Golden eyes ablaze with displeasure, Andreas spread lean brown hands wide in emphasis. 'You are part of my life!'

'If that's true, why do I never get to meet your friends?' Her voice was rising with stress in spite of her efforts to keep it level. 'Are you ashamed of me?' she gasped strickenly.

'When we're together, I prefer to keep you to myself, pedhi mou. I won't apologise for that,' Andreas fielded smoothly. 'Calm yourself. You're getting hysterical!'

'I'm not…I'm just fighting with you!'

Andreas dealt her a stony appraisal. 'I won't fight with you.'

'Is that something else you're not into?' Hope heard herself hurl in shock at her own daring. Backing away from him, she jarred her hip painfully on a corner of the vanity unit behind her.

'Are you hurt?' Lean, strong face taut, Andreas strode forward.

In the room next door the phone started ringing.

The untimely interruption made Andreas swear in exasperated Greek, but Hope was grateful for the excuse to escape and answer the call.

'Get me Andreas,' Elyssa Southwick's imperious voice demanded.

'Hold on, please,' Hope said gruffly.

If Elyssa couldn't raise Andreas on his mobile phone when he was in London, she called the apartment instead. The Nicolaidis siblings were close, for their parents had died when Elyssa was barely a teenager. Still only in her mid twenties, Elyssa leant heavily on her big brother for support. The young Greek woman, however, seemed to have no inkling of Hope's identity, for she always spoke to Hope as though she were a servant on telephone duty.

Andreas accepted the phone Hope extended. But his attention was on Hope, who looked like glass about to shatter, her warm blue eyes cast down and her generous mouth taut with strain. He was furious with her. Why was she doing this to them? The phone dialogue continued in Greek. Hope understood the gist of it for she had been learning the language at night class for many months and had planned to surprise Andreas with her proficiency. Elyssa was reminding her brother that she was throwing a housewarming party the next week. Hope left the room.