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CHAPTER ONE
TOR SARANTOS IGNORED his security head’s frown at the news that he would require neither his car nor his usual bodyguards that evening
‘You knohat day this is,’ Tor said sio alone’
‘With all due respect,’ the older an heavily, ‘in your position, it is not safe’
‘Duly noted,’ Tor breathed very drily ‘But it is what I do, as you well know’
Every year without fail for the past five years, Tor had gone out alone on this particular date It was an anniversary but not one to celebrate It was the anniversary of his wife’s and daughter’s deaths He considered himself to be neither an emotional nor sentimental man No, he chose to remember what had happened to Katerina and Sofia because their sad fate was his worst-ever failure His ferocious anger, injured pride and bitterness had led to that ultiotten Out of respect for the family he had lost, he chose to remember them one wretched day a year andin his shah, and it chastened hirimly After all, he had screwed up, he had screwed up so badly that it had cost two human lives that could have been saved had he only been aand compassionate man
Tragically, the traits of co in Alastor, known as Tor, Sarantos Although he cah, inflexible and fierce in nature as befitted a billionaire banker, celebrated for his ruthless reputation, financial acuovernments as by rich private investors In business, he was a very high flyer In his private life, he was appallingly aware that he had proved to be a loser However, that was a secret he was deterrave with him, as was the truth that he would never remarry
That hy he rarely went home now to his family in Greece Not only did he have an understandable wish to avoid s with his Italian half-brother, Sevastiano, but he also didn’t want to listen to his relatives talking with increasingly evangelical fervour about hi woh he had done everything possible to make it brutally obvious that he had no desire to find another wife and settle down again
After all, he had long since transfor man happily wed to his first love into a wohout Europe for his passionate but short-lived affairs At twenty-eight, he was generations removed from the naïve and idealistic man he had once been, but his fae in him Of course, his parents were as e and fully believed that that happiness was achievable by all Tor didn’t plan to be the party pooper who told them that lies, deceit and betrayal had flourished, unseen and unsuspected, within their own family circle He preferred to let his relatives live in their sunny version of reality where rainbows and unicorns flourished He had learned the hard way that, once lost, trust and innocence were irretrievable
Dressing for his night out, Tor set aside his gold cufflinks, his platinuns of his wealth, and chose the anonyo to a bar alone and drink himself almost insensible while he pondered the past and then he would cli hi himself to truly move on, would be, he honestly believed, an unuilt he deserved to suffer
&n
bsp; Eighteen months later
Tor frowned as his housekeeper appeared in his ho wrong?’
‘Someone’s abandoned a baby on the doorstep, sir,’ Mrs James informed him uncomfortably ‘A little boy about nine months old’
‘Ababy?’ Tor stressed in astonishment
‘Security are about to check the video surveillance tapes,’ the older wo forward ‘There was a note It’s addressed to you, sir’
‘Me?’ Tor said in disbelief as an envelope was slid onto his desk
There was his name, block printed in black felt-tip pen
‘Do you want me to call the police?’
Tor was tearing open the envelope as the question was asked The e within was brief
This is your child
Look after it
Obviously, it couldn’t possibly be his child But what if it belonged to one of his faer brothers, all of whom had enjoyed stays at his London town house within recent memory What if the child should prove to be a nephew or niece? Clearly, the mother must have been desperate for help when she chose to abandon the baby and run
‘The police?’ Mrs James prompted
‘No We won’t call the that if one of his fae of any kind erupting fro of the situation ‘I’ll look into this first’