takeover or the fact you’re staying with me. You need some serious protections in place. Did you have your mother’s death investigated?”
That seemed to throw her. Her face spasmed with emotion.
“I was only nine when it happened so it was years before I really put it all together and thought he could have done it. I was fourteen when I asked the police to look into it, but they didn’t take me seriously. The police on the island are in his pocket. The whole island is and I don’t really blame them. I’ve learned myself that you play by his rules or lose everything. Probably the only reason he didn’t kill me for making a statement was because it would have been awfully suspicious if something happened to me right after my complaint. But stirring up questions was one of the reasons he kicked me out. Why?”
“I will hire a private investigator to see what we can find. If something can be proved and he’s put in prison, you’ll be out of his reach.”
“That could take years!”
“And will make him that much more incensed with you in the short term,” he said drily. “But as you say, if he’s under suspicion, it wouldn’t look good if anything happened to you. I think it will afford you protection in the long term.”
“You’re going to start an investigation, take care of my aunt and protect me from Grigor and all I have to do is pretend to be your girlfriend.” Her voice rang with disbelief. “For how long?”
“At least until the merger completes and the investigation shows some results. Play your part well and you might even earn my forgiveness for disrupting my life so thoroughly.”
Her laugh was ragged and humorless. “And sex?”
She tossed her head, affecting insouciance, but the small frown between her brows told him she was anxious. That aggravated him. He could think of nothing else but discovering exactly how incendiary they would be together. If she wasn’t equally obsessed, he was at a disadvantage.
Not something he ever endured.
With a casual flick of his hand, he proclaimed, “Like today’s fine weather, we’ll enjoy it because it’s there.”
Did a little shadow of disappointment pass behind her eyes? What did she expect? Lies about falling in love? They really were at an impasse if she expected that ruse.
Her mouth pursed to disguise what might have been a brief tremble. She pushed to stand. “Yes, well, the almanac is predicting heavy frost. Dress warm.” She reached for her bag. “I’m going to my room.”
“Leave your passport with me.”
She turned back to regard him with what he was starting to think of as her princess look, very haughty and down the nose. “Why?”
“To arrange travel visas.”
“To where?”
“Wherever I need you to be.”
“Give me a ‘for instance.’”
“Asia, eventually, but you wanted to go to Athens, didn’t you? There’s a party tonight. Do as you’re told and I’ll let you off the boat to come with me.”
Her spine went very straight at that patronizing remark. Her unfettered breasts were not particularly heavy, but magnificent in their shape and firmness and chill-sharpened points. He was going to go out of his mind if he didn’t touch her again soon.
As if she read his thoughts, her brows tugged together with conflict. She was no doubt thinking that the return of her purse and arrival in Athens equaled an excellent opportunity to set him in the rearview mirror.
He tensed, waiting out the minutes of her indecision. Oddly, it was not unlike the anticipation of pain. His breath stilled in his lungs, throat tight, as he willed her to do as he said.
Do not make me ask again.
Helplessness flashed in her expression before she ducked her head and drew her passport out of her bag, hand trembling as she held it out to him.
A debilitating rush of relief made his own arm feel like it didn’t even belong to him. He reached to take it.
She held on while she held his gaze, incredibly beautiful with that hard-won determination lighting her proud expression. “You will make sure Aunt Hildy is properly cared for?”
“You and Pappoús will get along well. He holds me to my promises, too.”
She released the passport into his possession, averting her gaze as though she didn’t want to acknowledge the significance. Clearing her throat, she took out her phone. “I want to check in with Trina. May I have the WiFi code?”
“The security key is a mix of English and Greek characters.” He held out his other hand. “I’ll do it for you.”
She released a noise of impatient defeat, slapped her phone into his palm and walked away.
MIKOLAS HAD SET himself up in her contacts with a selfie taken on her phone, of him sitting there like a sultan on his yacht, taking ownership of her entire life.
She couldn’t stop looking at it. Those smoky eyes of his were practically making love to her, the curve of his wide mouth quirked at the corners in not quite a smile. It was more like, I know you’re naked in the shower right now. He was so brutally handsome with his chiseled cheekbones and devil-doesn’t-give-a-damn nonchalance he made her chest hurt.
Yet he had also forwarded a request from the Swiss doctor for her aunt’s details along with a recommendation for one of those beyond-top-notch dementia villages that were completely unattainable for mere mortals. A quick scan of its website told her it was very patient-centric and prided itself on compassion and being ahead of the curve with quality treatment. All that was needed was the name of her aunt’s physician to begin Hildy’s transfer into the facility’s care.
Along with Trina’s well-being, a good plan for Aunt Hildy was the one thing Viveka would sell her soul for. It was a sad commentary on her life that it was the only thing pulling her back to London. She had no community there, rarely had time for dating or going out with friends. Her neighbor was nice, but mostly her life had revolved around school, then work and caring for Aunt Hildy. There was no one worrying about her now, when she had been stolen like a concubine by this throwback Spartan warrior.
She sighed, not even able to argue that her job was a career she needed to get back to. One quick email and her position had been snapped up by one of the part-timers who need the hours. She’d be on the bottom rung when she went back. If she went back. She’d accepted that job for its convenience to home, and in the back of her mind, she’d already been planning to make a change once she had Hildy settled.
But Aunt Hildy had faced nothing but challenges all her life and, in her way, she’d been Viveka’s lifeline. The old woman shouldn’t have to suffer and wouldn’t. Not if Viveka could help it.
And now that Mikolas had spelled out that sex wasn’t mandatory...
Oh, she didn’t
