He was Dominic Santorini, not Nikos, and if she let herself love him, she would be lost.
With sudden, stark terror grinding deep into her bones, Lexie jerked out of his arms—
And ran from the sheltering trees, from the temptation of his body, stumbling as tears blinded her eyes, escaping the mistake she wanted so badly to make, despite all reason, all powers of logic, all the memories that didn’t seem to make one bit of difference to her foolish dreamer’s heart.
Dominic started after her, heedless of the stares, determined only to find her, to bring her back, to make her—
A jerk on his arm whirled him around. Bradley’s eyes shot sparks at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Not now.” Dominic turned, eyes searching for Lexie, but she’d vanished.
Bradley stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
Every fiber of Dominic’s body itched to shove his friend aside.
“Stop it, Dominic. Have you lost your mind?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“The hell it’s not. Poseidon is mine, too.”
Dominic shot a furious glance at the man who stood in his way. “Poseidon is mine, more than anyone’s.”
Bradley’s jaw worked. His voice was tight. “You didn’t build it by yourself, and I refuse to let you do something so stupid. Do I need to remind you of Celia?”
The barb hit its mark. Stung. “Lexie is not Celia.”
“You don’t know that.”
“She couldn’t—she would not do such a thing.”
“You didn’t think Celia would, either.”
Fury grayed his vision, but no amount of fury could change the fact that Bradley was right. He hadn’t seen Celia’s perfidy until it was too late. It had taken a very long time to recover from that mistake, from realizing that the woman he’d planned to marry was working with a competitor, sharing information gleaned from Dominic’s pillow talk. He’d been in love, he’d thought; Celia had been, like so many others, in it for the money. Yet even knowing he’d been so wrong about Celia did not change how he wanted Lexie now. His palms itched with the need to hold her, to make them one—
In the white heat of passion, all logic flew out the door.
And that very thought sobered him, cooled him down. No woman had ever gotten to him as Lexie had. Stubbornly, he clung to what he wanted to believe. “She is not involved.”
“And just how do you know that?”
“In here.” He tapped his chest. “In here, I believe that.”
He could not blame his friend for the derision that sprung into his eyes. He would have done the same if Bradley had said something so foolish.
Dominic settled his hands on his hips and exhaled in one powerful gust, his eyes cast to the ground. “I want to believe it.”
“Dominic—” But his friend’s voice was more gentle now.
He had to remember that Bradley had been his closest friend for years. He had known Lexie for only a matter of days.
Dominic cursed beneath his breath. What had gotten into him? How had he let one small woman get to him like this? He swallowed hard and lifted his gaze to his friend’s. “I apologize. I was out of line.”
Bradley was still frowning, but the strain in his face eased. “Women.” He tried for a grin.
Dominic could not join him.
“Look, so we don’t know anything for sure. We’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.” But his tone made it clear that he had none. “Just promise me this, Dominic. Promise me you won’t ask her directly. Don’t give Kassaros a chance to have an inside line to our thinking. Please—promise me that much.”
Dominic studied his friend, his mind working furiously. He would pay careful attention, even more careful than before, to her every movement. But he would watch everyone more carefully and hope that someone would slip up, that the true insider would be revealed. He cursed the need for such discretion, but it was paramount that word not get out to the markets that they had problems, not when stock was riding high on anticipation of Legend Quest.
He would find the proof he needed to clear her. Legend Quest would debut, they would restore their cash flow, and he would buy back all the stock he could find so that they were never vulnerable again.
He would prove Lexie innocent, make the company whole, take care of those who depended on him, and then, when all was secure—
He would make Lexie his, would take them back to the night of magic again and again.
But if he told her that she was under suspicion, the tiny tendrils between them would be crushed beneath that weight. She need never know. Bradley’s suggestion was right, for many reasons.
“All right.” He nodded. “I will not speak of it to her.”
Bradley’s whole frame relaxed. “Good.” He glanced around them. “You want a beer or something?”
Dominic turned and watched all the people dancing and laughing and could not imagine rejoining them. He felt as if he’d been run through a wringer. “No. What I want is for this to be over. All of it.”
His friend nodded sympathetically and clapped him on the shoulder. “I hear you. Why don’t you go on home and I’ll play host until the end?”
Dominic wanted to take Bradley up on his offer, but it was his company, his duty. He shook his head and reached for a smile that didn’t come easily. “Thank you, but no. Perhaps a beer would be good.”
With only one glance back in the direction Lexie had fled, Dominic followed Bradley back into the fold.
Lexie sat on the porch in an old lounge chair, her dry eyes examining every line of the swinging bed. She’d come out here as soon as she got home from the picnic, hoping for surcease from the pain of the memories filling every cubic inch of her home.
She clutched Rosebud to her so tightly, the patient cat squirmed. Where could she get away from the memories? How could she evade the pain?
She was so confused. Her pirate Nikos was gone, vanished like the mist of morning. Burned away by the sun of a powerful, successful man. Dominic Santorini had no need of a silly dreamer who lived in her imagination more often than the real world.
