‘Xena would want you to come to Greece and help her through this difficult time.’ He pushed home his point, satisfied when he saw her conflicted expression. ‘The last thing Xena needs right now is to think you and I have fallen out. Whatever has happened between us, we owe it to her to be there for her in Greece—as a couple.’
* * *
Rio wanted to crumple to the floor. She was ensnared in a trap of her own making. Damn Lysandros. He’d led her right to it and she’d obliged, stepping in. Yet despite all this she knew he was right. Xena would need her, and if that meant going to Greece and pretending she and Lysandros were still together, then that was exactly what she would do. Not because Lysandros had asked her but because of the bond of friendship between her and Xena.
Lysandros had a business to run and she knew he preferred to spend his time in Athens, where he notoriously played as hard as he worked. Surely he would return to that life once Xena was settled into her island villa? Surely he wouldn’t pursue her or the promise she’d once made. Not when he could have any woman he wanted.
‘That’s unfair,’ she defended herself as he regarded her from dark and unyielding eyes. If only he wasn’t so striking, so handsome. If only he didn’t make her heart flutter so wildly. If only she didn’t find him so attractive and hadn’t almost given herself so completely to him. ‘I’d do anything for Xena.’
His brows rose in disbelief. ‘Except come to Greece and spend the summer with her—because of me.’
‘You really are very arrogant.’ She grappled with the way he made her body tingle as he moved closer. He searched her face, his eyes darkening, reminding her of the moment she’d told him she’d wanted to spend the entire night with him.
Her pulse leapt wildly as that moment clashed with this, confusing her after his annoyance. She wanted to turn away, wanted to conceal the attraction she had for him, but she couldn’t. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t fight the way he made her feel.
‘Right now, all that matters is that Xena gets well and regains her memory.’ Rio forced herself to look away from the handsome Greek who was wrong for her on so many levels. She couldn’t allow herself to fall for him all over again. She didn’t want that kind of power held over her.
‘As soon as the doctor tells me she is well enough to travel, we will go.’ His deep and sexy accent sent ripples of awareness over Rio, but she refused to feel them, refused to react.
‘What if I agree—just for a while?’ She was torn between what Xena needed and protecting her fragile heart.
‘Not for a while, Rio. For the entire summer,’ Lysandros added with icy calmness. ‘That is what Xena will want—and need.’ He knew she wouldn’t refuse to give Xena what she needed. Damn him.
‘No, I can’t.’
‘But you will come, won’t you, Rio? Because you will do anything to help your friend.’ Rio couldn’t believe how he was manipulating the situation—or the way her body reacted just from having him near her. Had she been too hasty in ending it all after what Hans had done? Would Lysandros have understood if she’d told him?
The questions chased each other through her mind. There was no way she could have told him, not when their relationship had been nothing more than just another affair to him. She’d never been foolish enough to believe otherwise.
‘Very well. I will, but not because you have asked, or should I say bullied, me to do so, but because I want to be there for Xena.’
The look he gave her made Rio realise that everything she’d ever been afraid of happening if she saw him again was happening. She was still attracted to him. Still wanted to be with him, but things had changed. Things he didn’t know about—couldn’t know about.
‘And because we have things to sort out?’ The question sounded casual, but the look in his eyes was far from that.
‘We don’t have anything to sort out. We won’t even need to see one another.’ Rio folded her arms, desperate to stand her ground, prevent her body from betraying her.
‘Xena believes we are together. I don’t think making her worry about us will help her recovery, Rio, and we will be seeing each other, of that you can be sure.’
FOR TWO DAYS, Xena’s Greek island retreat had been a haven of tranquillity for both Rio and Xena. Now Lysandros was due to arrive from Athens and Rio’s nerves were threatening to get the better of her. He’d be disappointed his sister’s memory of the accident and previous weeks hadn’t yet returned.
Rio glanced at Xena, compassion for her friend’s predicament filling her. Xena didn’t recall anything that had happened in the weeks leading up to the accident. She had blocked out everything bad. Ricardo’s rejection of her. The assault Hans had attempted on Rio. The break-up between Rio and Lysandros. Even blocked the accident itself. Xena lived under the illusion that none of those things had happened.
‘It’s so frustrating,’ Xena said as she looked up at Rio. ‘Why can’t I remember anything?’
Rio sat down beside Xena. ‘It will come. The doctor said you just need time—and rest.’
‘I can remember that Lysandros will be back from Athens today and we are all going to visit my mother,’ Xena said brightly, recalling the arrangement that had been made as they’d arrived on the island.
Rio, too, could remember that Lysandros was due to return to the island today, but for very different reasons.
‘Maybe you could play a little,’ Xena said, pulling Rio from her thoughts. ‘It might help me remember something.’
Rio looked at the grand piano, forlorn and abandoned since they’d arrived. ‘Later, perhaps,’ she soothed, trying hard not to let her fear of even going near it show.
‘I am rather tired.’ Xena stifled a yawn. ‘I think I will go and have a lie-down before we visit my mother. Gather my strength again.’
Rio watched her friend go with a heavy heart. If only there was something more she could do to help. She missed the confident and bubbly girl Xena really was.
For the past two days, while Lysandros had been in Athens, it had been easy to allow Xena to think that she and her brother were still a couple. But once he was here, it wouldn’t be so easy. She was still far too attracted to him, still longed for the dream of happiness she’d glimpsed before it had been cruelly snatched away by Hans.
With a sigh of frustration she turned and walked to the large glass doors that opened up onto the terrace with a view of the sea. As she looked out over the sparkling waters she saw the sleek white speedboat slowing and moving towards the island. She pushed her thoughts aside, watching as Lysandros stepped onto the jetty. Her heart leapt as he looked towards the villa and she quickly moved out of view. She didn’t know if she could do this, even though deep down she wanted nothing more than to go back to that moment after the recital.
Footsteps sounded on the marble floor as Lysandros entered his sister’s villa. Rio forced brightness into her voice that didn’t echo in her body despite the idyllic Greek island setting and the early summer sunshine.
‘Hello, Lysandros.’ She kept her voice firm, refusing to allow her nerves to show in any way. Whatever Xena believed about them, she needed to keep him at a distance and he had to know that.
‘Hello, Rio.’ The cool edge to his voice contrasted sharply with the darkening of his eyes as his gaze swept over her, creating a trail of tingles almost impossible to ignore.
Power radiated from him and despite his relaxed attire she knew he was anything but. The