What the Greek's Money Can't Buy

CHAPTER EIGHT


WHAT FELT LIKE hours later, Sakis pulled her closer and brushed back her hair from her face.

The kiss he planted on her temple was gentle but possessive. ‘That was sensational, glikia mou.’

‘What does that mean?’

He gave a low laugh. ‘You have an intelligent mind, Moneypenny. Find out.’

‘You like to say my surname quite a lot. In fact, you don’t go more than a minute or two when we’re talking before going “Moneypenny this” or “Moneypenny that”.’

She felt his grin against her neck. ‘And this surprises you? I find your surname very intriguing, sexy.’

She fought not to tense at the interest in his tone and responded with forced lightness. ‘Sexy?’

He shrugged. ‘Before I met you, I’d only ever heard that name in a spy movie.’

‘And you think she’s sexy?’

‘Extremely, and also hugely underestimated.’

‘I agree with you there. But she was often overlooked in favour of sexier, in-your-face female leads; she was also the one who never got her guy.’

Sakis drew closer and traced his lips along the line of her shoulder. ‘Well, I think we’ve remedied that tonight. Plus, she had astonishing staying power. Just like you. No one in their right mind would overlook you, Moneypenny, even though you try to hide it with that hypnotic swan-glide.’

She laughed. ‘Swan glide?’

‘Outwardly, you’re serene, so damned efficient, and yet below you’re paddling madly. Watching you juggle virtual balls is damned sexy.’

‘Damn; and there I thought no one could see the mad paddling underneath.’

‘Sometimes, there’s just a little ruffle. Like when I misbehave and you itch to put me in my place.’

‘So you know you’re misbehaving? Acceptance is the first step, I suppose.’

She shivered as he rocked his hips forward in a blatantly masculine move that had her moaning. But then he pulled out of her a second later and flipped her to face him. ‘Like all men in my position, I live to push the boundaries. But I get that I need an anchor sometimes. You’re my anchor, Brianna.’ He spoke with a low but fierce intensity that made tears prickle behind her eyes.

‘Sakis...I...’

He kissed her, a slow, luxurious exploration that soon became something else, something more. She wanted to protest when he lifted his head. ‘Hold that thought; I need to change condoms. Bathroom?’

She pointed and watched him head towards her tiny bathroom, her eyes glued to his toned, chiselled physique. The thought that she was about to make love with this virile, sexy man again made her tremble so hard, she clutched the pillow.

But, alone, dread began to creep in. She’d gone beyond what the hell am I doing? Now she had to deal with what the hell am I going to do?

Sakis might not have meant to but tonight he’d revealed just how much he treasured and respected her. How ironic that, just when she could’ve felt secure in the knowledge that her job was safe, that she didn’t need to prove herself as the invaluable asset in Sakis’s life, she would have to walk away.

Because there really was no choice. She would never betray Sakis the way he’d been betrayed before. As for Greg, he deserved to burn in hell.

She toyed with confessing but brushed it away. Now she understood just what he’d been through with his father, she couldn’t bear for him to look at her and see another fraud, someone who’d failed to reveal the whole truth about her past.

Her only option would be to resign and find herself another job somewhere far away, perhaps in another country even, where neither Greg’s vile threats or Sakis’s condemnation would touch her.


A deep pool of sadness welled up inside her, bringing with it a sharp pain that made her groan and bury her face in the pillow.

She jumped when a warm hand caressed her back.

‘Should I be offended that you were so far away you’d forgotten I exist?’

Composing herself, she turned to face him. God, he was gorgeous, even with the shadows of the past few days’ stress lurking in his eyes. Perhaps that was what made him even more breath-taking—the fact that, despite being the ruthless entrepreneur feared by most competitors, he still had a caring heart.

Unable to stop herself, she reached for him and glided her hand over his warm, sculpted chest to draw him closer. ‘I hadn’t forgotten. I always know when you’re near, Sakis. Always.’

His eyes darkened as he stretched out beside her and took her mouth in a long, deep kiss. ‘I can’t believe I waited this long to make you mine.’

The stamp of possessiveness in his voice made her heart jump in thrilling delight even though deep down she knew it was a futile reaction. She would never be truly his because this wouldn’t last beyond the week. She pushed the disturbing thoughts away.

