Читать книгу The Savakis Mistress - Annie West - Страница 9

CHAPTER THREE

‘WHAT do you mean my trust fund is frozen? It can’t be.’ Only by a supreme effort did Callie keep her voice steady as she stared at her uncle across his over-sized desk. ‘I inherit the day I reach twenty-five. That’s today.’

He didn’t meet her eyes.

That was a bad sign. Usually Aristides Manolis bullied his way out of answering awkward questions. The fact that he didn’t attempt it this time set alarm bells ringing. Plus he’d gone to such lengths to avoid a private conversation all week. Finally he’d summoned her to his study after they’d farewelled Damon Savakis.

She shivered despite the sultry air wafting through the open windows. Damon Savakis was someone she didn’t want to think about.

Her nerves were raw from an evening of stilted conversation with the man who’d alternately treated her with polite condescension and devoured her with his gaze. The man she’d actually trusted for a few short hours.

‘On your birthday, that was the plan,’ her uncle said, shifting a silver letter opener. ‘But circumstances have changed.’

Callie waited, every instinct alert. But he refused to continue.

‘No, Uncle. Not a plan. It’s the law.’ She took a calming breath. ‘My parents set up the trust when I was a baby. Today I inherit the estate they left me.’

She had precious little left of her parents. Memories and a well-worn photo album. When she’d come to live with her Greek relatives, a grief-stricken fourteen-year-old from the other side of the world, her uncle had brusquely informed her that her parents’ home would be sold with its contents. It was an unnecessary luxury, he’d declared, storing furniture. Better to plough the proceeds into the fund she’d inherit.

Callie had arrived with only a suitcase and her new lime-green backpack. The one her mum had bought for the sailing holiday they’d planned.

A jagged shaft of pain shot through her, drawing her up straight. Even now memory of that loss had the power to hurt.

‘You’ll get your inheritance, Callista. It will just take time to organise. I had no idea you’d be in such a rush to access the funds.’ His voice had a belligerent, accusing ring. ‘What about the money Alkis left you?’

‘Alkis left his fortune to his children, as you well know. I’m sure that was covered in your negotiations over my marriage.’ A tinge of bitterness crept into her voice. She cleared her throat, determined not to get sidetracked. ‘What was left I spent paying his debts. Which is why I want to sort this out. I need the money.’

Callie had plans for her future but she needed her money to achieve them. She’d sell the last of her gaudy jewellery when she left here and put the cash to good use, starting a small retail business. She’d make her own decisions and run her life without interference.

She’d learned her lesson. The only way to be happy was to rely on no one but herself. She knew what she wanted and nothing was going to stop her achieving her goal.

For the first time in years she felt energised and excited, looking forward to the challenges, hard work and satisfaction of building something of her own.

‘Perhaps I should just call the family lawyers and—’

‘No!’ The word was a bellow that made her pulse jump. Her uncle wrenched his tie undone and slumped back in his chair. ‘You were always headstrong and difficult. Why can’t you wait instead of badgering me about this?’

Years of practice kept Callie’s face impassive though her blood boiled. Headstrong! Over the years she’d allowed the men in her life to lead her from one hell into another. If anything she’d been too submissive, too stoic. She’d had enough, starting now.

‘Clearly I’m distressing you, Uncle,’ she said in her coolest tone. ‘Don’t disturb yourself. I’ll go to Athens tomorrow and sort out the legalities myself.’

There was something akin to hatred in his glare. ‘It won’t do you any good. There’s nothing there.’

Callie felt the blood drain from her face. Her uncle never joked, especially about money.

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he snarled. ‘You’ll get it. As soon as this deal with Damon Savakis is finalised.’

‘What’s he got to do with my inheritance?’ The freeze she’d felt earlier clamped tight round her chest.

‘The family company…hasn’t been doing well for some time. There have been difficulties, unexpected labour and resource costs, a market downturn.’

Strange the downturn affected only the Manolis company when rival ones, like Savakis Enterprises, were booming. Aristides Manolis wouldn’t expect his niece to know that. He thought the women in his family empty-headed and incapable of understanding even the rudiments of business.

‘And so?’ Callie sank into a chair, grateful for its support. Her knees felt like jelly.

‘So when the deal with Savakis goes through, this…temporary cash crisis will be rectified.’

‘No, Uncle. Even if the deal succeeds, that doesn’t explain my trust fund.’

Aristides’ fingers tightened on the paper knife with barely repressed violence. His gaze slid away. ‘Things were so difficult with the company; I had to find a way to keep it afloat. A temporary measure to tide us over.’

