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As she pulled on her clothes at speed she peered out through the side of her bedroom curtains and fell still in surprise. Three large thickset men in smart suits were practising crowd control and forcing the photographers to back away from the house itself into the lane. She recognised one of the men as a member of Leonidas’ security team. How had they got here so fast? Not that she wasn’t grateful for the support, she conceded ruefully.
Her mobile buzzed while she was trying to keep Elias in one place long enough to get a pair of trousers on him. It was Leonidas.
‘I understand the press are harassing you, glikia mou,’ he murmured with audible sympathy.
‘It’s a nightmare! But your men are out there making them stay back from the doors and windows, which is quite an improvement,’ Maribel confided in a rush, feeling in charity with him for the first time in weeks. ‘I’m amazed that your bodyguards were able to get here so quickly.’
‘The paparazzi are very persistent. You won’t find it easy to shake them off. It’s a big story.’
‘Fortunately, Ginny will be here soon to look after Elias, and now I have the protection of your heavy mob. I’m going to work in half an hour.’
At the other end of the line, Leonidas almost groaned out loud at her innocence. Like a little train on a single track, Maribel would stick stubbornly to her routine, no matter what happened. ‘They’ll follow you there. Some of my staff will take you. I don’t want you trying to drive with those guys tailing you.’
‘No, thanks for the offer. But bodyguards would stick out like a sore thumb,’ Maribel told him gently.
‘I think you may find it very difficult to remain at your home. It might be a good idea to consider a move to Heyward Park.’
Maribel stiffened. ‘I don’t run at the first sign of trouble, Leonidas.’
‘You can’t keep Elias locked up out of sight for ever.’
At that salient point, Maribel’s face shadowed and she came off the phone in an even more troubled mood.
Ginny arrived while she was giving Elias his breakfast and settled a newspaper on the table. ‘There’s the article. I decided to buy a copy before I came over. Let me finish feeding Elias. Where did the heavies come from?’
‘Heavies? Oh, Leonidas’ security men.’
‘I should’ve guessed. They’re very professional. They checked me out before they would let me approach the door. It’s bedlam out there, though. I don’t envy you trying to go to work with a posse behind you.’
BILLIONAIRE BABY BOY! the headline screamed. Maribel was too busy reading the lead story to respond to her friend. An old photo of her taken some years earlier at one of Imogen’s parties made her eyes widen. She wondered how on earth it had been obtained and the more she read, the more confused she became. Instead of the shock-horror lies, half-truths and errors she had expected, all her background details were correct, right down to the little-known fact that her late father had been an award-winning scientist who’d chosen academia over financial gain. She was described as a long-standing and trusted confidante of Leonidas Pallis and she rolled her eyes to the ceiling, wondering who had dreamt up that whopper. When had Leonidas ever confided in anyone?
‘The article is all right,’ Ginny commented. ‘It’s surprisingly tame and kind. You sound like a cross between Einstein and Leonidas’ best friend.’
‘It’s a disaster,’ Maribel muttered wearily. ‘I’ll never be taken seriously again in the ancient history department.’
Her friend gave her a wry look. ‘Don’t underestimate the effect of having a very close connection to one of the wealthiest men in the world. Some of your colleagues will be deeply envious and others will suck up to you. Anyway, it’s time you went to work. Elias will be safe here with me and Leonidas’ men.’
Maribel found it a real challenge to leave her home and drive away with cameras popping and flashing and questions being shouted at her. When she arrived at the department there were more journalists waiting. A crowd began forming around her before she even got upstairs to her office. Even people she knew were stopping and staring and she hated every minute of the attention. Her small tutorial group was uneasy with the number of interruptions that occurred. She couldn’t concentrate either. When she emerged from her office in the late afternoon, she had to almost force her passage back out to her car, which was surrounded by photographers urging her to give them a chance to take a decent picture of her. By the time she got away, her hands were trembling on the wheel and her brow was damp with perspiration. Her heart sank when she turned up the lane to her house and saw that there were even more paparazzi encamped than there had been at the start of the day. She was very grateful when the Pallis security team cleared her path to the house.
