women? The kind of woman who wouldn’t demand anything more than a night of exquisite pleasure? No questions, no longing for happy endings, just hot, passionate nights until the desire cooled.
‘Rio.’ He’d always liked the feel of her name on his lips and moved closer to her. ‘Xena needs you. You are her closest friend.’
She folded her arms across her slender body, adding to the aura of defiance—and the spark of lust in him.
‘I should be playing the piano each day, even though the season is over.’ He didn’t believe the hostile glint in her eyes for one minute. Just as he didn’t believe that excuse. There was an emptiness in it that warned him she was hiding something.
He smiled at her weak excuse. Was she afraid of what was between them? Afraid of its power? ‘Xena has a grand piano in her villa, which I am sure she would love you to play.’
He didn’t go on to say that he also had a piano in his Athens apartment. That would deter her further, but the thought of her playing it—just for him—fired his lust higher.
She shook her head. ‘No. I need to stay in London.’
He moved closer still, putting temptation in his path once more. He couldn’t allow that to distract him, not when he knew Xena would want her friend with her if she had to return to Greece. If she had to face the reality of not only her loss of memory but being unable to play her violin while her wrist and arm healed, she would need Rio.
He would need Rio there too. As hard as it was to admit, he found it difficult to emotionally connect with anyone, even Xena. Angered that his flaw had surfaced, that maybe it had chased Rio away, he drew on the few facts he knew about the accident.
‘Why was Xena out alone when she wasn’t familiar with driving in a big city at night?’
Rio’s eyes sparked with anger, her soft lips pressing into a firm line. For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to answer. ‘I had no idea she’d gone. We’d...had words.’
‘Was she meeting someone?’ He might still want Rio in a way that unnerved him, but right now she was the only person who could help him understand what had happened last night.
‘I think so.’ He heard the pain in her voice and a twinge of guilt spiralled through him until he reminded himself he was doing this for Xena. She would have been furious with him for upsetting her friend, but he needed to know and right now Xena was unable to talk for herself.
He gentled his tone. ‘Who?’
‘Just a friend.’
‘And what were you doing at this time?’ He hated himself for needing to know just where Rio had been that night. Xena had assured him Rio hadn’t dated anyone else since their split and he’d accepted that, had given Rio the space she’d asked for. Maybe now he’d get the answers he wanted, maybe even continue where they’d left off.
‘I went to bed, assuming Xena had too.’ Rio looked boldly at him, daring him to challenge her explanation. And he would. He hadn’t got where he was now in business by not taking risks. His world-renowned luxury yacht company had pushed him to the limits and beyond as he’d fought to bring his father’s declining shipping company into the twenty-first century and expand it. There was no way he was going to allow Rio to undermine him. He wouldn’t allow her to keep him from the truth about last night—or any other night, for that matter.
‘You said you’d had words. What about?’ His usually all-too-effective charm slipped into his voice and he watched as a flurry of emotions crossed her face.
‘It doesn’t matter now.’
He hadn’t expected that. ‘And why would that be?’
She inhaled deeply then moved a pace towards him. A valiant attempt at bravado.
‘It was nothing; you don’t need to concern yourself.’ He hadn’t anticipated the innocent and somewhat shy Rio Armstrong to have such a sting in her tail.
‘My sister is lying in a hospital bed, unable to recall the accident and obviously other things too. I have every right to concern myself.’ He looked back up the corridor to where Xena’s private room was, giving weight to his argument.
‘We were talking about a man.’ She paused as if contemplating her next words carefully. ‘That’s all you need to know.’
So Rio had spurned him, only to move on to a new lover. ‘And this man is the reason you stood me up?’ He waited for her answer, the unexpected turn in the conversation working in his favour.
‘That’s not important now.’ Rio skilfully avoided the issue, but he wasn’t going to let her get away with not answering him that easily.
‘Why did you stand me up, Rio?’ The need to know surged forward, pushing all other thoughts to one side. ‘Because you kissed me? Told me you wanted to spend the entire night with me?’ He taunted her mercilessly.
She gasped, her gaze meeting his, indignation in her eyes. ‘No.’
‘Why did you change your mind?’ If only she could admit there was something between them. ‘What are you afraid of, Rio?’
‘I’m not afraid of anything. I simply don’t want a man in my life—any man.’ Sparks of anger filled her words, but he refused to allow them to penetrate his armour. He’d do precisely what he’d done for the last six weeks and wait for the right moment. This was a conversation to have later, in Greece, on the island, when she would have no option but to talk to him.
‘Xena would want you to come to Greece and help her through this difficult time.’ He pushed home his point, satisfied when he saw her conflicted expression. ‘The last thing Xena needs right now is to think you and I have fallen out. Whatever has happened between us, we owe it to her to be there for her in Greece—as a couple.’
* * *
Rio wanted to crumple to the floor. She was ensnared in a trap of her own making. Damn Lysandros. He’d led her right to it and she’d obliged, stepping in. Yet despite all this she knew he was right. Xena would need her, and if that meant going to Greece and pretending she and Lysandros were still together, then that was exactly what she would do. Not because Lysandros had asked her but because of the bond of friendship between her and Xena.
Lysandros had a business to run and she knew he preferred to spend his time in Athens, where he notoriously played as hard as he worked. Surely he would return to that life once Xena was settled into her island villa? Surely he wouldn’t pursue her or the promise she’d once made. Not when he could have any woman he wanted.
‘That’s unfair,’ she defended herself as he regarded her from dark and unyielding eyes. If only he wasn’t so striking, so handsome. If only he didn’t make her heart flutter so wildly. If only she didn’t find him so attractive and hadn’t almost given herself so completely to him. ‘I’d do anything for Xena.’
His brows rose in disbelief. ‘Except come to Greece and spend the summer with her—because of me.’
‘You really are very arrogant.’ She grappled with the way he made her body tingle as he moved closer. He searched her face, his eyes darkening, reminding her of the moment she’d told him she’d wanted to spend the entire night with him.
