Читать книгу Seducing His Convenient Innocent - Rachael Thomas, Rachael Thomas - Страница 10

FOR TWO DAYS, Xena’s Greek island retreat had been a haven of tranquillity for both Rio and Xena. Now Lysandros was due to arrive from Athens and Rio’s nerves were threatening to get the better of her. He’d be disappointed his sister’s memory of the accident and previous weeks hadn’t yet returned.

Rio glanced at Xena, compassion for her friend’s predicament filling her. Xena didn’t recall anything that had happened in the weeks leading up to the accident. She had blocked out everything bad. Ricardo’s rejection of her. The assault Hans had attempted on Rio. The break-up between Rio and Lysandros. Even blocked the accident itself. Xena lived under the illusion that none of those things had happened.

‘It’s so frustrating,’ Xena said as she looked up at Rio. ‘Why can’t I remember anything?’

Rio sat down beside Xena. ‘It will come. The doctor said you just need time—and rest.’

‘I can remember that Lysandros will be back from Athens today and we are all going to visit my mother,’ Xena said brightly, recalling the arrangement that had been made as they’d arrived on the island.

Rio, too, could remember that Lysandros was due to return to the island today, but for very different reasons.

‘Maybe you could play a little,’ Xena said, pulling Rio from her thoughts. ‘It might help me remember something.’

Rio looked at the grand piano, forlorn and abandoned since they’d arrived. ‘Later, perhaps,’ she soothed, trying hard not to let her fear of even going near it show.

‘I am rather tired.’ Xena stifled a yawn. ‘I think I will go and have a lie-down before we visit my mother. Gather my strength again.’

Rio watched her friend go with a heavy heart. If only there was something more she could do to help. She missed the confident and bubbly girl Xena really was.

For the past two days, while Lysandros had been in Athens, it had been easy to allow Xena to think that she and her brother were still a couple. But once he was here, it wouldn’t be so easy. She was still far too attracted to him, still longed for the dream of happiness she’d glimpsed before it had been cruelly snatched away by Hans.

With a sigh of frustration she turned and walked to the large glass doors that opened up onto the terrace with a view of the sea. As she looked out over the sparkling waters she saw the sleek white speedboat slowing and moving towards the island. She pushed her thoughts aside, watching as Lysandros stepped onto the jetty. Her heart leapt as he looked towards the villa and she quickly moved out of view. She didn’t know if she could do this, even though deep down she wanted nothing more than to go back to that moment after the recital.

Footsteps sounded on the marble floor as Lysandros entered his sister’s villa. Rio forced brightness into her voice that didn’t echo in her body despite the idyllic Greek island setting and the early summer sunshine.

‘Hello, Lysandros.’ She kept her voice firm, refusing to allow her nerves to show in any way. Whatever Xena believed about them, she needed to keep him at a distance and he had to know that.

‘Hello, Rio.’ The cool edge to his voice contrasted sharply with the darkening of his eyes as his gaze swept over her, creating a trail of tingles almost impossible to ignore.

Power radiated from him and despite his relaxed attire she knew he was anything but. The hard line of his clean-shaven jaw gave so much away. The courage she’d managed to summon up during the first days on the island began to slip away like the retreating tide. How could she be around him and be indifferent to him?

‘How is Xena?’ He moved a little closer, convincing Rio he knew she was still attracted to him.

‘She has gone for a lie-down.’ Rio let out a slow breath of relief as he walked away from her, giving her some much-needed physical distance between them.

‘Has she remembered anything yet?’

Rio shook her head. ‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing?’ She heard the despair in his voice. Despair that matched her own.

‘She sounded so frustrated when we talked on the phone,’ he said as he walked towards the baby grand piano. Did he have to bring it so starkly to her attention?

‘It is frustrating for her.’ Rio watched Lysandros, the man who still held her heart if only she was brave enough to give it to him, as he turned and frowned at her.

‘I understand that.’ He spoke again, snagging her attention back to him. ‘But it’s just as frustrating for me to know how much this is worrying her.’

‘This is a big ordeal for Xena,’ Rio said, watching Lysandros as he stood by the piano looking out towards the sparkling sea beyond the garden of the villa. He resembled a predatory wild cat, intent on luring its prey ever closer. Or was she imagining him drawing her in? ‘She’s lost some of her memory, maybe even her career, and she can’t even pick up her violin and seek solace in playing.’

‘Xena tells me you don’t play either, even though you claimed daily practice was essential.’ The sound of waves rushing onto the soft sand beyond the villa punctured the silence as she met the suspicion in his eyes. He was throwing her reason for not wanting to leave London back at her.

