Читать книгу Greek Bachelors: Paying The Price: What the Greek's Money Can't Buy / What the Greek Can't Resist / What The Greek Wants Most - Майя Блейк, Maya Blake - Страница 13
ОглавлениеTHE FIRM HAMMERING on her door made Brianna’s already racing heart threaten to knock itself into early retirement. Considering the way it’d been racing for the past hour—ever since her wits had deserted her in the conference room—it would’ve been merciful.
What the hell had she been thinking?
Hard knuckles gave the wooden door another impatient workout.
Consciously loosening her tense shoulders, she blew out a reassuring breath and forced composure back into her body. The hastily pulled together bland look was in place when she answered the door.
Sakis stood on the threshold, frowning down at his phone.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked before she could stop herself. The feeling that passed through her, she recognised as worry, a curiously recurring feeling over the past two days. Not cool, Brianna. In fact, a wincingly large percentage of her reactions today had been...off. From the moment he’d stared down at her and told her in that mesmerising voice, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you,’ her judgement had been skewed.
Watching him pace with mounting frustration all day, wishing there was something she could do, had rammed home the fact that her professional equanimity was still very much in jeopardy.
Now...now he looked as if he’d clawed frustrated fingers through his hair several times. And the lines bracketing his mouth had deepened. She cleared her throat.
‘I mean, is there something you need, Mr Pantelides?’
His gaze flicked over her then returned to her face. ‘You haven’t changed for bed yet. Good. The pilot is readying the chopper for take-off in fifteen minutes.’
‘Take-off?’
His hand tightened around the phone as it signalled another incoming message. ‘We’re leaving for the airport. I’ve called an emergency meeting first thing in the morning back in London.’
‘We’re returning to London? But...why?’
His lips firmed. ‘It seems more vultures are circling over our disaster.’
Stunned, she stared at him. The thought that anyone would want to challenge Sakis Pantelides at any time, let alone when he was at his most edgy and dangerous, made her doubt his opponent’s sanity. ‘Media or corporate?’
His smile was deadly. ‘Corporate. I’m guessing the usual suspects who chest-thump every now and then will be feeling bolder in light of the slumping share price as a result of the tanker accident.’
She retrieved the bag she’d left at the foot of her bed. ‘But the shares have started to recover again after the initial nosedive. Your statement and the very public admission of liability made it stabilise very quickly. Why would they...?’
‘News of a takeover bid would make it plunge again and that’s what they’re counting on.’ His phone pinged again and he growled. ‘Especially if two of those companies are announcing their intended merger in the morning.’
He cursed in Greek, using a particular word that made heat rise to her cheeks as she dove into the bathroom for her toiletries bag.
‘Which two companies?’ she called out as she zipped up her bag and checked the room to make sure she hadn’t left anything important.
Exiting, she saw the lines of fatigue etched into his face and her heart lurched.
‘Moorecroft Oil and Landers Petroleum.’
It was only because he’d turned away, his attention once more on this phone, that Sakis didn’t see she’d stopped dead in her tracks; that the blood had drained from her face with a swiftness that made her dizzy for a moment.
It couldn’t be. No. It had to be pure coincidence that the petroleum company shared the same name with Greg, her ex-boyfriend. Landers was a fairly common name...wasn’t it? Besides, Greg’s company when she’d been a part of it before he’d struck the deal that had doomed her, had been a gas-brokering company; a company that had since declared bankruptcy. And certainly not one large enough to take on the juggernaut that was Pantelides Shipping.
‘I’d like to get out of here this side of— Brianna? What’s wrong?’
For goodness’ sake, pull yourself together!
Dry-mouthed and heart thumping, Brianna forced herself to breathe. ‘Nothing; it’s the heat, I think.’
Keen eyes scoured her face and gentled a fraction as he pocketed his phone. ‘Not to mention the lack of sleep. My apologies for dragging you off like this. You can sleep on the plane.’
Stepping forward, he held out his hand for her bag. Their fingers touched, lingered. Heat shot through her and she hastily pulled back from the scorching contact. Swallowing, she followed him out and shut the door behind her. ‘I’ll be fine. And you’ll need me to find out everything we can about the two companies.’ Not to mention she needed to know whether Greg had anything to do with Landers Petroleum.
