Chapter 5
Lana stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, wishing she could sleep. Sleep would give her a reprieve from the chaos of her mind. Unfortunately, the oblivion of sleep wasn’t forthcoming. Not while thoughts of Christoph swirled through her mind.
The way he’d kissed her had…well, she was a bit confused by her reaction. If she hated him so much, why had she kissed him back? Why had her body betrayed her like that?
It was four o’clock in the morning when she finally rolled over, giving up on trying to sleep. It wasn’t happening and, as she punched her pillow yet again, she acknowledged that she needed advice.
So instead of laying in bed for another few hours, Lana got up, showered and dressed, waiting for that magical hour. By the time she’d dabbed on a touch of lipstick, she knew that it was late enough to call. Tamara was in London, so she was still sound asleep. But Willow was in Wyoming. She’d be finishing up with her day right about now. The perfect time to call.
Dialing the number, she waited, praying that her friend would be there.
“What’s wrong?” Willow answered on the first ring, alert and aware, as usual.
Lana laughed softly, leaning back against the soft cushions of her sofa. “What makes you think anything is wrong?”
There was silence for a long moment, then Willow came back, “Because I can tell. I don’t know what’s wrong, but talk to me. Tell me and we’ll work it out.”
Another laugh and Lana sighed, feeling loved and comforted.
“Is it your father? Are you still sad about his passing? I know his death was sudden and you have so much to deal with trying to figure out his company. But the last time we talked, you said everything was under control.”
“Well…”
“You lied!” Willow gasped. “You lied and were going to keep lying about it! To me!” her friend snapped. “I always know when you lie.”
Lana smiled, leaning to the side and stuffing another cushion under hear arm. She could even picture Willow shaking her head, her long, red hair like a sunset swishing against her back. “Yeah, I know. You have a scary sixth sense about things like that.”
Willow groaned. “There’s nothing scary about it at all. My father inadvertently taught me how to tell when someone was lying. Of course, when it comes to my dad, he lies pretty much all the time. If he hadn’t cheated on one wife, he was lying to his mistress.” There was a groan. “I have no idea how that man keeps all of his women straight.”
“Yeah well, he’s lovable,” Lana said, then cringed, knowing that was the wrong thing to say about Willow’s dad.
“Lovable is just…” Miraculously, Willow trailed off before she could really get into a tirade about her father. If there was one thing guaranteed to distract Willow, it was to say something complimentary about her dad. “Now you’re trying to sidetrack me! What’s wrong?” she demanded.
Lana laughed. “You’re not going to go off about how your dad is too lovable? Or that the women in his life don’t love him, they only love his money or celebrity status?”
There was an inelegant snort and Lana chuckled. “Lana, if you don’t ‘fess up right now, I’m coming over there! Don’t challenge me because you know darn well that I’ll hop on a plane and be in Athens by tomorrow morning! And you know how cranky I am when I have to travel all night! Tell me what’s going on!”
Lana knew that she had to tell all. Besides, they never kept secrets from each other. They’d been excellent at keeping secrets from the other women in their dormitory, but they’d vowed never to hide things from each other. Why was she even trying now?
With a sigh, Lana fell to the other side of her love seat, ignoring the cushions now as she stared up the ceiling in resignation. “My father’s businesses are failing. I need to sell off his assets and cut the dead weight, but according to his will, I’m not allowed to do that. I’m only allowed to run the businesses myself, or marry someone, at which point, my husband can run the businesses. Although my husband can sell things off if he makes a good case for it. I can’t sell and I don’t have the time to hire someone to take over so that they change things around because there is no more time left.”
“That’s crazy! Why would your father tie your hands like that?”
“Because my father is…was…Greek, right to his very soul. For too long, he wanted me to be married and I’d rejected too many of the men he’d set me up with over the years. He was worried that my ovaries would shrivel up and die. When I went to college, he was furious with me.”
“I remember,” Willow laughed. “We were at your father’s house for spring break that one year and he wouldn’t let up on any of us. Our eggs were shrinking and dying inside of our bodies.”
Lana closed her eyes, still embarrassed by the memory. “Yep! That’s my father! He thought women should be married and pregnant.”
“Oh! Remember when he said that educating women would pull all of the blood from our uterus, leaving us barren?”
Lana laughed, leaning her head back against the cushions of the sofa. “Yeah. His science was a bit…outdated.”
“Outdated? Ha! That ridiculous notion was disproved a century ago!”
“That’s my dad! He might know how to grow a business, but raising a daughter was a mystery to him.”
“I’m just relieved that your grandmother left you money so that you could go to college. You’re a brilliant artist. The world would be an emptier place without your paintings.”
Lana swallowed back a sob. “Thank you,” she whispered, fighting back the tears.
“Okay, so now that we’ve talked about everything else, why don’t you tell me what’s really wrong?”
Lana squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “I have to get married,” she whispered, the horror of her situation resting like a cement block on her chest.
Another silence. Lana could picture Willow blinking in astonishment.
“I’m sorry, but could you repeat that, please?” she asked softly.
Lana laughed. Imagine that. Humor for the first time about the situation. “I have to get married.”
