Seducing His Convenient Innocent

by Rachael Thomas

  Tears slipped from her eyes. What had just happened?

  ‘Are you hurt?’ A woman’s voice, gentle but filled with anger, made her lift her face. Rio glanced around the room like a scared rabbit. ‘He’s gone.’

  ‘Thank goodness.’ She shivered, the shock of her ordeal really taking effect now. ‘God knows what he would have done if you hadn’t shown up.’

  ‘Evil bastard,’ the woman snapped. ‘Thank heavens the room was double-booked and that I had Philip and Josh with me.’

  ‘Double-booked?’ She looked up in confusion, not really knowing where she was any more. Nothing seemed to make sense.

  The older woman placed her jacket round Rio’s shoulders, which, instead of comforting her, only made her shiver even more. ‘Don’t worry about that now. Just be safe in the knowledge that as soon as the police get here he will be locked up and will never be able to do this to you or anyone else again.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Her eyes were wide with fear and shock, tears threatening once again.

  ‘The police will need your statement, as soon as you are able to, that is.’

  ‘The police?’

  ‘Yes. I called them whilst Philip and Josh wrestled him off you.’ There was a hint of humour in the older woman’s voice now and Rio gave a weak smile, finally realising who the woman was. Judith Jones, one of the company’s newest members, a fabulous conductor and now her saviour.

  Rio tried to stand, the ripped front of her dress falling away. She gasped in shock. Had he done that to her? Hans? ‘My dress.’

  Judith hugged her. ‘The dress isn’t important, Rio. All that matters is that we found you in time.’

  Rio sniffed as the reality of Judith’s words sank in. ‘If you hadn’t come along...’ The implication hung in the air.

  ‘But we did,’ she soothed. ‘And you can give your statement to the police.’

  ‘Yes,’ Rio said shakily.

  ‘After you have done that, you will come to my home. I will personally take care of you tonight—unless there is someone else you’d rather be with, because you shouldn’t be alone.’

  ‘No,’ Rio whispered sadly. How could she go to Lysandros now? After all she’d just promised him? She couldn’t spend the night with him now. How could she even see Lysandros, let alone begin to tell him what had happened? Xena was busy this evening, and there was no way she could tell her yet either. ‘No, no one is home tonight.’

  ‘That’s settled, then. You will stay with me,’ Judith said firmly.

  Rio smiled weakly. She should be with Lysandros tonight, should finally be discovering the joy of giving herself to a man. But how could she do that now? How could she allow any man to touch her again? Even the man she was beginning to fall in love with?

  CHAPTER ONE

  IT HAD BEEN six weeks since Rio had seen Lysandros. Six weeks since she’d said to him with her new-found flirty confidence that she wanted to spend all night with him. And six weeks since her world had been torn apart, destroying that confidence, ending her fragile hope that she and Lysandros could be beginning something special.

  That life-changing moment after the recital had left her no option but to stand up the man she’d lost her heart to, the man she’d been ready to give everything to. She’d ended things between them, refusing to see or speak to Lysandros. That afternoon had been the last time she’d played the piano, the events that had unfolded as Hans had arrived in the practice room now making it impossible for her to go near a piano, let alone play.

  Now another life-changing event meant that at any moment Lysandros would come striding into the hospital room where his younger sister—her best friend, Xena—lay sleeping, looking battered and bruised from the car accident late last night.

  ‘Xena.’ Lysandros’s voice snapped Rio from her thoughts as he surged through the door of the dimly lit private hospital room, his focus completely on the sleeping form of his sister.

  Rio’s heart pounded hard as she watched, almost in slow motion, Lysandros walk back into her life. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t make her presence in the large comfortable chair in the corner known. Instead she watched as he stood on the other side of Xena’s bed, looking down at his sister. His stubble-covered jaw clenched, giving away the hurry in which he must have left Athens. He spread a hand over his chin as if he was trying to gain control, trying to work out what to say, what to do. He still hadn’t even realised she was there.

