by Julia James
Rage, convulsing and blinding, shook through her. But beneath the rage was another emotion. The one she had felt reach the very quick of her. The one that brought not fury but something quite different. That made her want to curl up into a ball and clasp her arms around her, as if to stanch a wound.
A wound that had gone much, much deeper than should ever be possible.
Nikos sat at his desk. He hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d gone storming out of his office.
Without the diamond necklace.
He shifted his eyes so they rested on the jewel case.
Why hadn’t she taken it?
It didn’t make sense.. Everything he knew about her—everything she had proved to him—had told him that she would snatch the necklace from his hand as eagerly as she’d taken his cheques.
Even more eagerly.
The expression in his eyes changed minutely. After all, it was not as if she had found being in his bed repulsive…
But it was a mistake to admit any thoughts about Ann Turner in his bed. Immediately, hungrily, appetite leapt within him. It had been twenty-four long, deprived hours since he had taken her to the beach chalet, and his body was protesting the absence of a repeat encounter. It had protested quite enough last night, when he had been left unsatisfied, thwarted. But then at least he had had the prospect of remedying the situation by dint of the means he’d just put into play.
Cutting to the chase had been exactly what he’d intended. No more prevaricating, manipulating games from Ann Turner. Just cutting to the chase and giving her exactly what she was so obviously angling for—what was so obviously the reason behind all her ploys of denial and evasion. Because what other reason could there be for her evasion of him? Her denial of her response to him? He only had to touch her for her to light up like a flame—and, Theos mou, it was the same for him! One touch from her and he wanted her instantly—totally.
The way he did right now.
He shifted restlessly, his thoughts biting with a poisonous mix of frustration and incomprehension.
Why had she refused the necklace? What did she think she was going to achieve by refusing it?
His mouth thinned. Well, there was one thing she was going to achieve, that was for sure.
He seized up the house phone. As Yannis answered, Nikos barked down it, ‘Phone Kyria Constantis and inform her that she is invited to dine here tonight.’ Then he put the receiver down. He glowered darkly into the space in front of the desk, where Ann Turner had refused to take the necklace.
So she didn’t want the necklace, and she didn’t want him. His mouth tightened even more. There were plenty of women who did want him. And tonight Ann Turner would get an eyeful of one of them.
CHAPTER NINE
ELENA CONSTANTIS WAS speaking Greek, clearly intent on cutting out Ann and Tina. Ann was glad of it. Glad that she could focus her whole attention on Tina, discussing her forthcoming wedding, and give none at all—not the slightest iota—to the man to whom Elena Constantis was devoting her attention at the dinner table.
She was welcome to him.
Every woman on God’s earth was welcome to him.
Emotions still roiled within her like bilge water—dark and angry. She had got through the remainder of the day somehow, but she wasn’t even sure how. She’d had to stay in her room until she could finally face going back downstairs, face washed, breathing controlled. But it had still been hard. Hard to behave normally, and harder still now, in Nikos’s loathsome presence at dinner.
Abruptly, Elena switched back to English—and to Ann.
‘Will you be looking after darling little Ari as his new nanny?’ she enquired in saccharine tones.
‘I am his aunt, but I’m only visiting, Kyria Constantis,’ replied Ann. ‘I have no qualifications to be a professional nanny.’
The Greek woman’s eyes hardened a moment. ‘Yes, even on a salary as generous as working for a family such as the Theakises would bring you, it would be difficult to afford designer clothes,’ she purred. Her heavily mascaraed eyes flicked over Ann’s dress, then became tinged with satisfaction. ‘I do love your outfit—I had one very similar when that particular collection came out. When was it now? Oh, five years ago, I believe. It has scarcely dated at all!’
‘Yes,’ responded Ann, not rising to the pinprick. ‘Some fashions last longer than others.’
Longer than those who bought them—
The unbidden thought rose in her mind, making her throat tighten suddenly and her vision blur. Emotionally raw as she was, despite her outward display of calm, as she blinked to clear her eyes she diverted her thoughts from their painful subject and became aware of Nikos Theakis’ dark gaze resting on her. Or rather on her dress. He was staring at it critically.
