by Abby Green
He put out a hand towards her but Lucy flinched back, moving behind the chair,
‘Lucy—’
‘No. I don’t want to hear it. I know it’s over. It’s all over. That’s the only reason you slept with me. I’ve been really—’ She stopped and bit her lip before she could say stupid. She lifted dead eyes to his. ‘Blood really is thicker than water, isn’t it?’ She smiled a small harsh smile. ‘Perhaps this is a step forward in fostering a new regard for your half-brother?’
Her smile faded. ‘Anatolios doesn’t know about the merger. It happened exactly the way I said it did. The reason I passed off the conversation earlier as nothing was because he was beginning to suspect something and asked me about it. I didn’t tell you because I figured he’d never find out before the morning and you didn’t need the hassle.’
She hitched up her chin. ‘I intend to resign once the press conference is over, I can’t see why you wouldn’t agree to that now.’ She smiled with brittle brightness. ‘After all, I can’t imagine you want to be faced with an assistant you had to sleep with for business every day.’
Lucy turned and walked stiffly to the door, then looked back, somewhere in his general direction. ‘I can organise my own flight home tomorrow after the press conference. I’d prefer that, and I’m sure you would too. I’ll work out my notice if you insist, but I’m happy to collect my things from the office on Monday too.’
And, opening the door, she slipped out.
Ari watched the door for a long moment. The earth was shifting underneath him. He had been about to refute her reasoning behind why he’d slept with her, but then, when she’d interrupted him and obviously decided that that had to be the case, he hadn’t spoken up.
He could have stopped her from leaving. He could have told her. Why hadn’t he?
Ari sat down heavily onto the ornately brocaded sofa behind him. Without the awful stomach-churning red mist of anger that had gripped him, he had to concede that of course he trusted Lucy over his opportunistic brother any day of the week. This whole scene had all the clumsy and unoriginal hallmarks of Anatolios. But he’d just seen them together and…his mind had imploded.
His fists clenched when he saw how easily he’d misinterpreted the situation. She was wrong in this case. Blood was most certainly not thicker than water. If Lucy had been guilty she’d never have jumped to the conclusion she had. She’d have defended herself vociferously, she’d have cajoled and enticed, perhaps even tried to seduce him into bed to distract him. But he didn’t need reminding that she hadn’t come near him since Paros. His mouth twisted. And could he blame her? When he’d all but hustled her off the island like a fugitive. But he had just been so…so overwhelmed that she’d witnessed his excruciating weakness. She’d seen him cry. And she hadn’t turned away in horror, she’d been gorgeous, sympathetic, understanding…It had been too much.
He couldn’t deal with that. No one had seen that side of him. It had been locked away for so long—he’d been alone against the world for so long…
And that was why he’d let her stand there and believe he’d seduced her deliberately. His life hadn’t been on an even keel since he’d started noticing her, desiring her. That had been part of his knee-jerk response tonight—the knowledge that he’d been so hungry for her that he’d followed her to the room for that and not because he might have suspected her of espionage. He’d felt intensely vulnerable for the brief moment when he had contemplated that that could have been the reality.
He stood abruptly and made for the door. He had to go back downstairs, had to smile and pretend everything was OK, when he felt as if his insides were twisting tight in his gut. Lucy was right. It was over. Where could it go from here anyway? He would not let her see him be weak one more time. No woman was worth that.
The next morning, when the press conference was over, Lucy avoided the scrum of shocked and chattering press and went up to her room. She picked up her one small bag, she was leaving all the bought clothes behind, and went down to the lobby to check out.
She was just arranging for a taxi to take her to the airport when she felt her arm taken in a spine-tinglingly familiar grip and a smooth voice spoke over her to the concierge. ‘My driver will look after her, thank you.’
She stiffened under his touch, her whole body crying out shamefully for more.
‘That’s really not necessary.’
He smoothly moved them away, his hand still on her arm. Lucy fought not to pull it free, afraid he might guess how badly he was affecting her.