  With a sense of desolation more profound than she could have ever dreamed possible, Rio sat silently, watching the man to whom she’d lost her heart. As if that very thought made her presence felt, he turned to look at her, the emptiness in his eyes breaking her heart.

  ‘Rio?’ For a moment he seemed speechless, unable to say anything. ‘When did you get here?’

  ‘Early this morning.’ She didn’t know what to say to him. The way he searched her face, looking into her eyes for the answers she couldn’t give him—answers about more than what had happened to Xena—almost tore her heart in two.

  ‘How much longer is she likely to sleep?’ His voice was firmer now, his shock at seeing her gone, as he walked to the bottom of his sister’s bed. His height dominated the room, crowding her thoughts. The dark grey suit he wore only emphasised his muscular physique, reminding her how it had felt against her body when he’d kissed her. It had felt good. Right. But that had been before. That had been when she’d been a different person.

  Aware that he was waiting for an answer, she dragged her thoughts back in line and resisted the urge to stand up and try to match his height. Instead she remained seated, hoping it would give off the message that she was as totally unaffected by him as she’d claimed when she had broken things off.

  ‘When she first came round, she was very distressed. She couldn’t remember anything, so the doctors gave her a sedative.’ Rio focused her attention on Xena. She couldn’t look at Lysandros. Not into those coal-black eyes. She didn’t want to see the questions. The accusations. ‘They said she will be sleepy for some time and are worried the knock on her head has affected her memory.’

  ‘Her memory?’ She had his full attention now. And the full force of his scrutiny.

  ‘She doesn’t recall the accident, or any other recent events, but as she knows who she is, the doctors are saying it’s her way of coping. She is blocking it out.’ Rio gulped back a wave of emotion. She had to be strong, had to focus on what Xena needed. Right now, nothing else mattered, not even her and Lysandros.

  ‘What happened?’ The question was firm, but by the look on his face she knew he was struggling to comprehend his sister’s injuries, intensifying her own guilt at what she’d done to him. She didn’t know how she was going to answer that and keep Xena’s recent relationship from him. A relationship that was now over. It might be the reason why Xena was here in hospital, but it was no longer of any importance or relevance. Just as all she and Lysandros had shared was no longer of importance.

  Last night, when Rio had arrived at Casualty, Xena hadn’t recalled the promise she’d extracted from Rio. The promise not to tell Lysandros about her romance with Ricardo, a married man. A promise she’d never envisaged being brought into play, but last night Xena had been confused and distressed, unable to piece together recent events—or even Ricardo. The doctors had assured her it was almost certainly temporary, but it still upset Rio to see her friend like that and she knew she would do anything to make it better for her. Even keep the truth from her powerful and commanding brother. Just as she’d keep her true reason for ending their relationship from him.

  Rio fought frustration and guilt as it welled up inside her. If only she’d been able to convince Xena that her married lover had ended the affair in order to make his marriage work. That he wouldn’t leave his wife. Then maybe the accident would never have happened. Xena wouldn’t be here now. But she hadn’t been able to con
vince her. She and Xena had fallen out over it and Xena had slipped out after Rio had gone to bed and now Rio blamed herself for being too hard on her friend.

  ‘What happened?’ Lysandros demanded again, his tone more insistent this time, dragging her back to the present.

  ‘A car ran the lights. It hit her car hard. Spun it round.’ As she thought of it, of the distress Xena must have felt, she closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples. She was tired. Upset. Seeing Lysandros again was too much on top of Xena’s accident.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Lysandros’s voice was so close it made her jump.

  She opened her eyes to see him crouched before her, his hands holding the arms of the chair either side of her. Trapping her. Instantly all she could think about was the moment Hans had trapped her against the piano. No, she couldn’t allow that moment to rule her. Not ever. She just needed time to get over it.

  ‘Rio?’ Lysandros laid his palm on her lap, genuine concern in his voice. The heat of his hand grounded her, making her feel peculiarly safe.