As he looked at her the hot sultry air suddenly crackled with undeniable tension between them. That strong attraction she had to ignore but was finding it ever more difficult to. He knew it too. He was far too astute, far too in control to be easily fooled.

‘It’s true. I should be practising every day.’ She paused as she thought of Hans, of what he’d believed she’d wanted. Hans had been so adamant she had been leading him on, giving him the come-on. She hadn’t been able to touch the keys, let alone play, since then. The piano and that moment were far too painfully linked. Even though she knew she’d done nothing to encourage him, she couldn’t bring herself to sit at the piano, let alone play it.

Neither was she ready to tell Lysandros why she’d stood him up, why she’d coldly ended their relationship when it had been so good, so right. Xena didn’t recall how she’d consoled Rio, how she’d tried to persuade her to tell Lysandros, and right now that suited Rio. She needed to avoid that painful conversation for as long as possible.

‘So why are you not practising, Rio? Xena loves to hear you play. As do I.’ He began to walk towards her, stopping when she backed away.

‘I... I...’ she faltered, not knowing what to say without telling him exactly why she didn’t want to go near the piano.

‘At least you can still physically play the piano—if you choose to.’

His accusation hit home and she dragged in a breath. Did he have to make her feel worse? Play on the guilt she felt about the night of the accident? About him? Them?

‘This isn’t about me. This is about Xena.’ Desperately she pushed back her pain, her raw emotions, trying to bring the conversation back to Xena.

He took another step towards her, bringing him so close she could smell the citrus tang of his aftershave, and it made the memory of their last kiss collide with the guilt for all Xena was going through, as well as her own fear. She tried not to recall how light-headed Lysandros had made her feel when he’d smiled at her, reminding herself he was well versed in the art of charming women.

Yet he’d been prepared to take things slowly with her. At first, she’d thought it was simply because of her friendship with Xena, but soon she’d wondered if it was more than that. He’d respected her. He’d showed patience and kindness totally in contrast to the playboy past Xena had told her about. He’d treated her as if she was special.

‘Is it, Rio?’ His voice had deepened, become so sensually soft he could be seducing her.

‘Of course it is. I’m here for Xena, not myself—or us. Not that there is an us any more.’

‘What happened after the recital, Rio? What are you keeping from me?’ His question hung in the air and she hated the way he made her feel, the way she wanted to confide in him, tell him what had happened. But she couldn’t. It was over between them and there was no point in going over that night now. She was here only for Xena.

‘There is nothing to tell,’ she said quickly, hoping he wouldn’t keep asking, be able to tell she had been doing exactly that.

‘Let’s take a walk on the beach while Xena is resting.’ He changed the subject so fast Rio felt dazed.

‘Xena and I are due to visit your mother today.’ She grasped at that. ‘Maybe we should wake Xena now.’

‘As I am the one charged with the task of getting you both there, we can spend a while walking on the beach first.’ He paused and looked at her, the intensity in his eyes changing, making her pulse leap with awareness she wasn’t sure she was ready to acknowledge yet.

‘I ought to leave Xena a note. In case she wakes.’ Rio began to write a quick note and Lysandros stood over her, so close her body began to tremble, not with fear, as she’d expected, but with anticipation. Need. For him.

‘Make sure you mention you and I are together.’ His voice had dropped to almost a whisper and was so sexy she had to close her eyes against the tingle that rushed up her spine.

She put the pen down and turned, her gaze locking with his, holding it.

* * *

Lysandros knew Rio was keeping something from him. He’d known it since he’d first arrived at the hospital after the accident. He’d seen it in her eyes. Sensed nervousness in every move she’d made. Now that Rio was here with Xena, he was going to get to the bottom of what had happened the night she’d left him waiting alone at a romantic and secluded table for two.

The sunshine was gaining in strength as he stepped out of the villa, across the terrace and onto the sand. Beside him Rio adjusted her hat, and while he accepted it was necessary to protect her pale complexion from the sun, he sensed it was much more about erecting a physical barrier between them. He put on his shades. If the way his body was reacting to her nearness was anything to go by, the more barriers between them the better. For now at least.

‘What really happened the night of the accident?’ He plunged right in as swiftly as if he’d just dived into the cool waters from his yacht.

‘I told you. A car ran a red light and hit Xena’s.’ The defensive tone of those short, sharp sentences gave so much away, but that wasn’t what he wanted to know.

