Читать книгу Modern Romance August 2018 Books 5-8 Collection - Ким Лоренс, Julia James - Страница 13

CHAPTER THREE

GIANNIS STEPPED OUT of the shower cubicle and blotted the moisture from his skin before he knotted a towel around his hips and walked into the bedroom. He glanced at the bed and saw that Ava was still fast asleep. Her honey-blonde hair spilled across the black silk pillows and her hand was tucked under her cheek. She looked young and unexpectedly innocent but looks were deceptive and there had been no hint of the ingénue about her last night.

The memory of her standing in front of him in stiletto heels, sheer black stockings and a minuscule pair of knickers had a predictable effect on his body, and he was tempted to whip off his towel and wake her for morning sex. But there wasn’t time, and he felt no more than a fleeting regret as he turned away from the bed, striding over to the wardrobe to select a shirt to wear with his suit. While he dressed, he thought about his schedule for the day.

He had meetings in Paris in the afternoon and a social function to attend in the evening. But first he planned to drive to his house in Hertfordshire that he had recently purchased, to inspect the renovations that had been completed and pay the workmen a bonus. It would be useful to have a permanent base in the UK, but another reason he had bought Milton Grange was because the grounds included a particularly fine garden. Giannis hoped that his mother might like to visit the house in the summer, and perhaps tending to the roses would lift her spirits, which had been low lately. Although there was nothing new about that, he thought heavily.

He had spent most of his adult life trying to make his mother happy. His conscience insisted that caring for her was a small penance and could never atone for his terrible lapse of judgement that had resulted in the death of his father. He despised himself even more because he found his mother difficult. Even his sister had suggested that their mitera’s relentless misery was intended to make him feel guilty.

Giannis sighed as his thoughts switched from his mother to another thorn in his side. Ever since Stefanos Markou had announced that he intended to sell Markou Shipping and retire from business, Giannis had tried to persuade the old man to sell his ships to him. The Markou fleet of six small cargo ships would be an ideal addition to The Gekas Experience.

TGE already operated ten vessels offering luxurious cruises around the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. River cruising was becoming increasingly popular and Giannis wanted to expand the company and make TGE the world leader in this emerging tourist market. The Markou fleet of ships would need major refurbishments to turn them into high-end luxury river cruisers, but it was cheaper to upgrade existing ships than to commission a new fleet of vessels.

To Giannis’s intense frustration, Stefanos had rejected his very generous financial offer. That was to say—Stefanos had not actually turned him down but he kept adding new conditions before he would sell. Giannis had already agreed to employ the entire Markou Shipping workforce and retrain the staff so that they could work on his cruise ships. Far more problematic was Stefanos’s insistence that he wanted to sell his company to a married man.

‘Markou Shipping’s ethos is family first,’ Stefanos had told Giannis. ‘Many of the current staff are second or even third generation employees and they share the company’s values of loyalty and propriety. How do you think they would feel if I sold the company to you—a notorious playboy who regards women only as pleasurable diversions? But if you were to choose a wife and settle down it would show that you believe in the high ideals which my great-grandfather, who started Markou Shipping one hundred years ago, held dear.’

Giannis had no desire to marry, but a rival potential buyer had shown interest in purchasing the Markou fleet of vessels. Norwegian businessman Anders Tromska was married and the father of two children. Stefanos approved of Tromska for being a dedicated family man who had never been involved in any kind of scandal or photographed by the paparazzi with a different blonde on his arm every week.

Giannis was prepared to increase his financial offer for the fleet of ships. But for once he had discovered that money could not solve a problem. It seemed that the only way he might persuade Stefanos to sell to him was if he magically conjured himself a wife.

He slipped his arms into his jacket and pushed the Markou problem to the back of his mind for now, turning his thoughts instead to a happier situation. His beloved Nerissa—a classic motor yacht which had been his father’s first boat—had been repaired and restored after it had been vandalised.