The thought that he might have started another company, might be cultivating another patsy the same way he’d cultivated her, made her stomach lurch sickeningly.
Could she alert Sakis without drawing attention to herself? Out herself as the needy woman, so desperate for love she hadn’t seen the trap set for her until it’d been too late?
Her belly churned with fear and anxiety as they left the hotel and rode the short helicopter journey to the private hangar at Agostinho Neto airport.
Dear God. She could lose everything.
The thought sent a shudder so strong, she stumbled over her own feet a few steps from the airplane.
Sakis caught her arm and steadied her. Then his fingers dropped to encircle her wrist, keeping a firm hold on her as he mounted the steps into the plane.
She swallowed down the wholly different trepidation that stemmed from having Sakis’s hand on her. She tried to pull away, but he held on until they stood before the guest-cabin bedroom opposite the plane’s master suite. He opened the door and set her bag down just inside it, then led her back to the seating area.
At Sakis’s signal, the pilot shut the door.
‘Buckle up. Right after we take off, we’re going to bed.’
Her mouth dropped open as her pulse shot sky-high. ‘I beg your pardon?’ she squeaked. Her whole body throbbed and she couldn’t glance away from his disturbingly direct gaze.
His grim smile held a wealth of masculine arrogance as he shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. Taking his seat opposite her, he set his phone—which had thankfully stopped pinging—on a nearby table. ‘A...poor choice of words, Moneypenny. What I mean is, it’s the middle of the night in London. Not much we can do from here.’
‘I can still pull up as much information as I can on the companies...’
He shook his head. ‘I already have people working on that. You need to get some sleep. I need you sharp and—’
‘You need to stop treating me like some fragile flower and let me do my job!’
Moss-green eyes narrowed. ‘Excuse me?’
Anger lent her voice desperation and she leaned forward, hands planted on the table separating them. The fact that this close she could almost touch the stubble layering his hard, chiselled jaw and see the darker, mesmerising flecks in his irises sparked another tingle of awareness through her. But the remotest possibility that Greg could be lurking in the periphery of her life, ready to expose her, made her stand her ground.
She’d gone through too much, sacrificing everything she had to prevent her debilitating weakness from being exposed. She no longer needed love. She’d learned that she could live without it. What she couldn’t live with was having her previous sins exposed to Sakis Pantelides.
‘You seem to think I need a full night’s sleep or a warm bed to function properly, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.’ Warning bells rang in her head, telling her seriously to apply brakes on her runaway mouth. But she couldn’t help herself. ‘I’ve slept in places where I had to keep one eye open or risk losing more than just the clothes on my back. So please don’t treat me like some pampered princess who needs her beauty sleep or she’ll go to pieces.’
His eyes narrowed, followed almost instantly by a keen speculation that screamed what was coming next. ‘When did you sleep rough?’ His voice was low, husky, full of unabashed curiosity.
Alarm bells shrieked harder, in tandem with the jet engines powering for take-off. Sharp memories rose, images of drug dens and foul-smelling narcotics bringing nausea she fought to keep down. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
He leaned forward on his elbows and stared her down. ‘Yes, it does. Answer me.’
‘It was a very long time ago, Mr Pantelides.’
‘Sakis,’ he commanded in that low, deep tone that sent a shiver through her.
Again she shook her head. ‘Let’s just say my childhood wasn’t as rosy as the average child’s, but I pulled through.’
‘You were an orphan?’ he probed.
‘No, I wasn’t, but I might as well have been.’ Because her junkie mother had been no use to herself, never mind the child she’d given birth to. The remembered pain bruised her insides and unshed tears burned the backs of her eyes. She blinked rapidly to stop them falling but a furtive glance showed Sakis had noticed the crack in her composure.
The plane lifted off the ground and shot into the starlit sky.
Sakis’s gaze remained on her for long minutes. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ he asked gently.
