to make it better for her. Even keep the truth from her powerful and commanding brother. Just as she’d keep her true reason for ending their relationship from him.
Rio fought frustration and guilt as it welled up inside her. If only she’d been able to convince Xena that her married lover had ended the affair in order to make his marriage work. That he wouldn’t leave his wife. Then maybe the accident would never have happened. Xena wouldn’t be here now. But she hadn’t been able to convince her. She and Xena had fallen out over it and Xena had slipped out after Rio had gone to bed and now Rio blamed herself for being too hard on her friend.
‘What happened?’ Lysandros demanded again, his tone more insistent this time, dragging her back to the present.
‘A car ran the lights. It hit her car hard. Spun it round.’ As she thought of it, of the distress Xena must have felt, she closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples. She was tired. Upset. Seeing Lysandros again was too much on top of Xena’s accident.
‘Are you okay?’ Lysandros’s voice was so close it made her jump.
She opened her eyes to see him crouched before her, his hands holding the arms of the chair either side of her. Trapping her. Instantly all she could think about was the moment Hans had trapped her against the piano. No, she couldn’t allow that moment to rule her. Not ever. She just needed time to get over it.
‘Rio?’ Lysandros laid his palm on her lap, genuine concern in his voice. The heat of his hand grounded her, making her feel peculiarly safe.
She looked at him, almost bereft when he withdrew his hand, but this wasn’t a time to focus on her or what she wanted or even needed. The only thing she had to do now was be there for Xena, doing and saying whatever she needed her to say.
‘It’s Xena who needs your concern, not me.’ Even to her own ears, her voice sounded cold and emotionless.
He stood up, his long legs making him intimidatingly tall as he towered over her. She looked up at him, straight into the black depths of his eyes. She couldn’t look away. Couldn’t help herself wondering. Did the desire that had once filled them lie beneath their lacklustre darkness?
She forced her attention back to Xena’s sleeping form, desperate to focus her emotions. She looked up at Lysandros again, the man she could have been so happy with if other things hadn’t got in the way. ‘I have spoken to the doctor. She should start to come round soon. Her broken arm and fractured wrist are expected to heal, although her injuries will mean she won’t be able to play the violin for some considerable time.’
If only he knew the full truth of it all. Playing the violin would not be what Xena worried about as she recovered. It would be the loss of the man she loved that would fill her mind, her heart. If she remembered him. Tears sprang to Rio’s eyes and she blinked rapidly to hold them back. Jumping up, she went to the window, looking out over the city bathed in glorious spring sunshine as the day began. Anything to get away from his scrutiny.
‘Why?’ He glanced at Xena, sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing around her. She’d promised Xena her secret would be exactly that until she was ready to tell anyone. With a clarity and determination she’d never felt before, Rio knew she would do whatever she had to for Xena. That was what friends did and she knew without a doubt that Xena would do the same for her.
She looked at Lysandros and refused to quake at the power that radiated from him, refused to bow to his superior command. This wasn’t a business transaction—this was his sister’s life. Xena’s future. All Rio wanted was to be there for her.
‘Even without the amnesia, the injuries Xena has sustained will require time to heal. She may not even be able to play when the new season starts in the autumn.’
Rio calmly laid the foundations, which, although true, was not the reason why Xena wouldn’t want to rejoin the orchestra. Ricardo was part of the stage crew and amidst a torrent of tears Xena had clung to Rio before they’d fallen out, saying there was no way she could be part of the orchestra now. Rio’s heart still broke to remember the pain in her friend’s voice, knowing it came from losing the man she loved. A pain she also knew—because if she was truthful with herself, she had loved Lysandros.
‘Then the best option is for Xena to return to Greece.’ Lysandros looked at his sister, then back at her. The firm tone of his voice left her in no doubt that he did not expect his decision to be challenged—by anyone.
Rio had no intention of challenging him or his superiority. Relief flooded through her. If Xena left London and went to her island villa to recover, then any chances of gossip about her and Ricardo would be lessened. Ricardo certainly wouldn’t be the one to say anything. He was a married man and stood to lose everything. Xena would be able to recover in peace, and although the thought of saying goodbye to her friend at such a time hurt, it was the best solution.
‘Yes, I think that would be exactly what she needs in the circumstances.’ Rio’s voice had lost that determined edge, but she was acutely aware of Lysandros’s scrutiny.
He moved back to the window, looking out over London for a moment before turning to face her. Like an animal trapped in the beams of car headlights at night, she froze to the spot. Was he going to demand an explanation? From her? Was he now about to demand to know why she’d stood him up that night?
‘And what about you?’ He spoke gently and she swallowed down her guilt. She didn’t deserve his concern. She might not have been directly involved in the accident, but she blamed herself. ‘I can see this is affecting you too.’
He moved closer to her, his handsome face softened by the kind of concern she guessed those he did business with rarely saw. She wanted to back away, wanted to keep as much distance between herself and this man as possible. But she couldn’t. He mesmerised her, made her want things she couldn’t have now.
‘I will stay in London.’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper. He reached out and pushed the stray strands of her hair back from her face, just as he’d done the last time he’d seen her. Before he’d kissed her.
She caught her breath. Her pulse raced so fast she couldn’t say anything. All she could do was look into his hypnotically sexy black eyes.
‘You have had a shock too. You shouldn’t be alone.’ His words were heavy with his Greek accent, making her body’s reaction to him, to his nearness, even more intense.
She stepped back from him, away from the strange power he had over her. ‘I will be fine here.’
‘I am sure Xena wouldn’t want that,’ he insisted, his eyes dark and watchful, as if he was trying to tell her he wanted her there.
‘No, I should stay here.’
* * *
Lysandros took in Rio’s face, unusually bare of make-up, and along with the casual jeans she wore with a sweater, she had an air of complete innocence. What was it about this woman? Why did she affect him like this? Why did he want to take on the challenge she’d unwittingly issued when she’d stood him up and then told him it was over? Her response to his kiss after the piano recital had promised him so much. So what had changed that?
Xena stirred and he forced his mind from those questions. Instantly Rio was at his sister’s side, her attention focused completely on her friend. He should be giving Xena the same attention, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Rio. Her hair, loosely pulled back, looked tousled, giving away the haste