Giannis had kept the boat moored at St Katharine Dock and he stayed on it whenever he visited London. He had been furious when he’d heard that a gang of youths had boarded the boat one night and held a party. A fire had somehow started in the main cabin and quickly ripped through the boat. It turned out that a cleaner who worked for the valeting company employed to maintain the boat had stolen the keys and taken his thuggish friends aboard Nerissa. The gang had escaped before the police arrived, apart from the cleaner, who had been arrested and charged with criminal damage.

The manager of the boat valeting company had been deeply apologetic. ‘The youth who took the keys to your boat has a police record for various petty crimes. His social worker persuaded me to give him a job. To be honest he seemed like a nice lad, and his sister who accompanied him to his interview was anxious for me to give him a chance. But they say that bad blood will out in the end,’ the manager had said sagely.

In Giannis’s opinion, the cleaner who he held responsible for wrecking his boat deserved to be locked up in jail and the keys thrown away. Nerissa was special to him and he had wonderful memories of idyllic days spent on her with his father. Now that the boat had been repaired he had arranged for her to be taken back to Greece, to his home on the island of Spetses.

The sound of movement from the bed compelled Giannis to turn his head and look across the room. Ava rolled onto her back and the sheet slipped down to reveal one perfect round breast, creamy pale against the black silk sheet and adorned with a dusky pink nipple that Giannis had delighted in tormenting with his mouth the previous night.

One night with the golden-haired temptress was not enough to sate his desire for her, he acknowledged. His arousal was uncomfortably hard beneath his close-fitting trousers. He would take her phone number and call her on his next trip to London, he decided. Maybe he would instruct his PA to clear his diary for a few days so that he could fly up to Scotland with Ava. His imagination ran riot as he pictured them staying at a castle and having hot sex in front of a blazing log fire. He had heard that it often rained in the Highlands, and they would have to pass the time somehow.

But that was for the future. Right now he had a busy day ahead of him. He glanced at his watch and strode over to the bed to wake Sleeping Beauty. He had asked for his car to be brought to the front of the hotel ready for him to drive to Hertfordshire and he was keen to be on his way. But his conscience—which was frankly underused—insisted on this occasion that he could not simply disappear and leave Ava asleep.

‘Good morning.’ He leaned over the bed and watched her long eyelashes flutter and settle back on her cheeks. ‘It’s time to get up, angel-face.’ Impatience edged into his voice, and he put his hand on her shoulder to give her a gentle shake.

Long hazel-coloured lashes swept upwards. Her grey eyes were dazed with sleep before she blinked and focused on his face.

‘Oh. My. God.’ Her appalled expression was almost comical. ‘I thought you were a dream.’

Giannis grinned. ‘I aim to please. You were pretty amazing last night too.’ His gaze lingered on her bare breast and she made a choked sound as she dragged the sheet up to her chin. ‘But it is now morning,’ he told her. ‘Nine o’clock, to be precise. And incredibly tempting though you are, I have a busy schedule and you need to get dressed.’

‘Oh, my God,’ Ava said again. She sat up and pushed her tangled blonde hair out of her eyes. The faint quiver of her lower lip made her seem oddly vulnerable. Giannis was surprised by the inexplicable urge that came over him to hold her in his arms and comfort her. But why did he think she needed to be comforted when he was certain she had enjoyed the passionate night they had spent together as much as he had? Just as pertinently, what qualified him to offer comfort to anyone? He destroyed things, and Ava, with her curiously innocent air, would do well to stay away from him, he reminded himself.

He was used to being instantly obeyed and he frowned when, instead of jumping out of bed, Ava slumped back against the pillows and covered her face with her hands. Giannis struggled to hide his irritation. ‘You were not so shy last night,’ he drawled.

‘Last night was a mistake.’ Her voice was muffled behind her hands. ‘I must have had too much to drink.’

His jaw hardened. ‘You drank a small glass of wine during dinner. Don’t try to make out that you were unaware of what you were doing when you undressed in front of me, or suggest that I took advantage of you. When I asked if you were sure you wanted to have sex, you more or less begged me to take you.’

She jerked upright and dropped her hands away from her face, shaking her head so that her hair swirled around her shoulders like a curtain of gold silk. ‘I did not beg.’ There was outrage in her voice but she continued in a low tone, ‘I know what I did. I was responsible for my behaviour and I’m not blaming you. But I shouldn’t have slept with you. What I mean is that I should have spoken to you...asked you... Oh, this is so awkward.’ Her eyes widened even more. ‘Did you say that it’s nine o’clock? Oh, my God.’

