Oblivious to Xena’s teasing words, he went to Rio. The woman who filled his dreams with heated memories, something no other woman had ever done.
‘Lysandros?’ There was a question in his name as she spoke softly. Was she trying to second-guess the next move they made or was she aware he’d just heard her declaration of love? A declaration he could believe or dismiss as part of the act.
‘The Greek sunshine is enhancing your beauty. Giving you a healthy glow,’ he said, taking her hand, raising her fingertips to his lips, pressing a kiss onto her slender fingers. It was all he could do to stop himself from remembering how they had caressed the keys of his piano when she’d finally played again. Then much later, as they’d lain in bed, how they had caressed his body. He could still feel her soft teasing touch on his chest, the slow lingering trail she’d made down over his stomach before touching him in a way that had driven him wild.
Enough. He pushed the memory aside, fighting with the words he’d just heard Rio say, aware his sister was watching every move he made.
Xena sighed as she sat back down. ‘This is so perfect.’
Was it perfect? To be loved by a woman he didn’t want to love, a woman he didn’t want to occupy his heart? He needed to be alone with Rio, needed to know what her true reactions were, her true feelings. She must have been saying those words to Xena as part of the act, part of the deal he’d made with her. Exactly what he’d expect her to do, so why was that so unsettling?
Because you are falling in love with her. Despite everything you told her, you are falling in love with her.
He gritted his teeth against the knowledge he’d almost made a fool of himself. Almost believed the words he’d overheard Rio saying as part of her role play and exposed his growing vulnerability, his growing weakness.
‘You two should spend some time alone. Take a romantic stroll on the beach.’ There was mischief in Xena’s voice, showing she was finally more her usual bubbly self. The Xena he knew so well was beginning to come back.
‘Shall we take a walk?’ He didn’t miss the look of worry crossing Rio’s face.
‘I’d like that.’ Her words were barely above a whisper, her face pale beneath the newly gained tan.
Together they walked along the sand until they were alone, and it was several minutes before she spoke hesitantly. ‘Have you ever wondered if Xena might have guessed our engagement isn’t real?’
‘Our engagement is real. You are wearing my ring.’ The words snapped from him and those beautiful eyes widened in surprise.
‘But...’ Rio began. Lysandros wasn’t in the mood for discussion about anything other than what he’d just heard.
‘The reason is different, that’s all.’ He cut across her words as emotions assailed him, bombarding him and pushing him out of his safety zone. ‘I heard you and Xena talking just now.’
She didn’t look at him, didn’t even stop walking.
Damn her. Was she going to make him say it? ‘You were telling her about us. You said you loved me. It was just part of the act, wasn’t it? A way to convince her our engagement is real.’
She stopped, looking down at the sand, and he wished he hadn’t been so harsh, but when she looked back up at him, her chin lifted in defiance. She’d become the same little spitfire he’d done battle with while Xena had lain in the hospital bed. The realisation crashed over him as if a storm had suddenly rushed in off the sea. He wanted her to love him. Hell, he wanted to love her.
‘And does she still believe it is real?’ He moved closer to her, wanting to prove how very real their engagement was beginning to be, wanting to remind her that last weekend she’d lost her virginity to him, giving him something special. If there was any chance those words he’d heard her say moments ago were real, then didn’t he owe it to her to be honest? To tell her what he’d been denying since that night in Athens?
He wanted to love her, but he couldn’t quite let go of the past. Just as she’d sat at the piano in his apartment, locked in her own world of regret, he too was there now.
‘Yes,’ Rio whispered, and he couldn’t stop himself. ‘She believes it’s real, but it isn’t. It can’t ever be real—because you don’t want that, you won’t let me in.’
He took her in his arms, bringing her close against him, feeling as if he’d been all at sea but had now found the port he’d never known existed. He’d found the woman who could make him forget the past.
‘There is nothing fake about the way I feel when I hold you.’ His voice became hoarse with emotion. Rio tried to look away, but gently he tilted her chin up, whispering against her lips, ‘Neither is there anything false about this.’
The kiss was so powerful it totally consumed him. Her response was instant, her arms wrapping around his neck, her delicious body against his. It was paradise and as it ended he took her hand, beginning to walk slowly along the beach again.
She pulled away from him. ‘It’s real, yes, but it’s just desire. Nothing more.’ She hesitated. ‘If... When Xena knows, we must end this. Stop this charade of being engaged—before it goes too far.’
‘When she remembers, yes, we will.’ He let her go, stepping away from her. Xena didn’t remember yet, and until she remembered, he and Rio could continue to indulge in their desire. But what about that night in Athens? What about the heated passion that had filled that whole weekend? Was it really as she now claimed? Nothing more than desire? ‘We need to talk to Xena.’
‘And if she remembers?’ Rio looked at him, worry startlingly clear in her eyes.
‘Then we can end the engagement, but she has to tell us. We can’t say anything, can’t raise any questions over our relationship.’ Lysandros found himself hoping Xena hadn’t remembered anything, that he and Rio would be forced to remain engaged. ‘I don’t want to risk upsetting her.’