Another pregnant pause and then Lana “heard” Willow nod her head. “Okay. That’s what I thought you said. But…um…why?”
“Because my father’s businesses are failing,” she explained again.
“So what? You and I have our own very successful businesses. Your paintings sell for outrageous amounts every time you release one to the world.” She paused. “That doesn’t explain why you have to marry.”
“Because my father employs around ten thousand people. If I don’t marry a man who is truly capable of bringing all of the businesses back to profitability, then all of those people will be unemployed. In fact, I can’t even make payroll next month if I don’t marry pretty much immediately.”
There was a long pause. “That’s a lot of people,” she whispered. “But…I still don’t understand why this is your problem. These people…I understand not wanting to be the cause of them all becoming unemployed, but really, is it your responsibility to sacrifice yourself?”
Lana closed her eyes, trying to stop the threatening tears from falling. “I can’t let his legacy die, Willow.”
Another silence and Lana instantly knew what Willow was thinking. “I have some…”
“No!” she snapped, sitting up sharply. Lana knew what her friend was going to offer. “Don’t you dare!”
“I know, but…”
“No, Willow!” she interrupted sharply. “You’re not emptying your bank account to help me out.” She sighed, falling back against the cushions again. “Besides, it won’t help. I’ve already done that myself.”
Willow groaned. “No!”
“Yep. I had to cover payroll last month and I used all of my savings to do it.”
“That’s crazy! Why didn’t you call Tam? She knows how to run a business. She’s great at marketing and all that businessy stuff. She has all of those properties that she rents out!”
“I know
, but Tam’s specialty is really a niche market. She knows how to rent out apartments and can probably build or repair anything in a building. So yes, she’s extremely good at running her business. But she doesn’t know how to run a shipping business. Christoph Anastas does. He can step in and save the companies and all of the jobs as well.”
“Hmmmm…Christoph Anastas?” There was a short pause before she asked, “Why do I recognize that name?”
Lana slapped her forehead, furious at revealing the man’s name. “I don’t know. Probably because he seems to buy up every company that goes up for sale lately?” She thought about that for a moment and added, “Probably a whole bunch that aren’t for sale, too.” Lana grumbled. “He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would wait for a company owner to put the business on the market. If he wants something, Christoph will make it happen.”
A laugh told Lana that Willow didn’t believe that. “Not all of them, I’m sure.”
“Hey, the man has offered to marry me so that he can get more businesses. He’s…” she wanted to say ‘nuts’, but Christoph really was brilliant. Scary brilliant! “He knows what he’s doing.”
“Not when it comes to you, honey,” Willow murmured gently.
That was true enough. “Yes, well, I think I can negotiate the terms of our business marriage.”
“I think you should call Tam.”
Lana laughed. “We can’t rely on her for everything,” she groaned. “And I have make a huge payment to the bank in less than a week.”
“Ouch!”
Lana could hear the gears turning in Willow’s head even though thousands of miles separated them.
“I’m supposed to meet Christoph at his office this morning.” Sitting up, she straightened her shoulders. “I’m going to figure this out,” she announced, feeling confident.
“Good for you! And I’m going to head on over there to help.”
“You can’t,” Lana told her with a gentle laugh. “You’re supposed to be filming that series on wedding crafts this month.”
“I’ll postpone it.”
“Don’t you dare! You know how stressed out you get when you get behind on your schedule. You’re a stickler for being on time. Besides,” she sighed, “I’ve seen some of the wedding stuff you’re going to make and everything looks amazing!” Willow had created a following on social media with the crafts that she and her team developed for each season. They worked hard and had some amazing ideas. Because of her efforts, her videos brought in loads of advertising dollars. She was a social media sensation!
“You’re amazing. I’m not…”
“Willow, if you ignore your schedule, I’ll…”
Willow laughed. “You’ll what? Put a frog in my bed? You did that already and I survived,” she teased. “Hide all of my underwear and then tell my friends that I was going commando? Checked that box too!”
Lana chuckled at the memories. “Ah, good times,” she said, thinking back to their first few weeks together. They’d loved pranks and the things that they’d done to torture each other was…well, not her best moments, she thought.
“Okay, I’ll be very mad at you! Stay, Willow. Get your videos finished and polished. I’ll figure this out, but I’ll call you, okay?”
“Call me before you do anything crazy,” Willow urged, not wanting her friend to commit to anything.
“Will do,” Lana promised.
They hung up and Lana hugged the phone, thinking about her friends. Willow, Lana, and Tamara had been through so much together. But as much as she wanted her friends here to help her through this, she couldn’t ask that of them. They had their own lives to get through, their own problems. Tam’s was the worst, she thought. Lana didn’t think Tamara’s plan of being seen in the press as the “bad girl princess” was going to work. The arranged marriage to that sheik guy seemed pretty set in stone. To date, none of her antics had angered the powerful ruler…so far.
Chapter 6
Lana stepped off of the elevator, smoothing down the brown tweed skirt and praying that her cream silk blouse still looked fresh and professional. She didn’t want Christoph to know how exhausted she was. Or how conflicted. Unfortunately, after a sleepless night, Lana knew that she wasn’t in top form. The meeting this morning was important and she needed to look cool and professional. Between the two of them, surely they could figure something out. Something that didn’t include a marriage in two days.