She scrambled off the bed and tugged the sheet around her, but not before Giannis had glimpsed her naked body. At some point during the night he had removed her stockings using his teeth to tug them down her legs. He watched Ava struggle to put her bra on while she clutched the sheet to her like a security blanket. ‘Don’t you think it’s a little late for modesty?’ he said sardonically.

She picked up her torn thong from the floor and looked as though she was about to burst into tears. ‘I have to go,’ she said wildly. ‘Sam will be going mad wondering where I am. I was supposed to have an important conversation with you last night.’

‘About what?’

She bit her lip. ‘It’s a delicate matter.’

Giannis counted to ten beneath his breath. ‘I’m in a hurry, so whatever it is you want to say—for God’s sake get on with it.’

This couldn’t be happening, Ava thought frantically. In a minute she would wake up from a nightmare. But in the cold light of morning she could not fool herself that having wild sex with Giannis last night had been a dream. She felt a sensation like wet cement congealing in the pit of her stomach with the knowledge that, as a result of her irresponsible behaviour, she had lost her chance to plead with Giannis to drop the charges against her brother. She felt sick with shame and guilt.

The sound of a familiar ringtone cut through the tense atmosphere and she scrabbled in her handbag to retrieve her phone. Her heart lurched when she saw that it was her brother calling.

‘Sam, I’ve been...unavoidably delayed.’ She dared not look at Giannis. ‘You will have to ring for a taxi to take you to the courthouse, and I’ll meet you there. You’ll have to hurry—’ she felt her anxiety rise ‘—your case is due to be heard by the magistrate in half an hour, and you mustn’t be late.’

‘The magistrate is ill,’ Sam said when Ava paused for breath. ‘I’ve just heard that the court cases today have been postponed.’

Ava heard relief in her brother’s voice and she felt a rush of emotion. Sam hadn’t said much in the weeks leading up to his court hearing, but she knew he was scared at the prospect of being sent to prison. ‘Thank goodness.’ She breathed out a heavy sigh. ‘I don’t mean it’s good that the magistrate is ill, of course, but it gives us a bit more time.’

‘Time to do what?’ her brother said flatly. ‘My case has only been delayed for a few days and it’s still likely that I’ll be sent to a YOI.’

Ava knew that young offender institutions tended to be grim places and she understood why Sam was scared. He might be eighteen but he would always be her kid brother. ‘Not necessarily.’ She tried to sound optimistic. ‘I can’t talk now. I’ll see you at home later.’

She replaced her phone in her bag, and her eyes widened as she watched Giannis open his briefcase and throw some documents on top of a pile of bank notes. He closed the briefcase but Ava had a sudden flashback to when she had been a little girl, and had seen her father counting piles of bank notes on the kitchen table.

‘Payday,’ he’d told her when she had asked him about the money.

‘You must be a good businessman to earn so much money, Daddy,’ Ava had said trustingly. She had idolised her father.

Terry had winked at her. ‘Oh, I’m an expert, honey-bunch. I’m going to use this money to buy a house in Cyprus. What do you think of that?’

‘Where’s Cyprus?’

‘It’s near to Greece. The villa I’m buying is next to the beach, and it has a big swimming pool so you will be able to teach your baby brother to swim when he’s older.’

‘Why aren’t we going to live in England any more?’

Her father had given her an odd smile. ‘It’s too hot for me to live here.’ It had been the middle of winter at the time and Ava had felt confused by her father’s reply. But years later she had learned that Terry McKay had moved his family abroad after he’d received a tip-off that he was about to be arrested on suspicion of carrying out several armed raids on jewellery shops in London.

She dragged her mind from the past as she caught sight of her reflection in the full-length mirror. She looked like a tart with her just-got-out-of-bed hair and panda eyes where her mascara had smudged. Her lips were fuller and redder than usual, and remembering how Giannis had covered her mouth with his and kissed her senseless made her feel hot all over. She could not have a serious conversation with him about her brother while she was naked and draped in a silk sheet.