‘Even though I was sweet enough, but nothing to lose your head over?’ She quoted his words back at him and watched a shamefaced look cross his features.

He cursed under his breath. ‘I think we both know that was a blatant lie.’

‘What was the truth then?’

His lips drifted lazily over hers but she wasn’t fooled that it was a casual caress. Against her thigh his re-energised erection pulsed with urgent demand, eliciting an electrifying reaction inside her body.

‘The truth was that I wanted nothing more than to throw you on the nearest gym mat and take you until you couldn’t speak. What would you have done if I’d said that, instead of the lame excuse I came up with?’

She leaned up and caught his earlobe in a saucy bite. ‘I’d have said bring it on.’

The tremor that went through him preceded a guttural curse as he surged over her and proceeded to claim her in the most elemental way possible.

Within seconds, he had her on the knife-edge of need, a need so visceral she didn’t know whether to beg for mercy or to beg him never to stop.

‘S...Sakis...please,’ she begged as he roughly tongued one nipple.

‘I love the sound of my name on your lips. Say it again,’ he murmured against her skin, his gaze rising to capture hers.

She shook her head in silent denial. A fiercely determined light entered his eyes and her heart sank.

He tugged on her engorged nub. ‘Say my name, Brianna.’

‘Why?’ she asked defiantly.

‘Because there’s something potent and infinitely sexy about you crying out my name in the heat of passion.’

‘But it sounds... It feels...’

‘Too intimate?’ He continued the erotic path between her breasts, his gaze never leaving hers as she nodded. ‘It makes it all the more intense, no?’

Firm hands parted her thighs and one thumb lazily stroked her.

‘Yes.’ She sucked in a jagged breath as arousal spiked her blood with drugging pleasure. Her lids grew heavy and her back arched off the bed as the pressure escalated.

‘That’s it; lose yourself in it, Brianna...’

The lazy, continental drawl of her name had the right effect. Liquid heat oozed through her, making her limbs grow heavy and weak. ‘Oh God.’

‘Wrong deity,’ he said on a low laugh. The sound grazed over her, adding another dimension to the emotions bombarding her. Teeth bit her inner thigh; his warm tongue immediately soothed the bite, then proceeded to draw in ever closer circles to where his thumb wrecked mindless chaos.

Pleasure roared through her, eliciting the exact response she knew he wanted.

Sakis. The name echoed through her, over and over, seeking release. Sakis.

Her skin tightened as her climax grew closer. His tongue lapped her once, twice.

At the outer reaches of her mind, she heard a tearing sound.

Sakis.

His thumb left her *oris and was replaced immediately by his tongue. Brianna shut her eyes on a long, keening moan that was ripped from the depths of her soul.

Dear Lord, she was going to come like she never had before. She reached out, intending to grip the sheets, and instead encountered hot, muscled flesh.

Her eyes flew open just as he reared above her and plunged, hot, stiff and deep inside her.

‘Sakis!’

‘Yes! Theos, you look so hot like that.’

She repeated his name in a strangled litany as the most forceful orgasm she’d ever had laid her to waste. Through it all he kept up the rhythm, his groans of pleasure prolonging hers, so she milked him with her muscles.

‘Brianna, eros mou.’ He fell onto his elbows and plunged his fingers into her hair, holding her down as he plundered her mouth with his. ‘You’re incredible,’ he breathed against her lips as he surged deeper inside her. ‘I can’t get enough of you.’

His fingers tightened in her hair as his mouth drifted over her jaw to her neck. His breath grew harsh, his body momentarily losing its steady rhythm as waves of pleasure washed over them.

Gritting his teeth, Sakis forced back control into his body, if only temporarily, because he knew he was fighting a losing battle. But it was a battle he was perfectly willing to surrender.

The warm, sexy body undulating beneath him blew his mind. While half of him declared himself insane for waiting this long to give in to the spellbinding attraction, the other half rejoiced at waiting. It was clear Brianna wouldn’t have given in under normal circumstances.

Something had happened today at the café. He didn’t know what and couldn’t pinpoint it but the simple meal had taken an unexpected turn, had shaken him in a way that had left him reeling.

