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He’d lost his temper.
He never lost his temper.
Damn it, Anna was really starting to get to him. He’d accused her of letting her emotions run her reason, but he had just done the same.
The way he’d shouted at her. It made him wince now. It had not gone according to plan. Yelling at her was no way to make her fall in love. Even he knew that.
He sighed, leaning his head against the darkened glass and staring out at the empty, barren landscape as the Nevada desert flew by. He’d felt so close. His soul had soared when he’d felt her tremble beneath his tongue. He’d felt sure that she would say yes to his proposal. Why else had he restrained himself, when he could think of nothing but having her in his bed? He’d said that he wanted to make love to her only as his wife, and that was still true.
He ground his teeth. Forget those stupid scruples. He only had twenty-four hours to close the deal. Next time he wouldn’t hesitate. He wouldn’t relent. He’d seduce her, and he’d get both his satisfaction and her agreement to his proposal. And before she had a chance to change her mind he’d take her straight to one of the all-night wedding chapels and get it all nailed down.
He glanced at the document still in his briefcase. His lawyers had already drawn up the standard prenuptial agreement: if the marriage should end, both parties would end up with what they’d started with. Leaving Anna virtually penniless.
He didn’t intend for her to suffer. On the contrary, he meant for her to live in luxury. He’d even keep her snooty mother in Hermès handbags. Anything to make Anna happy. The prenup was for one reason only—to make sure that Anna would never have any incentive to walk away from their marriage.
He twisted his neck, cracking the joints to relieve the stress, and revised his tattered game plan. Tonight was his last night to close the deal. After he’d finished with Sinistyn he’d go straight home, make love to Anna until she couldn’t see straight, and then she’d sign the prenup. Then they’d go to the courthouse for a license and, from there, a drive-thru chapel.
He flexed his hands, trying to make himself relax. Anna was getting under his skin—probably because they were spending so much time together, blending home and work. It had been wonderful, in a way, having her back in the office. Best damn secretary he’d ever had. Together they were the perfect team. Unbeatable.
No. He pushed the thought away. He’d already made up his mind, and tonight it would be done. He’d get a new secretary, take Anna as his wife, and keep his home and work life separate—the way they were supposed to be. He’d enjoy Anna at night, see his son every day, and go back to putting in eighteen-hour days at the office. That was the life that made sense to him. That was a life he could control.
But Anna had to marry him. Without that everything else fell apart.
Rubbing his hand against his forehead, he sighed. It was time for him to play his last card. He had no choice. He was leaving for Singapore tomorrow, to meet with government officials and make sure Stavrakis Resorts’ land lease bid was successful. The new casino resort would be an important asset in his son’s fortune.
But first he had to close the deal with Anna.
He would tell her he loved her.
He’d never said the words before—to anyone. And even tonight it would be a lie. He would lie to make her capitulate, to make her love him in return. He’d told himself that he’d never say those three words to anyone, but he’d give up that tiny slice of honor now. He’d do far more than that to protect his family.
He’d tell her he loved her, and make her believe it. He had to convince her he meant it. Convince her he’d make a good husband. Convince her he was worthy of her love, even if it all was a lie...
He had a sudden memory of Anna in his bed, naked, with tousled hair and a sweetly seductive smile, looking up at him with honest, trusting eyes.
He shook the disturbing image away. As his chauffeur pulled up to the private garage on the third level parking deck of L’Hermitage, he focused instead on his meeting with Victor Sinistyn, whom he’d called on the drive into town.
He couldn’t blame the man for wanting Anna for himself. Nikos ground his teeth as he strode into his private elevator. Any man would want Anna. But Sinistyn had gone too far, trying to force her into a marriage against her will. Trying to buy her through trickery and putting pressure on her family.
Images of Anna went through his mind: laughing in the pool last week, splashing with their child, smiling up at Nikos in the bright sunlight. She was so beautiful, so vibrant, so warm and alive. How dare Sinistyn try to imprison her? How dare he try to seize by manipulation and force something he had no right to call his own?