A burning knot of emotion lodged in Callie’s throat, choking her, making it difficult to breathe. She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing only her desperately thudding pulse.

How many times would this man betray her?

Why had she naïvely believed that finally, for the first time in her life, things would work out right?

Greed and betrayal. Those were the constant themes in her adult life. You’d think she’d have learned to expect them by now. Yet the shock and hurt, the disbelief, were as overwhelming now as they’d been each time she’d been victim of a man’s duplicity.

Wearily she opened her eyes and gazed at the mottled face of her dead father’s brother. The one man who, above all, she should have been able to trust.

‘You stole my inheritance,’ she whispered.

‘Callista Manolis! Recall your place! Now that your husband is dead I’m the head of your family.’

‘I know who you are.’ She thrust aside the panic, the distress, the sheer pain of this ultimate betrayal. ‘And what you are.’ His eyes bulged but he said nothing. ‘I thought you’d have more pride than to steal from your own family.’

His fist smashed down on the desk but Callie didn’t even blink. ‘It wasn’t stealing. It was a temporary redistribution of funds. You wouldn’t understand—’

‘I understand you’re a thief,’ she said, holding his gaze till he looked away. ‘As my trustee you were supposed to behave legally and ethically.’

Callie battled rising fury. She was tempted to report him to the authorities, now, tonight. To see just one of the men who’d used her for their own purposes brought to book.

But the thought of her cousin and her dear aunt stopped her. Justice would hurt them and it wouldn’t get her inheritance back.

‘The money will be available soon.’ His voice was as close to pleading as she’d ever heard it. ‘With interest. When this deal goes through.’

‘You’re expecting Damon Savakis to bail you out of strife?’ Hysterical laughter bubbled up inside her. ‘His reputation is formidable— as a winner, not for compassion to rivals. He has no interest in helping you.’

‘But we won’t be rivals.’ Aristides leaned forward, his plump hands splayed on the polished wood. ‘If my plans go as I expect, Damon Savakis will be more than a business associate. He’ll be a member of the family.’

* * *

The sound of voices at the poolside stopped Callie in her tracks. Her cousin Angela and Damon Savakis. No other man could unsettle Callie with the low rumble of his laughter. His deep tones made something shiver into life in the pit of her stomach.

Only yesterday, with her face pressed to his broad chest, she’d felt his lazy amusement bubble up and emerge as a deep chocolate caress of sound. Through a haze of sensual satiation it had made her feel vibrantly alive.

Her fingers clenched as desire pulsed again.

She was a fool. He’d used her for cheap amusement in the most calculating way. She’d taken him at face value, believing he, like she, had been blown away by an attraction too strong to be denied.

She suspected with Damon Savakis nothing would ever be simple.

His behaviour last night punctured that foolish daydream. He’d found her amusing. Her confusion and distress had added spice to the evening. How piquant, having his lover and soon-to-be-fiancée together.

She knew his reputation for meticulous attention to detail. Impossible that he hadn’t known who she was on the beach. Members of the Manolis family would have been basic research.

But he’d kept his identity a secret, enjoying the joke on her. Seducing the woman dubbed the Snow Queen must have been diverting to an appetite jaded by over-eager women. Watching her squirm last night had been a bonus to a man who revelled in power.

The sort of man she detested.

She straightened her shoulders.

‘Good morning, Angela. Kyrie Savakis.’ She bestowed a brief smile as she approached the table where she and Angela often shared a meal. No chance now of a private chat. They’d missed their opportunity last night when Uncle Aristides called her to him. Afterwards Callie hadn’t found Angela. She hated to think of her alone and distressed.

‘Sorry I’m late. I didn’t realise we had a guest.’

‘Kyrios Savakis is staying with us for a few days,’ Angela said quietly, sending a shiver of apprehension down Callie’s spine.

A few days! This got worse and worse.

‘He arrived for breakfast.’ Angela sounded calm and relaxed, a perfect hostess. Only someone who knew her well would realise her discomfort, her fingers busy pleating the linen tablecloth, her body a fraction too poised.

Callie’s heart stalled as guilt smote her. She hadn’t thought of her poor, shy cousin acting as hostess alone. She’d slept late after a night grappling with what her uncle had conceded about their bleak financial situation. Reliving the horror of discovering Damon’s identity and true character.

‘Your uncle kindly invited me to sample more of your hospitality,’ a deep voice murmured from across the table.

