AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Of course I’ll come. I’ll do whatever it takes,’ she said. ‘I’ll speak to my line manager and arrange a leave of absence, and as soon as I can arrange a ticket, I’ll fly out to Athens.’
‘Ochi.’He flicked his fingers through the air as if disposing of a troublesome fly. ‘You need not concern yourself with transport, Mia. My plane will be at your disposal.’
‘Yourplane?’ All attempts at neutrality forgotten, Mia couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice, finding it hard to reconcile such an obvious symbol of wealth with a man who had first come to the attention of her grandfather when he’d been caught stealing eggs. But even as she said it, she met the glint of something cold and hard in the depths of his black eyes.
‘It is something of a transformation,neh?’ he suggested silkily. ‘Or do you still think of me as a man who steals all that comes before him,zouzouri mou?’
‘I don’t think about you at all,’ she said quickly, walking forward to open the window a little wider, as if that would have some kind of magical impact on the stifling atmosphere within the small room.
But the air remained as motionless as before—and all Mia could think of was the way he had tapped so accurately into her thoughts. Which was disturbing. It reminded her of how well Theodoros Aeton had once known her, because she had opened herself up to him in that dumb and trusting way. And she didn’t want anyoneknowingher or having the potential to hurt her. She had become used to her new life and single status. Sometimes it got lonely, but it never got painful. She’d found that animals could love you far better than humans ever could. And wasn’t life easier that way? ‘I would prefer to travel independently,’ she said proudly.
His smile was hard. Almost...wolfish. And annoyingly, it made a ripple of awareness shimmer down the length of her sweat-sheened spine.
‘I’m sure you would,’ he said. ‘But unless you have unlimited time at your disposal, I suggest you accept my offer of a flight and accommodation.’
‘Accommodation?’ She looked at him blankly. ‘You mean, stay with...you? I think I’d rather stay with my grandfather.’
He shook his head. ‘His house is no place for visitors,’ he informed her obliquely. ‘And I don’t live so far from him.’
Mia swallowed. No, of course he didn’t. The two men had often seemed joined at the hip. Sometimes she’d genuinely thought her grandfather preferred the young man he had mentored to his own flesh and blood—her. Or maybe that wasn’t such a crazy idea. After all, Theo had been an unwanted orphan—a clean slate to write on—while she had always been weighted down by her tainted legacy. The daughter of the son who had disappointed him and the narcissistic woman he should never have married. That she had been an innocent child in a toxic marriage seemed to make no difference to her grandfather. It had taken Mia a long time to realise that she’d never been seen as a person in her own right—just someone who represented the sins of her parents.
But Theo’s black gaze was lasering into her and she couldn’t seem to shift the erotic images which were suddenly crowding into her head. ‘You must be out of your mind,’ she breathed, ‘if you think I’d ever contemplate staying withyou.’
‘What’s your objection? Surely you don’t think I will try to persuade you to consummate our marriage, Mia?’ His words were a taunt which matched the mirthless quality of his smile. ‘I would have thought my track record on sexual restraint speaks for itself.’
Mia could feel the sudden pounding of her heart. ‘How can you be sohateful?’
‘Is it hateful to confront reality?’ he challenged. ‘I don’t think so. And besides, your worries are unnecessary. I live on a property big enough to ensure we need never see one another, unless we choose to.’
‘Which is never going to happen!’
His black eyes glittered. ‘The alternative is that you find some overheated room in Athens and be forced to rely on taxis to ferry you to and from your grandfather’s—a total waste of time and money, which you don’t seem to have in any abundance. At least, judging by appearances.’ His dark gaze raked around the cramped room as if to add veracity to his words, before shooting an impatient glance at the watch which gleamed gold against his hair-roughened wrist. ‘So which is it to be, Mia? I am due at a meeting in precisely forty minutes and have neither the time nor the inclination to hang around here. You have my offer—take it or leave it.’
By the sides of her ancient jeans, Mia curled her fingers into fists, her short, neatly filed nails digging into the palms of her hands.
She ought to hate him. Shedidhate him.
If only her stupid body would stop reacting to him in this debilitating way. Her poor, starving body which had been promised so much pleasure by this man, only to have it snatched away at the eleventh hour.
Theo Aeton’s virgin bride had remained a virgin and she’d convinced herself she didn’t care.
But it seemed she had been wrong.
Because without doing anything, he had reignited the slow burn of desire, making her realise what she’d been missing during all these long, bleak years. Other men left her cold, but Theo had always been able to make her indecently hot. Was he aware that beneath her creased T-shirt her nipples were becoming hard? Quickly, she crossed her arms over her chest, as the pebbled nubs pressed painfully against the thin cotton. Surely she shouldn’t even bethinkingabout such things, when her grandfather was so sick?
But although she was still a virgin, she recognised the importance of sex and, in many ways, the high price tag it carried. And she had few illusions left. In some social circles ancient values prevailed and marriage was still used as a bartering tool. Which was exactly what had happened to her. You could have a mobile phone and a car, you could wear a miniskirt with glittery trainers and walk into a restaurant on your own and nobody would bat an eyelid. But underneath that modern guise, her circumstances had been positivelymedieval. She had been sold by her grandfather to the man in front of her. Traded for a valuable piece of land. A ripe, innocent body exchanged for a metaphorical sack of gold. And nobody had told her about it until it was too late.
Yet things had changed. She was no longer the same naïve woman who had allowed raw teenage emotions to blind her to the truth. She was no longer grateful, or needy, or searching for love in all the wrong places. She would do what she needed to do. The right thing. She wouldn’t make a scene, or stubbornly insist on renting some scrubby place miles away from her grandfather’s exclusive residence. She would act with pride and dignity as she accepted Theo’s offer and visited her aged relative. But she would keep her distance from the man whose wedding ring she had flung deep into the waters of the Ionian sea and watched as it sank without trace. That was the most important thing of all. She must stay away from the Greek billionaire and all the temptation he represented.
‘In that case, thank you. I’ll speak to my supervisor as soon as you’ve gone.’ Pointedly, she angled her gaze towards the door. ‘And find out how soon I can leave.’
He pulled out a small business card and pen from his jacket and she watched as he scrawled something on the back of the card. And suddenly Mia found herself recalling that he hadn’t even been able to write his own name until he was fourteen. Who could possibly reconcile that illiterate teenager with this towering man, in his handmade suit and the golden pen which moved so fluidly across the expensive piece of card?
‘Let me know when you’re able to travel. My office will make all the necessary arrangements. I’ll see you on the plane. That’s my private number,’ he informed her abruptly, as if that were important.
She didn’t know what made her say it. A fishing expedition, perhaps? An attempt to discover if there was anyone on the scene and prepare herself for the possibility of a lover’s presence on his Greek estate? ‘I suppose there are women who would pay a fortune to get their hands on this?’
There was a heartbeat of a pause. ‘You’d be surprised,’ he said silkily, ‘how persistent women can be.’
