will call the police.’
Unaccustomed to being continually challenged, Nikos felt his frustration rise. ‘I’m ordering you to give me the diamond.’
‘And I don’t respond to orders, especially from people I don’t respect.’
Swiftly he changed tack. ‘If you’re thinking, even for a moment, that you can make money out of this situation then let me tell you right away that you’re in for a severe disappointment. The diamond does not belong to you or your late sister. If you are planning to sell the jewel for money then it’s only fair to warn you that it would prove impossible to find a buyer. The stone is so famous that no reputable dealer will touch it and its value is incalculable.’
‘You still think this is about money?’ She threw her head back and her hair poured over her shoulders like tongues of flame. ‘Is that all you think about? How very sad your life must be!’ The raw blaze of anger in her eyes caught his attention and he watched her transform in front of his eyes. From cool academic to passionate woman.
She was still dressed in the boring, sober suit but Nikos no longer noticed what she was wearing. He was transfixed by the burning fire in her unusual blue eyes and by the almost feral wildness of her hair.
Accustomed to women who existed from one blow-dry to the next, women who discouraged any activity which might disturb razor-sharp perfection, Nikos suddenly had an inexplicable desire to sink his hand into those wild fiery curls and bring his mouth down hard on hers. Just how far did that wildness of hers extend?
Seriously disturbed by the entirely inappropriate direction of his own thoughts, he took a step backwards just to make absolutely sure that he wasn’t tempted to touch her. ‘It isn’t about money. It’s about regaining something which is rightfully mine.’
‘You are an insult to the human race!’ She stepped off the podium and stalked towards him, her anger a live and powerful force. ‘Six months ago my sister died falling from your balcony and we heard nothing from you. Nothing! And now you have the gross insensitivity to turn up here asking for a piece of jewellery. Do you have no compassion? Do you have no sense of human decency?’ Visibly shaken by her own outburst, she took several deep breaths and he found himself staring at her mouth, captivated by the soft, ripe curve of her lower lip. The slight fullness gave an impression of sensuality while a tiny dimple in the corner of her mouth hinted at vulnerability.
The atmosphere throbbed with tension and Nikos forced himself to remember that Angie Littlewood was a woman to whom sensuality was entirely foreign. ‘The very first words I spoke to you were of condolence.’
She was standing right in front of him now, chin lifted, eyes blazing into his. A faint scent teased his nostrils and he wondered for a moment whether she was woman enough to enjoy perfume and then decided that what he could smell was probably her shampoo.
‘Words are nothing without the appropriate feeling behind them and we both know that you are entirely devoid of feeling.’ She spat the words angrily and he ground his teeth.
‘I make excuses for your behaviour because I know you are distressed about your sister.’
She gasped. ‘My behaviour? I’m not the one who seduced and misled an innocent young girl—who made her so utterly miserable she drank herself into oblivion and then fell to her death. I think if we’re examining anyone’s behaviour here it should be yours but the difference is that I’m not prepared to excuse you. You are a ruthless, self-seeking, egocentric bastard—’ She stopped as she said the word and lifted a hand to her mouth, shock and confusion on her pale face. ‘I—I’m sorry,’ she began stiffly and he raised an eyebrow, wondering why she felt the need to apologise.
‘Sorry for what? For using the same language that your sister frequently used?’
Colour touched her cheeks. ‘We’re not—I mean, I’m not—’ She gave a faint frown as if she were trying to remember the point of their argument. ‘You think of nothing but money and possessions and you need to be taught that there are other things that matter. I’m not prepared to give you your jewel.’ Her voice cracked. ‘It was the last thing she was wearing. I can’t—why would you need it, anyway? It was supposed to be given to the woman of your heart and we both know that you don’t have a heart, Mr Kyriacou.’
Not prepared to give him the diamond?
Nikos stared at her in a state of stunned disbelief. It hadn’t occurred to him, even for a moment, that she’d seriously refuse to hand over the jewel.
Shaken by the less than welcome knowledge that he’d underestimated an opponent for the first time in his life, Nikos stood frozen to the spot, watching as she strode from the room and slammed the door so hard that the sound echoed round the abandoned lecture theatre for several seconds.
Nikos stared after her, his brain still filled with the vision of flashing blue eyes and fiery red hair.
What, he thought to himself, was he going to do now?
Chapter Three
WHAT on earth had her sister ever seen in the man?
Still shocked and shaking from the unexpected violence of her own temper, Angie twisted her hair on top of her head and secured it with a vicious stab of the clip.
If she was honest, she was more than a little horrified by the strength of her own reaction. If she’d been asked to describe her character in two words she would have chosen ‘calm’ and ‘logical’. But where had logic been today when she’d stood in front of Nikos Kyriacou and called him a bastard? And as for calm—
She cringed at the memory. She’d raised her voice and used language that she considered to be extremely distasteful. She’d sounded more like her mother than herself. But maybe her mother was right, in this instance. Nikos Kyriacou had behaved badly. It didn’t matter which way you looked at it, the evidence was there. He’d dated her sister—the gift of the necklace supported her sister’s claim that he’d been in love with her and intending to marry her, so there could be little doubt that she was telling the truth on that score—and then the relationship had ended. And the Greek’s sole purpose in life was now to retrieve the necklace he’d given away so carelessly. Ready for the next woman, no doubt.
Angie gritted her teeth. She was the first to admit that relationships weren’t exactly her forte, but it was obvious to her that Nikos Kyriacou had never intended to marry her sister and his track record supported that assumption. According to her mother, he never dated a woman for longer than three weeks. Clearly her sister had been severely misled.
Angie pushed her files into her bag and then lifted a hand to her chest just to reassure herself that the diamond was still there, safely tucked under her jumper.
Perhaps it had been foolish to wear it, but wearing it had made her feel closer to Tiffany and it wasn’t as if anyone could see it. Under her jumper was probably as safe a place as any until she gave it back to the Kyriacou family.
She should have done it today, of course. She should have reached inside her boring roll-neck jumper, undone the clasp and given him the diamond. And that would have been the end of it, at least for him. But for her—
She just couldn’t bear to part with something that Tiffany had worn.
Which was ridiculous, she thought miserably as she pushed open the door and walked
