Bond Of Hatred

‘And if she wants that wedding-ring, tell her to keep her legs firmly locked together until she gets to the church. Moving in with Damon was her second mistake.’ Glittering golden eyes had dwelt on her shattered face with cruel satisfaction. ‘You can get out now. I’ve said all I want to say.’

Callie had been sitting in tears in the reception area, trembling and equally shaken, clutching a cheque for an enormous sum of money. Sarah had torn it up and thrown it in the bin and it had been hours before she was able to get the full story out of Callie. But one thing Callie had said was, ‘They made me feel dirty, Sarah...they made me feel like a blackmailer!’

That tremulous confession was engraved on Sarah’s soul like an acid burn. Her sister had been faced with two lawyers, who had proceeded to threaten her with nebulous but, to a teenager, terrifying repercussions should she ever feel tempted to talk about Damon to the Press.

Callie might have bounced back relatively fast from that day. Sarah hadn’t. Callie had continued to write to Damon, angry when she got no replies but amazingly not losing hope. ‘I bet my letters are being stopped before he gets them,’ she had decided. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past Alex Terzakis. Just wait until my son is born. It’ll be a different story then. Nothing will keep Damon away from me.’

The loathsome memory of that day lived for Sarah again now. The hatred came back, borne on a seething tidal wave of bitterness. She paused on the threshold of Nicky’s bedroom.

An unexpected scene met her eyes. Alex was reclining on her single bed with her nephew closely cradled against him. He was talking to him in Greek and Nicky was no longer crying. In fact he was making those endearing little snuffling sounds that signified that his attention was being fully engaged. Sarah’s stomach heaved at the deceptive imagery.

Alex looked so human. But his treatment of Callie had been inhuman. And now he wanted her child, simply expected him to be handed over like a parcel. Why? Nicky was also Nikos, with all that that implied. He was a Terzakis. Incredibly, Callie had correctly estimated the worth of her unborn child to the Terzakis family.