She’d felt it too; he knew it. Whether it was the reason she’d ended up here, he didn’t know, but he intended to grasp this golden opportunity with both hands.

Her inner muscles tightened again and he nearly lost it. The swollen temptation of her roughly kissed mouth parted on a breath and he groaned. Sweet heaven, everything about her blew his mind, but never in a thousand years had he dreamed the sex with her would be this great, this intense.

She breathed his name again, as if now she’d given herself permission to use it she couldn’t say it enough. That was okay with him...more than okay. The sound of his name on her lips was a potent aphrodisiac all by itself.

He was leaning down to take those impossibly delectable lips again when he saw it. Buried beneath the cascade of her hair was an elegant scroll across her left collarbone.

She surged blindly up at that moment, impatient for his kiss, and her hair fell away.

‘I refuse to sink’, the tattoo read. And beside it was a tiny etching of a soaring phoenix.

He already knew she was brave beyond words. The glimpse of her life she’d shared with him had alerted him to a not-so-rosy past, perhaps a harsh childhood. Sakis was struck again by how little he really knew of her. Nevertheless, he knew he didn’t need to dig to find out she had a core of integrity that had remained unblemished, despite whatever adversities she’d faced.

The knowledge jolted something deep and alien inside him. Shockingly, he desired her even more. He bucked into her and revelled in her hitched breathing. But he wanted more; felt an unrelenting need to touch her in the way she’d touched him tonight.

‘Open your eyes, pethi mou,’ he demanded hoarsely.

Slowly her lids parted, displaying exquisite turquoise eyes drenched in desire. ‘What?’

‘I want you to see me, Brianna. Feel what you do to me and know that I appreciate you more than you know.’

Her mouth dropped open in wordless wonder. Unable to help himself, he kissed her again. Then all too soon the climax that had been building inexorably surged with brutal force. He spread her thighs wider and pumped hard and fast inside her.

Her cry of ecstasy echoed his own minutes later as he came in a torrent of dizzying pleasure.

He waited until their breaths had returned to normal before he brushed aside her hair and looked closely at the tattoo. Slowly, he let his finger drift over it, telling himself he’d imagined it, when she stiffened.

‘This is interesting...’

The invitation to confess was blatant.

But Brianna couldn’t open that can of worms. Not after she’d already opened so much of herself that she was sure Sakis could see straight through her by now. God, how had she imagined that she could just live in this moment, satisfy the clawing need then walk away?

With just a handful of words, Sakis had split her heart wide open.

I want you to see me... You’re my anchor, Brianna... I appreciate you more than you know.

‘Brianna?’ The demand was more powerful.

She scrambled to find a reasonable explanation. ‘I got it after I left my...my last job...’ She stopped, her heart hammering as she realised that she was highly emotional from their love-making and really shouldn’t be talking.

‘Most people take a holiday between jobs. But you got a tattoo?’ Scarily, his curiosity had deepened. ‘And a symbolic one, at that. Did you feel as if you were sinking?’ His fingers drifted over the words again, and despite her roiling emotions she shivered with fresh need.

She forced a laugh. ‘I guess I’m not most people.’ Stop talking now. Stop. Stop. Stop! ‘And yes, I felt like I was sinking. For a while I lost my way.’ God, no...


His fingers touched the phoenix then he brushed it with his mouth. ‘But then you triumphed.’

She let out a shaky breath. ‘Y-yes.’

‘Hmm, we’re agreed on one thing—you’re not most people. You’re exquisitely unique.’ His hand drifted down, paused over her breast then trailed lower to touch the scar on her hip. ‘And this?’

Her breath caught anew. How had she thought he wouldn’t notice? He’d spent an inordinate amount of time exploring every inch of her body, much to her shameless delight. Of course Sakis’s astute gaze would’ve caught the slightly puckered flesh where the sharp, white-hot lance of the inmate’s blade had stabbed deep and ruptured her spleen.

‘I...I was attacked. It was a mugging.’ That at least was the truth. What she couldn’t confess was where she’d been when it had happened.

His fingers stilled then he swore hard. ‘When?’

‘Two years ago.’

He cupped her jaw. ‘Was your attacker caught?’

