“We’re here. Please step off the elevator.”
The doors slid open and Kassi did as she was requested, looking at the elegantly furnished apartment, very similar to the one she’d been held in, but even more masculine. Dark furniture. Dark accent colors. Dark floors.
She stepped a bit further into the space and then turned as the elevators doors closed once more. She didn’t waste time seeing if they would open for her, she already knew they wouldn’t. She didn’t immediately see anyone and called out, “Hello?”
“Kassi?” Piotr’s familiar voice came from her left and she followed it, almost running into him as he came rushing around the corner.
“Oomph!”
“Whoa. Oh, I’m so happy to see you,” Piotr wrapped her in his arms and hugged her close.
Kassi wrapped her arms around his waist and finally let the tears she’d been holding back flow freely. “I was so scared…”
“I know. God, I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I tried to find you…”
“Your uncle said you’re going to do what he wants?” Kassi told him, backing out of his arms.
“I don’t have a choice. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was for what happened in Athens. I overreacted, and I shouldn’t have. I was trying to protect you.”
“The fault is mine. I shouldn’t have been looking through things that you hadn’t give me permission to. I never know when to stop and…”
“What are you talking about?” Piotr demanded, grabbing her shoulders.
“I always want more, and I never learn. I knew you didn’t want to let me into that part of your life, but I just couldn’t let it be and I pushed. I’m sorry and I know you probably couldn’t ever give me another chance because I don’t deserve it, but I could learn to be content…”
Kassi broke off as Piotr shook her shoulders, not gently, but harshly and with a demand for her to look at him. She did so and then cringed at the look of anger on his face.
“I don’t know what in the hell you just said because most of it was garbage, but you listen and listen close. I didn’t tell you about my uncle or the meeting with my lawyer because my uncle threatened to harm anyone I told. I was trying to protect you. Plain and simple. I wasn’t trying to keep you out of a part of my life, and I don’t know where you came up with the idea that you don’t deserve everything good this world has to offer you, but you do.
“Kassi, you deserve everything. I’d give it to you, the sun, the moon, and the stars, if I could.”
Kassi stared at him in wonder, the ice and cracks in her heart slowly melting and coming back together. His words reached into the dark place in her soul where she’d convinced herself she wasn’t worthy of his love. That she didn’t deserve a man as wonderful as Piotr.
He stepped closer and pulled her back into his arms. “Come to bed with me and let me prove just how worthy you are.”
Kassi let him lead her to the large bedroom at the back of the suite and she didn’t even notice the décor, she was too fixated on watching Piotr as he stripped off his shirt and his trousers. When he was down to nothing but his boxers, he turned his attention to her, divesting her of the t-shirt dress she’d donned earlier that morning.
Her lace bra and matching panty set were next to follow and then she was being held against him, his crisp chest hair rubbing against her nipples and tightening them even further into painful peaks. His hands skimmed up her back to tangle in her hair as he pulled her head back and kissed her like a starving man presented with a banquet of food.
She kissed him back, ravenous for his touch and the way he always made her feel. “Piotr,” she chanted his name as he made love to her where she stood. When her knees threatened to buckle, he swept her up and deposited her on the silk coverlet.
He quickly stripped off his boxers and then joined her, crawling onto the bed and making room for himself between her thighs. He kissed her stomach, nipping at the flesh and then licking away the tiny stings. He followed the line of her body up to her neck where he spent many moments sucking on the tender skin beneath her ear.
Kassi threw her head back, but then she couldn’t resist getting her own hands and mouth in on the action. She kissed her way up to his ear, biting the lobe just enough for it to sting and then sucking it in her mouth to alleviate the small hurt. When he groaned in reaction, she smiled and moved her attention down to his flat brown nipples.
Piotr had paid so much attention to her own breasts, she simply returned the favor, going on the premise that if it felt good to her, it would feel even better to him. His nipples tightened, and she smiled when he clenched her hair tightly.
“Kassi, you’re driving me crazy,” he murmured against her lips, rolling over and pulling her atop him.
“Good,” she told him, pushing against his chest until she was sitting upright. She slid backwards and gasped as she felt his length just waiting for an invitation into her body.
“Lift up slightly and take me inside,” Piotr urged her.
Kassi listened to his instructions and did as he requested, gasping in sheer pleasure when his cock slid into her body and just kept going until she was seated against his body, the crisp hairs of his groin rubbing against her own. “You feel so good,” she moaned into his mouth.
Piotr’s reply was to arch his hips at the same time he pressed down on her own. He repeated the movement, taking them both higher with each thrust.
“Piotr, this feels too good.”
“There is no such thing as feeling too good. This is how it should always feel.” Piotr pushed her chest backwards until she was sitting astride him. “Ride me, Kassi.”
Kassi needed little encouragement as she started to move experimentally, discovering what felt good to her, and what made him shiver. They belonged together and throughout the rest of the night they took turns worshipping one another’s bodies.
Somewhere around midnight, Piotr carried her into the shower and gently soaped and then rinsed every inch of her. After retrieving a plate of fruit and cheese from the fridge, they fed one another small bites and then made love again.
