What the Greek's Money Can't Buy

by Maya Blake

  So intense she set her coffee cup down before her trembling hands gave her away. ‘Do you need anything else before we leave?’

  ‘Yes. Come here.’

  She went willingly, unable to resist him. He looked around the room then set the coffee mug on the window sill. ‘You’ll enlighten me as to why this apartment has barely any furniture in it later, but for now I have a greater need.’

  ‘What?’

  He pulled her closer and cupped her face in his large hands. ‘I haven’t said good morning properly. I may not get the chance once we leave here.’ He sealed his mouth over hers in a long, exploratory kiss. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were the dark green she associated with extreme emotion. ‘Good morning, pethi mou,’ he murmured.

  ‘G-good morning,’ she responded in a voice husky with fresh need.

  Reluctantly he dropped his hand and stepped back. ‘Let’s get out of here now or we’ll never leave.’

  The journey to the office was completed in near silence. Sakis seemed lost in thought, his answers monosyllabic as she tried to slip back into professional mode.

  As they entered the underground car park at Pantelides Towers, she couldn’t bear it any more. Turning to him, she waited until he faced her. ‘If you’re wondering how to play this, you need not worry. No one needs to know about what happened last night. I know what happened with Giselle—’

  ‘Is ancient history. What’s going on between us is different.’

  Her heart lurched then hammered. ‘You mean you don’t mind if anyone finds out?’

  He stiffened. ‘I didn’t say that.’

  The hurt that scythed through her was as unbearable as it was irrational.

  When the car stopped she scrambled to get out. Sakis grabbed her arm to stay her and waved the driver away when he approached.

  ‘Wait, that didn’t come out right. What I meant was that the last thing I want is for you to be caught in the crosshairs because of my past. It’s very easy for the wrong person to put two and two together and come up with fifteen. You don’t deserve to suffer for my father’s sins.’

  She sagged backwards. ‘Was he... He wasn’t always that bad, was he?’ It was unthinkable that they both could’ve suffered such outwardly different, but inwardly similar and painful upbringings. At least, she hoped not, because her heart ached for the pain in his voice every time he spoke about his father.

  She had come to terms, somewhat, with her non-relationship with her mother.

  He sucked in a long breath. ‘Yes, he was. He was a philanderer and an extortionist who was corrupt to the core and very clever at hiding his true colours. When his deeds were finally uncovered, our lives were turned inside out. Our every word and deed was scrutinised. Several times, our house staff discovered tabloid journalists digging through our garbage in the middle of the night, looking for more dirt.’

  Distress for him scythed through her. ‘That’s horrible.’

  ‘As horrible as that was, I mistakenly thought that was the worst of it.’

  She was almost afraid to ask. ‘What else did you find?’

  ‘It turned out my father had mistresses stashed all over the globe, not just the secretary who’d grown tired of his philandering ways and empty promises—she was the one who blew the whistle that started the ball rolling, by the way. Once the first mistress crawled out of the woodwork, they were unstoppable. And you know why they all came forward, every single one of them?’

  She shook her head despite the dread crawling through her stomach.

  ‘Money. With my father’s arrest and all our assets frozen, they knew the money that funded their lavish lifestyles would dry up. They had to sell their stories quickly and to the highest bidder before they became yesterday’s news—regardless of the fact that their actions would push my mother into attempting to take her own life.’

  She gasped. ‘God, I’m so sorry, Sakis.’

  Pain was etched deep on his face but he slid his fingers through hers and brought her hand up to his mouth. But, although his touch was gentle, the gleam in his was anything but. ‘So you see why I find it hard to trust the motives of others?’

  Dry-mouthed, she nodded. ‘I do, but it doesn’t hurt to occasionally give the benefit of the doubt.’ The knowledge that she was silently pleading for herself sent a wave of shame through her.

  His gaze raked her face, his own features a harsh stamp of implacability. Then slowly, as she watched, his face relaxed. He reached across and cupped her face, pulled her close and kissed her.

  ‘For you, Brianna, I’m willing to suspend my penchant for expecting the worst, to let go of my bias and cynicism—because, believe me, in this instance I relish the chance to be proved wrong.’

  But he wasn’t proved wrong.

  At three o’clock that afternoon, Richard Moorecroft rang with a full confession for his part in the tanker crash.

  CHAPTER NINE

  AN HOUR LATER, Sakis was pacing his office when he heard his head of security enter and exchange greetings with Brianna.

  ‘Get in here, both of you!’ he bellowed, the anger he was fighting to contain roiling just beneath his skin.

  He turned from his desk as they entered. He tried to concentrate on his security chief. But, as if it acted independent of his control, his gaze strayed to Brianna.

  She was as contained and self-assured as he’d always known her to be. There was no trace of the woman who’d writhed beneath him last night, screaming her pleasure as he’d taken her to the heights of ecstasy, or the gentle soul who’d listened to him spill his guts about his father in the car, her eyes haunted with pain for him.

