by Jennie Lucas
“Wait—that’s not true—you know it’s not true!”
His lip curled as he turned to go. “I’m going to go find Sinistyn and handle him once and for all. Before he talks his way into becoming Michael’s stepfather. Because apparently you have a problem telling him no. Unlike me.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you. I just don’t want you to get involved.”
“Too late.”
“It’s not your problem, it’s mine. I should be the one to—”
“My God, you really don’t trust me at all, do you? No matter what I do or say, you won’t accept my help. You’d rather fight me. You’d rather put both yourself and our son in danger.” He stopped in the doorway. “I always admired you, Anna. A pity the good sense you have as a secretary is lacking in you as a woman.”
His words struck her to the bone. His face was in shadow as he added quietly, “Look through the résumés, Anna. Find me a new secretary. When I come back, give me a name. I’m done fighting with you.”
Nikos was grim as he rode in the back of his limo, poring through documents about the last-minute details of the Singapore land lease bid as his chauffeur drove him back to the casino.
He’d lost his temper.
He never lost his temper.
Damn it, Anna was really starting to get to him. He’d accused her of letting her emotions run her reason, but he had just done the same.
The way he’d shouted at her. It made him wince now. It had not gone according to plan. Yelling at her was no way to make her fall in love. Even he knew that.
He sighed, leaning his head against the darkened glass and staring out at the empty, barren landscape as the Nevada desert flew by. He’d felt so close. His soul had soared when he’d felt her tremble beneath his tongue. He’d felt sure that she would say yes to his proposal. Why else had he restrained himself, when he could think of nothing but having her in his bed? He’d said that he wanted to make love to her only as his wife, and that was still true.
He ground his teeth. Forget those stupid scruples. He only had twenty-four hours to close the deal. Next time he wouldn’t hesitate. He wouldn’t relent. He’d seduce her, and he’d get both his satisfaction and her agreement to his proposal. And before she had a chance to change her mind he’d take her straight to one of the all-night wedding chapels and get it all nailed down.
He glanced at the document still in his briefcase. His lawyers had already drawn up the standard prenuptial agreement: if the marriage should end, both parties would end up with what they’d started with. Leaving Anna virtually penniless.
He didn’t intend for her to suffer. On the contrary, he meant for her to live in luxury. He’d even keep her snooty mother in Hermès handbags. Anything to make Anna happy. The prenup was for one reason only—to make sure that Anna would never have any incentive to walk away from their marriage.
He twisted his neck, cracking the joints to relieve the stress, and revised his tattered gameplan. Tonight was his last night to close the deal. After he’d finished with Sinistyn he’d go straight home, make love to Anna until she couldn’t see straight, and then she’d sign the prenup. Then they’d go to the courthouse for a license and, from there, a drive-thru chapel.
He flexed his hands, trying to make himself relax. Anna was getting under his skin—probably because they were spending so much time together, blending home and work. It had been wonderful, in a way, having her back in the office. Best damn secretary he’d ever had. Together they were the perfect team. Unbeatable.
No. He pushed the thought away. He’d already made up his mind, and tonight it would be done. He’d get a new secretary, take Anna as his wife, and keep his home and work life separate—the way they were supposed to be. He’d enjoy Anna at night, see his son every day, and go back to putting in eighteen-hour days at the office. That was the life that made sense to him. That was a life he could control.
But Anna had to marry him. Without that everything else fell apart.
Rubbing his hand against his forehead, he sighed. It was time for him to play his last card. He had no choice. He was leaving for Singapore tomorrow, to meet with government officials and make sure Stavrakis Resorts’ land lease bid was successful. The new casino resort would be an important asset in his son’s fortune.
But first he had to close the deal with Anna.
He would tell her he loved her.
He’d never said the words before—to anyone. And even tonight it would be a lie. He would lie to make her capitulate, to make her love him in return. He’d told himself that he’d never say those three words to anyone, but he’d give up that tiny slice of honor now. He’d do far more than that to protect his family.
He’d tell her he loved her, and make her believe it. He had to convince her he meant it. Convince her he’d make a good husband. Convince her he was worthy of her love, even if it all was a lie…
He had a sudden memory of Anna in his bed, naked, with tousled hair and a sweetly seductive smile, looking up at him with honest, trusting eyes.
He shook the disturbing image away. As his chauffeur pulled up to the private garage on the third level parking deck of L’Hermitage, he focused instead on his meeting with Victor Sinistyn, whom he’d called on the drive into town.
He couldn’t blame the man for wanting Anna for himself. Nikos ground his teeth as he strode into his private elevator. Any man would want Anna. But Sinistyn had gone too far, trying to force her into a marriage against her will. Trying to buy her through trickery and putting pressure on her family.
Images of Anna went through his mind: laughing in the pool last week, splashing with their child, smiling up at Nikos in the bright sunlight. She was so beautiful, so vibrant, so warm and alive. How dare Sinistyn try to imprison her? How dare he try to seize by manipulation and force something he had no right to call his own?
“It’s time you picked on someone your own size,” Nikos muttered under his breath as he entered his private office.