Did she imagine a wry emphasis on the last two words? As if he referred to a service she might personally provide?

He couldn’t be so crass. Could he?

Slowly Callie turned to face him, ignoring the escalating thud of her pulse.

He looked disgustingly self-satisfied. Like a man whose appetites had been sated. Callie was horrified at the drift of her thoughts. She forced a smile to her lips, hiding her shudder of reaction as she drank in the sight of him.

Despite her anger, he looked good enough to eat.

If you had a taste for danger.

He wore a white shirt open at the throat, designer jeans and an expression that proclaimed him utterly at home as he leaned back in his seat.

‘I was about to show Kyrie Savakis the guest bungalow,’ Angela explained.

The guest bungalow? Thank heaven. At least they wouldn’t share a house.

‘Please, call me Damon. Kyrie Savakis makes me feel like I belong to your father’s generation. There’s no need for formality.’

But there is, Callie thought, sliding a glance at Angela.

Even after a night coming to grips with her uncle’s outrageous plot, Callie couldn’t suppress horror at how history repeated itself so appallingly. Her skin crawled. It was a nightmare that he’d use such a scheme a second time.

‘Thank you, Damon. Please call me Angela.’

‘Angela.’ He bestowed a brief smile then turned to spear Callie with his dark, questioning gaze.

‘Technically speaking, you do belong to another generation.’ Callie said before he could speak to her. ‘You’re in your late thirties, aren’t you? Angela is just eighteen.’

Dark brows inched together, then his lips quirked in what looked suspiciously like humour rather than annoyance. ‘I’m thirty-four, since you’re wondering,’ he murmured.

‘Really? So—er—young?’ Callie arched her brows as if in surprise. She knew when he was born. She’d looked him up on the net last night. He was too old for Angela. As well as the years between them, there was a gulf of experience and expectation that would never be breached. Callie knew it from bitter personal experience.

‘Old enough to know my mind, Callie.’ The sound of her name on his lips sent a shock wave trembling through her, like the silent aftermath of a sensory explosion. ‘May I call you Callie? Or would you prefer Callista?’

She’d prefer neither. Both were far too intimate, especially when he used that smoke and velvet tone guaranteed to seduce a woman out of her senses in thirty seconds flat.

Yesterday just the sound of his voice and the slumberous promise in his eyes had her eager for his touch.

‘I…’ It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to use her full name, when she caught Angela’s anxious gaze. ‘Of course, call me Callie.’

She was only Callista to her uncle, who managed to invest the syllables with disappointment and disapproval.

‘Thank you, Callie.’ His ebony eyes gleamed with a light she couldn’t interpret. His expression sent awareness tingling through her blood. It took a moment for her to realise Angela had turned to talk to one of the staff.

‘Would you excuse me?’ She rose from her seat. ‘There’s a phone call I need to take.’

Callie saw the blush on Angela’s cheeks and knew Niko must have rung. The son of a local doctor, he’d loved Angela for years. He was building his tourism business, hoping to win Uncle Aristides’ approval for their marriage.

Callie knew better than anyone Aristides would never countenance his daughter marrying a local boy, no matter how decent or how much in love they were. Money and status were what mattered to her uncle.

Her gaze shifted to Damon Savakis, lolling in his seat sipping coffee. She felt anxiety shimmy down her spine, knowing what Aristides planned for his daughter.

With those dark good looks and air of leashed power, Damon could model for a pasha of old, accustomed to sumptuous luxury, sensuous pleasures and unquestioning obedience. He’d devour poor Angela in one snap of his strong white teeth then seek amusement elsewhere. As he’d found it yesterday, seducing Callie then playing games of innuendo through the long evening while she squirmed and suffered.

One sacrificial lamb in the family was enough! Callie had performed that function for the Manolis clan years ago. They couldn’t demand another.

She refused to watch her uncle ruin his daughter’s life with an arranged marriage as he’d ruined hers. Especially when Angela had a chance for happiness with an honest, caring man. That sort of man was as rare, in her experience, as a snowstorm on Santorini.

‘Don’t hurry, Angela. I’ll look after our guest.’

‘That sounds promising.’

‘Pardon?’ Callie turned to find Damon surveying her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

‘I like the idea of you,’ he drawled, ‘looking after me. What did you have in mind?’

Heat danced in that calculating expression. His gaze trawled down to her jade top gathered in a knot below the bust, and lower to her bare midriff. Fire blazed over her skin as if he stroked his callused palm over her flesh.