* * *
As she and Lysandros returned to the villa the hope there was a chance he could one day love her, as she loved him, was finally gone. Rio had felt desire in his kiss, had seen it in his eyes, but desire wasn’t enough. She had to be strong. She didn’t want to be part of a one-sided love affair. As soon as he found out Xena had regained her memory, she and Lysandros were over. And Xena had done just that. Time was ticking on their deal, on her illusion of love.
Voices sounded from inside the villa as they approached. Xena’s voice and a man’s. Ricardo’s voice. Every nerve in Rio’s body tensed. He was here? There was no escaping it now. This was the moment everything ended, the moment her heart broke.
‘Xena has a visitor?’ Lysandros asked, suspicion laced into every word.
Rio could feel the colour leaching from her face as she looked at Lysandros. Xena’s memory was back; there was no point avoiding it. ‘It’s Ricardo.’
Before Rio could gather her scrambled thoughts, Lysandros marched into the villa and she rushed after him, remembering Xena’s recent conversation about how she loved Ricardo. She recalled Xena saying they had spoken. Had she invited him, even knowing it would need massive explanations to her family? And worse, knowing how Lysandros would take it?
The air filled with furious Greek as he stormed into the room, Xena and Ricardo leaping apart like teenagers caught out. Rio had no idea what he was saying, what Xena was saying. It was more heated than she’d ever seen either Xena or Lysandros. This was brother and sister pitched against each other in a wild battle of words.
She couldn’t let this happen. She had to stand up for Xena, even if it meant losing Lysandros—because she’d never really had him, his love. ‘Stop.’
Her word rang round the room. Ricardo stepped into the spotlight, taking Xena in his arms, holding her as she tried to fight the tears.
Lysandros turned to her and Rio knew the moment of truth had come. ‘What the hell is going on?’
Before she could say anything Xena had launched into the gap her silence had created. Rio sto
od numbly as Xena explained. How she’d remembered almost everything a few days ago and how she and Ricardo had made up, prompting him to come to the island. How she’d told Rio she knew they were pretending to be engaged, but how they should be.
Lysandros looked at her and Rio knew from the coldness of his eyes it was too late. She should have told him, but he’d completely shocked her by admitting he’d heard what she’d said to Xena, taking the urgency away from that as she’d tried to protect her heart. ‘As you are already aware, we no longer need to keep up the pretence of being lovers—or being engaged.’
Lysandros turned to glare angrily at Ricardo, who stood his ground, looking back at him rebelliously. They remained like that for several minutes until at last Lysandros moved.
He went to his sister, taking her gently from Ricardo’s arms, holding her tight, whispering in Greek, showing once again his compassion in the face of devastating news. She had no idea how long she watched the tender moment, but eventually Lysandros pulled away, returning Xena to Ricardo’s embrace.
‘Look after her,’ he instructed Ricardo, then turned to go. ‘I’m leaving.’
As he passed her he didn’t even glance her way. Rio wanted to crumple to the cool marble floor, give in to the tears the whole encounter had evoked. She’d lost the man she loved.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LYSANDROS COULDN’T BREATHE, couldn’t think. Rio had known Xena’s memory had returned. She’d blatantly asked him what would happen when it did, but hadn’t told him. She’d kept something from him that changed everything between them. She’d deceived him.
He and Rio could really have had something special, but he’d fallen into the same trap all over again. Raw pain from the past opened up, snatching away all that he’d foolishly believed Rio was.
He couldn’t stay. Couldn’t look at Rio. Not when he’d finally taken down the last of his barriers. Dismantled them all—for Rio. Because he’d wanted her. Wanted to be with her. But now everything had changed.
He marched along the beach to where only a short time ago he’d kissed Rio. It was here he’d realised his heart had finally begun to open to love—her love. He wanted Rio’s love, wanted to love her, wanted to share with her the emotion he’d locked out of his life for so long.
Raw and painful emotions had crashed over him as he’d heard Rio’s conversation with Xena. To hear her say she loved him had confused him, shocked him. A whole range of emotions had assailed him. Finally, he’d acknowledged the truth he’d been desperately running from for the last few months.
Lysandros took in a deep breath, standing firm in the wet sand near the water’s edge as the waves dragged it away from him, trying to unbalance him. It was as if the pull of the sea was forcing him to admit what he’d been avoiding all along. Right here, just a short while ago, he’d been on the brink of telling Rio how he felt, that he wanted their engagement to be real—because he was falling in love with her.
A larger wave rushed in, soaking him above his ankles, but still he didn’t move. He’d already drowned, already slipped beneath the surface. It had happened the moment he’d first kissed Rio, but it had been in Athens that he’d lost the battle. That spark of attraction had fired into life, bringing love back to his heart. Only he’d been too damned arrogant to believe it.
Now the painful truth that he’d fallen in love with a woman who, despite what he’d overheard, had ripped his heart in two. He ran his hands through his hair in agitation. Her declaration of love for him to Xena hadn’t been true. She wanted the engagement over. Before it went too far.
Should he go back into the villa? Tell Rio how he felt, or be there for Xena? Who should he put first? Xena, his beloved sister? Or Rio, the woman who had just told him that their engagement was over, rendering him as vulnerable as a newborn?
