“No.” She looked around wildly, her heart pumping. There had to be a boat around here. A Jet Ski. Something. She would find a way to escape if she had to comb through every inch of this island.
“Come along, pethi mou,” he said with a bite of impatience. “The caretaker is away but you are safe with me. After all, you are my guest.”
She scoffed and cast him a look of disbelief. “I am your hostage.”
Stergios flinched. He went pale as his expression turned blank. “What did you say?” His voice was a rasp.
“You heard me.” Jodie didn’t like how the air suddenly crackled between them. Alarm trickled down her spine. “You have kidnapped me. You, of all people.”
He dropped the suitcases on the ground as if his fingers went slack. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His hand sliced through the air. “This is not a kidnapping.”
“You are detaining me against my will.” Her voice faded as he approached her. It took all of her courage to stand her ground.
“Did I take you by force?” he asked through clenched teeth. “Are you in chains?”
Jodie saw the haunted look in his eyes and she knew he was wrestling with old memories. But she couldn’t afford to show him any sympathy. “What are you saying? That I’m not your prisoner because I had a comfortable ride over here?”
He stabbed his finger in the direction of the house behind him. “You will have a room of your own and plenty of food. You will have comfort and privacy. I will make sure every one of your needs are met.”
“As long as I do what you tell me?” She flung her hands high in the air. “Forget it. I’m not going into that house. How do I know that you won’t lock me in the room?”
“There are no bars on the windows. You can come and go as you please.”
“As long as I stay on the island,” Jodie added. “That still makes me a prisoner.”
He closed his eyes and drew in air between his teeth. His hands clenched and unclenched at his side. “This is not a kidnapping.”
She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Then get me off this island right now.”
He paused as the tension radiated from his body. Just when she thought Stergios was going to explode, he opened his eyes and took a step back. “Oxi. No.”
His answer was so quiet and calm. He didn’t care what he did or to whom. “I should have expected this.” She shook her head in disgust. “This is why you intimidate everyone. They can sense that you aren’t the gentleman you pretend to be. They know there’s a wild animal just underneath ready to pounce.”
“I’m going inside.” Stergios walked away and grabbed the luggage. “You can do whatever you please.”
She stamped her foot as the fury ripped through her. “What have I done to deserve this?” she called out to him. “Why do you hate me so much?”
Stergios slowly turned around. His eyes were cold and his mouth was curved in a stern frown. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling. He was back in control. “Hate you?” he asked. “Jodie, I don’t give a damn about you.”
“You’re lying,” she yelled. “You wish you could forget me. You hate how I make you feel.”
The corner of his mouth hitched. “Dream on.”
“I could tell that night in the wine cellar,” she blurted out. “That’s why you ran away. You were ashamed that I had that much power over you.” Ashamed that, of all women, it had been me.
Stergios’s harsh features tightened as he hunched his shoulders. She could tell she struck a nerve. He was trying to hold himself back before he retaliated.
Jodie pressed her fingertips against her lips. She had to curb her tongue. She was already vulnerable to this man. She didn’t need Stergios to figure out how he made her feel. She was the one who lost control when they were together. He was the one who had power over her.
“I’m going to make you regret this,” Jodie said in a hiss as she turned around and went back up the steps. “And you will have no one to blame but yourself.”
* * *
Stergios paced along the windows that overlooked the beach. He had discarded his jacket hours ago and had rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt. It was turning dark and the rain was still coming down hard. Jodie had not made an attempt to find shelter.
He paused and looked for a flash of the bright orange designer dress. He had seen the pop of color every once in a while as she searched the island for an escape. Stergios now spotted her sitting on the wet sand near the house. Her blond hair was plastered against her head and her soaked dress clung to her body as the ocean waves lapped against her bare feet. With her slumped shoulders and outstretched legs, she appeared weary. Defeated.
Kidnapped.
Stergios hissed and rubbed his hands over his face. Jodie always knew what to say to pierce his armor. She would do anything to get a reaction. But it wasn’t going to work. This was not a kidnapping.
He knew what a kidnapping felt like. It was a constant state of fear and of not knowing. It was howling pain punctuated with numbness. At times he hadn’t felt human. He had been a pawn, a package. His childhood, his innocence, had been stripped from him in an instant. Worst of all, he had discovered what he was capable of and how far he would go to find freedom.
He understood what it felt like to be taken. And still... Stergios stared at Jodie. He replayed his actions in his mind and it had been strangely familiar. The truth suddenly cracked his resistance wide open. It was as if jagged shards dug deep in his chest and he couldn’t breathe.
He had made the same decision his father had made years ago.
Stergios took a shallow breath as the pain scored through him. This hadn’t been a delay or a detour. He had kidnapped someone. He had followed his instincts and had snatched Jodie in broad daylight.
He rested his forehead against the windowpane and struggled to remain standing as a cold sweat prickled his skin. The idea to abduct Jodie had come naturally and he hadn’t questioned it.
Stergios closed his eyes as the nausea swept through him. After all these years of fighting the possibility, blood will out. He thought he had been protecting his family by keeping Jodie away. Instead, he had uncovered one of his deepest fears. He had always pushed himself to be a better man than his father. To distance himself from everything the man had represented.
But every time he looked in the mirror, he was reminded of his father. Despite his achievements and milestones, nothing could cover up the fact that he was Elias Pagonis’s son.
Stergios stepped away from the window. He thrust his hands in his hair, but he didn’t feel the sting of his fingers dragging along his scalp. He had to fix this. Redeem himself. Find a way to erase his actions.
He glanced up at the sky and noticed how the trees swayed against the wind. There was no way they could leave the island tonight in this weather. And could he allow Jodie to attend the wedding? Was he willing to take that risk?
Stergios would consider the consequences later. Right now she was his obligation. He couldn’t let anything happen to her while she was here.
He strode out of the house, the door banging against the wall, and marched through the sand. Jodie’s eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of him. She scooped up her shoes as she struggled to stand up.
“You are so stubborn,” he called out over the roar of the storm.
She scurried back, poised to run. “Don’t talk to me! I’m furious with you.”
“Are you going to stay out here all night?” The wind whipped his hair as the cold sheet of rain stung his bare skin.