She opened the case.
And stared disbelievingly.
A ribbon of white fire glittered in the dim light.
‘What is this?’ Ann heard her own voice speaking.
‘A diamond necklace. Whilst I appreciate you prefer to operate on a cash basis, that is not something I am prepared to do in these circumstances. But you are welcome to see the receipt for the necklace—to know how much I consider you are worth. You can be flattered, Ann—it’s a considerable amount.’
She dragged her eyes from the necklace, glittering against the dark velvet of the interior of the jewel case. She looked at him. There was a glitter in his eyes too, as if reflecting the diamonds he was offering her. She felt an emotion spear through her. She did not know its name—only that it was powerful. Very powerful.
‘You see …’ said Nikos, and he shifted very slightly in his seat, the hand that was resting on the polished mahogany surface of his desk flexing minutely. His eyes with that dark glitter were still resting on her. ‘I have decided to cut to the chase. As a businessman I apply the motivations that are sufficient for each transaction to succeed. Your motivation, Ann, is consistent—money. Money is what drives your actions—whether it is giving up your sister’s child, or giving up your invaluable time to come to Sospiris. And therefore I apply it now to this transaction—albeit in a form that is, let us say, an alternative to cash. So—’ he took a sharp intake of breath ‘—now that we have successfully concluded this transaction, you must excuse me. I am leaving for Athens shortly. But I will be back later tonight. Wear the necklace when I come to you, Ann.’ He paused, and the dark glitter intensified. ‘Just the necklace.’
She went on standing there, immobile, incapable of moving, incapable of anything except feeling the emotion spearing through her. Then, from somewhere, she found her voice.
‘You think a diamond necklace will get you into my bed?’
She said it flatly, getting the words out past the emotion that was seizing on them even as she spoke them.
‘Why not? Your track record shows you are very amenable to such an approach to life.’ There was a twist to his mouth as he answered her, his voice terse.
It made the emotion spear deeper into her. Her eyes went to the necklace again—the necklace Nikos was offering her in exchange for sex. Emotion bit again—a different one. One that seemed to touch the very quick of her. But she must not allow that emotion—only the other one, which was as sharp as the point of a spear.
Her eyes pulled away, back to the man sitting in his handmade suit at his antique desk, rich and powerful and arrogant. The man who had kissed her deeply, caressed the intimacies of her body, who had melded his body with hers, who had transported her to an ecstasy she had never known existed.
Who was offering her a diamond necklace for sex …
Carefully, very carefully, she snapped shut the lid of the box and placed it back in front of him.
‘I am not,’ she said, ‘a whore.’
His expression did not change. ‘Your sister,’ he said softly—so softly that it raised the hairs on the back of her neck—’possessed at least one virtue. She did not try and disguise the truth about herself. But you, Ann—you are a hypocrite. Worse even than your sister. Your sister sold her body—you, you sold your own flesh and blood. You sold her child.’ His gaze seared her. ‘So do not stand there and attempt to look virtuous or insulted—’ each word dripped from him with acid contempt ‘—because I’m offering you what your sister was happy enough to take from any man she could persuade to make a similar offer!’
Like a floodgate breaking, emotion surged in Ann. Powerful and overpowering.
‘Don’t speak of Carla like that! And take your diamonds and choke on them!’
She whirled around, blind with fury.
How she got out of there she didn’t know, but the moment she was in the corridor all she could do was stand there, shaking. Then, looking wildly around her, she plunged through the villa until she found her own bedroom, and there, safe in its sanctuary, she threw herself down on her bed.
Hot, hard tears convulsed in her throat. Fevered and furious. Choking her as they racked her. Face down on her pillow she cried tears for Carla, dead in her grave, whom even death could not save from the vile insults of Nikos Theakis—
a man who could take a woman to ecstasy, a paradise of the senses, and yet think her nothing more than a whore …
It was like acid poured on a wound, burning and biting into raw flesh.
She fisted her hands, pushing herself up on her elbows, neck straining, staring at the headboard, tears staining her cheeks.
Why—why should she be reacting like this? She’d known Nikos despised her for what she had done—and she had already castigated herself for succumbing to a man who could still take a woman to bed that he thought so contemptuously of.
And yet this was different. Offering her a diamond necklace, in exchange for her body. Expecting her to accept it.
And why? Because it brought home to her the brutal reality of it—that was all she was to Nikos Theakis. Nothing more.
Rage, convulsing and blinding, shook through her. But beneath the rage was another emotion. The one she had felt reach the very quick of her. The one that brought not fury but something quite different. That made her want to curl up into a ball and clasp her arms around her, as if to stanch a wound.
A wound that had gone much, much deeper than should ever be possible.
Nikos sat at his desk. He hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d gone storming out of his office.
Without the diamond necklace.
He shifted his eyes so they rested on the jewel case.
Why hadn’t she taken it?
It didn’t make sense.. Everything he knew about her—everything she had proved to him—had told him that she would snatch the necklace from his hand as eagerly as she’d taken his cheques.
Even more eagerly.
The expression in his eyes changed minutely. After all, it was not as if she had found being in his bed repulsive …
But it was a mistake to admit any thoughts about Ann Turner in his bed. Immediately, hungrily, appetite leapt within him. It had been twenty-four long, deprived hours since he had taken her to the beach chalet, and his body was protesting the absence of a repeat encounter. It had protested quite enough last night, when he had been left unsatisfied, thwarted. But then at least he had had the prospect of remedying the situation by dint of the means he’d just put into play.
Cutting to the chase had been exactly what he’d intended. No more prevaricating, manipulating games from Ann Turner. Just cutting to the chase and giving her exactly what she was so obviously angling for—what was so obviously the reason behind all her ploys of denial and evasion. Because what other reason could there be for her evasion of him? Her denial of her response to him? He only had to touch her for her to light up like a flame—and, Theos mou, it was the same for him! One touch from her and he wanted her instantly—totally.
The way he did right now.
He shifted restlessly, his thoughts biting with a poisonous mix of frustration and incomprehension.
Why had she refused the necklace? What did she think she was going to achieve by refusing it?
His mouth thinned. Well, there was one thing she was going to achieve, that was for sure.
He seized up the house phone. As Yannis answered, Nikos barked down it, ‘Phone Kyria Constantis and inform her that she is invited to dine here tonight.’ Then