop you coming to Cyprus,' he said, those dark eyes boring into her as he looked directly at her, a hot, burning stare that made her pulses suddenly beat jerkily, 'although I would advise against it. I very much doubt if you would be welcomed by any member of the Konstantin family. But I can tell you right now that you are simply too inexperienced to be able to run a top-class hotel. It's a complex business about which you know absolutely nothing. You would simply destroy everything that my uncle spent years building up, and which I have since maintained at the same high standard.'

  'I might be inexperienced,' Emily retorted, totally infuriated by his arrogant attitude, 'but that was presumably why Dimitri wanted me to work under you for a while, to gain that experience. I am certainly not stupid, and I learn fast.'

  He gave a condescending smile, which antagonised her still further. Who did this man think he was? she thought furiously. How dared he walk in here and treat her as if she were a total idiot?

  'You must realise that it simply isn't sensible for you even to think of running my uncle's hotel,' he said firmly, as if the matter were already settled.

  'I can learn how to do it. I will learn how to do it!' Emily declared fiercely, forgetting that, just minutes ago, she had been on the verge of deciding that she didn't even want to go to Cyprus. This man had turned the whole thing into a challenge, though, and a challenge was something that she could rarely resist. Through the grief that had been eating her up lately, she could feel the first stirrings of life, of energy, of the deep need to put just a little of the overwhelming sadness behind her and get on with something positive, something that would help her to get back to a normal life. Her blue eyes blazed back into Nikolaos's own dark, intense gaze. 'You can't stop me agreeing to the terms of Dimitri's will. All you can do is refuse to teach me the things I'll need to know. Are you going to do that?' she demanded, amazed at her own boldness in the face of this man's determined opposition.

  Nikolaos Konstantin looked as if he would dearly like to do just that. Eventually, though, he gave a small growl under his breath. 'I promised Dimitri that I would give you every assistance. A promise that is given to a dying man can never be broken.'

  'Then that's settled,' Emily said with determination. She turned back to the solicitor. 'I intend to comply with all the terms of my stepfather's will. Unless Mr Konstantin has any more objections?' she added, boldly meeting his black gaze again.

  Nikolaos looked as if he had plenty of objections. He obviously felt that this was not the right time to voice them, though, and he gave a brief, angry shake of his head. He turned to the solicitor. 'You have the address of my hotel. I'll be there for the next two days. Get in touch with me when you've finalised all the details. I'll then make all the necessary arrangements.'

  'Arrangements for what?' Emily asked suspiciously.

  'Your trip to Cyprus, of course.'

  'Thank you, but I'm perfectly capable of making my own arrangements,'

  Emily said at once.

  'I'm sure that you're capable of a great many things,' he said in a derogatory tone. 'But I agreed to take charge of things after Dimitri's death, and that is exactly what I intend to do.'

  Without another word, or even a parting glance at Emily, he then strode out of the room.

  Emily stared at the empty doorway for a few seconds, and only realised that her heart had been pounding when it finally began to slow down. Then she at last found her tongue. 'And that's the man that Dimitri arranged for me to work for?' she said incredulously. "How could he do something like that? There must be other members of his family who could teach me what I need to know!'

  The solicitor gave a nervous smile. Nikolaos's presence seemed to have shredded his self-confidence. 'I believe that Mr Nikolaos Konstantin is regarded as the head of the family. He was the obvious choice when your stepfather wanted to make sure that you were left in safe and capable hands.'

  'I didn't need to be left in anyone's hands,' Emily said with some determination. Then she shook her head. 'I thought that Dimitri understood me. How could he have done something like this?'

  'As I understood it,' said the solicitor, 'your stepfather was very much a Cypriot at heart. And they have a strong tradition of caring for and protecting their women. He simply wanted to uphold those old traditions, and he obviously thought that his nephew was the best man to help you through these next few difficult months.'

  Emily was quite certain that Nikolaos Konstantin would simply add to the difficulties that lay ahead of her. And those gleaming black eyes —even just thinking about them sent a deep shiver right through her. She had never seen eyes quite like them before.

