‘Every Joe Bloggs knows how to make a million these days. No, sweetheart, my ambitions are set much higher than that. I’d hoped my association with Moorecroft would see me there but the fool folded at the first sign of adversity. Fortunately, I have you now.’
‘I haven’t agreed to anything.’
‘But you will. You covet your position almost as much as I covet the prospect of acquiring Pantelides Shipping. Make no mistake, I will have it.’
‘Greg—’
‘I’ll be in touch on Friday. Don’t disappoint me, Anna.’
He hung up before she could appeal to his better nature. Who was she kidding? Greg had no better nature. He was a vulture who ruthlessly fed on the weak.
The discovery that he’d engineered her to take the fall for his failing company over three years ago had rocked her to the core. When he’d pleasantly asked her to act as his co-director, she’d thought nothing of it, especially when he’d brought in a legal expert to explain things to her. Of course, it’d turned out the so-called legal expert had been in on the scheme to bleed his company dry before declaring bankruptcy and leaving her to take the fall.
She’d had time to dwell on her stupidity and gullibility in the maximum-security prison the judge had sentenced her to, to set an example.
Brianna staggered up from the sofa, swaying on shaky legs as her mind spun with the impossibility of her situation.
The very idea of betraying Sakis made her stomach turn over in revulsion.
He would never forgive her if she brought his company under unpalatable scrutiny so soon after his tanker’s crash and having the memory of his father resurrected.
She could resign with immediate effect. But what would stop Greg from spewing his vitriol purely out of spite?
Telling Sakis the truth was out of the question.
Betrayal is betrayal. The reason for it ceases to matter once the act is done.
Casting her gaze around the almost empty room, another shiver raked through her.
Run!
The stark reality of her harsh childhood had made it impossible for her to fully imbed herself in any one place, even this place she called her sanctuary. At least, if she had to run, she could be out of here in less than half an hour.
She pressed her lips together as a spike of rebellion clayed her feet. Why should she run? She’d done nothing wrong. Her only folly had been to delude herself into thinking Greg cared for her. But she’d paid the price for it.
No more. No more!
Throwing down the mobile phone, she went into her equally sparsely furnished bedroom. The bed lay on wooden slats on the floor. Aside from a super-sized papier-mâché cat she’d bought at a Sunday market months ago, only a tall, broad-leafed ficus plant graced the room. Her only indulgence was the luxury cashmere throw and the fluffy pillows on the bed. Even the built-in wardrobe held only the collection of designer suits Sakis had insisted she used her expense account for when she’d joined Pantelides Shipping. Her own clothes consisted of a few pairs of jeans and tops, one set of jogging bottoms and jumper and two pairs of trainers.
Those would be easy to pack.
No; she refused to think like a fugitive. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
With shaky fingers, she undressed and entered the en suite bathroom, suddenly eager to wash away the grime of her conversation with Greg. But his threat lingered in the air, in the water. No matter how much she scrubbed, she felt tainted by the thought that she had even contemplated betrayal to save her own skin.
The pounding at her door finally registered over the hammering of her heart and the rush of the shower. Twisting the tap shut, she heard the faint sound of her mobile just before another round of hammering made her lunge for her dressing down. With a quick sluice of a towel over her body, she went to her door and peered through the peephole.
The massive frame of Sakis looming through the distorted glass quickly eroded the relief that Greg hadn’t found his way to her flat.
It seemed the two people responsible for the angst in her life were determined to breach her sanctuary at all costs today.
Pulse skittering out of control, Brianna cracked open the door. ‘I...I didn’t know you knew where I lived.’ She looked into his clenched-jawed face and her words died on her lips. ‘Why are you here?’
‘I came here because...’ He stopped, then clawed a hand through his hair. ‘Hell, I’m not exactly sure why I came here. But I know I didn’t want to be at the penthouse by myself.’ He raked his hand through his hair again. The weariness she’d glimpsed on his face earlier seemed amplified a hundred-fold. The soft place inside her chest that had been expanding since their pancake episode this morning widened even further and she found herself stepping back.
‘I... Would you like to come in?’
Lips pursed, he nodded. Standing to one side in the narrow hallway, she held her breath as he entered her sanctuary.
Immediately, he dwarfed the space. She shut the door and entered the living room to find him pacing the space in short, jerky strides.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ She hadn’t touched the bottle of scotch that had come with her Christmas hamper last year. Now she was grateful for it as she produced the bottle and Sakis nodded.
She took out a glass, poured a healthy measure and passed it to him.
‘Aren’t you having one?’ Despite his question, his gaze was focused on the amber liquid in his hand.
‘I don’t really...’ She stopped. After what she’d been through already tonight, what she sensed was coming, perhaps a small drink wouldn’t hurt. She poured a single shot for herself, took a sip and nearly choked as the liquid burned a fiery path through her chest.
With a grim smile, Sakis tossed his own drink back in one unflinching gulp. He set his glass down on the coffee table and faced her.
‘Why did you leave?’
The reason for returning home blazed at the back of her mind. Although she’d done nothing wrong, guilt clawed through her nevertheless. She licked her lips then froze when his eyes darkened. ‘I haven’t been home in a while. I just wanted to touch base.’
‘And touching base precluded you from answering your phone?’
She glanced at the phone she’d abandoned on the sofa after her call with Greg. Picking it up, she activated it and saw twelve missed calls on the screen.
‘Sorry, I was in the shower.’
His agitated pacing brought him closer. He stopped a couple of feet from her. But the distance meant nothing because she could feel the heat of his body reaching out, caressing her, claiming her. Tendrils of damp hair that had escaped the knot clung to her nape, sending tiny rivulets of water down her back. Supremely conscious that she was naked beneath her gown, she tried to take a step back but her feet were frozen on the carpet.
His gaze traced over her and stopped at the rapid rise and fall of her chest. She watched his fists clench and release as stark hunger transformed his face into a mesmerising mask.
‘I’m sorry to have disturbed you,’ he rasped, but nothing in his tone or his face showed contrition. Instead, his stare intensified, whipping the air around her until a helpless moan escaped her lips.
Abandoning reason, Brianna stepped closer, bringing her body flush against his. Knowing she risked betraying her very soul, but unable to stop herself, she cupped his jaw. ‘You ordered me to stop working. I didn’t think you’d need me tonight.’
Her