Unfortunately, the woman that greeted Lana looked like a model and Lana felt an instant stab of jealousy. She was tall and thin and spectacularly gorgeous! She also sneered at Lana as if she were a bug.
“Ms. Kosta?” she asked, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow lifted in question.
Lana dug deep for that well of confidence that was waning fast under the horrible woman’s disdain. “Yes. I’m here to meet with Christoph.”
The woman tilted her perfect head in a perfectly sarcastic nod. “Of course you are,” she said, her tone clearly amused. Was she laughing at the fact that Lana thought Christoph wanted to talk to her? Or was the woman laughing at the fact that Lana had thought to speak?
Either way, the blond turned gracefully on a five inch heel and led the way down the hallway. Lana watched for a moment, trying to figure out how the woman moved in heels that high. Didn’t she trip and fall? Had she ever sprained her ankle?
What a delightful possibility, Lana thought maliciously as she followed the blond down a long hallway towards double doors. Those doors must lead to Christoph’s office, even the wood seemed intimidating. How that was possible, she didn’t know. Perhaps it was just that the impenetrable appearance of the doors symbolized the futility of her position. Whatever, she still didn’t want to walk through the doors.
“He’s expecting you,” the blond opened the door, waiting until Lana walked in before closing it behind her.
Lana stared at the closed door, wanting to stick her tongue out at the woman.
“Trying to find an escape?” a deep voice asked.
Lana turned to see Christoph who looked as if he was trying not to laugh.
“I’m not…” she stopped, unsure as to what she was or wasn’t going to say or do.
Christoph stood up, waving aside her floundering response. “I’ve arranged for a judge to marry us on Saturday. We’ll have a small ceremony. We’ll get all of the necessary signatures taken care of and then move on to our honeymoon where we can get to know each other a bit better.”
Lana stiffened furiously. Wasn’t this meeting today about talking this through? Weren’t they supposed to discuss options? Brainstorm a bit? He seemed to be jumping right ahead and going on with his own agenda. “You’re presuming a lot,” she snapped, irritated with herself, her father, and most of all, Christoph. “Maybe I’ve changed my mind.”
“Have you?” he asked as he moved closer.
She shifted slightly, still struggling to come up with a solution. “Well…no,” she replied, but with less heat this time. “But that doesn’t mean you should assume.”
He laughed, the sound low and incredibly sexy, as he reached for her. Lana felt the pull even before he touched her and hated herself for wanting his touch so badly. For the first half of last night, she’d tried to figure out a solution to her dilemma. During the other half, she’d wondered what it would be like to make love with Christoph. To know how he would kiss her when he was intending more than just a kiss.
“You’re right, my dear. I shouldn’t assume. I apologize.” He led her over to a sofa. “Perhaps we should start over?”
“We don’t…”
His fingers were warm and secure around her hand and she knew that she should pull away, but there was just something that drew her in even as she wanted to pull away.
“Anoisies. You’re correct. I’m assuming things and should respect you more. Please accept my apologies.”
Lana looked at him carefully, her head tilted to the side slightly. “Why does it feel as if you’re mocking me right now
?” she asked, sitting stiffly beside him. The couch was deep and comfortable and she had an urge to sink into the cushions and let him take care of all of her problems.
Which was such a stupid reaction. Women had been allowing men to take care of their problems for centuries and look where it had gotten them! Fifty one percent of the population were women and yet, women held very few positions of power. In this situation, she absolutely refused to relinquish her power. She had to maintain her independence in order to respect herself.
“Here’s the thing,” she began, pulling her hands away and turning to face him more directly. “This is a ridiculous situation. I resent my father for the position he put me in. The terms of the will are unethical and wrong. I’ve already spoken to my lawyer and I can’t alter them in any way. I can either run my father’s companies myself, or my husband can.”
Christoph leaned back, looking at her with eyes that…she wasn’t sure if they were curiously waiting, or curiously amused.
“That is my understanding of the terms of your father’s will. So, what’s the problem? I’m more than willing to take control and incorporate all of the separate parts of your father’s assets into mine. You will be my wife. What is wrong with this picture?”
Unfortunately, before she could entreat him to find some other solution, there was a knock on the door. A moment later, the loathsome blond assistant popped her head in. She looked triumphant to have interrupted, smiling brightly. “Sir, your next meeting is in three minutes.”
Christoph sighed, nodding curtly. “Fine. I’ll be right there,” he told her as she closed the door. Unfortunately, that meant that she and Christoph were once again alone. He immediately stood up, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. This time, he lingered a bit, but it wasn’t anything like their first kiss. Despite the lack of urgency, the kiss still knocked her sideways.
When he lifted his head again, Lana realized that his hands were holding hers. “We need to discuss this further, Lana. Unfortunately, my day is packed with previously scheduled meetings, which I can’t cancel. But in the meantime,” he pulled out a credit card. “Go buy a wedding dress. My assistant, Elana, will give you details about the ceremony.”
Her Enemy, Her Lover (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 1) Page 4