Ann’s mouth thinned. Oh, yes, go on, do, she thought viciously. Cost it down to the last penny—something to condemn me for! Why should she care what he thought of her?
I won’t let myself be hurt by what he did today! I won’t! I knew all along that he despised me for taking his money, and I knew it was just sex that he wanted me for! Just sex—a passing appetite. He helped himself, and didn’t have to think twice about it, because he thought he only had to toss me a diamond necklace and I’d roll over for him! Because that’s the sort of woman he thinks I am.
So how can a man like that hurt me?
A silent shudder went through her. Thank God she had the strength to know she must not have anything more to do with Nikos Theakis! Had had that strength even when he was sitting on her very bed, reaching for her, and her whole body was suddenly aflame. Because if she hadn’t, if she had allowed Nikos to sweep away her frail, pathetic defences against him, as he had done on the beach she would never have known just how low he thought her.
But now she did. Bald, brutal knowledge. And she had to cling on to it with all her might. Like clutching a scorpion to her breast.
Somehow she got through the rest of the meal. But that night, as she lay in her bed in the beautiful guest bedroom, despite all the luxury of the Theakis villa around her she felt very alone.
Nikos would not be alone, she knew, with a tearing feeling inside her that she knew she must not, must not feel. No, tonight he would have Elena to keep him company! It would be Elena who would know the sensual bliss of his touch, the lush pleasure of his kisses, his caressing. Her body which would catch fire, burn in the flames he would arouse—her throat that would cry out at the moment of consummation, of ecstasy.
The pang came again, like a stiletto blade sliding between her ribs, seeking the quick of her flesh. Restlessly she turned over, pulling the bed coverings around her, wanting only the oblivion of sleep.
When it came, it brought no peace. Only the torment of dreams—dreams she would have given a diamond necklace not to have! And it brought too—dimly, like an excess thudding of her heart—a sound penetrating her unconsciousness that she did not quite believe: the thudding of helicopter rotors.
But in the morning she discovered that the Theakis helicopter had indeed been busy. Not only had it ferried Elena Constantis back to Maxos just after midnight, but it had also just departed again, this time taking Nikos with it.
‘He must spend some time in the office, he tells me,’ said Mrs Theakis to Ann over breakfast. ‘He will be back for Tina’s wedding, of course. Now, my dear,’ she went on, ‘how are you feeling this morning?’
She gave her customary serene smile, but even as Ann managed to murmur politely that she felt better, thank you, simultaneously trying not to show the relief on her face at hearing that Nikos had left Sospiris, she was sure she saw an assessing flicker in her hostess’s expression. Then it was gone.
For the next few days Ann devoted herself entirely to Ari, glad to do so. But if during the day she told herself—over and over again—how glad she was too for the respite from Nikos’s presence, at night her unconscious mind was a traitor to her, giving back in dreams what was a treacherous torment, a coruscating humiliation to rememb
er. The sensual bliss she had felt in his arms. She awoke restless, aching, yet knowing she must not, must not feel that way…
And not just her unconscious mind was traitor to her. For when, the day before Tina’s family were due to arrive for the forthcoming wedding, Ann came down to dinner, she discovered Nikos had returned to Sospiris.
She was taken by surprise—she had thought she had another twenty-four hours to steel herself. But she had no time at all—none. And that—surely only that?—must be why she felt her heart crunch in her chest. Just shock and being unprepared. That was all. Not because her eyes went to him immediately and her stomach hollowed, as she took in his tall, commanding figure, sheathed in that hand-made business suit of his, with a dark silk tie echoing the raven satin of his hair, the planed face, the sculpted mouth, the hooded long-lashed eyes that flicked devastatingly to her.
She felt them scorch her, as if a laser had gone through her, and in them was something that made her breath catch.
No! Her own weakness appalled her. God, she’d had days to collect herself, compose herself.