Brianna’s heart hammered harder. ‘No.’ She’d already said too much, revealed far more than was wise. Deliberately unclenching her fists, she prayed he would let the matter rest.
The jet started to level out. Snatching his phone from the table, Sakis nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt. ‘Regardless of your protests, you need to sleep.’ He held out his hand to her. The look on his face told her nothing but her acquiescence would please him.
Immensely relieved that he wasn’t probing into her past any longer, she thought it wise to stifle further protest. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she placed her hand in his and stood. ‘If I do, then so do you.’
His smile was unexpected. And breath-stealing. Heat churned within her belly, sending an arrow of need straight between her thighs.
‘We’ve dovetailed right back to the very point I was trying to make. I have every intention of getting some sleep. Even super-humans like me deserve some down time.’
A smile tugged at her lips. ‘That’s a relief. You were beginning to show us mere mortals up.’
His smile turned into an outright laugh, his face transforming into such a spectacular vision of gorgeousness that her breath caught. Then her whole body threatened to spontaneously combust when his hand settled at her waist. With a firm nudge, he guided her back down the aisle.
‘No one in their right mind would call you a mere mortal, Moneypenny. You’ve proved beyond any doubt that you’re the real thing—an exceptionally gifted individual with a core of integrity that most ambitious people lose by the time they reach your age.’
At the door to her cabin, she turned to face him, her heart hammering hard enough to make her head hurt a little. ‘I think what you’ve done since the tanker crashed shows you’re willing to go above and beyond what most people would do in the same circumstances. That is integrity.’
His gaze dropped to her lips, lingered there in a way that turned her body furnace hot. ‘Hmm, is this the start of an exclusive mutual admiration society?’
The breath she’d never quite managed to recapture fractured even further. When his eyes dropped lower, her nipples tightened, stung into life by green fire that lurked in those depths. Reaching behind her, she grasped the doorknob, desperate for something to cling to.
‘I’m just trying to point out that I’m nothing special, Mr Pantelides. I just try to be very good at my job.’
His gaze recaptured hers. ‘I beg to differ. I think you’re very special.’ He stepped closer and his scent filled her nostrils. ‘It’s also obvious no one has told you that enough.’ The hand that still rested at her waist slid away to cover the hand she’d gripped on the door. Using the pressure of hers, he turned the knob. ‘When this is all over, I’ll make a point to show you just how special you are.’
The door gave way behind her and she swayed backward, barely managing to catch herself before she stumbled. ‘You...don’t have to. Really, you don’t.’
His smile was a touch strained and he braced his hands on the doorjamb as if forcibly stopping himself from entering the room. ‘You say you’re not special and yet you refuse even the promise of a reward where most people would be making a list.’
‘I work for one of the most forward-thinking men in one of the best organisations in the world. That’s reward enough.’
‘Careful, there; you’re in danger of swelling my ego to unthinkable proportions.’
‘Is that a bad thing?’ She wasn’t sure where the need for banter came from but her breath caught when his sensual lips curved in a dangerously sexy smile.
‘At a time when everything around me seems to be falling apart, it could be a lethal thing.’ His gaze shot to the bed and his smile slipped a fraction, in proportion to the escalating strain on his face. ‘Time for you to hit the sack. Kalispera, Brianna,’ he murmured softly before, stepping back abruptly, he strode to his own door.
At the click of his door shutting, Brianna stumbled forward and sagged onto the bed, her knees turned to water.
She glanced down at her shaking hands as reality hit her square in the face.
Sakis Pantelides found her attractive. She wasn’t naïve enough to mistake the look in his eyes, nor was she going to waste time contemplating the why. It was there, like a ticking time bomb between them, one she needed to diffuse before the unthinkable happened.
Brianna could only hope that, once they were back on familiar ground, things would return to normal.
They had to. Because, frankly, she was terrified of what she would let happen if they didn’t.
* * *
Sakis stood under the cold shower and cursed fluidly. Theos. I seemed as if he’d spent the last forty-eight hours cursing in one form or the other. Right now, he cursed the rigid erection that seemed determined to defy the frigid temperature.