“What was that, sir?” Margaret, the senior administrative assistant for the casino, was filling in on some rudimentary duties as his executive secretary. She temporarily sat in Anna’s old desk outside his office.
“Please let me know when Victor Sinistyn arrives.” Closing the door behind him, he went to the outside windows and stared down at Las Vegas Boulevard, watching the hectic traffic below. He went to the crystal decanter and started to pour himself a small bourbon, then stopped.
Was it possible that he was doing the same thing as Sinistyn? Trying to possess Anna when he had no right?
No, he told himself fiercely. It wasn’t the same at all. Sinistyn was trying to force Anna to marry him to satisfy his own selfish lust. Nikos just wanted to protect his family. To protect his son.
But still, the voice of conscience, rusty from disuse, whispered in his mind, you’re going to make her fall in love with you on false pretenses, to bind her to you forever. Isn’t that just as bad?
He tried to shake the thought out of his mind, but it wouldn’t go away. He paced back and forth through his office, trying to concentrate on Sinistyn, the Singapore deal—anything but his plans for Anna. In the end he gave up, and pummeled the boxing bag in the corner of his office with his bare hands to clear his mind. The pain helped him forget. Helped him focus.
There was blood on two knuckles when he went over to the wall of one-sided windows that overlooked the main casino floor. He glanced down, impatiently looking at his watch. Sinistyn was two minutes late.
Then his eyes sharpened.
Sinistyn wasn’t late. He was already in the casino downstairs, beneath the high crystal chandeliers, in between the gilded nineteenth-century columns and wealthy, attractive gamblers at the roulette tables and slot machines.
He wasn’t alone, either. He’d brought two hulking bodyguards from his club. But he wasn’t talking to them.
He was talking to Anna.
Anna. Still wearing the slim white shirt and black skirt, but sexier than ev
er, with her long, long legs and glossy black pumps. Her dark hair, which he’d mussed so thoroughly nearly making love to her on his desk, cascaded down her shoulders. Her lips were full, pink and bruised, as if she’d just come from bed.
She was too enticing—innocence and sin wrapped up into one luscious package.
Nikos cursed under his breath. She’d defied his direct orders and come down here to intercept Sinistyn. He clenched his jaw. From this distance he couldn’t read the expressions on their faces. What was she saying to him? What was he saying to her? His hands clenched into fists as he strode out of his office to the elevator.
When he reached the casino floor he signaled Cooper, his head of security, to follow with two bodyguards. Trailing bodyguards in his wake, he stalked through the noise of slot machines and gamblers toward Anna and Sinistyn, barely able to keep his fury in check.
Why couldn’t she trust him to handle things? Not even once? Why did she always have to make everything so damned hard?
“Sinistyn,” he said coldly, grabbing the man’s shoulder. “Let’s go upstairs to talk.” He gave Anna a look. “Leave.”
“I’m staying,” she said, raising her chin.
He heard Sinistyn snicker under his breath. Nikos ground his teeth. “Let me handle this.”
“This isn’t your fight. It’s mine.” To Nikos’s shock, she turned to Victor Sinistyn and put her hand on his hairy arm, looking deep and soulfully into his eyes. “Victor, I’m sorry this has gone so far. It’s my fault.”
“About time you came to your senses, loobemaya. I’ve waited long enough for you to be my wife.” Looking up from her cleavage with a triumphant half-smile, he locked eyes with Nikos. “About time you chose the better man.”
Nikos felt a strange lurch in his chest. A sick feeling spread through his body. She’d chosen Sinistyn over him? She trusted that man over him?
“No.” Anna was shaking her head at Sinistyn. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m sorry, but I don’t love you, Victor. I never have. I should have made it clear from the first time you flirted with me, ten years ago. I will never be with you. No matter how much money you loan my parents. Never.”
The smug expression disappeared from Sinistyn’s face. He looked dangerous and hard. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“You bought the palace for nothing. I’ll pay you back the money we owe. But I don’t want you.”
His eyes became hooded, his face flushed with anger. “At the club last week you made me think differently.”
She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. “I was going to ask for your help to get custody of my son. It was wrong of me. But then you were wrong to loan my parents millions of dollars at a thirty-five percent interest rate while claiming to be our friend.”
“Your father promised that you would be mine. When we were in business together he said he’d convince you—”
“He tried, but I refused. We’ve known each other for a long time, Victor. It is time for us to be honest. I will never be your wife, but I will pay back every dime we owe you. Can we at least part as friends?”
She held out her hand.
But Victor’s expression was hard as he looked from her outstretched hand to her face. He grabbed her arm roughly, causing her to cry out.
“I waited for you,” he said softly. “I’ve tried to be nice. But it seems there’s only one language you’ll understand. You’re mine, Anna. Mine.”
He drew back a fist. Sucking in her breath, she winced in anticipation.
Quick as a flash, Nikos stepped between them, grabbing the other man’s hand. He knocked him off balance with a hard right hook and shoved him to the ground.
“Don’t touch her,” Nikos shouted. “Not now. Not ever.”
His body was crying out for the man’s blood. He wanted to bash Victor Sinistyn into a pulp for threatening her. He wanted to kill the man for trying to hurt her.