“Kassi, I need…”
“Wait. Piotr, I need to tell you something first. Please?” Kassi told him. They were propped up against the headboard and she was sitting between his thighs, her back against his front.
“Tell me,” Piotr encouraged her, moving her hair aside and placing little butterfly kisses against her neck.
Kassi turned to face him and realized she’d only been fooling herself when she’d thought she could ever live without him. She cupped his face and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “S’agapo. I thought I knew what love was before, but your uncle gave me the time I needed to really think things through.”
“Kassi, you need to stop. This ends in the morning. It has to.”
Kassi stared at him, but instead of allowing hurt to consume her, she held onto the truth she’d discovered earlier. She loved Piotr and she was willing to fight for it. For him.
“It doesn’t have to end. It can’t end. Not like this,” Kassi pleaded with him.
“I won’t drag you into this world. I won’t do it.” When she tried to plead with him again, he shushed her and held her close. “Let’s just enjoy the time we have left.”
Kassi wanted to scream at the injustice of it all, but that would be pointless and waste the little time she had left. If she had to leave him in the morning, she wanted to use every last second of their time together to make him understand the depth of her love for him.
Chapter 22
Piotr made love to her twice more, each time their joining became more intimate and more soul-wrenching. How he was going to live without her in his life he couldn’t begin to imagine. They needed a miracle or morning to never come again. As the moon started to fade, and the sun began to rise, Piotr held her and watched her sleeping.
He’d fought against his parents’ desire for him to marry and carry on the family name and now, it seemed like the lesser of two evils. He lay awake, going over and
over in his head the different options he might be able to employ to salvage this situation. Just before the sun fully crested the horizon, one idea came to him. If it worked, it would be the miracle he and Kassi needed.
He slid from her arms, padded into the other room and called his uncle. He didn’t care that it was only 6 o’clock in the morning, this was important.
“Hello?”
“We need to talk,” Piotr said without preamble.
“Piotr, you do realize what time it is, correct?” Andronicus asked.
“I do, but I’ve been up all night. We need to talk, you and I, before your men take Kassi home.”
“What is this about?”
“I think I have a solution that will get you what you want, and me what I want.”
“Alright, I’m willing to listen. Talk.”
“I’ll sign over the businesses to you. All of them. You can choose a proxy to run them or come out of hiding yourself as a different persona, I don’t really care. I will sign over all my shares and in return, you will promise to leave my family and the Moustakas family alone. Completely.”
“You seem to think the businesses are the only thing I want,” Andronicus replied.
“Aren’t they?”
“No. But we can deal with that issue at a later date. So, you’re willing to give up everything your father worked for? Mind if I ask what is worth that level of sacrifice?”
Piotr glanced back at the bedroom, for the first time sure he was making the right decision. “Not what, but whom. Kassi is worth more than a thousand empires. As for giving up everything my father worked for, I will give you the businesses, but you will leave me and mine alone. My father wanted me to marry and carry on the family name. I intend to do just that, but I need your reassurance that your business dealings won’t flashback on the family. Not ever.”
“You’re willing to give up everything for a woman?” Andronicus asked, amazement in his voice. “Piotr, son, there are lots of women out there…”
“Not like Kassi. Do we have a deal?” Piotr closed his eyes, straining to hear the right words.
“I’ll think about it and let you know when I see you in a few hours.”
Piotr heard the line go dead and let out a frustrated breath. A glance at the nearest clock showed him that he had just over two hours before his uncle would be arriving and his future would be decided for him. One way or the other. Time to wake Kassi up and give her a breakfast she would never forget.
*****
Two hours later…
“Miss Kassi, I’m here to take you back upstairs,” the same guard who’d brought her down last night stated from the opened elevator.
Piotr moved in front of her and shook his head. “Where’s my uncle?”
“You know the deal didn’t include Kassi being here for this meeting. I have orders to take her back upstairs. Now.”
Kassi touched his back and whispered, “It’s okay. I’ll see you after your meeting, okay?”
“Yes, you will,” Piotr told her.
Kassi walked onto the elevator and hoped she wasn’t seeing Piotr for the last time. He’d woken her up earlier and told her he’d made his uncle an offer he didn’t think the man would refuse. Then he’d carried her into the shower and made love to her once again. As if it were for the last time.
“I want to talk to Andronicus,” she told the guard.
“No.”
“Trust me, he’s going to want to talk to me when he hears what I have to say. Call him,” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
The guard sighed but withdrew a cell phone and punched in a few numbers. “Sir, Miss Kassi is demanding to speak to you.”
The elevator doors opened and Kassi stepped out just as the guard handed her his phone.
“Hello?”
“I was told you demanded to speak to me?” Andronicus asked with a small laugh. “I must admit I enjoyed the look on my man’s face. And before you ask, yes, I am watching you right now. Tell me what you want.”
“I want to stay with Piotr. Even if I have to never see my cousins again, or my friends…I don’t care. I don’t think I can live without him.” Kassi realized she was crying as she finished speaking and she crumpled to the floor of the suite, burying her head in her hands, the phone still held to her ear.