Cure herself.
Because cure herself she must. No other possibility was acceptable. She had to cure herself so that she could look at Nikos Theakis and see him as Tina saw him—as nothing more than a ridiculously handsome male who could turn female heads for miles around, but not hers. Her he left cold—quite, quite cold.
Except that cold was not the sensation flushing through her now. Not in the slightest.
It was heat beating up through her, invading her skin, her body cells, her mind, her brain.
Taking her over.
‘Ah, Ann, my dear—there you are.’ As ever, it was Sophia Theakis’ placid voice that made her surface, made her brain work again, made her drag her eyes from the man who had magnetised them with his presence.
Another presence helped distract her as well. A little figure came running across to her.
‘Uncle Nikki is back! And Dr Sam is coming too! And I am staying up, and I am not going to fall asleep and go splat into my dinner, like Uncle Nikki says!’
Ann stooped to catch up Ari and return his hug. His presence at dinner was a godsend, and so was Sam’s. He arrived shortly, escorted in by Tina, who was looking very fetching in a blush-pink dress that suited her dusky curls. They made a striking couple, and Ann felt a strange pang go through her as they stood together, so obviously a pair, Tina’s hand hooked into Sam’s arm, and their shoulders brushing.
Lucky Tina, came the thought again. But she put it aside, knowing she had to focus only on getting through this meal without looking anywhere near Nikos.
Somehow she did, and it was mostly thanks to Ari, who held centre stage, having both his uncle and a clearly amused Sam to entertain with his chatter. As the lengthy meal drew to a close, however, despite his assurance that he would not fall asleep, Ann could see Ari getting sleepier and sleepier. It gave her just the opportunity she needed to murmur to Tina that she should stay with Sam while she put Ari to bed. Scooping up the nearly somnolent infant, she bore him off, smiling her goodnights to everyone round the table except the man at the head of it. He, with her blessing, could fall off a cliff for all she cared.
At least, she thought darkly, Nikos was ignoring her as much as she was ignoring him. And with Tina’s parents and immediate family arriving the next day, surely there should be people enough to make it possible for her to go on avoiding him?
But her hopes were dashed the very next morning.
‘My dear,’ said Mrs Theakis to her during breakfast, at which Ann was doing her best to continue her policy of ignoring Nikos, even though his presence was about as easy to ignore as a jackal’s at a watering hole. ‘It would afford me a great pleasure to be allowed to make you a present of a new gown to wear for Tina’s wedding reception evening party.’
Immediately Ann demurred. ‘Oh, no, really—it’s very kind of you, but I brought an evening gown with me, just in case.’
Mrs Theakis gave an airy wave of her beringed hand. ‘I am sure that a new one would be far more fun for you.’ She smiled.
‘No—really. The one I have is fine, I promise you,’ insisted Ann. Not only did she not want Ari’s grandmother spending money on her, she was also painfully conscious of what would obviously be Nikos’s caustic disapproval of her getting yet more out of the Theakis family.
The next moment she was even more grateful that she had refused.
‘Nikos is going to Athens today—he could take you with him and help you choose a new dress,’ said Mrs Theakis encouragingly.
Ann’s expression was a study. ‘No—please—really,’ she stammered out.
To her intense relief Mrs Theakis dropped the subject, but as Ann headed back to her room after breakfast to brush her teeth, she was intercepted at her bedroom door.
‘Show me this dress of yours,’ said a brusque, terse voice behind her. She turned sharply. Nikos was bearing down on her. ‘My mother is clearly too tactful to say that she would like you to wear something appropriate for Tina’s reception. If I can’t reassure her, then—like it or not—I’ll have to let her splash out on a new one for you,’ he said, with evident disapproval.
Ann’s eyes snapped. ‘It’s a perfectly respectable evening gown, thank you very much!’
‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ said Nikos darkly, and pushed past her into the room.
