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He cut through her thoughts. ‘He made it a condition of his will that I marry within six months of him dying or I won’t receive his share of Kouros Shipping.’ His mouth twisted. ‘It’s as if he knew it was the only way I might ever give in to his foolish romantic notions for me.’
Kallie dumbly seized on words to try and avoid feeling the emotions swirling in her head and body.
‘But how could you lose everything? Surely his share isn’t that big?’
‘It’s not, but he controlled a key part. As you know, on my father’s death, I took full control of the business.’
She felt an unbidden surge of sympathy, remembering the chaos of that time. But Alexandros wouldn’t appreciate her concern or interest, certainly not her sympathy. And how could she even be feeling sympathetic?
‘Dimitri’s will states that if I don’t marry within the time frame, his share will go to Stakis Shipping.’
Kallie gasped audibly. Stakis Shipping was the mortal enemy. Even she knew that. Underhand deals, rumours of links to drug rings, sex trafficking. They were the black sheep of the shipping world and the only conglomerate powerful enough to possibly take over Kouros Shipping. If what Alexandros said was true, and if he didn’t marry, they would be handed an invitation on a silver platter to take a sizeable potshot at his company.
Alexandros couldn’t stop the unbidden dart of pleasure seeing the expressions cross her face, at her immediate understanding of the world he came from. He quickly schooled his features again, slightly shocked at how easily the accord had crept in.
‘My uncle, in an effort to see me happily wed, has set me up for professional suicide if I don’t.’
‘I know this is bad but can it really be that bad?’
He nodded. ‘The share he controlled has strategic importance in the stock markets. It’s the link that holds everything else together. That gets weakened and it could all crumble. And he knew how abhorrent I find the practices of Constantine Stakis. He’s been waiting for an opportunity like this for years. A marriage seems like a small price to pay to keep my family’s legacy intact and Stakis out of harm’s way.’
That word again. Marriage. It crashed into her brain. Kallie shook her head. ‘Impossible. I couldn’t. I can’t.’
Alexandros felt a surge of irritation and anger. Why was he even telling her all this? He slashed a hand through the air.
‘This is all beside the point. You don’t even deserve an explanation. All you need to know is that I hold the fate of your family in my hands. And the only way you can influence that for the better is by marrying me. If you don’t, your family can kiss their fortune goodbye.’
‘But that’s…ridiculous…archaic. You don’t want to tie yourself to me—you hate me.’
He leant forward again. ‘Hate is the other side of love, Kallie. I certainly don’t hate you.’ He swept a look up and down that was so hot she felt it on her skin, ‘But I do desire you.’
Little fires of shock raced all over Kallie’s body. His eyes had darkened, eyelids lowered slightly so that they looked slumberous.
He desired her?
Why did that make a treacherous curl of excitement lick through her body…and not pain, or disgust?
Her back was so stiff it hurt. Her voice sounded stilted, desperate and glaringly insincere to her ears. ‘Well, I certainly don’t desire you, Alexandros, so it would be a little one-sided.’
Before she could move out of danger, he had reached across and taken her hand again. Engulfing it with his own. She felt a traitorous pulse start up between her legs and clamped them together. His eyes made a thorough study all the way from her face, the rapid pulse at her neck, down to her chest, where shallow breaths did little to hide her agitation. She could feel her breasts tingle, her nipples hardening, and prayed that he wouldn’t see the reaction.
His eyes came back to hers, smug. ‘You did once, Kallie, and you still do. If I were to stand up, walk around this table and kiss you right now, you’d be begging for it within seconds.’
The very thought of him doing that made her mouth go dry.
‘You flatter yourself…’ she said faintly, knowing her words would have no effect. He was coming at her like a two-tonne lorry and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She seized on something, her hand still trapped by his. ‘Isabelle Zolanz! You’re hardly going to marry me if you’re seeing her. Why don’t you just marry her? You two are lovers after all…’ Something twisted in her gut when she said that and she had to hide her reaction.
He let her hand go and flicked his dismissively in a very Greek gesture. ‘Isabelle is no longer a part of my life.’
Kallie had to suck in a shocked breath at the coldness of his tone. ‘It didn’t look to me the other night as though she was aware of that.’
‘She is now.’ His tone brooked no further comment on the subject. Kallie felt a twinge for the other woman and could only imagine how brutal he’d been.
She had to face it. If she hadn’t already. The young man she had known, the young man who had once been her friend, her confidant, was gone. In his place was a ruthless man of the world. A truly alpha male. And she had played her part in creating him. She should never have gone to him that night. Regret and recrimination burnt its way through her. But it was too late for all that. Far too late.
She tried to reason with him. ‘I won’t do it, Alexandros. It’s crazy. I’m sorry for what happened. Truly I am. I never meant for anything to happen.’
Liar…You went in search of him that night…
