‘The Greek woman said she’d come by in ten minutes.’ She nodded to the corner. ‘Dan’s just come in.’
She glanced over at his concerned expression. The moment their eyes met, relief washed through her so strongly it almost made her dizzy. She just had enough time to tell him what he needed to know.
She crossed the room and walked straight into his arms. He held her without comment, solid and warm, his chin briefly resting against the top of her head. For a moment, the noise in her head quietened.
‘What’s up?’ he asked gently, drawing back just enough to look at her face, his hands steady on her shoulders. ‘What’s going on? Lucy said she thought you might need me, so I came straight here. Do you?’
She nodded. ‘I think I do. Like I’ve never needed anyone before.’
His eyes sharpened, concern replacing warmth. ‘You look spooked. Like you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘Not a ghost,’ she said finally. ‘Someone from my past.’
‘The woman Lucy said you’re meeting here?’ His voice was calm, but she knew him well enough now to hear the steel underneath. ‘Did she frighten you?’
She nodded. ‘She… used my name.’
Dan stilled. ‘And what’s so strange about that?’
‘She used my real name. Not… the one I go by here. Augustini is my middle name.’
‘And she used your first name?’
Augi nodded.
‘How did she know it?’
Augi shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Other than you, the only person I let it slip to was John Kowalski’s relative.’
He frowned. ‘Then why are you surprised?’
‘Because she’s come to New Zealand to meet me.’ Augi could feel the panic consuming her again. ‘I think she knows me.’
‘And why is that so bad?’ he asked quietly. ‘Augustini. If I’m to help you, I need to know.’
‘She has the same first name as my sister-in-law.’
‘Your sister-in-law?’ he said with wide eyes. ‘And that’s who is turning up here to see you?’
She nodded. ‘I caught sight of someone yesterday. It must have been her.’
‘You didn’t recognise her?’
‘She was only a teenager when I last saw her.’
‘Tell me, please, what happened?’
Her mouth dried. ‘My husband… her brother, he died.’ She sucked in a deep breath. ‘There were things I should have done, Daniel, things I could have said and acted on which might have stopped my husband committing suicide. But I was so wrapped up on my own career, my own… interests… that I didn’t. We had been drifting apart, and I didn’t see what was happening under my own nose. And I am so ashamed.’
He took hold of her hand. ‘You were a professional woman. Of course you were wrapped up in your career.’
‘It wasn’t only my career. There was also a man. A charismatic professor. I was young when I married — a rebound after my mother died — and my marriage wasn’t a happy one.’
‘You had an affair?’ She could hear the shock in his voice.
She shook her head. ‘No. Never. In my imagination, perhaps. He was always in my thoughts, and I know he loved me. I didn’t act on it. But it stopped me from seeing what I should have seen — seeing what was right before my eyes.’
‘And you’ve been blaming yourself ever since.’