He wanted to have sex with Brianna Moneypenny. Wanted to shut off the shower, stride next door, strip the clothes off her body and drive into her with a grinding force that defied rhyme or reason.
He slapped his palm against the soaked tile and cursed some more. Gritting his teeth, his hand dropped to grip his erection. A single stroke made him groan out loud. Another stroke, and his knees threatened to buckle.
With an angry grunt, he dropped his hand and turned the shower off. He was damned if he was going to fondle himself like an over-eager teenager. Things were fraught for sure. That and the fact that he hadn’t had sex in months was messing with his mental faculties, making him contemplate paths he would never otherwise have done. For God’s sake, sex had no place in his immediate to-do list.
What he needed to do was focus on getting the threat of a takeover annihilated and the situation at Pointe Noire brought under control.
Once they were back on familiar ground, things would return to normal.
He ruthlessly silenced the voice that mocked him not to be so sure...
* * *
Three hours later, Brianna sat wide awake in her luxurious cabin bed, staring through a porthole at the pitch-black night that rested on a bed of white clouds. She’d left her tablet in one of the two briefcases she’d seen the stewardess stow in Sakis’s cabin. Short of knocking on his door and asking for it, she had nothing to do but sit here, her thoughts jumbling into a mass of anxiety at what awaited her in London.
She had no doubt Sakis would trounce the takeover bid into smithereens—he was too skilled a businessman not to have anticipated such a move. And he was too calculating not to have the answers at his fingertips.
All the same, Greg had proved, much to her shock and disbelief, that he was just as ruthless—and without a single ounce of integrity—and she shuddered at the chaos he could bring to Sakis should he be given the opportunity.
Her shoulder tingled as her tattoo burned. Raising her hand, she slid her fingers under her light T-shirt and touched the slightly raised words etched into her skin.
Greg had succeeded in taking away her livelihood once; had come terrifyingly close to destroying her soul.
There was no way she could rest until she made sure he wasn’t a threat to Sakis and to her. Not that he had any reason to seek her out. No, she was the gullible scapegoat he’d led to the slaughter—then walked away from scot-free. The last thing he’d expect was for her to have risen from the ashes of the fire he’d thrown her in.
That was how she wanted things to stay. Once upon a time, she’d harboured feelings of revenge and retribution; how could she not, when she’d been stuck in an six-by-eight dark space, racked alternatively with fear and deep bitterness? But those feelings had burned themselves out.
Now she just wanted to be Brianna Moneypenny, executive assistant to Sakis Pantelides, the most dynamically sexy, astoundingly intelligent man she knew.
A man she’d come disastrously close to kissing more than once in the last forty-eight hours...
No. Her fingers pressed down harder over the tattoo, letting the pain of each word restore her equilibrium.
Nothing had changed.
Nothing could change.
* * *
The board members were gathered in the large, grey mosaic-tiled conference room on the fiftieth floor of Pantelides Towers, the iconic, futuristically designed building poised on the edge of the River Thames.
Sakis strode in at seven o’clock sharp. He nodded to the men around the table and the three executives video-conferencing in on three wide screens.
Brianna’s heart thumped as she followed him in. She had no idea if the information-gathering Sakis had implemented before they’d boarded the plane had yielded any results. He didn’t know either—she’d asked him. Only the files currently placed in front of each executive held the answer as to whether Greg Landers was in part behind this hostile takeover bid.
Seeing a spare copy on the stationery table off to one side of the boardroom, Brianna moved towards it.
‘I won’t need you for this meeting. Return to the office. I’ll come and find you when I’m done.’
Shock ricocheted through her. She barely managed to keep it from showing on her face. ‘Are you sure? I can—’
His jaw tensed. ‘I think we’ve already established that you’re invaluable to me. Please don’t overplay your hand, Moneypenny. Otherwise alarm bells will start ringing.’
The tight grit behind his words took her aback. It was the same tone he’d used since he’d emerged from his cabin an hour before they’d landed. His whole façade was icily aloof and the potent sexual charge that had surrounded them a few short hours before, the fire in his eyes as he’d looked at her outside her cabin on the plane, was nowhere in sight.
