‘I guess.’ She shrugs fatalistically. ‘It couldn’t have gone anywhere, anyway. Not with my father around.’
‘There’ll be other boys,’ Oxana says softly.
Defne nods. She watches Buse chattering excitedly to Emir. ‘I meant what I said, by the way. It’s really not OK, the way she talks to you.’
‘Honestly,’ Oxana says. ‘I get it. She’s not legally an adult, but she doesn’t want to be treated like a child. She doesn’t want to be…’
‘Nannied?’
‘Exactly. And I’m sure you don’t either.’
‘No.’ Defne smiles sadly. ‘But I have a rather better grasp of the situation than she does.’
What does she mean by this? Does she mean that she knows who her father is, and what he does? Is she already, at seventeen, burdened with the knowledge that her father runs one of the most ruthless organised crime gangs in Europe? It wouldn’t have worried me, but Defne is nothing like I am, and nothing like I ever was. She’s a bright seventeen-year-old with a golden future in front of her, if she cares to embrace it. I was a promiscuous, heartless savage.
‘This is Oxana,’ Defne says. ‘She’s here to keep an eye on us.’
‘In that case, we’ll have to be careful.’ Emir Yilmaz removes his Ray-Bans and directs a sardonic smile at Oxana. He looks older, and shrewder, than his eighteen years.
Be colourless, Oxana reminds herself. Be forgettable. ‘Have you come far?’ she asks.
‘Kanyon heliport, near Istanbul. There was a conference I had to attend, so sadly I missed the last few days.’
‘Better late than never.’
‘As you say.’ He inclines his head courteously. ‘And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must pay my respects to my father.’
As he carries his backpack into the interior of the yacht, Oxana watches him go. Defne shakes her head. ‘Seriously, it’s tragic. You’re a grown woman, and old enough to know better.’
Oxana smiles. ‘You’re a good-looking family.’
‘Slippery answer, Miss Vorontsova.’
‘What does he do? He said that he’s just come from a conference.’
‘He’s at business school, near Paris. But recently he’s got very caught up in art. Old Master paintings, that sort of thing. You’ll have to get him to tell you about it.’
‘I’ll do that.’
‘I bet you fucking will. It’s kind of unfair, you know.’
‘What?’
‘When there’s a brother and a sister andhe’sthe beauty.’
‘Defne, don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’
Oxana turns to face her and grips her arms. ‘Look at me, Defne. Look me in the eye. Your day will come, I promise you that. And when it does, there’ll be no stopping you.’
Defne smiles and closes her eyes. ‘You’re nice.’
‘I’m not nice, Defne. But I am right.’
30
Eve prepares herself carefully. Neutral T-shirt and skirt. Denim jacket. Hair up. She wants to look correct, but not as if she’s too worried about her appearance. ‘Why don’t you come?’ she asks Philippa, when she passes her on the stairs.