Her laugh didn’t come easily. She hoped Bob couldn’t hear the difference. Her sleepless night—and her conversation with Josh—had taken a toll. She’d never felt more torn in her life.
Max needed her help, no matter what he might say. He’d never get justice without proof, and she was in a position to give him what he needed. She could tell him that Josh had written a unique program to break passwords with incredible speed. She could tell him about the mysterious code for which Josh didn’t know the source but which had broken open new possibilities they’d used in the game about to debut. Max could take that to a lawyer who could then file to stop Poseidon from launching Lightning Quest.
And Bob and all the people she’d met at the picnic would be hurt. Their livelihoods would be threatened, if the gossip she’d heard had any merit, if Poseidon was really in trouble. She felt like the serpent in the garden.
“You find Josh okay?” His attention was diverted. He smiled. “Hi there, boss.”
Lexie’s fingers dug into her purse strap. Her heart set up a trip-hammer beat.
“Good morning, Bob,” said a deep voice that haunted her dreams. “Good morning, Ms. Grayson.”
“Hello.” She swallowed hard, wishing she could vanish. She forced herself to turn.
Oh God. He was at his most intimidating, dressed in a killer double-breasted suit, his shirt blinding white, his tie neatly knotted.
“Board meeting this morning, right?” Bob asked.
Dominic nodded but didn’t take his gaze off hers. “Yes. Big day.”
He was the very image of power, of command. Remote, intimidating in that dark, dangerous way of his. He inhabited a world she couldn’t imagine, looked capable of anything, including stealing Max’s creation.
Gone the laughing dark gaze, the easy, long-limbed grace of her buccaneer. This man radiated undeniable power, was clothed in the robes of a world that was light-years from her own. This man had sophisticated women at his beck and call, jetted all over the world, had built an empire.
Now, more than ever, she felt the enormity of the chasm between them.
What would a man like him need from someone like her? The answer was simple: nothing.
If only her heart would listen. If only she could forget his touch, if her eyes would stop drinking in the sight of him.
If only his dark eyes didn’t look so troubled.
“Ms. Grayson, may I speak with you a moment?”
Lexie took an involuntary step back, fingers clutched tightly around the strap of her portfolio. “I, uh—don’t you have a meeting?”
Midnight eyes bored into hers. “Not for an hour. Please—this will only take a moment.”
She felt Bob’s gaze switching between them. “I really need to go. Could this wait? I could—I’ll—” Stop stammering, Lexie. But she was only too aware of where she’d been, what she’d been doing. She sucked in a deep breath. “I have another appointment. I’ll call Mrs. Murray.”
“This will only take a moment, and I’m afraid it cannot wait.” The command was unmistakable; her options limited.
Her guilt transparent?
“All right. Five minutes is all I can spare, I’m afraid.”
The remote, hard stranger nodded curtly. “This way, please.” He led the way into his private elevator.
Silently she followed, trying to breathe over the pounding of her heart. After last night’s near-miss, she didn’t trust herself alone with him.
When the doors closed, the air pressed in upon her, the atmosphere crackling with the tension between them. Lexie looked straight ahead, seeing in the shiny doors the reflection of the forbidding stranger at her side.
The image put everything into perspective. He dwarfed her, so tall, so strong, so perfectly groomed in dark, somber shades. She wore bright leggings, long dangling earrings and a tie-dyed top.
She wanted to run, far and fast, and never see him again.
She wanted him to touch her so badly she ached. “I—I really don’t have time to go all the way up to your office. Can—could you tell me what it is right here?”
For a moment, the air sizzled with her daring, with his dark, piercing stare.
Then he leaned forward and hit the Stop button.
And turned to her, his eyes blazing.
She took an involuntary step backward, only to feel her back against the wall. Every nerve in her body leaped to alert, knowing before her mind could register exactly what he intended.
Wanting it more than her next breath.
For a moment, he looked as though he might say something. Explain, ask questions, demand answers. All of that and more shot like sparks from those fathomless dark eyes.
Then he cursed beneath his breath and closed the distance between them, the heat of his body rolling over her in waves, slamming into the blaze roaring inside her.
“Nikos—” she begged. But she didn’t know if she was begging him to stop or to do what her torn-to-pieces heart so badly wanted. “We can’t—”
He ignored her completely. His mouth covered hers, smothering her words as he pressed the lean muscled length of him against her. His kiss became her whole world, his body her only reality, her need the only question, his touch the only answer.
Sweet heaven. Lexie sobbed into his kiss, dropping her portfolio and purse and sliding her arms around his neck, pressing herself into him as though he could keep her from flying off the earth.
“Mr. Santorini?” The intercom in the elevator crackled. “Something wrong?”
Dominic’s fingers dug into her back, pinning her against him.