As if he had read her thoughts, Giannis walked over to the wardrobe and took out her evening gown. ‘Your dress has been cleaned, but I guessed you would not want to be seen leaving the hotel this morning wearing a ball gown so I ordered you something more appropriate to wear.’ He handed her a bag with the name of a well-known design house emblazoned on it. ‘I’ll leave you to get dressed. Please hurry,’ he said curtly before he strode out of the bedroom.

Ava scooted into the en suite bathroom and looked longingly at the bath, the size of a small swimming pool. She had discovered new muscles and she ached everywhere. But Giannis was no longer the charming lover of last night and he had not hidden his impatience this morning, she thought ruefully as she bundled her hair into a shower cap before taking a quick shower.

The bag he had given her contained a pair of beautifully tailored black trousers and a cream cashmere sweater. There was also an exquisite set of silk and lace underwear. Remembering her ripped thong brought a scarlet flush to her cheeks. She did not recognise the shameless temptress she had turned into last night. Giannis had revealed a side to her that she hadn’t known existed.

Grimacing at the sight of her kiss-stung lips in the mirror, she brushed her hair and caught it up in a loose knot on top of her head. At least she looked respectable, although she shuddered to think how much the designer clothes must have cost. Everything fitted her perfectly, and when she slipped on the black stiletto heels she’d worn the previous evening she was pleasantly surprised by how slim and elegant she looked. Stuffing her evening gown into the bag that had held her new clothes, she walked into the sitting room.

Giannis was speaking on his phone but he finished the call when he saw her and strolled across the room. His intent appraisal caused her heart to miss a beat. ‘I see that the clothes fit you.’

‘How did you know my size?’

‘I have had plenty of experience of the female figure,’ he drawled.

Inexplicably Ava felt the acid burn of jealousy in her stomach at the idea of him making love with other women. Love had nothing to do with it, she reminded herself. Giannis was a notorious womaniser and she was simply another blonde who had shared his bed for one night. No doubt he would have forgotten her name by tomorrow.

‘Obviously I’ll pay for the clothes,’ she said crisply. ‘Can you give me your bank details so that I can transfer what I owe you, or would you prefer a cheque?’

‘Forget it. I don’t want any money.’

‘No way will I allow you to buy me expensive designer clothes. I’ll find out what they cost and send a cheque for the amount to your London office.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘How do you know that I have an office in London?’

‘I found out from the Internet that you own a cruise line company called The Gekas Experience. TGE UK’s offices are in Bond Street.’ Ava hesitated. ‘I wrote to you a few weeks ago about a serious matter, but you did not reply.’

‘Sheridan,’ he said slowly. ‘I wondered why your name on the place card at dinner last night seemed familiar.’ He frowned. ‘I’m afraid you will have to jog my memory.’

She took a deep breath. ‘My brother, Sam McKay, used to work for a boat valeting company called Spick and Span.’ Giannis’s expression hardened, and she continued quickly. ‘Sam had got involved with a gang of rough youths who made out that they were his friends. They coerced him into taking them aboard one of the boats that he valeted in St Katharine Dock. I don’t know if the gang meant to vandalise the boat, but a fire broke out. My brother was horrified, and he stayed on board to try to put the flames out while the rest of the gang got away. He was the only one to be arrested and charged with criminal damage. But he never meant for your boat to be damaged.’ Ava’s voice wavered as Giannis’s dark brows drew together in a slashing frown. ‘It was just a silly prank that got out of hand.’

‘A prank? The Nerissa was nearly destroyed. Do you know how many thousands of pounds of damage your brother and his friends caused?’ Giannis said harshly. ‘It wasn’t just the financial cost of having the boat repaired. The sentimental value of everything that was lost is incalculable. My father designed every detail of Nerissa’s interior and he was so proud of that boat.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Ava was shocked by the raw emotion in Giannis’s voice. She had only considered the financial implications of the fire, and it hadn’t occurred to her that the boat might be special to him. It made the situation even worse. ‘Sam really regrets that he allowed the gang on board. He thought that they just wanted to have a look at the boat, and he was horrified by what happened.’ She bit her lip. ‘My brother is scared of the gang members, which is why he refused to give their names to the police. He’s young and impressionable, but honestly he’s not a bad person.’