It was hard to see him there again, dominating the space as he dominated every space. He had not been inside since the night he’d walked in for a bit of sex on the side…
The last thing she wanted was to see him there again, but if it meant that she could evade the unthinkable prospect of going to Athens with him to buy a new dress she would endure it. Stiffly, Ann marched to the wardrobe and leafed through her clothes, taking out the evening gown she had brought with her from London. It was a beautiful gown—in deep turquoise layered chiffon, with one shoulder bare and the other a broad pleat of material. The bodice was a little too low cut for her liking, but she had made a tuck in the shoulder strap to hoist the bodice higher, reducing her décolletage. Originally, too, the long skirt had been split to the thigh, but Ann had painstakingly sewn up the two sections to make it much less revealing.
A sudden oath sounded behind her, startling her. Before she could stop him, Nikos had snatched the dress from her.
‘Where did you get this?’ he snarled.
Ann looked askance at his incomprehensible anger. Then, before she could gather an answer, he provided one himself.
‘Don’t bother to answer with a lie! I recognised it immediately!’ His voice was harsh and grating. ‘Your sister wore it the night she got her avaricious claws into my brother!’
Ann could only stare. Shock and fury etched her face. Anger flashed again in Nikos’ eyes. He threw the dress to the floor, and Ann, giving a little cry, made an instinctive movement to pick it up from where it lay crumpled in a heap. But hard hands came around her elbows, pinning her immobile.
‘Were you planning it deliberately?’ The snarl was in his voice, in his contorted face. ‘Flaunting that dress in front of me—in front of my mother!’
Ann’s face worked. ‘I didn’t have the faintest idea of—’
He thrust her away. ‘No? Then why choose to bring it here?’ he demanded.
‘Because it’s a beautiful dress, that’s all!’ she answered agitatedly. ‘I didn’t know—’ She took a heavy, ragged breath. ‘I didn’t know you’d recognise it….’
Her mind raced on. How had he recognised it at all? How on earth should he know what dress her sister had been wearing when she’d met his brother?
A sound came from his throat. It was one of revulsion.
‘Oh, I would recognise that dress, all right.’ His voice was like a razorblade. Dark eyes bored into hers. ‘It’s indelibly etched on my memory.’ The razor scraped across her flesh. ‘Especially when your sister was taking it off in front of me…’
Ann stared. There was ice formin
g in her stomach.
Nikos’s eyes were dark. Black, like pits. He started to speak.
‘Andreas and I were guests on a yacht, cruising off Monte Carlo. The owner—a business associate we were currently in negotiation with—was the kind of man who liked to have a lot of girls on tap for any guests who might not have brought their own partners for the occasion. I don’t have to tell you what kind of girls they were, do I?’ His voice was mordant, his eyes still boring into hers. ‘The kind that like to party at other people’s expense. But let us say they pay for their passage in their own way…’
A breath was raked into him. ‘Your sister targeted me right from the outset. Girls like her are amateurs only in name—she had done her research. She knew exactly who I was, how much I was worth, and that on that occasion I had no female partner with me. Her mistake, however—’ his voice twisted ‘—was in thinking I would have any interest in a girl like her. My indifference didn’t put her off, though—she took it as a personal challenge.’ His lips curled. ‘On the last night, as we headed back to Monaco, I went back to my cabin and she was there, waiting for me. Wearing that dress.’
His eyes flicked to the vivid heap of material on the floor. Then they whipped back to Ann. His voice dropped to Arctic.
‘She came on to me, stripping the dress off her body, determined to seduce me—determined to get into my bed and get the reward she wanted for it. When I turned her down, telling her to get dressed and get out, she spat at me that she’d make me sorry. I threw her out and thought I’d done with her. The next day—’ his expression was like granite ‘—I woke to discover she’d taken off with Andreas.’
His eyes narrowed to slits as he iced his words at Ann. ‘Your bitch of a sister helped herself to my brother out of spite. Because I refused to take her as my mistress and drape her in the diamonds she sold her body for!’
As his ugly words fell into the silence between them Ann felt sick. Through the agonising tightness in her throat, she forced herself to speak.
