Keys in hand, she carefully walked to her little sports car, ignoring the looks and comments other men arriving at the club directed her way. She did her best to keep her spine straight and she refused to wipe at the tears filling her eyes and making it hard to see where she was walking. She didn’t need to appear any more pathetic than she already was. She felt horrible and by the time she managed to get the keys in the ignition, tears were streaming down her face.
She didn’t waste any time in the parking lot but drove straight home, swiping at her tears furiously so that she could still see the road. She was done with Zak. She was done with being put down and taken advantage of by the spoilt playboy. She knew she had shortcomings and it was so much work trying to be the perfect girlfriend. She’d thought she was doing a good job, but Zak evidently felt differently. He and his friends were always up to something and she wanted nothing to do with him. Ever. She’d picked the wrong man once again.
Chapter 2
Piotr watched the security tapes of the estate’s parking garage and cursed beneath his breath. He watched Kassi’s little red sports car come into the driveway so fast the tires left black marks on the concrete. She didn’t park the car in the proper space, but abandoned it so that it blocked several other garage slots and then rushed from the vehicle.
Piotr used the controller to zero in on her face and he didn’t like what he saw one bit. She’d obviously been crying as her eyes were puffy and her mascara was smeared halfway down her cheeks.
She rushed towards the house, stumbling in the asinine high heels she was wearing. When she reached down and slid them off, tossing them towards the nearest bushes, the other security guards watching the tape with him chuckled. He glared at them before demanding, “Find her damn shoes and see that they are returned to her suite. And put her car where it goes.”
“Sure. She looks like one pissed off young woman,” the man commented.
Or one who just had her heart trampled on. Piotr didn’t answer but asked, “Is she still on the estate?”
“As far as I know she’s still in her rooms. I haven’t seen her come down yet.”
“Good. Maybe she’ll stay out of trouble. I have a meeting in town. Call me if anything changes,” Piotr demanded as he strode from the security office and made his way down to where his own vehicle was parked. He and Kassi hadn’t had a proper conversation since she’d been back in Greece, and while it appeared to be long overdue, it wasn’t going to happen right now.
Piotr had been summoned by his father’s lawyer almost an hour ago. He drove to the upscale office and took the elevator up to the top floor. He nodded at the administrative assistant who waved him forward immediately.
Piotr opened the double doors and strode inside, “You said you needed to see me and I’m here. I can’t stay long so tell me what was so important it couldn’t wait for another day.”
“Kalimera, Piotr. It’s good to see you, too. Have a seat and I will get straight to the point.” The lawyer, Mr. Kosakas, was an old family friend and had been his father’s attorney since before Piotr was born. After his father’s death, Piotr had basically given the man the freedom to deal with his father’s estate how he saw fit. Piotr didn’t need his father’s wealth, nor did he even want to consider sitting behind a stuffy old desk every day for the rest of his life. That was his father’s world; a world Piotr had left far behind him right out of school and not one he ever hoped to rejoin.
Piotr took a seat and then settled back in the chair. “Okay, I’m all ears.”
The lawyer took an opposing seat and handed him a packet of papers. Piotr opened the packet and immediately saw what appeared to be contracts for several of his father’s businesses. Piotr perused the documents and then looked up, shaking his head. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
“Those papers are your father’s orders where his businesses are concerned.”
Piotr made an impatient move of his head, “We already discussed this, I want nothing to do with my father’s business empire.”
The lawyer gave him a hard stare and then looked pointedly at the papers. “It is your duty and your familial responsibility to carry out your father’s last wishes.”
Piotr grimaced, hating when anyone tried to guilt him into doing something. Yes, it was expected that he would take over where his father left off, but Piotr had no interest in his business dealings. His father had made a point of keeping Piotr as far removed from that part of his life as possible, and now he was just expected to jump in with both feet and carry on? It made no sense.
“I’m not interested,” Piotr made to hand the paperwork back.
The lawyer ignored his attempt and instead, handed him a small envelope. “Read this letter before you decide anything.”
Piotr took the ivory envelope, seeing his father’s familiar scrawl across the front with his name on it. “Did my father write this?”
Mr. Kosakas nodded. “Yes. A few weeks before his death. He seemed to sense the end was just around the corner.”
“Why am I just being given this now?”
The lawyer looked at him and then nodded at the envelope, “Because I didn’t think you were ready to do so before.”
“And I’m ready now?”
The lawyer shook his head, “Probably not, but circumstances have changed and you need to get ready. Immediately. Read the letter.”
Piotr took a steadying breath and then slid his thumb beneath the flap. He withdrew the folded piece of paper and pressed it open. His father’s handwriting stared back at him and Piotr felt tears sting his eyes. He blew out a short breath and began to read –
My beloved son,
I realize that as you are reading this letter, you must be feeling many things. Please know that your mother and I only ever wanted to protect you. That is why I never wanted your help with my businesses. It was with a great sense of relief when you announced you had another career path in mind for yourself. I am personally very proud of your accomplishments.