Only yesterday…

Callie shoved back her chair, ignoring the juice she’d poured. ‘Showing you the guest bungalow,’ she said in a voice that was almost steady.

When he looked at her that way she couldn’t prevent the surge of reaction as her body came alive.

She wished she’d worn something other than lightweight trousers and a skimpy top. If she’d known he was here she’d have opted for a full-length tunic dress. But the gleam in his eyes told her it would have done no good. He remembered what she looked like naked.

Just as she remembered him.

He stood, his long, athletic frame unfolding from the chair. She had instant, dazzling recall of how he’d looked yesterday, all burnished skin and honed, hard-packed muscle.

She drew a shuddering breath and looked away, trying to control the riot of hormones clamouring for gratification.

‘Ah, Callie, is that all?’ One long finger traced the side of her neck and she jumped, jerking out of reach. ‘I’d hoped for something a little more…intimate.’

‘You—’ she sucked in a ragged gasp ‘—are pushing your luck!’

She lifted her chin, summoning the veneer of composure she’d perfected over the last few years. Ruthlessly she ignored the effervescent sensation of burgeoning desire and strolled to the edge of the terrace, back straight and face composed. It horrified her to discover how difficult it was to don her defensive armour. Only when she had her voice under control did she pause.

‘The guest quarters are this way.’

Damon watched her precede him down the lawn. Her hips swayed seductively and his hungry gaze focused on the delicious curve of her derriere, shown off perfectly by tight white trousers. Had she worn them to tease? Even in the bright sunlight he saw no panty line to mar the snug fit of cotton against flesh. Did she wear a thong or was she naked beneath the trousers?

Heat roared through him in an infuriating surge. Wasn’t it enough she’d kept him awake all night? He’d been angry at how she’d used then rejected him, yet needy for another touch, another taste of her gorgeous body. Even the fact that she’d snubbed him hadn’t doused his libido.

‘Are you coming?’ She stopped and half turned, showing her patrician profile. Even with her hair in a high pony-tail she looked as if she’d stepped from the pages of a glossy magazine, the sort his mother enjoyed. Beautiful, privileged people leading beautiful, privileged lives.

Privileged himself now, with more money and power than a man could ever need, still Damon felt the gulf between himself and such people. It was a gulf he’d consciously created, resisting the artificial lure of ‘society’.

He enjoyed his wealth, made the most of what it bought him and those he cared for, but he’d vowed never to succumb to the shallow posturing and brittle selfishness of that world. He’d seen enough as a kid when his mother cleaned villas owned by some of the country’s wealthiest families. When as a teenager he’d worked there and learned first-hand about the morals of the upper classes.

Damon was proud of his roots, unashamed that he’d succeeded by hard work and perseverance, not inherited wealth. He’d long ago learned the high-class world of the ‘best’people hid an underbelly of greed, selfishness and vice. The last thing on his agenda was attraction to a woman who epitomised that money-hungry shallowness. A woman who’d inherited the Manolis family values.

The fact that he still wanted her annoyed the hell out of him.

‘I’m right behind you, Callie.’

He strode to where she waited, mirroring her body with his. He was close enough to feel warmth radiate from her. He leaned forward, head inclined to inhale her scent.

If he’d hoped to discomfit her he was disappointed. With a swish of her pony-tail she led the way in a long-legged stride, riveting his gaze. It took a moment to realise that instead of the rich perfume she’d worn last night, the scent filling his nostrils was the intoxicating fragrance she’d worn yesterday: sunshine and musky, mysterious female.

Lust jagged through him, a blast of white-hot energy.

It confirmed the decision he’d come to last night—there was unfinished business between them. She couldn’t brush him aside like some nonentity when she’d had her fill.

‘Your colouring is unusual.’ He followed her, eyes on the swing of dark-honey hair as it caught the light. He’d picked her for a foreign tourist when he’d first seen her.

She shrugged. ‘Maybe I dye my hair.’

‘Ah, but Callie, we both know you don’t.’ The golden-brown triangle of hair he’d uncovered when he stripped away her bikini bottom yesterday had been the genuine thing. ‘I’ve seen the proof, remember? Up close and personal.’

He let satisfaction colour his voice and wasn’t surprised when she slammed to a stop ahead of him.

For a moment she stood still, her shoulders curiously hunched. Then she swung round and met his gaze. Not by the slightest sign did she reveal embarrassment. Her eyes were the colour of cool mountain water, her expression bland. No doubt she was free and easy enough not to feel discomfort discussing personal details with her latest paramour.

