his call—” Mikolas considered himself immune to rabid foaming at the mouth. He knew firsthand how depraved a man could act, but the bloodlust in Grigor’s voice had been disturbing. Familiar in a grim, dark way.
And educational. Grigor wasn’t upset that his daughter was missing. He was upset the merger had been delayed. He was taking Viveka’s involvement very personally and despite all his posturing and hard-nosed negotiating in the lead-up, he was revealing impatience for the merger to complete.
That told Mikolas his very thorough research prior to starting down this road with Grigor may have missed something. It wasn’t a complete surprise that Grigor had kept something up his sleeve. Mikolas had chosen Grigor because he hadn’t been fastidious about partnering with the Petrides name. Perhaps Grigor had thought the sacrifice to his reputation meant he could withhold certain debts or other liabilities.
It could turn out that Viveka had done Mikolas a favor, giving him this opportunity to review everything one final time before closing. He could, in fact, gain more than he’d lost.
Either way, Grigor’s determination to reach new terms and sign quickly put all the power back in Mikolas’s court, exactly where he was most comfortable having it.
Now he would establish that same position with Viveka and his world would be set right.
“Even if he finds her, what can he do to her?” she was murmuring, linking her hands together, nail beds white. “She’s married to Stephanos. His boss works for a man who owns news outlets. Big ones. Running her to ground would accomplish nothing. No, she’s safe.” She seemed to be reassuring herself.
“What about you?” He was surprised she wasn’t thinking of herself. “He sounded like he would hunt you down no matter where you tried to hide.” It was the dead-honest truth.
Dead.
Honest.
“So you might as well turn me over and save him the trouble? And close your precious deal with the devil?” So much fire and resentment sparked off her it was fascinating.
“This deal is important to me. Grigor knows Pappoús is unwell, that I’m reluctant to look for another option. He wants me to hand you over, close the deal and walk away with what I want—which is to give my grandfather what he wants.”
“And what I want doesn’t matter.” She was afraid, he could see it, but she refused to let it overtake her. He had to admire that.
“You got what you wanted,” he pointed out. “Your sister is safe from my evil clutches.”
“Good,” she insisted, but her mouth quivered before she clamped it into a line. One tiny tear leaked out of the corner of her eye.
Poor, steadfast little kitten.
But that depth of loyalty pleased him. She was passing her test.
He reached out to stroke her hair even though it only made her flinch and flash a look of hatred at him.
“Are you enjoying terrorizing me?”
“Please,” he scoffed, taking up his glass of wine to swirl and sip, cooling a mouth that was burning with anticipation as he finalized his decision. “I’m treating you like a Fabergé egg.”
He ignored the release of tension inside him as what he really wanted moved closer to his grasp.
“Grigor makes an ugly enemy. You understand why I don’t want to make him into one of mine,” he said.
“Is it starting to grate on your conscience?” she charged. “That he’ll beat me to a pulp and throw me into the nearest body of water? I thought you didn’t shame.”
“I don’t. But I need you to see very clearly that the action I’m taking comes at a cost. Which you will repay. I will not be leaving you in Athens, Viveka. You are staying with me.”
VIVEKA’S VISION GREW grainy and colorless for a moment. She thought she might pass out, which was not like her at all. She was tough as nails, not given to fainting spells like a Victorian maiden.
She had been subtly hyperventilating this whole time Mikolas had been tying his noose around her neck. Now she’d stopped breathing altogether.
Had she heard him right?
He looked like a god, his neat wedding haircut finger-combed to the side, his mouth symmetrical and unwavering after smiting her with his words. His gray eyes were impassive. Just the facts.
“But—” she started to argue, wanting to bring up Aunt Hildy.
He shook his head. “We’re not bargaining. Actions have consequences. These are yours.”
“You,” she choked, trying to grasp what he was saying. “You are my consequence?”
“It’s me or Grigor. I’ve already told you that I won’t allow you to hurt yourself, so yes. I have chosen your consequence. We should eat. Before it gets warm,” he said with a whimsical levity that struck her as bizarre in the middle of this intense, life-altering conversation.
He picked up his spoon, but she only stared at him. Her fingers were icicles, stiff and frozen. All of her muscles had atrophied while her heart was racing. Her mind stumbled around in the last glimmers of the bleeding sun.
“I have a life in London,” she managed. “Things to do.”
“I’m sure Grigor knows that and has men waiting.”
Her panicked mind sprang to Aunt Hildy, but she was out of harm’s reach for the moment. Still, “Mikolas—”
“Think, Viveka. Think hard.”
She was trying to. She had been searching for alternatives this whole time.
“So you’re abandoning the merger?” She hated the way her voice became puny and confused.
“Not at all. But the terms have changed.” He was making short work of his soup and waved his spoon. “With your sister as my wife, Grigor would have had considerable influence over me and our combined organization. I was prepared to let him control his side for up to five years and pay him handsomely for his trouble. Now the takeover becomes hostile and I will push him out, take control of everything and leave him very little. I expect he’ll be even more angry with you.”
“Then don’t be so ruthless! Why aggravate him further?”
His answer was a gentle nudge of his bent knuckle under her chin, thumb brushing the tender place at the corner of her mouth.
“He left a mark on my mistress. He needs to be punished.”
Her heart stopped. She jerked back. “Mistress!”
“You thought I was keeping you out of the goodness of my heart?”
Her vision did that wobble again, fading in and out. “You said you