Then he heard Anna’s soft moan.
Nikos realized that his own bodyguards were barely keeping Sinistyn’s men in check, and that at any moment a full brawl would break out in his own casino. They were already being watched by gamblers, gawkers and slack-jawed tourists, a couple of whom were holding cameras in anticipation of the coming action.
Breathing hard, Nikos jerked away from Sinistyn. “Get him out of here,” he ordered Cooper. Cooper nodded, and with a single gesture a phalanx of security guards appeared.
“Follow me, gentlemen,” Cooper said, holding out his arm in an ironic gesture.
One of Sinistyn’s bodyguards tried to help his boss to his feet, but the Russian jerked his arm away and rose slowly on his own.
“You’ll regret this, Stavrakis,” Sinistyn said, and then his eyes shifted to Anna. “You’ll both regret this.”
He stormed out, followed closely by his shamefaced bodyguards.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get back in,” Cooper said quietly. “And post extra guards on the night watch.” He said loudly to the crowd, “Show’s over, folks. The waitresses will be out to make sure everyone’s getting their drinks.”
Nikos felt Anna in his arms as she threw herself against his chest. “Oh, Nikos, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.”
At her touch, he slowly came back to himself. He looked down at her, stroking her hair.
“Everything you said was right,” she said tearfully. “Everything. I should have trusted you. I’ve been a fool. A selfish, cowardly fool.” She pressed her face against his shirt with a sob, then looked up at him, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. “I ran away when you were only trying to protect us. Can you ever forgive me?”
Nikos had been right about Victor.
Anna’s stomach hurt. She’d known Victor was bad, but she’d never thought he’d actually want to hurt her. Natalie had also tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen.
Nikos had been right about everything. Maybe he’d been bossy and controlling, but at least his motives had been good. Strong and loyal and true, he’d put their new little family first in his life. Why hadn’t she done the same? Why hadn’t she been brave enough to stay and fight, rather than believe the worst of him?
“Forgive me,” she said again.
His dark eyes were unreadable as he softly touched her lips with his finger. “There is nothing to forgive.”
She was suddenly aware of the curious stares of onlookers and the noise of the slot machines. “Before you leave for Asia, I need to talk to you.”
“Let’s go upstairs.” He hugged her close to his body, guiding her gently toward the private elevator. His body felt warm against hers. She wrapped her hand around his muscular waist, enveloped in the scent of him—clean, but with a hint of something dangerous, as searing as the desert sun.
She knew the risk of reaching for the sun. Its heat and fire could consume her.
But she was suddenly so tired of feeling frozen inside.
Nikos had made it clear that he was done fighting with her. She’d been praying that she would have changed his mind by now, that she’d have proved she could both be a good mother and a good employee. But it was too late. He didn’t want her as his secretary. He wanted her to fulfill their deal.
She’d blown it.
Once they were upstairs he’d demand the name of his new secretary. She’d give it to him, and tomorrow he would fly off for Singapore. There would be nothing left for her to do but pack for a new life in New York.
A new life that, for all its freedoms, would be missing one thing she wanted desperately. The man she loved.
She loved him. There. She’d admitted it—if only to herself. But he didn’t want to hire her, and without his love she didn’t want to marry him. There was nothing left to say.
Except that if their relationship had to end she wanted one last night to remember. One night to laugh with him again. To be daring. To be bold. One night where she allowed herself to love him with her whole heart.
One night to prove h
ow much she trusted him.
But, as much as she knew he wanted her, he’d already refused her too many times, holding out for marriage. She licked her lips, glancing at him from beneath her lashes. Before he left, could she make him change his mind—just for one night?
She’d never seduced a man in her life, but maybe it was time to try.
Marveling at her own boldness as she crossed the casino floor with his arm around her, she ran her fingers surreptitiously along his waistband, stroking his flat belly through his shirt. “You changed your shirt.”
She heard his intake of breath, but his voice was even as he replied, “You ripped up the last one.”
“Sorry.” She rubbed her breast against his side as they walked. She heard a slight growl from his throat.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
He picked up his pace toward the elevator, and the moment the doors were closed behind them he was on her. Pressing her against the cool metal wall, he kissed her savagely, running his hands up and down her body.
“God, you drive me crazy,” he whispered against her skin. “I want you, Anna. It’s killing me.”
“Good.” She reached for his shirt and saw his expression as she untucked the fabric and ran her hands underneath, exploring his flat belly and the muscular chest covered with dark hair. “This time you’re not going to refuse me,” she said, using a tone she’d heard him use many times—the tone no one could refuse. She unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers somehow moving deftly, as if she’d been seducing men all her life. “You’re not going to make me wait. You’re not going to demand that I marry you.”
“Anna.” His breathing was coming harder. “We both know—”
“Later.” She already knew what he was going to say, and she didn’t want to hear a word of it. She didn’t want to think about the résumés in her purse, or the fact that Nikos had finally decided to let her go. Tomorrow she’d face those cold, hard facts. But tonight she’d stop time. She’d have one perfect night with him that could be crystallized in her memory forever—something to remember during all the cold and lonely nights.