Giannis’s brows rose. ‘The manager of the boat valeting company told me that your brother already had a criminal record by the age of sixteen. Sam McKay clearly has a complete disregard for the law.’

He picked up his briefcase and walked over to the penthouse suite’s private lift. ‘I remember the letter you sent asking me to drop the charges against your brother. I did not reply because frankly I was too angry. Sam broke the law and he must face the consequences,’ he said coldly.

‘Wait!’ Ava hurried across the room as the lift doors opened and she followed Giannis inside. She jabbed her finger on the button to keep the door open. ‘Please hear me out.’

‘I’m in a hurry,’ he growled.

‘When I read in a newspaper that you would be attending the charity fundraising dinner I decided to try to meet you. My friend works for the event’s management company which organised the evening, and Becky arranged for me to sit at the same table as you. I hoped to persuade you to find it in your heart to give my brother another chance.’

‘I don’t have a heart.’ Giannis reached out and pulled her hand away from the button and the lift doors instantly closed. ‘Your methods of persuasion were impressive, I’ll grant you. But it was a wasted performance, angel-face.’

Ava gave him a puzzled look. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Oh, come on. You obviously had sex with me because you thought I would let your brother off the hook.’

‘I did not. I didn’t plan to go to bed with you—it just...happened,’ she muttered, shame coiling through her like a venomous serpent. To say that she had handled things badly would be an understatement. Last night she had behaved like the slut that Giannis clearly believed she was, but she refused to give up trying to help Sam.

The lift doors opened on the ground floor and she shot out behind Giannis when he stepped into the foyer. ‘My reason for having sex with you had nothing to do with my brother,’ she told him, her stiletto heels tapping out a staccato beat on the marble floor as she tried to keep pace with his long stride. Her voice seemed to echo around the vast space and she blushed when she became aware of the curious glances directed at her by other hotel guests. The terribly sophisticated receptionist standing behind the front desk arched her brows.

‘Why don’t you announce on national TV that we slept together?’ Giannis threw her a fulminating look, his dark eyes gleaming like obsidian.

‘I’m sorry.’ Ava lowered her voice. ‘I don’t want you to have the wrong impression of me. I don’t usually sleep with men I’ve only just met and I don’t understand why I behaved the way I did last night. I suppose it was chemistry. There was an instant attraction that neither of us could resist.’

He growled something uncomplimentary beneath his breath. ‘Next you’ll be telling me that we were both shot through the heart by Cupid’s arrow.’ Giannis halted beside a pillar. ‘Last night was fun, angel-face, and maybe I’ll look you up the next time I’m in town. But I’m not going to drop the charges against your hooligan brother. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think it would be possible. As I understand English law, it is the Crown Prosecution who decide if the case should go to court.’

‘You could instruct your lawyer to withdraw your complaint of criminal damage inflicted on your boat, and if you refuse to provide evidence to the court the case against Sam will be dropped.’

She grabbed Giannis’s arm as he turned to walk away and felt his rock-hard bicep ripple beneath his jacket. ‘It’s true that Sam has a police record. Like I said, he was drawn into the gang culture through fear. It’s not easy being a teenager in the East End,’ she said huskily. ‘Sam will almost certainly be given a custodial sentence and I’m scared of what will happen to him in a young offender institution. My brother is not a hardened criminal; he’s just a silly kid who made a mistake.’

‘Several mistakes,’ Giannis said sardonically. ‘Perhaps spending a few uncomfortable weeks in prison will teach him to respect the law in future.’

Giannis had not been lying when he’d stated that he did not have a heart, Ava thought bleakly. His phone rang, and she dropped her hand from his arm and moved a few steps away from him, although she was still able to overhear his conversation. A few minutes later he finished the call, and his expression was thunderous as he strode across the lobby without glancing in her direction.

