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Tassos nodded. ‘Yeah, three blind mice. See how they run …’

Andreas was in a window seat on the plane, staring at the moonlight reflecting off the sea. He smiled as he remembered once thinking that being transferred from Mykonos probably was the only thing that kept him out of Katerina’s clutches. She was one of a kind. With her wild red hair and impressively augmented five-foot-five figure, she could not be missed. And if by some chance an object of her attention did overlook her, she’d grab him with a roaring voice and thrust of mesmerizing cleavage. Hard to imagine she was over fifty, even harder imagining anyone with balls enough to suggest anything close to that aloud.

That’s when it hit him. ‘Jesus Christ.’

Andreas said it loud enough for the grandmotherly woman next to him to ask, ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, sure, sorry, just remembered something I forgot in Athens.’ Damn sure did. How could I forget what she’s like? The second Katerina sees Barbara it’ll be all claws and teeth. He put his elbow on the armrest next to the window, dropped his head into his hand, and sighed. That’s all we need to make tonight the biggest clusterfuck of all time, a mega-catfight.

The old woman patted his arm. ‘Don’t worry my son, it is God’s will.’

The SMS message on Tassos’ phone was simple: See you atVengera at two. Vengera was the name Mykonian locals used to describe the cafe society area at the top of Matogianni Street. Vengera was a legendary bar that gave the location its original panache. But it was long gone, replaced by a jewelry store, as were many places from Mykonos’ more innocent times. All that remained was the memory and a name.

‘We have to go. Start your engine, Mr Kaldis, and good luck.’ Tassos raised his cup of coffee.

‘How much time do we have?’

‘About thirty minutes. No need to rush, I’m sure they’ll be late. It’s only five minutes from here.’ They were in an out-of-the-way coffee shop off behind Kiriake church.

‘I wish I’d had the chance to speak to Barbara, warn her about Katerina.’

‘Didn’t you drop your bag off at her house?’ said Kouros.

‘Yes, but only the maid was there to let me in, and she took off the minute I got there. It seemed everybody had some place to be after midnight tonight. Barbara left me a note.’ He handed it to Tassos.

Tassos read it aloud. ‘“Hi, Andreas. Looking forward to a fun night. I’m having dinner with friends out of town. My phone will be off, but I’ll call you when I’m done so you can tell me where to meet up. Kisses. B.”’

‘She doesn’t seem to be taking this very seriously,’ said Kouros.

‘The affectionate word to describe her state is “relaxed.” She’s not the type that gets anxious easily. All she knows is that she’s my wife’s best friend hanging out with me for the night with instructions to look and act as hot as she can so that I can get close to some super-rich Russian. That’s a drill she has down pat. I just wish she’d call me. I can’t get the damn show started until she’s with me.’

Kouros said, ‘Did you say—’

Tassos kicked him under the table. ‘Then it’s probably better you didn’t say anything to her. It might pump her up for a fight. These society types are pretty good at handling aggressive bitches trying to bring them down. And frankly, if she’s as hot as you say, she probably runs into that sort every day.’

Andreas stared at him. ‘You’re just trying to make me feel better.’

‘Yep, Katerina will tear her a new asshole.’ Tassos laughed.

Andreas shot him a one-finger salute. ‘And yes, Yianni, I said “wife.” No reason for the world to think otherwise. What with the baby on the way.’

Kouros nodded. ‘No problem here, Chief, just checking to see if I had to buy more than a baby gift.’

Andreas smiled. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it.’

Tassos shook his head. ‘This is not the time to say it, but sometimes you’re a real asshole, my friend.’

‘Funny, Lila said sort of the same thing.’

‘I bet. Let’s go, Yianni. We’ve got to find someplace to put our limo so we don’t miss a word of tonight’s performance by Mister Sensitive here.’ Tassos flicked