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Yes, Kate O’Connor deserved to be taught a lesson. And the form that lesson should take loomed larger and larger in Nikos’s head. The longer he was in Kate’s presence, the harder it became to resist.
He needed a diversion. Taking a breath, Nikos marshalled his thoughts into line. He needed something to diffuse the insidious power Kate had over him. Fiona O’Connor. The thought of that woman should do it.
‘So...’ Nikos gave a small cough. ‘How is your mother?’ His random question sounded every bit as insincere as it was. But immediately Kate’s head flew in his direction.
‘She’s okay, thank you.’
‘I trust she won’t get her hands on any of the money I have invested in Kandy Kate?’
Kate gave a huff. ‘So that’s what you’re worrying about? Let me assure you, your investment is perfectly safe.’
‘Kalos—good.’ Nikos placed his hand on the step between them. It felt pleasantly cold beneath his touch. ‘Though you can’t blame me for checking. I have to say the way she managed to ruin the reputation of the family business so quickly was very impressive. Her quote about never letting you eat candy as a kid because it was so bad for your teeth was a masterstroke.’
‘She was tricked into saying that by a manipulative journalist.’
‘Still defending her, Kate?’ Nikos edged closer, enjoying himself now. He watched as Kate picked up her shoes from beside her and placed them in her lap. ‘You still think that Mommy Dearest has done nothing wrong?’
‘I know she made some bad decisions. We both did.’
‘You can say that again.’
A tense silence split the air before Kate stood up, the shoes still held in her hands. She raised one, almost like a weapon, before bending to slip it onto her foot, wobbling unsteadily. Immediately Nikos was there, his arms around her to steady her.
‘But now you’re able to put that right.’ He held her firmly to him, refusing to let her pull away. She felt slight beneath his touch—fragile like a trapped bird. ‘I know how much that means to you.’
‘Yes.’ Kate held herself very still, her green eyes flashing in the dark. ‘It means everything.’
‘Everything?’ Nikos turned the word over in his mouth. It left a bitter taste. ‘That just about sums it up, doesn’t it, Kate? If only you’d told me that from the start it would have saved a lot of...’ He hesitated momentarily as he banished the word heartache from his lips. ‘A lot of confusion.’
He felt Kate stir in his arms, inhaled the meadowy scent of her freshly washed hair.
‘Let me go, Nikos.’
Nikos released his grip, letting his hands slide down Kate’s bare arms and at the last minute taking hold of her hands in his. ‘I thought I’d done that a long time ago, Kate. I really did.’ He stared at their joined hands, his thumbs gently stroking her palms. ‘Now I’m not so sure.’
Slowly, deliberately, he raised his eyes to meet hers.
‘What do you mean by that?’
Kate’s voice was wary, but the wild flash in her eyes shot a message straight to Nikos’s groin.
‘I mean that now we’ve become reacquainted I find there are ghosts that need to be put to rest.’ He held himself still.
‘There’s no such thing as ghosts.’
Pulling her hands free, Kate folded them across her chest, pushing up the soft swell of her breasts. The amber light played across the angles of her bare shoulders, her breastbone, shadowing the hollows, emphasising the pale, silky skin.
‘I’m sure your mother told you that.’
‘My mother never told me anything.’ The need to control that kick of lust made his voice harsher, more impassioned than he’d intended. ‘She upped and left long before we had the chance to have cosy bedtime chats about such things.’
‘I thought you said she died when you were a teenager?’ Immediately Kate pounced on his confession.
‘She did.’ Nikos held his voice firm. ‘But she left me and my father long before that. On my second birthday, in fact. Impeccable timing. From that day on I never saw her again.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Nikos. I didn’t know.’ Kate’s green eyes filled with concern. ‘Why have you never told me that before?’