Despite the miracles of that one night, she was still skinny little Lexie Grayson whom men found so easy to leave. She’d seen Dominic’s type of woman at the ball, in the newspaper clippings. Never in a million years could she be tall, sleek and glamorous. She might not be such a misfit anymore, might have learned to be comfortable with who she was, might be proud of what she’d built. She might have even gotten prettier.
But deep inside, where it counted, she was still skinny Lexie Grayson, who drove a pickup and lived in a dome.
Lexie Grayson, who’d made a big mistake, who’d led with her heart and just had to get over it. Because the basic facts couldn’t be changed.
“He robbed Max, Rosebud,” she murmured, rubbing her cheek on the cat’s head, suddenly cold in the warm, sultry night. “Maybe he didn’t do it himself—I can’t bear to believe that. But he had to know about it, had to approve it, and he hurt my best friend.”
She stirred in the comfortable chair, pulling the cat closer. She curled up against the pain. “But, Rosebud, no matter what else…I miss my pirate Nikos.” The tears from her eyes plopped softly on the gray cat’s head.
There would be no sleep tonight, she could already tell.
But thank heavens, there was always work.
Tenderly, she placed the cat on the cushion and headed for her purse. The warehouse would be nice and quiet and if she were careful, she wouldn’t wake Max, who lived upstairs.
And maybe, just maybe while she was working, she’d figure out how to tell him that she’d made love with the man who’d stolen his dream.
Dominic woke up with a start. His dream had been so vivid; a breathtaking interlude with Lexie in a room filled with candles. He’d made love to her slowly and with achingly sweet care. He’d heard her sighs and caught them with his kisses.
He’d felt her delicate han
ds all over his body, marking him forever with her passage. He’d soaked up the raw hunger of her passion and his own, delving into the secret, tender hollows of her body as if diving for treasure.
He’d felt warm and cherished in a way he’d never known before he’d met Lexie. The warmth of her smile, the delight in her eyes…the heart-stopping magic when her body touched his…
Then a chill had crept over them, and shards of desperation marred her green eyes. He’d seen a shadow darken them, snuffing out the reflection of warm candlelight. He’d felt her pulled out of his arms and known his enemy possessed her. He’d felt his heart rend as the darkness moved within him. As knowledge of perfidy filled him, the sorrow in her eyes chilled his soul.
As Peter Kassaros walked away with his love, Dominic Santorini knew he’d been betrayed once again. The rage and the pain searing through him eclipsed his previous anguish by a factor of thousands.
He wanted to talk to her. He had to know she was all right. Needed to know what to believe about her—and about himself.
He didn’t feel as if he fit inside his own skin anymore. Who was he, the man who’d laughed and loved with Lexie in blissful ignorance—or the man who’d built an empire and encased his heart in lead?
Dominic’s cold eyes narrowed; Nikos’s hand hovered over the phone.
And in the deserted dome, there was only a cat to hear the phone ringing.
Chapter Eight
Lexie stood on a scaffold, examining the skeleton of the giant golden figure that would be the centerpiece of the inner chamber of Legend Quest. She realized she’d been staring at the same arm joint for a long while, wondering what mattered. Wishing she could walk away from this job.
You’re not a quitter, Lexie. Oh, but she wanted to be. This time, just this once, she wanted to be a quitter very, very badly.
She was still shaken to the core by the day just passed. Seeing Dominic, watching him with others…hearing about the company troubles…being in his arms again. That she still wanted him so badly, despite the evidence of wrongdoing, rocked the very foundation of who she thought she was.
“Lexie? What the hell are you doing here at this hour?”
She turned too quickly at the sound of Max’s sleepy voice and lost her balance.
“Watch out!”
She grabbed the scaffolding, twelve feet up in the air. Her heart sped up, adrenaline surged.
Max was already starting to climb toward her.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Stop hovering, Max. I’m not going to break,” she huffed.
“You’re going to break your damn neck if you don’t stop mooning over someone who doesn’t deserve you,” he snapped.
“I’m not mooning.”
“Then what are you doing here at three in the morning, staring off into space like a lovesick calf?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she growled.
“You’re hurting. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She was so tired she could barely see straight, so confused she couldn’t think. “I can’t talk to you about this. Just leave me alone. I’ll figure it out.”
“You’ve always talked to me about everything. Why not now?”
She couldn’t meet his gaze.
His eyes narrowed. “Lex, why do I think there’s more to this than some guy and a one-night stand?”
“Don’t call it that.”
He grabbed her arms and lifted her off the scaffolding. “There is more. Explain.”
“Set me down.”
“So you can run away? Not hardly.”
She stared past him and sighed, then looked back at him. “What’s happening with your search for a lawyer to help you force Poseidon’s hand?”
His brows drew together. “Nothing. I have no proof, and no reputable firm is going to tackle Goliath when this David doesn’t even own a slingshot. And stop changing the subject.”
“What kind of proof do you need?”
His eyes narrowed again. “Don’t even think about it.”
Too late, she wanted to say. Would a lawyer listen if she said she thought she’d seen his Easter egg on Josh’s computer?