‘Lucy—’ he sighed heavily ‘—about last night—’
‘Please. You don’t have to say anything.’
‘I do.’ His hand tightened, and she looked up against her better judgement. His eyes were so green that she felt poleaxed.
‘You were wrong, I never slept with you because I thought you were capable of espionage. I read the situation entirely wrong and I’m sorry. But you’re right…it’s…this—us—is over.’
Lucy tried to school her features, even though she felt as if someone had just stabbed her in the belly. Relief that he had trusted her was eclipsed by sheer pain that she shouldn’t even be feeling. ‘What about…your brother?’
Ari grimaced. ‘I’ll deal with him. It’s not for you to worry about.’
No, thought Lucy faintly, still reeling and hating herself for it. Because she wouldn’t be working for Levakis Enterprises any more.
‘Look, I’m leaving for New York from here for about ten days, to make sure the merger goes smoothly over there. If you still intend to resign—’
For a second Lucy heard nothing but a roaring in her ears—what other option did she possibly have? It cleared just in time for her to hear him say, ‘That should give you time to sort yourself out.’
Lucy nodded dumbly. Even though she wanted this, had asked for this, to be faced with it now was like no other devastation she’d ever felt. But how on earth had she thought it might play out? she admonished herself. Aristotle Levakis would never keep a discarded lover hanging around like a bad smell. And of course they couldn’t go back to a benign working relationship, no matter how she’d thought it might happen.
Ari walked her out to the entrance, where his car was waiting. He handed her in and said, ‘I want to thank you for all your work. This merger wouldn’t have happened nearly as smoothly without you.’
Oh, please just don’t, she almost said. Their affair was reduced to this—trite thanks for her work on the project and for pleasuring her boss in bed in between meetings. The glaring cliché of it all nearly made her want to be ill. Before she could lose control, Lucy grabbed the door handle and pulled it closed firmly, shutting Ari out, but not unfortunately, the pain.
She didn’t look back as the car pulled away, so she didn’t see Ari standing there, his features drawn and almost grey in the glorious Athenian sun. And anyway, even if she had she wouldn’t have believed it.
It was Friday evening, a week later, and Lucy was packing her final bits and pieces into a box, looking around the now empty office. It had been infinitely easier to do this without Ari here, though it had been heart-wrenchingly painful to talk to him on the phone every day, when he’d called to check in or give instructions and hear how interviews were going for a new assistant.
‘I trust you. After all, you’ve been the best assistant I’ve had,’ he’d said when she’d protested that she couldn’t be responsible for hiring someone new.
He’d made no effort to ask her to stay, and even though Lucy didn’t even want that, couldn’t contemplate that, she’d found it nauseating to shake the hand of the best candidate just the other day and had forced a brittle smile when the girl had said, ‘Is it true what they say? Is he really that astoundingly gorgeous?’
Lucy shook her head now, to try and clear it, and pulled on her beige trenchcoat. She’d dressed down today, not having seen the point in making an effort, and was wearing jeans, an oversized black jumper and battered sneakers. Her thoughts
in that moment went guiltily to her mum, and she bit her lip as she hefted up the box. She had to find another job, and soon. She’d be OK for the next few months or so, but after that—
‘Lucy.’
Lucy whirled around at the familiar deep voice. It tugged on her insides and made a fire of sensation race across her skin. Her movement had been so sudden that the full box wobbled precariously out of her arms and fell to the floor, upending everything in a big mess.
She barely registered Ari standing at the door like a huge, dark and threatening presence, and bent down to start picking the things up, her hands shaking. He moved fast and crouched down. Lucy put out a hand. ‘Please—don’t. I can do it.’
But he ignored her, picking up books and stationery, putting things back in the box. Lucy had to break the taut silence. ‘I thought you weren’t coming back till the weekend.’
Had he been wining and dining some new woman already in New York? She slammed a book more furiously than she’d intended into the box, in reaction to her wayward thoughts and the jealousy that spiked through her gut.