That being said, I now must ask you to step forward into a role you are completely unprepared to handle. I need you to fill my shoes at the companies. I know this is asking a lot of you, but I don’t see another way forward and there are many livelihoods at stake here.
Piotr stopped reading to ask, “What is he talking about?”
“Keep reading. If you still have questions afterward, I’ll try to answer them.”
There are things about my past you don’t know, and I was hoping you would never have a need to, but with my passing you must be on your guard against those who will seek to lure you in. Be vigilant. Your uncle will try anything at his disposal to try and bring you into the fold.
Piotr stopped reading, confusion marring his face. “My uncle? I thought my father’s brother died when he was a teenager?”
Mr. Kosakas shook his head, steepling his hands on the arms of the chair. “Piotr, your father was hoping he would never have to share with you the secrets of his past.”
“What secrets?”
“Secrets about his brother and the nefarious empire his brother built with his half of your grandfather’s inheritance.”
Piotr was thoroughly confused now. “Okay, back up a minute. You’re telling me my uncle didn’t die when he was twelve? And that he was still alive when my grandfather died…I was like…five?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Your father and his brother had an ironclad agreement that as long as your father was alive, your uncle would leave you and your mother completely alone. That agreement died with your parents and your uncle has already started gathering information about his holdings. And you.”
Piotr was quiet for a moment, his stomach tied in knots as he realized the implication behind his father having kept this a secret for so long. “Just who is my uncle?”
“He simply goes by the name, Andronicus.”
Piotr felt his eyebrows disappear into his hairline and he stared at the lawyer in complete and utter s
hock. Andronicus didn’t have a last name and was one of the most powerful mafia lords operating inside of Athens. He had satellite operations in almost every major city center across Greece but was so elusive he’d never been photographed. Not once.
His operations tended to sit on the fence between being barely legal and more than a bit immoral. Rumors were he had his hand in the nightlife of Greece, with several sidelines operating in back rooms. Girls. Drugs. Liquor. Gambling. Andronicus’s organization was rumored to be involved in all of it.
“You’re telling me Andronicus is my late father’s brother?” Piotr asked in a rough voice, his brain still having trouble processing this new information.
“Yes, although when they were boys he went by the name of Cyrus.”
“I know that, and I’ve even seen his grave marker,” Piotr told him, disbelief still in his voice.
“Your father and uncle had an agreement. Your father didn’t want you or your mother being dragged into your uncle’s activities and he agreed to stay back.”
“So, what’s changed?” Piotr asked. He hated being backed into a corner and that was exactly how he was beginning to feel.
“Your uncle’s health is reportedly not good. He has no heir and in the tradition of Greek sons carrying on their family’s legacy, he wants you to take over his organization.”
“He what?!” Piotr demanded, surging to his feet. “This uncle I don’t ever remember meeting wants me to become a criminal?”
“Not quite. He wants to bring his organization into the open and legitimize it by taking over your father’s business empire.”
“He…,” Piotr stopped, the audacity of what his uncle wanted rendering him momentarily speechless. He swallowed and tried again, “He wants to corrupt my father’s legacy by turning his companies into fronts for his illegal operations? No way. That cannot be allowed to happen.”
Mr. Kosakas smiled and nodded as if very pleased with himself. “That is what I was hoping you would say. The only way to prevent your uncle from taking over is for you to delve into the role you were born to fill. You need to step up and become the CEO of your father’s various businesses. It’s time to act like the Greek son you are.”
Piotr left the lawyer’s office a short time later, his mind awhirl with the information he’d just received. On one hand he needed to figure out a way to deal with his father’s empire without having to sacrifice his freedom and his own dreams in the process. He also needed to know how to keep his uncle from moving in and taking over.
On the other hand, his mind was consumed with thoughts of Kassi. Part of becoming his father’s heir would most assuredly include taking a wife and having children. Two things he’d always considered out of the realm of possibility. Not because he wasn’t a much sought-after companion, but Piotr had never felt strongly enough about any woman to consider spending the rest of his life by her side. Until Kassi, that is.
The problem with that revelation was Kassi herself. She hated him because of their past and Piotr couldn’t see any way to fix things. He’d made her father a promise to leave her alone. At the time, he’d believed her father’s request had come because of their age difference and how infatuated Kassi had become with him. Now, he was wondering if Kassi’s father perhaps had known about his father and uncle’s agreement. It seemed unlikely but made Kassi’s father’s insistence that Piotr leave her alone much more logical.
Whatever the reason, Piotr was now faced with multiple problems and he hadn’t a clue as to which one to deal with first. He returned to the Moustakas estate, wishing he could seek out Leo or Alexi’s counsel, but the lawyer had made him promise to keep this to himself. Piotr had done so and now he found himself in the most perplexing situation of his life.
Chapter 3
“Just think, a few days from now and places like this will be completely out of your list of possibilities,” Piotr told Alexi with a grin.