She held her breath for the relief that confirmed that things were back to normal, only to experience a painful pang of disconcerting disappointment, immediately followed by a more terrifying notion.
Did Sakis know? Had he somehow found out about her past? She stared at him but his expression gave nothing away, certainly nothing that indicated he knew her deepest, darkest secret.
He didn’t know. She’d been much too careful in exorcising her past; had used every last penny she’d owned two years ago to ensure there would be no coming back from what she’d been before.
All the same, it took a huge effort to swallow the lump in her throat. ‘I don’t... I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. I’m only trying to do—’
‘Your job. I know. But right now your job isn’t here. I need you to take point on the situation on Point Noire. Make sure the media are kept in line and the investigators update us on developments. I don’t want the ball dropped on this. Can you handle that?’
Her gaze slid to the file marked confidential lying so innocuously on the table, fear and trepidation eating away inside her. Then she forced her gaze to meet his. ‘Of course.’
The hard glint in his eyes softened a touch. ‘Good. I’ll see you in a few hours. Or sooner, if anything needs my attention.’
He stepped into the room and the electronic door slid shut behind him. Brianna gasped at the bereft feeling that hollowed out her stomach.
He isn’t shutting you out. It’s just a delicate situation that needs careful handling.
Nevertheless, as she walked back towards her office and desk situated just outside Sakis’s massive office suite, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d lost a part of her functioning self.
Ridiculous.
For the next several hours, she threw herself into her work. At two o’clock on the button, her phone rang.
‘I haven’t had an update in four hours,’ came Sakis’s terse demand.
‘That’s because everything’s in hand. You have enough on your plate without resorting to micro-management,’ she snapped, then bit her lip. She was letting her anxiety get the better of her. ‘What I mean is, you have the right people in place to deal with this. Let them do their jobs. It’s what you pay them for, after all.’
‘Duly noted.’ A little bit of the terseness had leached from his voice but the strain still remained. She could barely hold back from asking the question burning on her lips: is Greg Landers one of those challenging to take over Pantelides Shipping? ‘Update me anyway.’
‘The tug boat is on site and preparing to move the tanker away. The salvage crew co-ordinator tells me our marine biologist is providing invaluable advice, so we scored big there.’
‘You scored big.’ His voice had dropped lower, grown more intimate. A fresh tingle washed over her.
‘Um...I guess. The social media campaign has garnered almost a million followers and the feedback shows a high percentage support Pantelides Shipping’s stance on the salvage and clean-up process. The blogger is doing a superb job, too.’
‘Brianna?’
‘Yes?’
‘I’m glad I took your advice about the media campaign. It’s averted a lot of the bad press we could’ve had with this crash.’
Her normal, professional, politically correct answer faded on her tongue. Heart hammering, she gripped the phone harder and spoke from the heart. ‘I care about this company. I didn’t want to see its reputation suffer.’
‘Why? Why do you care?’ His voice had dropped even lower.
‘You...you gave me a chance when I thought I would have none. You could’ve chosen someone else from over a hundred applicants for this job. You chose me. I don’t take that lightly.’
‘Don’t sell yourself short, Brianna. I didn’t pick your name out of a box. I picked you because you’re special. And you continue to prove to me every day what a valuable asset you are.’
She loved the way he said her name. The realisation sent a pulse of heat rushing through her.
‘Thank you, Mr Pantelides.’
‘Sakis,’ came the rumbled response.
She shook her head in immediate refusal, even though he couldn’t see her. ‘N...no,’ she finally managed.
‘I will get you to call me Sakis before very long.’ His voice held a rough texture that made her tremble.
Closing her eyes, she forced herself to breathe and focus. ‘How are things going with the...the board meeting?’
‘Most of the key players have been identified. I’ve fired the warning shot. They can heed it or they can choose to come at me again.’ His words held a distinct relish that made her think he almost welcomed the challenge of his authority. Sakis was a man who needed an outlet for his passions, hence the rowing when he could, and the fully equipped gyms in his penthouse and homes all around the world.
He would be just as passionate in the bedroom. She hurriedly pushed the thought away.
