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Cat didn’t try to pull away; instead she allowed him to guide her back into the light and security of the hotel. There was a strength about him that was almost overwhelming and she was aware of his hand against her skin in a way that stirred up a fierce shiver of tension inside her. It was a feeling she couldn’t quite comprehend. After all, she was safe now … wasn’t she?
‘Mr Zentenas, is everything all right?’ A receptionist looked over at them as they stepped into the foyer.
Cat noticed that she knew his name; she also noticed that as he spoke people jumped to attention. The manager of the hotel appeared, the police were phoned and then abruptly she was being swept away from everyone towards the lifts.
‘You can wait for the police upstairs in my private suite.’
It wasn’t an invitation; it was more of an order. The doors closed and suddenly they were alone in a very confined space.
She glanced across and met his gaze and once more her senses prickled with awareness. It was hard to identify the feelings he stirred inside her. He was generating something deeper than just the usual feeling of wariness she experienced around men.
She couldn’t understand why a total stranger should have such a profound effect on her senses. Maybe it was just the fact that he was exceptionally handsome in a dark Mediterranean kind of way. Perhaps it was the way he looked at her as if he were trying to read the secrets of her soul.
He pressed the button for the top floor and there was silence between them as the lift started its ascent.
Nicholas watched as she leaned her head back against the mirrored interior. She looked pale and fragile and young. Her eyes were an almost impossible shade of jade-green as she looked up at him.
She wasn’t what he had been expecting, and that threw him. He certainly hadn’t imagined for one minute that he would have protective feelings for her. They had struck from nowhere when he had handed back her possessions, and he had been annoyed by the momentary weakness, had shrugged it off with determination. This was Carter McKenzie’s daughter, he reminded himself fiercely, and she was well able for anything. He knew for a fact that she was as conniving and sharp as her family. He had read the reports on her and he wouldn’t allow himself to be swayed from his mission of revenge by her deceptive air of vulnerability.
Cat took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. ‘This is … er … very kind of you …’ She sought to break the silence and the tension.
‘It’s my pleasure.’ The words were silky smooth.
Was it her imagination or was there a cynical edge to his expression, a harsh coldness?
‘I saw you at the wedding reception earlier.’ Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him now. ‘Do you know Martin and Claire?’ ‘No.’
The nonchalant admission rang alarm bells. Had her first instincts been correct; was he someone her brother had sent to approach her?
‘Why were you at the reception?’
‘Because, as the owner of this hotel, I can go where I please.’
‘Oh! Oh, I see.’ Now that she thought about it, the air of authority that surrounded him was blatantly apparent. She felt foolish in the extreme for imagining her brother had sent him. If he owned this hotel he was obviously a very rich and powerful man, not the kind of person to do anyone’s bidding.
‘I’m Nicholas Zentenas.’ He introduced himself smoothly and then searched her face for any sign that the name was familiar to her. Eight years ago he had been her father’s business partner and, although he had never met Catherine McKenzie, she could have known his name.
If she did, she didn’t betray the fact even by the flicker of an eyelash.
‘Cat McKenzie.’ She extended her hand towards him.
He hesitated before taking it, but when he did the firm touch of his skin against hers made little shivers of electricity run through her.
Her eyes locked with the coffee darkness of his and she wondered if he could feel the fierce sensual chemistry that swirled between them, or whether it was just in her mind.
Shakily she pulled away from him, glad that the lift doors opened, freeing her from the intensity of the situation.
Nicholas smiled to himself as he followed her out into his suite. So far the evening was going well for him.
Obviously she had no idea who he was.
He’d intended to track her down next week, as he knew her father would be out of the country then and therefore the risk of discovery was smaller. But as soon as his private detective had told him that Cat would be attending a wedding reception at one of his hotels he had brought his plans forward and had flown in from Athens this afternoon.
He was glad he had taken the risk now. Time was of the essence anyway.
The thief striking outside had been most fortuitous. The fact that Cat was so gorgeous he ached to bed her, even more so.
Revenge was going to be so easy.