  He wanted to hate her for her poise and calm but he realised that he admired her for it—something else he admired about her. Theos, his list of things he admired about Brianna Moneypenny grew by the day. Anyone would think she meant more to him than—

  His mind screeched to a halt but his legs were weakening with the force of the unknown emotion that smashed through him. Folding his arms, he gritted his teeth and perched on the edge of his desk.

  ‘What do you have for me?’ he demanded from Sheldon.

  ‘As you requested, we dug a little deeper into the financials of First Mate Isaacs and Deputy Captain Green. A deposit of one hundred thousand euros was made into each of their accounts seven days ago.’

  Sakis’s hands tightened around his biceps as bitterness tightened like a vice around his chest. ‘Have we traced the source of the funds?’ Even now when he had the evidence, he didn’t want to believe his employees were guilty.

  Only this morning, he would’ve believed the worst. But Brianna’s caution to give them the benefit of the doubt had settled deep within him. When he’d given her words further thought he’d realised how much he’d let cynicism rule his life. Letting go even a little had felt...liberating. He’d breathed easier for the first time in a very long time.

  But now the hard ache was back full force along with memories he couldn’t seem to bury easily.

  ‘Moorecroft used about half a dozen shell companies to obfuscate his activities. Without his confession it’d have taken a few more days but knowing where to look helped. It also helped that the crew members did nothing to hide the money they received,’ Sheldon said.

  ‘Because they thought they were home free,’ Sakis rasped. The confirmation from Moorecroft that he’d paid his crew to deliberately crash his tanker to spark a hostile takeover made a tide of rage rise within him. Sakis could forgive the damage to his vessel—it was insured and he would be more than compensated for it once the investigation was over. But it was the senseless loss of lives he couldn’t stomach, along with the fact that the rest of his crew had been put at severe risk.

  After his phone call with Moorecroft, with the pain-racked faces of his dead employees’ famili
es fresh in his mind, he hadn’t hesitated to let his broken adversary know to expect full criminal charges against him.

  He’d experienced a twinge when he’d looked up from the phone call and caught Brianna’s expression but he’d pushed the feeling away.

  Greed had driven another man to put others’ lives at risk. There was no way he could forgive that.

  ‘What about Lowell’s account?’

  ‘We’re trying to access it but it’s a bit more complicated.’

  Sakis frowned. ‘How complicated?’

  ‘His salary was wired to a routing account that went to a Swiss bank account. Those are a little tougher to crack.’

  Surprise shot him upright. He turned to Brianna. ‘Did we flag that up in his HR details?’

  She bit her lip. Heat flared in his groin, followed closely by another guilty twinge for his harsh tone. ‘No,’ she answered.

  Sakis sucked in a deep breath. ‘That will be all, Sheldon. Let me know as soon as you have anything new.’

  Sheldon nodded and left.

  Silence reigned for several minutes. Then Brianna walked forward. ‘I’m expecting an “I told you so”.’

  He settled his attention fully on her in a way he’d been reluctant to do with another person in the room. Even now he feared his features would betray the extent of the alien emotions roaring through him.

  Theos, he needed a drink. Why the hell not?

  ‘There’s no point. It is what it is.’

  ‘Then why are you pouring yourself a drink in the middle of a work day?’

  ‘It’s not the middle of the day, it’s almost five o’clock.’

  ‘It’s five o’clock for most people but for you it’s not, since you work till midnight most nights.’

  Sakis barely glanced at the fifty-year-old single malt as he lifted it to his lips and drained it. ‘If you must know, I’m trying to understand what drives anyone to depths of betrayal such as this with little regard for how it’ll hurt their family and people who care about them.’

  She started to come towards him and his senses leapt, but at the last moment she veered away and started straightening the papers on his desk. Sakis barely stopped himself from growling his frustration.

  ‘And are you getting any answers from the bottom of your glass?’

  He slammed the glass down and strode to where she stood. ‘Are you trying to rile me? Because, trust me, you’re succeeding.’

  ‘I’m just trying to make you see that you can’t blame yourself for the choices other people make. You can either forgive them or...’

  ‘Or?’

  For a single moment, her face creased with something similar to the bitterness and despair clawing through him. ‘Or you can cut them out of your life, I suppose.’

  He frowned. ‘Who cut you out of their life, Brianna?’

  Stark pain washed over her features before she tried to mask it. ‘This isn’t about me.’

  He took her by the arms. ‘It most definitely is. What did she do to you?’

  She made a sound that caught and tightened around his heart. The sort of sound a wounded animal made when they were frightened.

  ‘She...she chose drugs over me.’ She stopped and sucked in a gulping breath. ‘I don’t really want to talk about this.’

  ‘You encouraged me to bare my soul to you this morning. I think it’s only fair that you do the same.’

  ‘More therapy?’ She tried pull away but he held fast.

  ‘Tell me about her. Where is she? Is she still alive?’

  A sad little shiver went through her. ‘Yes, she’s alive. But we’re not in touch. We haven’t been for a while.’

  ‘Why not?’

  She cast a desperate glance around, anywhere but at him. ‘Sakis, this isn’t right. I’m your... You’re my boss.’