‘Have we heard anything else?’ he asked, his voice turning brisk once more.
She knew he meant the missing crew. ‘No, nothing. The search parameters have been widened.’ And because she feared what would spill from her lips if she hung on, she said, ‘I need to make a few more phone calls; rearrange your schedule...’
He went silent for several seconds, then he sighed. ‘If Lowell’s wife calls, put her straight through to me.’
‘I will.’ She hung up quickly before she could ask about what he’d found out. Unwilling even to think of it, she threw herself back to her work.
At six, the executive chef Sakis employed for his senior staff poked his head through her office door and asked if she wanted dinner.
She rolled her shoulders, registered the stiffness in her body and shook her head.
‘I’m going to hit the gym first, Tom. Then I’ll forage for myself, thanks.’
He nodded and left.
Picking up her phone and tablet, she quickly made her way via the turbo lift to the sixtieth floor, where Sakis’s private multi-roomed penthouse suites were located. There were six suites in total, four separate and two inter-connected. Sakis used the largest suite which was linked by a set of double doors to her own suite when she stayed here. From this high, the view across London’s night sky was stunning. The Opera House gleamed beneath the iconic London Eye, with the Oxo Tower’s famous lights glittering over the South Bank.
She took the shortcut through Sakis’s living room, her feet slowing as they usually did when confronted with the visually stunning architectural design of the penthouse.
One side was taken up by a rough sandstone wall dominated by a huge fireplace regulated by a computerised temperature monitor. Directly in front of the fireplace, large slate-coloured, square-shaped sofas were grouped around an enormous stark white rug, which was the only covering on the highly polished marble floors.
Beyond the seating area, on carefully selected pedestals and on the walls were displayed works of art ranging from an exquisite pair of katanas, said to have belonged to a notorious Samurai, to a post-impressionist painting by Rousseau that galleries around the world vied for the opportunity to exhibit.
Moving towards her own suite, her gaze was drawn outside to the gleaming infinity pool that stretched out beyond the gleaming windows. The first time she’d seen it, she’d gasped with awe and thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t suffer from vertigo when Sakis had shown her around the large deck where the only protection from the elements was a steel and glass railing.
From this high up, the Thames was a dark ribbon interspersed by centuries-old bridges, and from where she stood she could almost make out the Tube station where she caught the train to her flat.
Her flat. Her sanctuary. The place she hadn’t been for days. The place she could lose if Sakis ever found out who she really was.
Her spine straightened as she approached the large wooden swivel door that led to her suite.
As long as she had breath in her body she would fight for what she’d salvaged from the embers of her previous life. Greg wouldn’t be allowed to win a second time.
Entering the bedroom where Sakis had insisted she kept a fully furnished wardrobe in case he needed to travel with her at short notice, she changed into her pair of three-quarter-length Lycra training shorts and a cropped T-shirt.
She pounded the treadmill for half an hour, until endorphins pumped through her system and sweat poured off her skin. Next she tackled the elliptical trainer.
She was in the middle of stretching before hitting the weights when Sakis walked in.
He stopped at the sight of her. His hair was severely ruffled, the result of running his hands through the short strands several times, and he’d loosened his tie, along with a few buttons. Between the gaping cotton, she saw silky hairs that bisected his deep, chiselled chest.
Their eyes clashed through the mirrors lining two sides of the room, before his gaze left her to slowly traverse over her body.
Brianna froze, very much aware her breath was caught somewhere in her solar plexus. And that her leg was caught behind her, mid-stretch. The hand braced against the mirror trembled as his gaze visibly darkened with a hunger that echoed the sensation spiking up through her pelvis.
‘Don’t let me interrupt you,’ he drawled as he went to the cooler and plucked a bottle of water off the shelf. Leaning against the rung of bars holding the weights, he stared at her as he drank deeply straight from the bottle.
She tried not to let her eyes devour the sensual movement of his throat as he swallowed. With a deep breath that cost her every ounce of self-control she possessed, she lifted and grabbed her other foot behind her, extending her body into a taut stretch, while studiously avoiding his gaze.