She gave chase and caught up with him, positioning herself so that she was standing between him and the door of the hotel. ‘I appreciate you must be annoyed that, from the sound of it, you might have lost a business deal to buy a fleet of ships. But I can’t... I won’t stand by and watch my brother be sent to prison.’

His dark brows lowered even further. ‘How the hell do you know about my business deal?’

‘I can speak Greek and I couldn’t help but hear some of your conversation just now, concerning someone called Markou who has rejected your offer to buy his shipping company.’ Ava bit her lip, and something flashed in Giannis’s dark eyes that reminded her of the stark sexual hunger in his gaze when he had taken her to bed last night. ‘I’m sure your business deal is important to you, but my brother is important to me,’ she said huskily. ‘Is there any way I can persuade you to give Sam another chance?’

He did not reply as he stepped past her and nodded to the doorman, who sprang forwards to open the door.

Ava followed Giannis out of the hotel and shivered as a gust of wind swirled around her and tugged at her chignon. Although it was early in September, autumn had already arrived with a vengeance. A thunderstorm was forecast but at the moment drizzle was falling and she could feel it soaking through her cashmere jumper. The miserable weather suited her mood of hopelessness as through a blur of tears she saw a sleek black car parked in front of the hotel.

She watched Giannis unlock the car and throw his briefcase onto the back seat. The knowledge that she had failed to save her brother from a likely prison sentence felt like a knife in Ava’s heart.

‘Have you never done anything in your past that you regret?’ she called after him. He hesitated and swung round to face her, his dark brows snapping together.

Desperate to stop him getting into his car and driving away, Ava raced down the hotel steps but she stumbled in her high heels and gave a cry as she felt herself falling. There was nothing she could do to save herself. But then, miraculously, she felt two strong arms wrap around her as Giannis caught her and held her against his chest. In the same instant, on the periphery of her vision she saw a bright flash and wondered if it had been a lightning strike as the storm blew up.

The thought slipped away as the evocative scent of Giannis’s aftershave swamped her senses. Still in a state of shock after her near fall, she rested her cheek on his shirt front and heard the erratic thud of his heart beneath her ear. She wished she could remain in his arms for ever. The crazy notion slid into her mind and refused to budge.

There was another flash of bright light. ‘Who is your mystery blonde, Mr Gekas?’ a voice called out.

Ava heard Giannis swear beneath his breath. ‘What’s happening?’ she asked dazedly, lifting her head from his chest and blinking in the blinding glare of camera flashes.

When a taxi had dropped her at the hotel entrance the previous evening she had noticed the crowd of paparazzi who had gathered to take photos of the celebrity guests arriving at the party. Evidently some of them had waited all night to snap guests leaving the hotel the next morning, and they had struck gold when they had spotted Europe’s most notorious playboy and a female companion.

‘Hey, Mr Gekas, over here.’ A photographer aimed a long-lens camera at them. ‘Can you tell us the name of your girlfriend?’

‘I certainly can,’ Giannis said calmly. To Ava’s surprise, he did not move away from her as she had expected. Instead he kept his arm clamped firmly around her waist as he turned her to face the paparazzi. ‘Gentlemen,’ he drawled, ‘I would like to introduce you to Miss Ava Sheridan—my fiancée.’

She couldn’t have heard him correctly. Ava jerked her eyes to his face. ‘What...?’ she began, but the rest of her words were obliterated as his dark head swooped down and he crushed her lips beneath his.

The kiss was a statement of pure possession. Giannis ground his mouth against hers, forcing her lips apart and demanding her response, re-igniting the flame inside her so that she was powerless to resist him.

Ava felt dizzy from a lack of oxygen when he finally lifted his head a fraction. ‘What the hell?’ she choked, struggling to drag air into her lungs when he pressed her face into his shoulder.

‘I need you to be my fake fiancée,’ he growled, his lips hovering centimetres above hers. ‘Play along with me and I’ll drop all the charges against your brother.’

Her eyes widened. ‘That’s blackmail.’

His fingers bit into her upper arms as he hauled her hard up against his whipcord body. To the watching photographers they must have looked like lovers who could not keep their hands off each other. ‘It’s called business, baby. And you and I have just formed a partnership.’