Heiress's Defiance (9 page)

W
HEN LUCILLA WOKE
, she was in a bed. She lay there for a moment, her head fuzzy, and tried to remember how she’d gotten here. She’d been in her office, it had been late, and then she’d stopped for a drink with Christos. She didn’t remember anything after that. She must have been so tired she’d taken a taxi home and collapsed in her bed.

She pushed herself up on an elbow, frowning as she did so. She would almost swear she could hear the ocean …

Which was insane. She did not hear the ocean. There was no ocean in London. She yawned and rubbed her hand over her face.

And then her heart began to race as she remembered what day this was. The shareholders’ meeting! She had to get dressed and get to the office before it started. Christos would be announcing his departure and she
would be there to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the future of the company.

She whipped the covers back and climbed from the bed—and then she stood there and wobbled for a moment. The room did not look familiar. In fact, it did not smell familiar. There was a hint of salt in the air. She wrinkled her nose—was that lemon?

The shutters were closed but light slanted in between them, making a grid on the floor. Shutters? She did not have shutters. Her heart skipping, Lucilla shuffled over to the nearest shutter and wrenched it wide.

The light was blinding and it took a few seconds of blinking before everything came into focus. She shook her head. Was she hallucinating? Everywhere she could see, there was nothing but blue. A large terrace gave way to an infinity pool and beyond that, stretching as far as the eye could see, was nothing but ocean. Her stomach fell to the floor as panic twisted itself into her brain.

Lucilla turned and ran over to the bedroom door. But when she tried to wrench it open, it didn’t move. Fear crawled its way up her spine. But it didn’t last long, because fury rode hard on its heels. She was not in England. She didn’t know where she was, but
someone had kidnapped her and whisked her away before the shareholders’ meeting.

It had to be Christos, of course. No one else would do such a thing. But where had he sent her? And how in the hell was she going to escape and return to oust his sorry ass?

Lucilla turned and headed for the big glass windows that fronted the terrace. But they were locked, too. She considered picking up a chair and shattering the glass, but what good would it do if she cut herself in the process? Breaking windows wasn’t nearly as easy as they made it look in the movies.

She spied a phone on the bedside table and wrenched up the receiver. There was no dial tone and she dropped it again with a frustrated growl.

Just then, the handle turned and she stood there with her heart in her throat as the door swung inward. She wasn’t sure what she expected but the man standing there with a tray in his hands was certainly not it.

“Christos!”

He crossed the threshold. The smell of food made her stomach rumble but she was much too angry to eat.

“Good morning, Lucilla. I trust you slept well?”

She clenched her fists at her side. “Where am I? What have you done?”

He set the tray on the table at the foot of the bed and she decided not to wait for an answer. She rushed out the door and down a darkened stairwell until she burst into a spacious, light-filled living room that also looked out on the sea. On this side of the house, however, she could see a village and a harbor down below. The buildings were blinding white in the sun, the ocean so crystalline-blue and the surrounding land was clearly volcanic with raw cliff faces and smaller islands farther out to sea that were dotted with green.

She spun around to find Christos behind her, hands shoved in his pockets, watching her with those icy blue eyes that mirrored the color of the water. Confusion and pain slid into her.

“Greece?” she said. “You brought me to Greece.”

He shrugged. “You left me no choice.”

She shoved a hand through her hair. And then she caught her reflection in a mirror at the opposite end of the room. Her hair was a wild tangle of chestnut, her skin pale as cream and she was wearing a pair of panties and a touristy T-shirt that said I ♥ Kefalonia.

“I left you no choice? Christos, you kidnapped
me!” And then she realized how he must have done it. Her heart pounded in her chest. “My God, you drugged me.”

“As I said, you left me no choice.”

She shook her head violently. Tears sprang to her eyes. She’d wanted to believe in him. She
had
believed in him. Even though he’d done something terrible when he’d been a child, she’d told herself it was a long time ago. He was not a child anymore, and he was not violent.