  She looked at him, almost bereft when he withdrew his hand, but this wasn’t a time to focus on her or what she wanted or even needed. The only thing she had to do now was be there for Xena, doing and saying whatever she needed her to say.

  ‘It’s Xena who needs your concern, not me.’ Even to her own ears, her voice sounded cold and emotionless.

  He stood up, his long legs making him intimidatingly tall as he towered over her. She looked up at him, straight into the black depths of his eyes. She couldn’t look away. Couldn’t help herself wondering. Did the desire that had once filled them lie beneath their lacklustre darkness?

  She forced her attention back to Xena’s sleeping form, desperate to focus her emotions. She looked up at Lysandros again, the man she could have been so happy with if other things hadn’t got in the way. ‘I have spoken to the doctor. She should start to come round soon. Her broken arm and fractured wrist are expected to heal, although her injuries will mean she won’t be able to play the violin for some considerable time.’

  If only he knew the full truth of it all. Playing the violin would not be what Xena worried about as she recovered. It would be the loss of the man she loved that would fill her mind, her heart. If she remembered him. Tears sprang to Rio’s eyes and she blinked rapidly to hold them back. Jumping up, she went to the window, looking out over the city bathed in glorious spring sunshine as the day began. Anything to get away from his scrutiny.

  ‘Why?’ He glanced at Xena, sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing around her. She’d promised Xena her secret would be exactly that until she was ready to tell anyone. With a clarity and determination she’d never felt before, Rio knew she would do whatever she had to for Xena. That was what friends did and she knew without a doubt that Xena would do the same for her.

  She looked at Lysandros and refused to quake at the power that radiated from him, refused to bow to his superior command. This wasn’t a business transaction—this was his sister’s life. Xena’s future. All Rio wanted was to be there for her.

  ‘Even without the amnesia, the injuries Xena has sustained will require time to heal. She may not even be able to play when the new season starts in the autumn.’

  Rio calmly laid the foundations, which, although true, was not the reason why Xena wouldn’t want to rejoin the orchestra. Ricardo was part of the stage crew and amidst a torrent of tears Xena had clung to Rio before they’d fallen out, saying there was no way she could be part of the orchestra now. Rio’s heart still broke to remember the pain in her friend’s voice, knowing it came from losing the man she loved. A pain she also knew—because if she was truthful with herself, she had loved Lysandros.

  ‘Then the best option is for Xena to return to Greece.’ Lysandros looked at his sister, then back at her. The firm tone of his voice left her in no doubt that he did not expect his decision to be challenged—by anyone.

  Rio had no intention of challenging him or his superiority. Relief flooded through her. If Xena left London and went to her island villa to recover, then any chances of gossip about her and Ricardo would be lessened. Ricardo certainly wouldn’t be the one to say anything. He was a married man and stood to lose everything. Xena would be able to recover in peace, and although the thought of saying goodbye to her friend at such a time hurt, it was the best solution.

  ‘Yes, I think that would be exactly what she needs in the circumstances.’ Rio’s voice had lost that determined edge, but she was acutely aware of Lysandros’s scrutiny.

  He moved back to the window, looking out over London for a moment before turning to face her. Like an animal trapped in the beams of car headlights at night, she froze to the spot. Was he going to demand an explanation? From her? Was he now about to demand to know why she’d stood him up that night?

  ‘And what about you?’ He spoke gently and she swallowed down her guilt. She didn’t deserve his concern. She might not have been directly involved in the accident, but she blamed herself. ‘I can see this is affecting you too.’

  He moved closer to her, his handsome face softened by the kind of concern she guessed those he did business with rarely saw. She wanted to back away, wanted to keep as much distance between herself and this man as possible. But she couldn’t. He mesmerised her, made her want things she couldn’t have now.

  ‘I will stay in London.’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper. He reached out and pushed the stray strands of her hair back from her face, just as he’d done the last time he’d seen her. Before he’d kissed her.

  She caught her breath. Her pulse raced so fast she couldn’t say anything. All she could do was look into his hypnotically sexy black eyes.