‘I know the details of the accident itself.’ He couldn’t keep the impatience from his voice. He had to know just why his sister had been driving around London alone so late at night.

‘So why ask?’ He sensed her looking at him, but he kept his focus ahead, sure that if he didn’t put her under the spotlight she would tell him the finer details of that treacherous night.

‘Because I’m Xena’s brother and I want to know what happened before the accident.’

Her pace faltered and she stopped, forcing him to do the same, but she didn’t look at him. Instead she stared out to sea. Yet another avoidance tactic. ‘There is nothing more to tell.’

‘Are you sure, Rio?’ The question caught her attention and she turned to face him. He wished she didn’t have her sunglasses on, wished he could see the expression and emotion in her soft caramel-brown eyes.

She sighed and he watched the smooth, pale skin of her throat move as she swallowed. At least he could now be certain he was finally near the truth. ‘You might be able to manipulate others into doing what you command, but it won’t work with me.’

The passion in her voice was intense and she moved away, holding her hat in place against the playful, warm wind. Her long limbs were outlined as the wind flattened the blue sundress against her, testing his resolve far too much. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by the attraction she still had for him. Not yet. Xena had to come first.

‘Manipulate?’

‘Yes, you try and control everything. Everyone. Even Xena.’

‘I resent that accusation. What I do for Xena I do out of love.’

‘Love?’ She abandoned her attempts to hold her hat in place and took it off, exposing her subtly highlighted hair, which had been pulled back into a rough ponytail. The wind whipped stray strands of hair across her face and he scrunched his hands against the urge to push them back from her lovely and beguilingly innocent face.

Whatever it was that had changed things for Rio after the recital, he sensed she was fighting hard against her attraction to him. An attraction he still felt, still wanted to explore. Patience was all he needed.

‘I don’t think a man such as the mighty Lysandros Drakakis, CEO of Drakakis Shipping and Luxury Yachts, does anything for love, does he?’

Her taunt had the desired effect but he resisted the urge to respond with anger. He was well aware of his inability to emotionally connect with his sister or mother, let alone with another woman. Rio might have challenged that on so many levels, but he wasn’t going to allow her to know it right now. ‘Love for my family is an entirely different thing from passionate love. That kind of love is built on sexual attraction and heated desire.’

She blushed and looked away. He smiled at the sense of satisfaction that ruffling her feathers had brought him. That sexual chemistry was still there. Buried but alive. ‘For you maybe.’

‘So you are holding out for true love, are you? Is that why you stood me up so spectacularly? So publicly?’

He could still taste her rejection, something he wasn’t at all used to. If he wanted a woman it was usually only a question of when, not if. Rio had refused point-blank to see him after that night, cementing her status as the first woman to turn him down. The only woman to wound his male pride since his early twenties, when his first taste of love had been soured by deceit.

‘Yes, I am holding out for true love and you would hardly be the perfect candidate. Not with a string of broken hearts behind you.’ She smiled in that so there kind of way the English were so good at. ‘But I’m not here for us. In case you have forgotten, I’m here for Xena.’

‘And what we had isn’t of consequence?’

Rio looked uncomfortable and a heavy sense of seriousness filled the warm air around them. ‘My friendship with Xena is more important than anything else. I don’t want us to get in the way of that.’

She looked as though she was holding her breath, as though she was waiting for him to piece together whatever it was in her mind, but the mention of his sister served only to direct his thoughts back to his original purpose of bringing her out here to talk alone.

‘I don’t think going over the accident will help anyone right now. She has blocked out everything from the last two months. It’s as if she is stuck at a happy point in her life.’

‘I agree on that. That is why I believe it will reassure Xena if she thinks that we are in love.’

‘In love? You and me?’ She stumbled over the words, her fingers fidgeting with the hat she clasped as if it were a lifeline. ‘Is that really necessary?’

His mind raced. All his sister had ever wanted was for him to meet someone and fall in love, and the attraction between him and Rio had been so obvious, so intense he’d allowed Xena to revel in her role as matchmaker. Allowed her to believe there was a future for him and Rio. She’d even suggested that this time he should use their grandmother’s engagement ring, saying that Rio wouldn’t want the flashy diamonds Kyra had demanded.

He should have told Xena there and then that he didn’t want any kind of commitment, but he hadn’t wanted to destroy her happiness then, just as he didn’t want to now. ‘It would be what Xena has always wanted for us and maybe it could actually help Xena to feel more emotionally secure, which might enable her to remember things again.’

* * *

Rio’s heart raced. How could she pretend to be in love with Lysandros when just being around him sent her pulse racing?