  'I appreciate that Dimitri was trying to do his best for me. I just wish that he had consulted me,' she said at last.

  'You don't have to accept the terms of his will,' the solicitor advised her.

  'Yes, I do,' she said with a small sigh. 'Dimitri loved me enough to leave me his entire estate and make all these arrangements for my future, even though he was so very ill at the time. I can't just walk away from that. And I loved him, so I want to give this a try for his sake.'

  The solicitor nodded understandingly. 'Then I'll let Mr Konstantin know that you'll be leaving for Cyprus as soon as all the necessary arrangements have been made.'

  As Emily left the solicitor's office and drove back home, she tried to take in the fact that her future had just been turned completely upside-down. She had gone to the solicitor's office expecting to hear that Dimitri had made some kind of financial provision that would let her stay on at the family home for a while, until she had got over the worst of her grief and managed to get her life back on course again. Instead, she had discovered that he had made far-reaching arrangements that were going to cause major disruptions. Much as she had loved Dimitri, a small part of Emily resented it. Until a few months ago when everything had come to an abrupt halt with, first, her mother's death and then Dimitri's illness, she had been following her own career, she had had a life of her own. Now it seemed that she was going to have to give it all up, at least for the next year. On the other hand, she appreciated that Dimitri had simply tried to do his very best for her, as he had done ever since he had come back into her mother's life nearly seven years ago. Emily had been a rather shy and inexperienced seventeen-year-old then, without a father for all the important formative years of her teens. Although Dimitri had no children of his own, he had seemed to realise at once that Emily, although nearly an adult, still desperately needed a firm but loving father figure in her life. He had been that, and more; a warm man, full of charm, whose dark eyes glowed equally with laughter and passion. A man who had always encouraged her to try new things, take 011 difficult challenges, attempt the impossible. From the very start, Emily had adored him, and responded to his positive encouragement.

  And now in death, as he had done so often in life, he was setting her a new challenge. Forcing her to put aside the awful sadness of the past and face a new future.

  Emily lifted her head and blinked away the tears that had begun to glisten in her blue eyes. No more crying. It was time to face the future. She shook back her mane of pale gold hair and told herself that she would meet the challenge that Dimitri had set her.

  She would go to Cyprus. She would remember both Dimitri and her
mother with great love as she tried to rebuild her life without them, and she would make a success of all the things Dimitri wanted her to do. And she would achieve all that with or without the help of Nikolaos Konstantin!

  During the next few weeks, Emily often regretted her impulsive decision, but she refused to allow herself to change her mind. And she had to admit to feeling a growing nervous excitement as the time grew near for her to leave England. Or was it the thought of seeing Nikolaos Konstantin again that caused those small shivers to run along her nerve-ends?

  Of course not, she told herself staunchly. A lot of women would probably fall for those dark, sensual looks, the glint of danger in those black eyes, but not her!

  There was so much to be done before she left that it took her mind off her recent grief, and left her little time to worry endlessly about what lay ahead of her. She contacted an agency about letting the house for the year that she would be away, regretfully gave a month's notice at the firm of accountants where she worked, and began to make lists of all the things she would need to take with her. She said goodbye to her friends, and promised to keep in touch. The house began to look bare as she crated up her personal belongings, ready to be put into storage until she returned. And she was sure that she would return. She couldn't imagine herself living in a strange country for the rest of her life.

  Nikolaos was arranging all the official paperwork, and sent a message through her solicitor to inform her that he would be in England on business at the end of the month. It would be convenient if she could be ready to travel back with him.

  Emily instantly bristled when she got that message. Why should she arrange things for his convenience?

  When she had calmed down a little, though, she realised that she didn't actually want to travel on her own. The blows of the last few months had knocked a lot of her usual confidence out of her, and she would prefer to make the journey with someone —even Nikolaos Konstantin. Anyway, since they were going to have to work together, it would give them a chance to get to know one another. Perhaps they could get over that poor start and at least be able to be civil to each other.