  ‘We went way beyond that last night. Answer my question, unless you wish me to demonstrate our revised positions?’

  Her lips parted on a tiny gasp that made him want to plunge his tongue between them but he restrained himself. For once, the need to see beneath the surface of Brianna Moneypenny trumped everything else.

  ‘I...I’ve already told you I didn’t grow up in the best of circumstances. Because of her drug habit we...lived on the street from when I was about four until I was ten. Sometimes I went for days without a proper meal.’

  Shock slammed through Sakis. For several moments he was unable to reconcile the woman who stood before him, poised and breathtakingly stunning, with the bedraggled, haunted image she portrayed.

  ‘How... Why?’ he demanded, cursing silently when he saw her pale face.

  Bruised eyes finally met his. ‘She couldn’t hold down a job for longer than a couple of weeks but she was cunning enough to evade the authorities for the better part of six years. But finally her luck—if you can call it that—ran out. Social Services took me away from her when I was ten. I found her when I turned eighteen.’

  Another bolt of shock went through him. ‘You found her? After what she did to you, you went to look for her?’

  Her eyes darkened with pain. When his hands slid down her arms to hers, she gripped him tight. But he knew her mind was firmly in the past.

  ‘She was my mother. Don’t get me wrong, I hated her for a long time, but I had to eventually accept the fact that she was also a human being caught in the grip of an addiction that almost ruined her life,’ she said.

  Sakis saw her raw pain, clenched his jaw and silently cursed the woman who’d done this to her. More than anything, he wanted to obliterate her pain.

  Theos, what the hell was happening to him?

  Wait... ‘Almost?’

  She gave a jerky nod. ‘She got it together in the end. In the eight years we were apart, she beat her addiction and got her act together. I...can’t help but think I was the one who was holding her back.’

  His growled curse made her jump. Leaning down, he kissed her hard and fast.

  ‘She never made an effort to kick her habit when I was around. And she would get this look in her eyes whenever she looked at me—like she hated me.’

  Sakis wanted to swear again, but he bit his tongue. ‘No child should ever be blamed for being born. She had a duty to look after you. She failed. So she got herself better, then what?’

  ‘She remarried and had another child.’

  ‘So, it was a happy ending for her?’ He couldn’t stop a hint of bitterness from spilling out. He and his brothers hadn’t been granted a happy ending. And his mother continued to live a hollow existence, a shadow of the vibrant woman she’d been for the first decade of his life. ‘But she cut you from her life?’

  ‘Yes; I suppose she didn’t want the reminder,’ she answered lightly; a little too breezily.

  Sakis knew she was glossing over her pain. Wasn’t it the same way he’d glossed over his for years? But something else struck him, made him reel all over again.

  She’d had a mother who had done her wrong in the most fundamental of ways—she’d failed to look after her daughter when she was young and helpless and needed her most. And yet, Brianna had gone out of her way to find her after she was grown and on her own two feet.

  The depth of compassion behind such forgiveness rocked him to his soul. ‘I never forgave my father for what he did to us, and especially what he did to my mother. Hell, sometimes I think he purposefully died of a heart attack in her arms just to twist the knife in further, because she sure as hell almost died mourning him.’

  She touched his cheek with fingers that trembled. ‘Don’t be too hard on her. She had her heart broken the same way yours was.’

  But then he’d had his brothers and the myriad cousins, aunts and uncles who’d rallied round when the going had got tough. Even in his darkest days, there’d always been s
omeone around and, although he’d never been one to reach out, deep down he’d known there was someone around.

  Whereas, Brianna had had nobody.

  His insides clenched with the same emotion he’d experienced earlier. Like a magnet drawn to her irresistible presence, he pulled her closer.

  ‘You’re amazing, do you know that?’ he murmured against her hair, satisfied for the moment to just hold her close like this.

  ‘I am?’ Her delicate eyelids fluttered as she looked up at him.

  ‘Yes. You have a unique way of holding up a mirror to some of my deeply held beliefs that make me question them.’

  She gave a shaky laugh. ‘And that’s a good thing?’

  ‘Forcing me to examine them is a good thing. Learning to forgive is another...’ He felt her stiffen but she felt too good in his arms for him to question her reaction. ‘But perhaps I can try to understand the reason why people act the way they do.’

  When she tried to pull away, he reluctantly let her place several inches between them.

  ‘I should get back to work.’

  Sakis frowned. He didn’t want distance. He didn’t like the threat of tears in her eyes. But already he could feel her withdrawing.

  Belatedly, he remembered where they were.

  But so what? They were alone in his inner sanctum. No one would dare breach it without incurring his wrath. Besides, both his door and hers were shut. And all he wanted was a quick kiss. Well...he gave an inner grimace...he wanted way more than that but...

  He focused to find her halfway to the door. What the hell...?

  In swift strides he reached the door and slammed his hand against the heavy polished steel-and-timber frame, the feeling that he was missing something fundamental eating away at him. She jumped, her wide-eyed gaze swinging to his.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ he demanded.

  ‘Nothing. I’m just going back to my desk, Mr—’

  ‘Don’t you even dare think about calling me that!’