But he was dishonest. And maybe he was still violent, too. How did she really know?

Fear uncoiled itself in her belly. Just as quickly, her heart said,
No.
He was not the kind of man who would hurt her. He’d been so wonderful, so tender, that night when they’d made love. And he didn’t have to be. He could have taken her hard, violently, and walked away without another look. But he’d been gentle when she’d told him it had been a long time.

And he’d been lost when she’d knocked on the guest-room door. She couldn’t forget that.

But this … this was beyond comprehension.

“I want to leave. Now.”

“You may leave anytime you wish, Lucilla. But I’m asking you to stay.”

She folded her arms around her body, feeling
exposed and alone and confused. “Why would I do that? It’s obvious I can’t trust you. You’ve
abducted
me!”

He didn’t look apologetic. “You threatened my entire career—not to mention the life I’ve carefully built in the wake of everything that nearly destroyed me.”

“But I didn’t. I said I wouldn’t tell anyone. I promised to shred the report!”

It was his turn to look angry. “And I should believe you? You were willing to expose me to the shareholders of the Chatsfield if I did not do what you wanted. How do I know you won’t come after me later, when you feel I’ve caused you some new slight?”

“I would never do such a thing.” She spoke stiffly, but his laugh was bitter.

“Of course not. When I go to work for some other company, when that company ends up threatening yours, you will not use what you know to make me, once again, back off, no?” He moved closer to her, his big body vibrating with anger and indignation, and she felt chastised when she was supposed to be furious. “How could I let you possess such lifealtering information without forcing you to confront the circumstances of my past? If you still wish to destroy me, then by all means. But you will
not
do it without knowing what
it is you have chosen to destroy. You owe me that much.”

“I owe you nothing.” Her voice was a whisper. Just saying the words made her throat hurt. But why did she owe him? He’d done nothing for her. And he’d drugged her.

One dark eyebrow arched. “No? Have you not seen the size of my severance package, Lucilla
mou?
If I leave, as you so vibrantly wish me to do, the company owes me quite a lot. Not as much as if you were to fire me outright, but enough to make you feel the pinch. Stay with me here, do as I ask and I won’t take a penny. This will be what you owe me, and you will have paid it in full.”

She swallowed. She hadn’t considered his severance package. And she should have. A mistake on her part, but then her father would not have promised him more than they could afford. Except it would mean they’d have to make sacrifices in other areas of the business for a while.

But if she stayed, if she did as he asked, she’d walk away owing him nothing. It was a small price to pay. And yet he’d abducted her. She couldn’t forget that.

“Why did you not ask me this in London?” she said tightly. “Why did you feel the need to bring me here against my will?”

He looked at her as if she were too stupid to understand the bigger picture. And she almost felt she was. Her brain didn’t work the way his did. She wasn’t capable of so much … deception. In her world, people acted honorably.

“If I had proposed this to you in London, you would have laughed. You believed you held the ace and you would not have compromised.”

“I did hold the ace. Clearly, or you would not have gone to such lengths.”

His smile was grim. “
Touché
, Lucilla. You begin to understand how the game is played. Yes, you held the ace and you were not inclined to listen to anything I had to say.”

She became aware, as his gaze dropped down over her body, that she was standing here in her underwear and a T-shirt with no bra. Her nipples, traitors that they were, pressed against the thin cotton. She tightened her grip on herself and stood there with as much grace as she could.

“You drugged me.”

“I did. It is a harmless drug, only meant to make you sleep. Which you have done.”

“You undressed me,” she accused. “You could have done anything to me.”

He looked disgusted and she felt a pinch
in her heart. “First, I am not so desperate as to take advantage of drugged women—especially not women I’ve already had, and with their permission, I might add. And second, I did not undress you. The housekeeper did, with the help of her daughter.”

Lucilla darted a gaze around the room, expecting people to appear at any minute while she stood here so exposed.

“They have gone home for the day. She only came to open the house up and help me with you.”