  ‘You have had a shock too. You shouldn’t be alone.’ His words were heavy with his Greek accent, making her body’s reaction to him, to his nearness, even more intense.

  She stepped back from him, away from the strange power he had over her. ‘I will be fine here.’

  ‘I am sure Xena wouldn’t want that,’ he insisted, his eyes dark and watchful, as if he was trying to tell her he wanted her there.

  ‘No, I should stay here.’

  * * *

  Lysandros took in Rio’s face, unusually bare of make-up, and along with the casual jeans she wore with a sweater, she had an air of complete innocence. What was it about this woman? Why did she affect him like this? Why did he want to take on the challenge she’d unwittingly issued when she’d stood him up and then told him it was over? Her response to his kiss after the piano recital had promised him so much. So what had changed that?

  Xena stirred and he forced his mind from those questions. Instantly Rio was at his sister’s side, her attention focused completely on her friend. He should be giving Xena the same attention, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Rio. Her hair, loosely pulled back, looked tousled, giving away the haste in which she’d obviously left her bed early this morning. She might well have been here for hours, but she looked beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. His heart wrenched.

  ‘Lysandros is here,’ Rio said softly as Xena opened her eyes, a look of bewilderment on her pale face.

  Xena winced as she tried to slide up the partially elevated bed. Rio fussed with her pillows, going to great lengths to make them right. Anything, it seemed, to avoid looking at him. Anything to avoid that sizzle of attraction that still sparked between them, despite the current situation.

  ‘Lysandros?’ Xena asked shakily as she turned to look up at him.

  ‘I came as soon as I heard,’ he said, taking her hand in his. He knew Rio was watching him. Every nerve in his body was tuned in to her.

  ‘But you only just returned to Greece,’ Xena said weakly as she looked at him, then at Rio. Lysandros’s heart sank. He’d been in Athens for the past six weeks. Xena obviously didn’t remember much at all.

  ‘Do you think I would stay there when I h
ad just been told by Mother that you had been involved in an accident?’ He glanced up at Rio.

  ‘I was in an accident?’ The panic-laced question confirmed all Rio had just told him about Xena’s memory loss.

  ‘Yes,’ Rio added gently, and Xena looked at her. ‘A car accident.’

  ‘I don’t remember.’ Xena shook her head. Then her eyes widened. ‘I don’t remember anything.’

  ‘Don’t panic,’ Rio soothed, and Lysandros marvelled at her command in the face of Xena’s fear. ‘You’ve had a bump on the head. I’m sure it’s perfectly normal not to remember things straight away. I’ll go and find the doctor now, get him to come and reassure you.’

  ‘Don’t go yet,’ Xena pleaded, and Rio hesitated. ‘There is something else wrong, isn’t there? Something is wrong between you two. I can feel it.’

  ‘Don’t worry about us,’ Rio said soothingly, again fussing with the bedsheets.

  Xena laughed softly. It was such an unexpected sound that Lysandros looked at his sister, not sure what was coming next. Tears maybe, as the shock of the accident set in.

  ‘Well, I hope you two haven’t fallen out.’ Xena rested her head back against the pillow, her face as pale as the white sheets. ‘Because you do realise you were meant for each other?’

  Lysandros didn’t dare look at Rio. It wasn’t just the accident Xena didn’t remember; she didn’t remember he and Rio were no longer dating. ‘Of course we haven’t fallen out. Far from it.’

  He looked at Rio across the bed, shocked to find how near they now were. Their concern for Xena had drawn them physically so close he only needed to lean forward a little to kiss Rio. And he wanted to. She still had that effect on him, still raised the desire in his blood until it almost boiled.

  ‘Fallen out?’ Rio frowned, her gaze locked with his, and he saw the moment she realised what he was doing, that he didn’t want to panic Xena or worry her by explaining they had done exactly that six weeks ago. He let out a breath of relief when she laughed softly, looking at Xena, apparently happy to conspire with him. ‘Of course we haven’t.’