Brianna shut her eyes against the probing of his. ‘Yes, they were caught. And there was even some semblance of justice.’ If you could call six months’ solitary confinement for a prisoner already serving life ‘justice’.

That seemed to satisfy Sakis. When she risked a glance at him, the harshness she’d heard in his voice was not evident in his face. ‘Good,’ he breathed as his fingers resumed its bone-melting caress. ‘I’m glad.’

Before she could draw another breath, his head dropped and his lips touched the puckered scar. Her skin heated then burned as his lips, then his tongue moved over her flesh.

She expected him to ask about her ankle tattoo, the one she’d caught him eyeing on the plane. But he seemed to have regained his zealous exploration of her body.

Her breath hitched as his mouth wreaked blissful havoc. Within seconds, her brain ceased to function.

* * *

Brianna woke to the sound of movement in her bedroom. Struggling up from an exquisitely saucy dream featuring Sakis, she opened her eyes to find him standing at the foot of her bed, his gaze on her as he secured his cufflinks.

The look on his face immediately gripped her attention. Gone was the lover who’d whispered ardent words of pleasure and worship against her skin last night. In its place was Sakis, billionaire shipping magnate. But, as she watched, she saw the mask slip to reveal the stress he hadn’t completely banished.

‘I have to go,’ he said. ‘There’s been a development.’

Brianna sat up and pushed her hair from her face. ‘What?’

His fingers stilled on his cuff. ‘The bodies of two crew-members have been found.’

Shock and grief rocked through her in equal measures. ‘When did you find out?’

‘Ten minutes ago. They were found two miles away where converging tides had hidden the bodies. The investigators think they drowned.’

She started to throw the covers off, experienced a fierce wave of self-consciousness and talked herself out of it. This wasn’t the time. ‘Give me ten minutes to shower and I’ll come with you. I... We need to see about getting them home.’

He rounded the bed and stopped in front of her. One hand caressed her cheek. ‘It’s been taken care of. I woke my head of HR. Those men died on my company’s watch so they’re my responsibility. He’s arranging everything, but I’m meeting the families this morning to express my condolences...’ He stopped and breathed in deep.

A wave of sadness washed over her. ‘It wasn’t the outcome any of us wanted. Which two were found?’

‘The deputy captain and the first officer.’

‘So there’s still no sign of Morgan Lowell?’

‘No.’

Which meant they still had no answer to what had happened to the tanker. ‘I’ll do my best to keep it out of the press but there are no guarantees.’ She strove for a semblance of professionalism—professionalism which became precarious as his arms banded around her waist and pulled her closer. Desire’s inferno raged through her body.

‘It’s all been handled. Foyle assures me there’s a procedure to dealing with this. We can’t do anything more.’

‘So for now I’m redundant?’

‘Never,’ he breathed. ‘You will never be redundant to me.’

The intensity of his answer sent alarm skittering over her skin. She was in danger of fooling herself again. In danger of believing that Sakis was beginning to want her, to need her the way she’d once dreamed of being needed.

Forcing a laugh, she pulled out of his arms. ‘Never say never. Shower time; I’ll be out in ten.’ She backed away, all the while noting he remained where he stood, his intense eyes on her. ‘Um, there’s coffee in the kitchen if you want some. I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of food as I wasn’t expecting to stop here last night.’

Finally, he nodded. ‘Coffee will suffice.’

Brianna held her breath until he left her room, then flew into the bathroom.

Eight minutes later she was slipping on high-heeled designer leopard-print shoes as she pinned her hair up in its usual chignon. With one last look to check her appearance, she tugged the sleeves of her black Prada suit, picked up her large handbag containing her tablet and left the room.

Sakis stood at her tiny living-room window gazing down at the street below. He turned at her entrance and handed her the second cup in his hand just before his phone buzzed. As she sipped her coffee, Brianna couldn’t stop staring at the magnificent man who paced her living room.

A man who’d not only taken her body but had found his way into parts of her heart she’d imagined had withered and died.

The thought of walking away from this man for ever gouged her with pain that left her breathless. When he speared her with those mesmerising eyes, she fought hard to stop her feelings from showing.

She would have time to deal with the heartache later. Because, of course, there would be heartache. Her feelings for Sakis had gone way beyond the professional. She’d known that before she’d slept with him last night. This morning, watching him struggle with fresh adversity made those feelings more intense.