“It’s time you picked on someone your own size,” Nikos muttered under his breath as he entered his private office.
“What was that, sir?” Margaret, the senior administrative assistant for the casino, was filling in on some rudimentary duties as his executive secretary. She temporarily sat in Anna’s old desk outside his office.
“Please let me know when Victor Sinistyn arrives.” Closing the door behind him, he went to the outside windows and stared down at Las Vegas Boulevard, watching the hectic traffic below. He went to the crystal decanter and started to pour himself a small bourbon, then stopped.
Was it possible that he was doing the same thing as Sinistyn? Trying to possess Anna when he had no right?
No, he told himself fiercely. It wasn’t the same at all. Sinistyn was trying to force Anna to marry him to satisfy his own selfish lust. Nikos just wanted to protect his family. To protect his son.
But still, the voice of conscience, rusty from disuse, whispered in his mind, you’re going to make her fall in love with you on false pretenses, to bind her to you forever. Isn’t that just as bad?
He tried to shake the thought out of his mind, but it wouldn’t go away. He paced back and forth through his office, trying to concentrate on Sinistyn, the Singapore deal—anything but his plans for Anna. In the end he gave up, and pummeled the boxing bag in the corner of his office with his bare hands to clear his mind. The pain helped him forget. Helped him focus.
There was blood on two knuckles when he went over to the wall of one-sided windows that overlooked the main casino floor. He glanced down, impatiently looking at his watch. Sinistyn was two minutes late.
Then his eyes sharpened.
Sinistyn wasn’t late. He was already in the casino downstairs, beneath the high crystal chandeliers, in between the gilded nineteenth-century columns and wealthy, attractive gamblers at the roulette tables and slot machines.
He wasn’t alone, either. He’d brought two hulking bodyguards from his club. But he wasn’t talking to them.
He was talking to Anna.
Anna. Still wearing the slim white shirt and black skirt, but sexier than ever, with her long, long legs and glossy black pumps. Her dark hair, which he’d mussed so thoroughly nearly making love to her on his desk, cascaded down her shoulders. Her lips were full, pink and bruised, as if she’d just come from bed.
She was too enticing—innocence and sin wrapped up into one luscious package.
Nikos cursed under his breath. She’d defied his direct orders and come down here to intercept Sinistyn. He clenched his jaw. From this distance he couldn’t read the expressions on their faces. What was she saying to him? What was he saying to her? His hands clenched into fists as he strode out of his office to the elevator.
When he reached the casino floor he signaled Cooper, his head of security, to follow with two bodyguards. Trailing bodyguards in his wake, he stalked through the noise of slot machines and gamblers toward Anna and Sinistyn, barely able to keep his fury in check.
Why couldn’t she trust him to handle things? Not even once? Why did she always have to make everything so damned hard?
“Sinistyn,” he said coldly, grabbing the man’s shoulder. “Let’s go upstairs to talk.” He gave Anna a look. “Leave.”
“I’m staying,” she said, raising her chin.
He heard Sinistyn snicker under his breath. Nikos ground his teeth. “Let me handle this.”
“This isn’t your fight. It’s mine.” To Nikos’s shock, she turned to Victor Sinistyn and put her hand on his hairy arm, looking deep and soulfully into his eyes. “Victor, I’m sorry this has gone so far. It’s my fault.”
“About time you came to your senses, loobemaya. I’ve waited long enough for you to be my wife.” Looking up from her cleavage with a triumphant half-smile, he locked eyes with Nikos. “About time you chose the better man.”
Nikos felt a strange lurch in his chest. A sick feeling spread through his body. She’d chosen Sinistyn over him? She trusted that man over him?
“No.” Anna was shaking her head at Sinistyn. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m sorry, but I don’t love you, Victor. I never have. I should have made it clear from the first time you flirted with me, ten years ago. I will never be with you. No matter how much money you loan my parents. Never.”