What a merry dance she must have led her husband. Had he died trying to satisfy her? Or had he been forced to watch her with younger men who gave her what he couldn’t?

‘Just as I know your colouring is black as sin,’ she murmured. ‘So what?’ Her brows rose as if she was bored.

‘It’s uncommon for Greek women to be so fair.’ He stepped close enough to see the smatter of gold shards in her irises, like spangles of sunlight amongst the green.

‘Half Greek. My mother was Australian.’ Her words were clipped, as if he’d delved into something private. He waited for her to continue. ‘Besides, some people here in the north have fairer colouring. All the Manolis family are the same.’ Her gaze settled on his dark locks as if disapproving.

‘Your cousin’s hair is brown. There’s no comparison.’

He watched her open her mouth as if to shoot off a riposte, then stop herself. She shrugged and turned away. ‘Now, if I’ve satisfied your curiosity—’

‘Not yet. Tell me,’ he drawled, ‘why keep me at arm’s length? Surely after yesterday I’m entitled to a little more warmth. Are you one of those women who need the thrill of a secret assignation to fire her blood? Are you turned on by the possibility of being found in flagrante delicto?’

Callie stared at the sprawling bungalow a hundred metres down the path and knew it would be a miracle if she made it there with her temper and her composure in place.

Fire her blood, indeed!

Yet she shrank from the suspicion that maybe he was right. Maybe the thrill of desire that had swept her doubts and defences away yesterday was a result of their anonymity and the unspoken daring of their actions.

She shut her eyes, remembering the delicious excitement as he’d walked towards her through the dappled shade, his eyes never leaving hers so she felt the tug of his powerful personality like a living force. Without pause or hesitation he’d pulled her into his arms as if she belonged there. She’d welcomed each caress with a fervour that frightened her now.

Nothing had ever seemed so right, so perfect.

Callie snapped open her eyes. She’d given him too much already. She wouldn’t let him toy with her while he played games of one-upmanship with her uncle. While he decided whether to take her cousin in a cold-blooded business deal.

She was done with being a pawn in any man’s machinations.

‘You’re not entitled to anything from me.’

She fixed him with the cool look she’d perfected long ago to hide desperately churning emotions. Alkis had had no patience with emotion in his wife. Retreat behind her façade of indifference had been a hard-won but necessary survival skill.

‘I disagree. After yesterday your attitude is downright unfriendly.’

Damon paced closer. She had to lift her head to hold his gaze. His heat curled round her like an invitation. The scent of soap, sea and healthy male enticed her till it was an effort not to reach out needy fingers for one last caress.

Callie slid her hands into her trouser pockets lest she be tempted to do something insane like touch him.

‘Yesterday is over.’

‘But what we had needn’t be.’ His low, seductive voice pierced her brittle façade. He made her yearn again for the delicious torment of his touch.

That terrified her.

‘It’s over,’ she repeated, wishing she believed it.

‘And if I’m not ready to end it?’ His look was arrogant.

‘There was nothing to end.’ The words tumbled out. She had to concentrate on slowing down, maintaining her calm. ‘We had sex. That’s all.’

‘Just sex.’ His brows winged up and she thought she saw fury blaze in his eyes. Then the moment was gone and his face was unreadable. ‘Is that what you specialise in, Callie? Hot sex with strangers you forget the next day?’

Her skin crawled with embarrassment and rage. Yet she knew better than to show it. She let her gaze drop to his shoulders, his wide chest, the powerful length of his arms and legs, then slowly up as if she were used to inspecting the finer points of a sexy male body.

‘I could say the same for you,’ she said, silently cursing the dry mouth that made the words come out too husky. ‘You got what you wanted yesterday. End of story.’

‘You’re wrong, my fine lady. It’s not the end at all.’

A tremor ran through her body, drawing each muscle tight with…anticipation? Excitement?

No! She refused to play his games of seduction and temptation. Yesterday had been a terrible error of judgement. She’d broken every precept, her own moral code, for a few hours’ passion. It had been momentary insanity.

She should have guessed nothing was as pure and simple as it had seemed at the time.

‘Believe me, Kyrie Savakis, it’s over. Why not move on?’ Callie had no doubt by nightfall he’d find another woman eager to become a notch on his bedpost. As she had been yesterday. Her chest constricted painfully.

‘Because I’m a man who gets what he wants, glikia mou. You’ve whetted my appetite and I want more.’

His lips curved in a hungry smile that sent fear trickling down her spine.

‘I want you, Callie. And I intend to have you.’