So intense she set her coffee cup down before her trembling hands gave her away. ‘Do you need anything else before we leave?’

‘Yes. Come here.’

She went willingly, unable to resist him. He looked around the room then set the coffee mug on the window sill. ‘You’ll enlighten me as to why this apartment has barely any furniture in it later, but for now I have a greater need.’

‘What?’

He pulled her closer and cupped her face in his large hands. ‘I haven’t said good morning properly. I may not get the chance once we leave here.’ He sealed his mouth over hers in a long, exploratory kiss. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were the dark green she associated with extreme emotion. ‘Good morning, pethi mou,’ he murmured.

‘G-good morning,’ she responded in a voice husky with fresh need.

Reluctantly he dropped his hand and stepped back. ‘Let’s get out of here now or we’ll never leave.’

The journey to the office was completed in near silence. Sakis seemed lost in thought, his answers monosyllabic as she tried to slip back into professional mode.

As they entered the underground car park at Pantelides Towers, she couldn’t bear it any more. Turning to him, she waited until he faced her. ‘If you’re wondering how to play this, you need not worry. No one needs to know about what happened last night. I know what happened with Giselle—’

‘Is ancient history. What’s going on between us is different.’

Her heart lurched then hammered. ‘You mean you don’t mind if anyone finds out?’

He stiffened. ‘I didn’t say that.’

The hurt that scythed through her was as unbearable as it was irrational.

When the car stopped she scrambled to get out. Sakis grabbed her arm to stay her and waved the driver away when he approached.

‘Wait, that didn’t come out right. What I meant was that the last thing I want is for you to be caught in the crosshairs because of my past. It’s very easy for the wrong person to put two and two together and come up with fifteen. You don’t deserve to suffer for my father’s sins.’

She sagged backwards. ‘Was he... He wasn’t always that bad, was he?’ It was unthinkable that they both could’ve suffered such outwardly different, but inwardly similar and painful upbringings. At least, she hoped not, because her heart ached for the pain in his voice every time he spoke about his father.

She had come to terms, somewhat, with her non-relationship with her mother.

He sucked in a long breath. ‘Yes, he was. He was a philanderer and an extortionist who was corrupt to the core and very clever at hiding his true colours. When his deeds were finally uncovered, our lives were turned inside out. Our every word and deed was scrutinised. Several times, our house staff discovered tabloid journalists digging through our garbage in the middle of the night, looking for more dirt.’

Distress for him scythed through her. ‘That’s horrible.’

‘As horrible as that was, I mistakenly thought that was the worst of it.’


She was almost afraid to ask. ‘What else did you find?’

‘It turned out my father had mistresses stashed all over the globe, not just the secretary who’d grown tired of his philandering ways and empty promises—she was the one who blew the whistle that started the ball rolling, by the way. Once the first mistress crawled out of the woodwork, they were unstoppable. And you know why they all came forward, every single one of them?’

She shook her head despite the dread crawling through her stomach.

‘Money. With my father’s arrest and all our assets frozen, they knew the money that funded their lavish lifestyles would dry up. They had to sell their stories quickly and to the highest bidder before they became yesterday’s news—regardless of the fact that their actions would push my mother into attempting to take her own life.’

She gasped. ‘God, I’m so sorry, Sakis.’

Pain was etched deep on his face but he slid his fingers through hers and brought her hand up to his mouth. But, although his touch was gentle, the gleam in his was anything but. ‘So you see why I find it hard to trust the motives of others?’

Dry-mouthed, she nodded. ‘I do, but it doesn’t hurt to occasionally give the benefit of the doubt.’ The knowledge that she was silently pleading for herself sent a wave of shame through her.

His gaze raked her face, his own features a harsh stamp of implacability. Then slowly, as she watched, his face relaxed. He reached across and cupped her face, pulled her close and kissed her.

‘For you, Brianna, I’m willing to suspend my penchant for expecting the worst, to let go of my bias and cynicism—because, believe me, in this instance I relish the chance to be proved wrong.’

But he wasn’t proved wrong.

At three o’clock that afternoon, Richard Moorecroft rang with a full confession for his part in the tanker crash.