This place happened to be one of the largest night clubs in Thessaloniki, with several floors that could be rented out for private events. Events like the bachelor party currently being hosted for Alexi by his brother Leo. They’d been at the club for several hours now and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time.
Alexi was seated at a large, centrally located table with scantily clad girls walking around making sure all of the guests in attendance had ample food and drink. Alcohol flowed freely, and Piotr watched as another group of young men approached Alexi and toasted him with another round of Ouzo. Piotr had lost track but thought that had to be Alexi’s sixth in the last few hours. The man’s face was flushed and if he wasn’t already feeling the effects of the alcohol, he would be shortly.
Piotr slammed back the glass of Ouzo mixed with ice water in his hand and then gestured for one of the waitresses to bring him another. He’d not wanted to come to tonight’s celebration, not feeling much like being social the last few days, but Alexi and Leo had twisted his arm and he’d run out of valid excuses.
So, here he sat, watching Alexi celebrate his upcoming nuptials, trying to turn off the many problems rolling around in his head. Since he hadn’t been successful on his own, he had no problem using a little alcohol to accomplish the feat.
Twenty minutes later he was feeling nice and warm, a little fuzzy around the edges, and more relaxed than he could remember being since arriving at the Moustakas estate and seeing Kassi again. He settled back on the cushioned couch, his eyes roving over the various groups of young men who were getting equally sloshed and having a good time doing it.
The waitresses were still roaming around the space and though they were all very attractive, Piotr found he had no interest in taking advantage of what they were so obviously willing to give up. He seemed to have lost interest in casual hookups in the last few months and he knew exactly where to lie the blame for that. Himself. For wanting something he couldn’t have. Namely, Kassi.
“Want some company?” a dark-haired siren asked in a husky voice.
Piotr took in her face. The overly made up eyes and lips, and the cloying fragrance of roses assaulted his senses. He pushed back as far as the couch would allow and shook his head, “Sorry, hon. Not interested.”
She gave him an overly done pout, but seeing he wasn’t about to change his mind, she then sighed and moved on to her next target. Piotr watched her hips sway as she wandered away, reminded that Kassi had never had to make herself appear sexier than she naturally was. He could remember watching her walk many times. She never failed to elicit a sexual response from him without even trying.
Suddenly, his vision was filled with the familiar sight of those same hips crossing his line of vision. He blinked twice and then pushed himself up to a sitting position. He followed the hips up and was stunned to see Kassi standing with Aimee and several other young women he’d seen around the estate from time to time. Gemma soon joined them, and Piotr knew he wasn’t seeing things when she caught his stare and waved her fingertips in his direction.
Her movement drew Kassi’s gaze in his direction and Piotr steeled himself to receive a cool dismissal, but instead, she smiled at him. A welcoming smile, no less. When she started walking towards him, Piotr found himself on his feet, meeting her halfway.
“Kassi? What are you doing here?”
She smiled broadly at him and then gestured back towards the other women, swaying a bit so that Piotr reached out for her in case she was headed for a fall. “Whoa.”
Kassi giggled, “Guess I had one too many…I’m not even sure what they were but they were fruity and really yummy.”
“You’ve been drinking?” Piotr asked, doing his best to keep his own foggy brain engaged.
“We had Aimee’s bachelorette party and then she said we were crashing Alexi’s bachelor party. Surprise!” she flung out her arms and once again started to sway on her feet.
Piotr moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Easy there. Maybe we should go sit down…”
Kassi shook her head and sh
rugged his arm off. “No, I want to dance. You owe me a dance.”
“I do?” Piotr asked even as she grabbed his hand and started weaving her way amongst the other patrons. The dance floor was very crowded with the arrival of the women and she kept moving through the couples until she found a small corner of the dance floor that was unoccupied.
“Dance with me,” she told him, giving him a sleepy gaze full of mischief and a hint of the old Kassi. The Kassi who had always looked at him with eyes that made him feel a hundred feet tall.
Piotr swept her up into his arms, unable to resist the allure of Kassi when she was friendly and welcoming towards him. It had been so long since he’d held her in his arms, he’d forgotten how perfectly she fit against him. Kassi wasn’t being shy and plastered herself against his chest, her arms creeping up to cross behind his neck as she began to sway with the beat of the music.
Piotr moved with her, the other couples dancing around them fading away as he became solely focused on the beautiful young woman in his arms. “I love how you dance,” he murmured against her ear. It was like making love, but with their clothes on and an uninterested audience.
Kassi sighed and laid her head on his shoulder and Piotr tightened his grip, one hand sliding just below her waist to rest on the upper curve of her butt. He inhaled, and her familiar scent filled his head and heart with memories that were more pleasant than they were sorrowful. He closed his eyes and swayed back and forth with her. Each side-to-side movement ignited a new fire in his body, and he was helpless to keep his groin from tightening painfully. When she arched her hips into his, Piotr almost lost what was left of his self-control. When her lips met the skin below his ear, he knew he needed to get them off the dance floor before things went any further.
Her Greek Bodyguard (The Greek Brothers Book 3) Page 2