“Please…don’t take him away from me. I need him, and I think…I hope…he needs me too.” She didn’t hear the guard close the distance between them or feel him retrieve the phone from her limp fingers. She was consumed with the depth of feelings for Piotr.
*****
The elevator doors opened and Piotr watched as a man that looked like his father walked into the suite. The man smiled and walked towards him, not stopping until a few feet separated them.
Andronicus looked him up and down and then smiled ruefully. “You look so much like your father did at your age.”
“Uncle,” Piotr greeted him warily.
“I just had a very interesting conversation with Kassi on my way up here.”
Piotr was alarmed, “You spoke to Kassi?”
“She demanded to speak to me. It seems she’s willing to give up everything for the chance to stay with you.”
Piotr shook his head emphatically. “No. You can’t agree to that. I don’t want her.”
Andronicus was watching him carefully and then he smiled. “You don’t lie any better than your father did. Of course, you want Kassi, you’re just too afraid of the heartache it might bring. Too afraid to reach out and take a chance on love.”
“That may be true but who can blame me?”
“Not I. You are lucky, do you know that?” Andronicus asked.
“Lucky, in what way?” Piotr asked morosely.
“You have choices. Some of us didn’t realize what we would be giving up until it was too late. Way too late.”
“You were never stuck,” Piotr commented.
“Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, I suggest you rein in your platitudes.”
Piotr felt chastened. “I apologize.”
The elevator doors opened, and Piotr felt his blood turn molten as Zak strolled in, looking smug and full of himself.
“What’s he doing here?” Piotr demanded to know.
“You know Zak?”
“He was dating Kassi for a short, very short, period of time.”
Andronicus shook his head, “Ilithia. He didn’t know or appreciate what he had. I believe you have a couple of friends who have managed to track you down.”
“How is that possible?” Piotr asked as the elevator doors opened again to reveal both Leo and Alexi. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Saving you, of course,” Alexi told him with a grin.
“I presume you are Andronicus?” Leo asked, striding forward and then frowning when he saw Zak standing off to the side. “What is he doing here?”
“I’d love to know that as well,” Piotr told his uncle.
“Zak is my second in command.”
Piotr raised a brow and then nodded, “I see.”
“I doubt that. Leo Moustakas. What brilliant plan brings you here to your friend’s rescue?”
“You need a shipping company and I happen to own one of the biggest in this part of the world. I thought we might be able to negotiate a way to help one another. Legally, of course. You want credibility with the authorities and Moustakas Shipping can give that to you.”
“This seems to be my lucky day. Now let’s see, I’m going to be in charge of an empire of businesses and I have a legitimate shipping company willing to do business with me. The only missing piece is you,” Andronicus ended looking at Piotr.
“What do you want from me? I’ve agreed to give you everything.”
Andronicus watched him for a long while and then he took a deep breath and spoke to Zak. “Get out of here. I’ll meet you at the car.”
“What? I thought we were going …,” Zak began.
“Did I ask you to think? Get back to t
he car and stay put until I get there.”
Zak nodded and sauntered to the elevator, giving Leo and Alexi dirty looks on the way.
“Sorry about that, but he’ll learn to behave himself or he’ll pay the price.”
“See, this is what I can’t be a part of. I want nothing to do with your lifestyle,” Piotr told him.
“There are certain aspects of my authority that beg a response, this is one of those. You let me worry about Zak and the rest of my organization. They will either comply or they will be out. You have my solemn vow.”
Leo stepped forward, “Do we have a deal?”
“I believe we have the start of a very profitable relationship. Gentlemen, I’ll take my leave of you. Piotr, your vehicle is in the garage downstairs. Kassi is one floor up and I believe will be most relieved to have you come rescue her.”
“You’re just going to leave?” Piotr asked as his uncle walked towards the elevator.
“Yes. For now. Send me an invitation to the wedding. I probably won’t come, but it would be nice to be invited.”
Piotr nodded. “That will…okay.”
Leo and Alexi flanked him as they watched the elevator doors close. “Is it truly over?”
“Yes. He’s a man of his word,” Piotr told him. “I need to go get Kassi. She’ll be relieved and happy.”
“Good. We’ll meet you back at the estate. It seems you might have a wedding to plan?” Leo asked with a raised brow.
“I have to make sure I have a bride first.”
“She’ll say yes. She’s been in love with you, even though she’s tried to fight it. Of that, I’m certain,” Alexi told him.
Piotr nodded and headed for the elevator. His future laid upstairs and he only hoped their life together would truly be as bright as it seemed right now. They both deserved to be happy.
Chapter 23
One month later…
“Husband of mine, I want to dance with you,” Kassi told Piotr, sneaking up from behind him.
Piotr smiled and then kissed her, bending her slightly backwards to the amusement of their guests. Kassi allowed it and thought back to all that had transpired in the last four weeks. Putting together a wedding had taken up most of her time. Piotr had been consumed with getting his father’s estates sold, all except the one in Athens he’d taken her to and a vacation villa in the south of France. That was where they were heading after the reception for a few weeks of honeymoon.
Her Greek Bodyguard (The Greek Brothers Book 3) Page 11