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All under the watchful gaze of Costas Drakakis.
All delivered with supreme mastery.
All fake.
Yet...as she thought about repeating it now, the flames in her belly leapt wildly. Because, even fake, every act had stroked too close to that secret bubble of need inside her she kept under lock and key.
Also that episode at his place had altered things. His kisses—far removed from a sun-drenched beach on Drakonisos and from his grandfather’s ever-watchful eyes—had awakened something inside her, a different kind of yearning she’d thought she’d quelled after that harrowing and humiliating period with Adrian, only to discover that she possessed a deeper vein of untapped need. One that had roused with shocking potency and persistence after a handful of minutes spent with the man who should’ve remained forbidden fruit to her.
With total recall, she summoned the sweet torture of his lips on her nipples, the sensation of his fingers between her thighs, skilfully strumming her to that shocking, unravelling climax that had changed the dynamic between them. Irreparably.
His low, derisive laugh yanked her back to the present. To the far too risqué subject under discussion.
‘You think my performance was lacking?’ he asked, his wry amusement implying he believed the opposite.
She forced a casual shrug. ‘You’re talking about something that happened more than six months ago. I don’t recall the minutiae of it all.’
Alexis was aware of the red rag she was waving in front of a temperamental Greek bull. Aware of that kick of awareness and excitement triggered by her words. Just as she was acutely aware of her surroundings. Of the fact that she simply couldn’t do that here. Because more than anything, she risked repeating the same mistakes she’d made with Adrian.
Sure, Christos hadn’t made promises to her as Adrian had. But she’d left herself wide open to temptation. Ignored the firm warning the Hope House nuns had embedded in her. Nothing is permanent. Don’t form attachments. She’d ignored the warning and dared to reach for the sacred promise of the one thing she desired most—to belong. To experience a semblance of the family she’d never had.
Adrian West, her erstwhile boss, had wielded that promise like a priceless treasure at the start, then slowly it had become a paring knife, stealthily slicing away her confidence, manipulating her trust until she was stripped to the bone, decimated and vulnerable, the life she’d painstakingly scraped together for herself shattered.
It was the reason she’d redoubled her efforts to keep herself free from emotional entanglements, especially in her professional life. The temp agency placement with Christos Drakakis three years ago had been the perfect environment to foster that vow, the formidable lawyer with steely eyes and forbidding aura exactly what she’d needed after Adrian’s easy snake-in-the-grass smiles and cruel intentions.
Her skin grew tight and sensitive under Christos’s intense gaze.
‘As much as I wish to refresh your memory, this is neither the time nor place. Suffice it to say that I recall a certain...woodenness to your performance last time. One you will do well to take time to address before we return to Greece.’
Irritation rose as she frowned. ‘It’s not like you to wait six whole months to tell me off for something I’ve done wrong. I’m almost inclined to believe you’re making all this up.’
One derisive eyebrow rose. ‘For what purpose?’ he questioned silkily.
‘I don’t know. Maybe you want someone to pay for what happened in court today? You haven’t lost a case since I’ve been your assistant. Perhaps this is what happens when things don’t go your way?’
Alexis watched in silent, stunned fascination as every trace of humour evaporated from his face. On some level she was relieved they were back in a more professional setting, although there was nothing comforting about the constant high-octane
currents that fizzled and popped beneath her skin as his face clouded.
Existing in Christos Drakakis’s orbit was like living in the eye of a tornado, armed with the certain knowledge that one risky move from that centre would be catastrophic. She knew the devastating cost of straying off that path and had barely salvaged her dignity to tell her story after making such a mistake.
‘Once upon a time, perhaps I would’ve sought oblivion in the arms of a willing body. But I’ve discovered that merely postpones the inevitable victory, you see. As for your inference, I do not deflect or place blame where it’s not needed in order to feel better about myself. Only the people who stand in the way of me achieving my goals or possessing what’s mine will pay.’
There was a warning in there. It shivered across her skin like a ghostly feather.
‘But if you want me to be specific, you proved my suspicions correct in my penthouse two months ago, Alexis.’
She swallowed a gasp, her skin flushing all over again. ‘We agreed not to talk about that. Ever.’
‘I don’t recall making such a promise.’
‘Fine, I said I didn’t want to discuss what happened. You didn’t disagree.’
‘Because the situation seemed to uncharacteristically distress you.’
‘Then why are you bringing it up now? Things got a little...hot and heavy when they shouldn’t have, but we both agreed it was a mistake.’ If only she’d been able to stop thinking about it. To stop secretly yearning for a repeat performance.
His lips twisted, but a hard light remained in his eyes. ‘You’ve forced me to draw correlations. And I can’t help but notice the marked difference between the mediocre performance you’ve been dishing out this past year when you’ve been pretending to be my wife and what you’re truly like.’