Ari didn’t seem to notice, calmly packing the box. His scent reached out and wrapped her in a heat haze of lust.
‘I wrapped things up early. I wanted to get back here.’
His voice was cool, devoid of emotion.
Lucy’s movements became brisker. She just wanted to get out of here—right now. ‘I think you’ll like Gemma, your new assistant. She was far and away the most qualified person.’
Everything was back in the box, and there was an awkward moment when Lucy and Ari went to pick it up at the same time. Lucy had to let him take it, or it would have fallen again.
‘I thought I told you I don’t like your hair tied back.’
Lucy’s eyes flew to his in shock. He sounded almost flirty. And his eyes were dark, glittering in a way she hadn’t seen since—Once again she cursed her fevered brain. ‘That’s hardly relevant any more.’ She took the box firmly out of his hands and held it to her like a shield. She stepped neatly around him, her breathing feeling short and jerky. ‘Well, I’d better—’
‘You haven’t found a new job yet, have you?’
Lucy turned around. When would this torture end? She longed to be able to say yes, feeling inherently ashamed that she hadn’t found a job, as if it made her look unemployable. But every single company she’d approached had stonewalled her—hadn’t even allowed her an interview. She couldn’t understand it. With a glowing reference from Ari himself, she’d have thought it would be at least easier than it had.
She shook her head and could feel her low ponytail move as she did so. ‘Not yet.’ She lifted her chin. ‘But I’m sure I will, sooner or later.’
Ari sat back on the edge of her desk and fire raced into Lucy’s cheeks as she remembered one day in his office in Athens, when he’d perched her on the edge of his desk, spread her legs and—She nearly dropped the box again.
‘Look, I have to get going. I have to visit my mother.’
‘How is she?’
Lucy wanted to scream. What was this? Twenty questions?
Her throat felt constricted. ‘She’s fine…well, as fine as she can be. She’s comfortable—that’s the main thing.’
Ari stood up then, hands in pockets. ‘Lucy, I want to offer you another job here in the company. You don’t have to work for me, you can work for the legal team again. A position has become vacant.’
She shook her head immediately, panic gripping her at the thought of not being able to escape from this man’s devastating orbit. ‘No, I don’t want—That is, I’d prefer to seek employment elsewhere.’
He said nothing for a long, ominous moment, and then said quietly, ‘You might find that more difficult than you think.’
Sick realisation sank in. The box slipped precariously in Lucy’s arms but she gripped it tight. She thought of all the jobs she’d gone for in the past few days. The dead ends when she’d known that they were seeking people yet had turned her away.
‘Did you—have you stopped me from getting jobs?’
Ari’s jaw clenched. He didn’t have to answer—he saw the dawning realisation on Lucy’s face. ‘I’ve changed my mind. I want you to stay here with Levakis Enterprises.’
His jaw clenched even harder. He’d changed his mind as soon as he’d seen his car pull away with her in it that day in Athens. ‘I want to see you again, but I know it can’t happen if you’re my assistant. It wouldn’t be fair on you. But this way it’ll be much more acceptable.’
Shock, horror, heat—a complete mix of emotions rushed through Lucy with such force that she nearly fainted. She saw black spots before her eyes, but through them she saw Ari—tall and proud and hard and implacable. And as ruthless as ever. Because he hadn’t finished with her. Yet.
‘You’ve changed your mind, you say? Well, I’m sorry,’ she bit out, ‘but I’m not available for the position of convenient mistress.’
He stood straighter, his face flushing. ‘It doesn’t have to be like that, Lucy. I’m asking you to be my lover. We were good together. I can’t get you out of my mind…’
She shifted the box. Her arms were starting to ache. But when Ari saw the movement and made as if to take it out of her arms she jerked away. ’No.’
This moment was so important to her—how she acted right now. Because if she followed the craving call of her body to give in she would be going the way of the doomed, of her mother. She would have learnt nothing. Her heart was bound up inextricably with this man, and he would crush it completely.