If he’d been a better man, a better brother, one able to connect emotionally, none of this would have happened. The solid wall of defence he’d built around him after Kyra’s betrayal had shut out his sister—and pushed Rio away.
He walked further along the beach. He couldn’t go back to the villa yet. Xena had Ricardo and it was all too obvious they loved one another. Whatever he thought about the man, Ricardo would look after her. But it was the image of Rio, standing there, that filled his mind. She hadn’t even been able to look at him as the truth had unfolded, hadn’t said anything, hadn’t tried to stop him going.
He continued walking, brisk paces through the waves as they slid onto the beach. He couldn’t face Rio yet. His emotions, his heart were all too vulnerable. He needed to lock them away, put them back behind the barriers. Only then could he talk to her, end their fake engagement—their deal.
* * *
Sensations of claustrophobia overwhelmed Rio. She needed air, needed to get out of the villa. Xena and Ricardo were deep in conversation, declaring love for each other and apologising. They didn’t need her. Silently she slipped out onto the terrace.
From her vantage point she saw Lysandros on the beach, striding angrily along at the water’s edge. The firm set of his shoulders showed his anger. He didn’t want her. Didn’t need her. Xena’s memory had returned and their deal was over. Whatever she felt for him, she had to shut it down.
She couldn’t stay on the island now. She had to leave. But how? She was marooned here, and the only boat belonged to the man who had just walked away from her, unable to even look at her.
There was only one thing for it. She returned to the villa, avoiding Xena and Ricardo and going to her room to pack. In the kind of haste she’d watched many times in the movies, she threw her belongings into her case. Then slipped the elegant ring off her finger. Placing it on the dressing table. Xena would find it.
Thankfully Xena and Ricardo had gone when she returned to the living area, and with her heart breaking, Rio left the villa. She glanced along the beach, seeing Lysandros had walked further away. She turned in the opposite direction, heading for the jetty where he’d moored his speedboat.
It bobbed ominously on the waves as she dragged her case down the wooden jetty. She looked down at the crystal waters, the sandy seabed clear to see, along with a starfish. How could she still see something so beautiful when her world was falling apart?
‘You’ve blown it,’ she told herself as she hefted her case up and over the side of the boat, careful not to scratch it, knowing the sleek craft was new. Lysandros had taken it out on its maiden voyage last weekend when he’d brought her back to the island after their time in Athens.
How had so much changed in one week?
In Athens they’d been lovers. She’d lost her virginity and her heart to him. Now a week later and with just two days until their engagement party, they were as far from lovers as a man and woman could be. Whatever they had discovered in Athens was over. She’d known it would never last but had foolishly hoped for love. Hoped that she would be the woman to mend his heart, enable him to love again, love her.
She closed her eyes against the threatening tears, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her face up to the sun, allowing the warmth to ease her pain, her despair. She’d hoped such an action would soothe her, calm the raging storm within her, but it didn’t.
Deflated and humiliated, she knelt, trying to free one of the mooring ropes at the front of the long speedboat. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing or even what she’d do once the boat was free of the ropes. All she knew was that the gleaming white craft represented freedom and escape.
Despair filled her. She couldn’t even free the rope. A strangled cry of frustration tore from her as she heard footsteps, turning to see the man who now possessed her heart striding down the jetty towards her.
‘If you are that desperate to leave, all you had to do was ask.’ Lysandros’s icy and controlled voice cut through her panic.
Damn him. Why did he have to sound so sure of himself, so in control and, worse still, so sex
y?
She leapt to her feet, boldly facing him, injecting haughtiness into her voice. ‘Very well. I’m asking. Will you take me to Athens?’
‘You seriously want to leave? After everything that has happened between us? Everything that has been said?’
For the briefest second, he looked out of control, vulnerable, but as he stepped closer she wondered if it had been a trick of the light. His eyes sparked with anger, strengthening her resolve to protect her breaking heart, to get away.
‘Yes, and that’s why I want to go. I want to return to the life I should never have left. Our deal is over, Lysandros. Just as you wanted,’ she snapped as frustration surged through her. All he was doing now was proving he was the wrong man for her, the kind of man who demanded everything, the kind of man unable to be emotionally open and love her. How stupid was she that she’d hoped otherwise?
‘At least allow me to help you. You’ll be going nowhere until you release all the mooring ropes.’ He was taunting her, but there was also firmness to his voice, anger lurking beneath the composed exterior.
Rio stared at him, completely taken aback. He obviously wanted her out of his life so much he would actually take her. Her heart broke into thousands of tiny pieces, like crystal shattering, splinters flying everywhere. There would be no hope of finding the pieces and putting them back together.
Within seconds he’d freed the sleek craft of its moorings and was aboard, starting the motor. Rio still stood on the jetty but finally roused herself into action, putting to one side the pain and hurt. She hastily jumped into the speedboat, as if her life depended on it, and sat at the very stern, as far away from Lysandros as she could get.
Seconds later the boat lurched into life and they began heading away from the island, the pace picking up over the clear waters, making them insignificant and small against the vastness of the sea.
Seducing His Convenient Innocent Page 14