The part of her that clung to the hope of Dominic’s innocence didn’t want to say more, but Max had been her best friend for so long…
She had to find out for sure first.
She had to talk to Josh again.
“Lex—” Max ran his fingers through his disordered hair. “Go home. Get some sleep. Do your job at Poseidon. I’ll be fine.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “I’m already working on a new program. This time I’m working on a computer that doesn’t even have a modem. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.” He slung one arm around her shoulders. “Stop trying to take care of everyone you meet, kid. Just go knock ’em dead at Poseidon and don’t worry about me.”
Oh, Max… If only it were that easy.
Lexie walked back from the design team’s office, heading toward the lobby of Poseidon with a heavy tread and a headache the size of North America. She wished at this moment that she’d never spoken to Josh, never heard the details he’d given her.
“Hey there, Lexie. You’re at it early,” her friend Bob said.
She shrugged, tried for a cheer she couldn’t feel. “Early bird gets the worm, my mother always said.”
“If you’re into worms, that’s a good thing. Me, I only like them for fishing.”
Her laugh didn’t come easily. She hoped Bob couldn’t hear the difference. Her sleepless night—and her conversation with Josh—had taken a toll. She’d never felt more torn in her life.
Max needed her help, no matter what he might say. He’d never get justice without proof, and she was in a position to give him what he needed. She could tell him that she was almost certain she’d seen his Easter egg on Josh’s computer, and now she knew that Josh had written a program to break passwords. He could take that to a lawyer who could then file to stop Poseidon from launching Legend Quest.
And Bob and all the people she’d met at the picnic would be hurt. Their livelihoods would be threatened, if the gossip she’d heard had any merit, if Poseidon was really in trouble. She felt like the serpent in the garden.
“You find Josh okay?” His attention was diverted. He smiled. “Hi there, B.D.”
Lexie’s fingers dug into her purse strap. Her heart set up a triphammer beat.
“Good morning, Bob,” said a deep voice that haunted her dreams. “Good morning, Ms. Grayson.”
“Hello.” She swallowed hard, wishing she could vanish. She forced herself to turn.
Oh, God. He was at his most intimidating, dressed in a killer double-breasted suit, his shirt blinding-white, his tie neatly knotted.
“Board meeting this morning, right?” Bob asked.
Dominic nodded but didn’t take his gaze off hers.
“Yes. Big day.”
He was the very image of power, of command. Remote, intimidating in that dark, dangerous way of his. He inhabited a world she couldn’t imagine, looked capable of anything, including stealing Max’s creation.
Gone was the laughing dark gaze, the easy, long-limbed grace of her buccaneer. This man radiated undeniable power, was clothed in the robes of a world that was light-years from her own. This man had sophisticated women at his beck and call, jetted all over the world, had built an empire.
Now, more than ever, she felt the enormity of the chasm between them.
What would a man like him need from someone like her? The answer was simple: nothing.
If only her heart would listen. If only she could forget his touch, if her eyes would stop drinking in the sight of him.
If only his dark eyes didn’t look so troubled.
“Ms. Grayson, may I speak with you a moment?”
Lexie took an involuntary step back, fingers clutched tightly around the strap of her portfolio. “I, uh—don’t you have a meeting?”
Midnight eyes bored into hers. “Not for an hour. Please—this will only take a moment
.”
She felt Bob’s gaze switching between them. “I really need to go. Could this wait? I could—I’ll—” Stop stammering, Lexie. But she was only too aware of where she’d been, what she’d been doing. She sucked in a deep breath. “I have another appointment. I’ll call Mrs. Murray.”
“This will only take a moment, and I’m afraid it cannot wait.” The command was unmistakable; her options limited.
Her guilt transparent?
“All right. Five minutes is all I can spare, I’m afraid.”
The remote, hard stranger nodded curtly. “This way, please.” He led the way into the elevator.
Silently she followed, trying to breathe over the pounding of her heart. After last night’s near-miss, she didn’t trust herself alone with him.
When the doors closed, the air pressed in upon her, the atmosphere crackling with the tension between them. Lexie looked straight ahead, seeing in the shiny doors the reflection of the forbidding stranger at her side.
The image put everything into perspective. He dwarfed her, so tall, so strong, so perfectly groomed in dark, somber shades. She wore bright leggings, long dangling earrings and a tie-dyed top.
She wanted to run, far and fast, and never see him again.
She wanted him to touch her so badly she ached.
“I—I really don’t have time to go all the way up to your office. Can—could you tell me what it is right here?”
For a moment the air sizzled with her daring, with his dark, piercing stare.
Then he leaned forward and hit the stop button.
And turned to her, his eyes blazing.
She took an involuntary step backward, only to feel her back against the wall. Every nerve in her body leaped to alert, knowing before her mind could register exactly what he intended.
Wanting it more than her next breath.
For a moment he looked as though he might say something. Explain, ask questions, demand answers. All of that and more shot like sparks from those fathomless dark eyes.
Then he cursed beneath his breath and closed the distance between them, the heat of his body rolling over her in waves, slamming into the blaze roaring inside her.
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