“Ah, so you think I am charming.” He straightened the lapels of his suit jacket. “And stylish.”
It should not have been amusing, this arrogance, but it turned out that, with a man who embodied such rugged good looks along with wealth and power, it was hard not to be a little amused.
And charmed.
“Very well,” he said on a sigh, as if he was giving into some demand she’d made when she’d said nothing. “Here is the address—travel by your own means.” He held out a card. “No need to worry about your wardrobe. It will be a private affair. Arm yourself however you wish.”
He did not make a move to hand her the card. He simply held it out. Like holding a treat to a dog and waiting for it to approach.
She should be offended. She should turn and walk away. She should do a lot of things.
But the amount of money he’d mentioned kept playing in her head. Taking the card didn’t mean she had to go. It just gave her some time to consider what kind of risks she was willing to take. Risks were part of life. Part of survival, that was for certain. Taking the card was no risk.
Chin up, shoulders relaxed, she stepped forward and plucked the card out of his fingers, making certain to avoid even the brush of fingertips. “I’ll think about it,” she said, and began to walk away from the trio of men. Down the street, toward her apartment building just around the corner.
Mr. Kritikos offered no parting shot, no farewell.
But she could feel his eyes follow her the entire walk down the street.
Chapter Two
Corfu glittered likea jewel down the glowing coast as Zervou waited for his dinner companion. The air was salty and sweet, everything around him quiet. It was a relaxing counterpoint to his usual type of estate.
He had bought this one with the sole excuse to woo Ariadne into his plan, but perhaps he would keep it even after. Most of the properties he owned he had chosen for their proximity to a bustling, exciting nightlife. Zervou liked to keep himself busy.
Perhaps age was creeping upon him as everyone had always warned if he was suddenly interested inpeacefor the first time.
But there would be no peace until the germ of Erjon Hyseni was rotting in a jail cell for the rest of his days.
Zervou had a feeling the intriguing Ariadne was just the woman to finally make this so.
She would come. He had no doubts about that. She was a smart woman, clearly, not jumping at the bait without thinking it through.
But she would not be able to resist the money. He’d done his homework on Ariadne Malis. She had managed to scrape together a living by boxing and working at the boxing gym—teaching mostly these days. But all her money went to caring for her mother. A woman who, by all accounts, liked drink and gambling more than she liked caring for her daughter.
Which made Ariadne’s money situation even more fraught.
She would come. She would not be able to help herself. Zervou knew this with as much certainty as he had in him.
The only thing he did not know was if she wasawareher father was such a despicable man. If she knew his identity at all.
He would find out tonight.
“Mr. Kritikos, your guest has arrived.”
“Thank you, Bacchus. Bring her here and let the kitchens know I’d like our dinner to be served out here as well. It is a nice evening.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bacchus disappeared and in a few minutes returned with Ariadne.
She was dressed, he believed somewhat defiantly, in low, over-size cargo pants and heavy-soled boots paired with a formfitting black tank top. Her dark hair—wavy and interesting—was pulled back in a much more haphazard manner than it had been at the gym, so it spilled down her back, even if it was up away from her face. If she wore any makeup, it was done with a light hand. Freckles popped out across her nose next to a thin, gold hoop that matched the array of ones up the lobe of her ear.
She gave off a much different aura this evening. Casual. Young. Aside from the obvious musculature of her arms, and the slightly crooked bent of her nose, one might never guess she spent so much of her time trading punches.
Zervou had his choice of elegant, sophisticated, intelligent and beautiful women the world over. He’d chosen well, on more than one occasion, and enjoyed satisfying affairs with many of them.
It was a slight irritation that she was the first one to truly fascinate him in a long time.