She relaxed only marginally. “How long have I been here?”

“We arrived in the early hours of the morning. It is noon now.”

“You’ve missed the shareholders’ meeting.”

He shrugged. “Rescheduled at the last moment, I am afraid. Inconvenient for everyone, but unavoidable. They will get over it.”

“And where are we supposed to be?”

“On our tour, of course. We are viewing potential properties for new investment.”

She glanced out the window at the harbor again. “Which island is this?”

“It’s on your shirt, I believe.”

“I thought you were from Athens.”

“That was later. Before that, I was from Kefalonia. Which I would think you would
know, considering you spent so much to find out.”

She swallowed. “The report only told me what you did and that you went to juvenile detention for it.”

“I see.”

Her stomach rumbled and a wave of dizziness passed over her. She reached for the back of a chair to steady herself. Christos was looking at her with narrowed eyes.

“You need to eat.” He came forward and took her arm. She tried to yank free from his grip but he only held her tighter. “Be a sensible girl and don’t fight me, Lucilla.”

He led her back upstairs to the bedroom and ushered her over to the table. She didn’t want to do a damn thing he said, but she was very hungry. She lifted the lid on the plate to reveal eggs, toast and ham. Christos poured a cup of coffee from a silver pot and added cream. It ought to surprise her that he knew how she liked her coffee, but she found that it did not. He was, she’d realized, very observant.

“Will I fall asleep again if I drink this?” she flung at him when he set it in front of her.

“No.”

She took the cup in her hands and lifted the fragrant brew to her nose. It smelled right.
“You’ll understand if I don’t quite believe you. This is my first abduction, after all.”

“Mine, too,” he said, and she almost wanted to laugh at the way he said it. But she didn’t.

“Why was the door locked?”

“Because I didn’t want you wandering outside before I had a chance to talk to you. It won’t be locked again.”

“The phone doesn’t work.”

“Not at all.”

“Where’s my mobile?”

“I have it.”

“I want it back.

“Eat, Lucilla. Think about my proposal. You can have your phone back when you’ve given me an answer.”

“And if the answer is no?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Then get prepared to open up the bank vaults,
glykia mou.
Because I will demand my full severance.”

“I could just threaten to release the information I have.”

“You could. But that wouldn’t stop you from owing me a severance package. Destroy me, and I’ll respond in kind.” He waved a hand at the view out the windows. “Eat. Enjoy. Come and see me when you’ve considered your options.”

He turned and walked out and she sat there
staring at the door he’d left wide open. Then she dug into the food and ate like she was starving.

Christos was not especially happy with himself at the moment. He stood on the terrace, gazing at the sea below, and feeling as if someone had turned him inside out. He did not often return to Kefalonia, though he’d bought this house here as a reminder of all that he’d achieved. The fisherman’s son was now rich enough to buy his own island if he wanted it, but he remembered happier days here when he was little. Before his father had moved him and his mother to Athens and tried to find different work.

He’d spent years not caring what anyone thought of him, years keeping his soul very carefully guarded from any who sought to get close. Not that Lucilla had tried to get close to him, but something had happened that night in her apartment. Something very out of the ordinary. He wasn’t in love, certainly not, but he was drawn to her in ways he’d never been drawn to another person.

And that had made him act in ways that were utterly uncharacteristic and somehow still shocking at the same time. No, he’d never abducted a soul—but there weren’t many avenues
of action he’d closed himself off from in his determination to win, other than illegal ones, of course.

He might be ruthless, but he’d only once reacted out of emotion instead of careful consideration. That had cost him four years of his life in which he’d vowed to never let emotion get the best of him ever again.

“I accept your proposition.”

He turned and found Lucilla in the entry to the terrace, her long hair damp and hanging down her back, her face scrubbed free of all makeup—and somehow so breathtakingly innocent because of it. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a silky tank from the collection of clothing he’d had sent over from Athens. They fit her perfectly.