She’d never been more aware of the tightness of her gym clothes or the sheen of sweat coating her skin. Thankfully, she’d secured her hair so tight it hadn’t escaped its bun...yet.
Sinking low, she extended in a sideways stretch that made her inner thigh muscles scream. Her heartbeat was hammering so loudly in her ears, she was sure she’d imagined Sakis’s sharp indrawn breath.
Silence grew around them until she couldn’t bear being the sole focus of his gaze. Rising after her last stretch, she contemplated the wisdom of approaching where he stood, right in front of the weights she needed.
Contemplated and abandoned the idea. Instead, she mimicked him and went to the well-stocked fridge for a bottle of water. ‘How did the rest of the board meeting go?’ she asked to fill the heavy silence.
Sakis tossed the empty bottle in the recycle bin, pulled his tie free, rolled it up and stuffed it in his trouser pocket. ‘I had no doubt we would find the relevant weak points. Everyone has skeletons in their closets, Moneypenny. Things they don’t want anyone else to discover. Growing up as a Pantelides taught me that.’ His voice was pure steel, but she caught the underlying thread of pain beneath it.
She wanted to offer comforting words but the mention of skeletons sliced her with apprehension, tightening her insides so she could barely breathe. ‘What sort of skeletons?’
‘The usual. In this case, less than stellar financial record-keeping; one or two shady dealings that deserve closer scrutiny.’
‘Are...are we talking about Landers Petroleum?’ She held her breath.
‘No.’ He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. ‘They’re small fry compared to Moorecroft Oil and were probably hitching their wagon to the big boys in hopes of a large pay-day. For now, I’m more interested in Moorecroft. They’re the ones who started this, but they should’ve cleaned up their own backyard before attempting to sully mine. Tomorrow morning, their CEO, Richard Moorecroft, will be receiving a call from the Financial Conduct Authority. He’ll need to answer a few hairy questions.’
She told herself it was too early to hope this was over but she allowed herself a tiny breath of relief. ‘And...you think that’s the end of it?’
His hand went to the next unopened button and slid it free. ‘If they know what’s good for them. If they don’t and they keep sabre-rattling, things will just get decidedly...dirtier.’
‘You mean you’ll dig deeper,’ she murmured, unable to take her gaze off the hands slowly revealing more and more of his mouth-watering torso. ‘What are you doing?’ she gasped, her fist tightening around the plastic bottle as another bolt of heat drilled through her belly. It cracked under the force of her fist, echoing loudly through the room.
‘Taking a leaf out of your book.’ He shrugged out of his shirt, balled it up and threw it into the corner.
‘I... But...’
He paused, his hand on his belt. ‘Does my body make you uncomfortable, Moneypenny?’
Her tongue threatened to not work. ‘You’ve undressed in front of me many times.’
‘That wasn’t what I asked you.’ The belt slid free.
Arousal roared to life, tightening her nipples into deliciously painful points, weakening her knees, shooting fiery sensation between her legs. ‘W...what does it matter? I’m invisible, remember? You’ve never seen me in the past.’
He came forward, his long legs eating up the short distance between them until he stood in front of her.
‘Only because I’ve trained myself not to look...not to betray the slightest interest. Not since...’ He paused, lips pursed. Then, shaking off whatever thought he’d had, he shrugged. ‘You’re not invisible to me now. I see you. All of you.’ His gaze slid down, paused and caressed the valley between her breasts, before reaching out to boldly stroke the hard, pointed crests. Her needy gasp made him caress her more intimately, rolling her nipple between his fingers until she had to bite her lip hard to keep from crying out. ‘And just like I knew you would be like...a potent wine, promising intoxication even before the first sip.’
Reason tried to surge forth through the miasma of sensation shaking her very foundations. But her body had a mind of its own. It swayed towards him but she managed to stop herself from taking the fatal step.
‘I wouldn’t really know. I...I don’t drink.’ Another ruthless stance she’d taken since Greg. That last night before the police had crashed in and carted her away, he’d plied her with vintage champagne and caviar. She’d been so drunk she’d been barely coherent when her life had taken a nosedive into hell.
