The Fury(39)

“Fuck off.”

But her rebuke was only half-hearted—her mind was clearly on Jason. Her eyes were on the door.

Then she made a sudden decision. She got up and hurried out.



* * *



Alone in the living room, I tried to imagine what might happen next.

Kate had obviously gone to find Jason. But Jason wasn’t interested in Kate—he had made that quite clear just now.

Jason’s priority was Lana. He would try to win her back. He’d comfort her; reassure her that nothing was going between him and Kate. He’d lie, insist upon on his innocence, and swear he had never been unfaithful.

And Lana? What would she do? That was the key question. Everything hinged on it.

I tried to picture the scene. Where were they? On the beach, perhaps? No, by the ruin—a more romantic setting—a midnight meeting by the moonlit columns. I had a sense of how Lana might play it. Come to think of it, I felt sure I had seen her play a similar role in one of her movies. She would be stoic and self-sacrificing—what better way to appeal to her leading man’s better instincts? To his sense of honor and duty?

She’d give Jason a chilly reception at first, then slowly allow her reserve to weaken. She wouldn’t admonish him. No, she’d blame herself—fighting tears as she spoke; she was good at that.

Finally, she would gaze at Jason with her special look; the one she saved for close-ups: widening those huge hypnotic eyes, vulnerable, full of pain, yet tremendously brave—“mugging for camera,” Barbara West called it—but extremely effective.

Before he knew it, Jason would be bewitched, swept along by Lana’s performance, on his knees, begging for forgiveness, promising to be a better man—and meaning it. Kate would fade into the background of his mind. The end.

For one desperate moment, I thought about running to find Lana and Jason myself—and trying to intervene. But, no. I had to have faith in Lana.

After all, it was entirely possible she might surprise me.





18





“Well?” Lana said. “Will you do it?”

Nikos stared at her, astounded. He couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of Lana’s mouth—or what she had just asked him to do.

He felt unable to reply, so he didn’t.

“What do you want?” she said.

Again, no reply.

Lana reached behind her neck and undid the chain of diamonds. She coiled it in her palm. She held out the sparkling pile of stones.

“Take this. Sell it. Buy whatever you want.” Reading his mind in that way of hers, she added, “A boat. That’s what you want, isn’t it? You can buy a boat with this.”

Nikos still didn’t reply.

Lana frowned. “Are you insulted? Don’t be. It’s a fair exchange. Tell me what you want, to do what I ask.”

He wasn’t listening. All Nikos could think of was how beautiful she was. Before he knew it, the words came out of his mouth: “Kiss me.”

Lana looked at him as if she hadn’t heard. “What?”

Nikos didn’t reply.

Lana searched his eyes, confused. “I don’t understand—that’s it? That’s your price?”

He didn’t reply. He didn’t speak or move. He just stood there.

There was a pause.

Then Lana took a small step forward. Their faces were inches apart. They looked into each other’s eyes. Lana had never noticed his eyes before. They had a kind of beauty, she realized; a clear blue light. A crazy thought popped into her head: I should have married Nikos. Then I could have lived here and been happy.

Then she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his mouth.

As they kissed, Nikos, who was dried-up inside, caught fire—and was engulfed. He had never known a feeling like this. He would never be the same, he knew that.

“I’ll do it,” he whispered, between kisses. “I’ll do what you want.”



* * *



Lana left Nikos’s cottage and made her way along the path. She walked through the olive grove and into the clearing, to the ruin.

The ruin was sheltered from the worst of the wind by thickset olive trees that surrounded it. Lana sat on a broken column for a moment. She closed her eyes and sat there, deep in thought.

Then, in the undergrowth, behind her, a twig snapped underfoot. Lana opened her eyes and turned her head to see who it was.

Three gunshots rang out.

Moments later, Lana lay on the ground, in a pool of blood.





19





Leo was the first to arrive at the ruin. He was followed by Agathi—then Jason and I appeared.

As we gathered around Lana’s body, time seemed to stop for a moment. It held us suspended—while all around us everything moved. The wind swirled and screamed, the trees swayed; while we stood still, frozen, held in a timeless state, unable to think or feel.

It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity—until Kate appeared and broke the spell. She looked disoriented and confused. Her expression changed from confusion to disbelief, to horror.

“What happened?” she kept saying. “My God—”

Somehow her arrival spurred us into action. I knelt by Leo. “We need to lay her down. Leo? You have to let her go—”