She felt a deep sadness well within her that she’d fallen for someone who could never love her as she now knew she ached to be loved. She ached to find the fulfilment she’d never seen as a child. To have the security that came from being in a committed, equal and loving relationship. The kind of thing she’d seen in Kallie and Alexandros Kouros.
‘I don’t want that, Ari. I don’t want you…not like that. I’m worth more than a sleazy work affair, and, no matter how you try and pretty it up, that’s all it would be.’
‘There is another option. You don’t have to work here. It could be much easier than that. I could show you the best that this world has to offer, take care of you and your mother—’
Lucy felt bile rise. She shook her head vehemently, her ponytail slipping over one shoulder. ‘I won’t be set up like that. I grew up with that, and it’s something I just won’t settle for. I can look after myself and my mother just fine. We don’t need you or any other man.’
Lucy saw Ari’s fists clench at his sides at her rejection of his offer. His voice had a rough quality that somehow jarred with his autocratic behaviour, but Lucy didn’t have time to dwell on the meaning of that. ‘Well, good luck finding a job, Lucy…I’ll be waiting for your call when you realise you won’t get one. I’ve marked you as exclusive to this company—no one will touch you with a bargepole.’
Lucy felt tears prick the backs of her eyes when she thought of what a precarious position that would put her mother in. ‘Why are you insisting on doing this?’
He said something guttural in Greek, his face unbearably harsh. ‘I told you. I want you. This isn’t over between us. I’ll expect you to be in Theo’s office on Monday morning. I know you can’t move from London without jeopardising your mother’s treatment.’
Right then Lucy hated Ari, and yet even as she thought that her heart clenched—because she knew she didn’t. She couldn’t. She tried to make her voice sound as cool and calm as possible, and prayed that for once her every emotion wasn’t showing on her too-expressive face.
‘I will not be manipulated like this, and I won’t be falling back into your bed. You’d have to knock me out and drag me there like the neanderthal you’re behaving like now.’
His face flushed again, but she didn’t mistake the glint of triumph, despite her petty barb. He thought he had her right where he wanted her, but Lucy vowed not to succumb—no matter what he might try or what he was threatening. She
turned and stalked from the room, realising that she’d never see him again, at least not in person, and the pain that ripped through her nearly made her stumble and fall.
It was only his softly spoken mocking words that came from behind her that helped her to keep going.
‘See you on Monday morning, Lucy.’
Chapter Ten
ON MONDAY morning Ari strode authoritatively through his own building. The gasps and shocked murmurs as he passed people by merely bounced off him. Aristotle Levakis never frequented any office or floor of the building but his own. His blood was humming, anticipation a taut wire of need, and all because he was going to see Lucy any second now—and because seeing her the other day after a week’s absence had shown him that even one day was too long. He vowed there and then to make sure it didn’t happen again.
He was too far gone to try and deny the fact that she had him wound so tight around her little finger that he couldn’t think straight. For the entire weekend his conscience had been pricking him but he’d quashed it down with a strength of will that was matched only by the strength of his desire for this woman. As he walked towards her office he finally had to acknowledge that he felt out of control for the first time in his life. One thought and one thought only had dominated since he’d seen her last: he wanted her, he needed her, and anything was better than her leaving—
He stopped in his tracks when he pushed open the outer door to his legal team’s offices only to see an empty chair where Lucy should have been sitting—where the hell was she?
The immediate hollow ache in his solar plexus stunned him with its force. Just then Theo strolled out of his office, a frown on his face.
‘Ari? What’s up?’
What’s up? Ari felt dizzy for a second. He bit out, ‘Lucy Proctor—where is she?’
He was hardly aware of Theo’s frown and obvious confusion. ‘I thought you knew…? She rang this morning and said she wouldn’t be taking the position—said something about wanting some time off. I won’t lie, I was delighted when you said she was going to be back working for us, but now…’