‘My, what a virtuous life you lead, Moneypenny. Do you have any vices at all? Apart from your pancakes, that is?’
‘None that I wish to divulge,’ she responded before she managed to stop herself.
Sakis gave a low, rich laugh that soaked into her senses before fizzing pleasure along her nerve endings. ‘I find that infinitely intriguing.’ His gaze dropped to her mouth in a blatant, heated caress. His lips parted and a slow rush of breath hissed through them. Slowly, almost leisurely, he stepped closer, bringing his body heat within singeing distance.
Move, Brianna!
Her feet finally heeded the frenzied warning fired by her brain but she’d barely taken a step when Sakis reached out. He caught her around the waist and brought her flush against him.
The contact fired through her, so powerful and potent, she lost her footing. One strong hand cupped her chin and raised her head to his merciless gaze. In his eyes, she read dangerous intent that made her stomach hollow with anticipation and feverish need, even as the last functioning brain cells shrieked for her to fight against the dangerous sensations.
‘I’m going to kiss you now, Moneypenny,’ Sakis breathed. ‘It’s not wise and it probably won’t be safe.’
‘Then you shouldn’t do it...’ She half-pleaded but already wet heat oozed between her thighs.
He gave a half-pained groan. ‘I can’t seem to stop myself.’
‘Mr Pantelides—’
‘Sakis. Say it. Say my name.’
She shook her head.
His head dropped another fraction. ‘You’re doing it again.’
‘D-doing what?’
‘Refusing to obey me.’
‘We’re no longer in the office.’
‘Which is all the more reason why we should drop formalities. Say my name, Brianna.’
The way he said her name, the soft stresses on the vowels, made her insides clench hard. She tried desperately to fight against the overwhelming sensation. ‘No.’
He walked her back until he had her pinned between the gym wall and the solid column of his hot body. The hard muscles of his bare chest were torture against her heavy breasts but it was the firm, unmistakeable imprint of his erection against her belly that made her stop breathing.
‘Luckily for you, the need to taste you overwhelms the need to command your obedience.’ His lips brushed hers in the fleetest of caresses. ‘But I will hear you say it before very long.’
Eyelids too heavy to sustain fluttered downwards. Drowsy with lust, she fought to answer him. ‘Don’t count on it. I have a few rules of my own. This is one of them.’
The very tip of his tongue traced her lower lip, again with the fleetest of touches, and the fiery blaze of need raged through her. ‘What’s another?’
‘Not to get involved with the boss.’
‘Hmm, that’s one I agree with.’
‘Then...what are you doing?’ she asked plaintively.
‘Proving that this isn’t more than temporary insanity.’ His voice reflected the dazed confusion she felt.
‘Won’t walking away prove the same thing? As you said, this might not be exactly wise.’
‘Or this is nothing but a no-big-deal kiss. It’ll only become a big deal if we aren’t able to handle what happens afterwards.’
No big deal. Was it really? And would it hurt to experience just a kiss? They were both clothed...well, he was technically only half-clothed...but she could put the brakes on this any time she wanted...couldn’t she?
‘Afterwards?’ she blurted.
‘Yes, when we go back to what we are. You’ll continue to be the aficionado who runs my business life and I’ll be the boss who demands too much of you.’
‘Or we could stop this right now. Pretend it never happened?’
A hard gleam entered his eyes. ‘Pretence has never been my style. I leave that to people who wish to hide their true colours; who want the world to perceive them as something other than what they are. I detest people like that, Moneypenny.’ His mouth dropped another centimetre closer, his hands tightening around her waist as his eyes darkened with hot promise. ‘It’s why I won’t pretend that the thought of kissing you, of being inside you, hasn’t been eating me alive these past few days. It’s also why I know neither of us will misconstrue this. Because you’re above pretence. You’re exactly who you say you are. Which is why I appreciate you so much.’
He kissed her then, his mouth devouring hers with a hunger so wild, so ferocious, it melted every single thought from her head.
Which was fortunate. Because otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from showing her reaction to his stark words; from blurting out that she was not even remotely who he thought she was.