Lexie jerked away, shattered by the knowledge of what she’d almost done.
What she still wanted to do, despite all reason, all sense.
He stared at her for a moment that spun out for what seemed eons, his eyes a maelstrom of hunger and need—and loathing.
Self-loathing rose to choke her.
“Sir? Do you need help?”
He shook himself as if awakening from a dream. “No,” he grated. “We are fine.” He hit the button again, and the elevator began to move.
“You’re sure?”
Dominic’s voice hardened as he stared at Lexie for a moment longer, shaking his head but responding in the affirmative. “Yes. I am sure.”
The elevator stopped on his floor.
Lexie gathered her things, held them against her like armor. She couldn’t meet his gaze again. “I—I really have to go.”
He gathered up his own belongings. His voice was not quite steady when he spoke. “We need to talk.”
The door opened, and Lexie was keenly conscious of the receptionist staring their way. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” She couldn’t imagine that he couldn’t hear her heart pounding out of her chest at her daring.
She pushed the button for the lobby, wishing she could vanish.
He held the door with one strong hand and turned toward her. “We will talk.” His voice was hard now and so remote.
She risked a glance. “I have a lot of work to do to be ready for the gala.”
His dark eyes blazed. “If you value your contract, call Mrs. Murray today. You pick the time, but it must be today.” He looked as though he wanted to say more, but already, people were heading toward him, demanding his attention.
“I don’t think I’ll have time—”
“Today, Lexie.” He took his hand off the door, and it began to close. “Or I will come after you.”
Her protest was swallowed up as the doors slid shut, the elevator began its descent.
Lexie’s legs buckled, and only the wall behind her stopped her from sliding to the floor.
Chapter Nine
Dominic should have been pleased as he emerged from the day-long board meeting. He’d obtained consent of the full group to implement the poison pill whenever he thought it necessary.
It should work. As soon as whoever was acquiring the stock reached the designated percentage, it would trigger a Securities a
nd Exchange Commission disclosure. If he set up a management contract with an exorbitant buyout in case of a takeover, it would discourage such an action, too big a hit on earnings.
If he put the poison pill in place right now, the threat would disappear. Just like the Hydra of mythical lore, however, it would crop up elsewhere—if the enemy’s name was Peter Kassaros.
If he lived a hundred years, he didn’t think it would be long enough to understand why Peter had hated him all of his life. When they were children on the island of Santorini, he’d thought it was simple childhood rivalry, bully against a weaker child.
Perhaps he should have left it there. Dominic hadn’t consciously set out to humiliate the bigger, older Peter. His fierce pride, however, wouldn’t let him knuckle under. Never telling anyone else about the petty tortures and the sadistic pleasure Peter took in his games only added fuel to the fire, it seemed.
Coming to this country hadn’t changed a thing. Peter had followed.
Dominic’s success had made it worse.
But Peter’s treatment of Ariana had upped the ante to a new level. Dominic had to stop him, had to find a way to neutralize the threat forever. Had to find out who Peter had put inside his organization.
Even if it was Lexie.
Lexie. God. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose, wondering what in the hell had possessed him to lose control like that this morning.
But he knew. It was the guilt in her eyes that had undone him. Her guilt bashing between what he knew was right…and what he wanted so badly he could taste it.
He wanted to know that Lexie was innocent. He wanted her in his arms, in his life, and he wanted it with a hunger that was eating him alive.
But he could not forget what he’d heard from the security guard this morning.
Lexie had been to visit Josh again. Why?
“Dominic, wait up,” Bradley called out.
Yanked out of his dark thoughts, Dominic hadn’t quite erased the frown from his face before he turned to face Bradley.
“What’s the matter? I don’t understand why you didn’t let the board go ahead and enact the poison pill. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
Dominic’s words came out more clipped and hostile than he’d intended. “Yes. I do.” He turned back to head toward his office, then stopped and hung his head briefly, blowing out a breath. He waited for Bradley to catch up.
“Sorry,” he said, sparing his friend a glance. “Not your fault. I am just so damned tired of this.”
“So why are you waiting? You could have checkmated him in there just now and removed the threat.” He studied Dominic’s face in challenge. “But you didn’t. Why?”
Because then whoever it was would back off. And he’d never know if Lexie—
He shook his head. “We don’t know it’s Peter yet,” Dominic reminded him in a neutral tone.
“The hell we don’t,” Bradley countered. “You feel it in your gut, just like I do. So what’s the real reason?”
Dominic remained silent.
Bradley’s eyes narrowed. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
Dominic knew better than to ask who Bradley meant.
“Goddammit, Dominic, what the hell are you doing? Do you know she was with Josh this morning?”
“Yes,” Dominic snapped. “I know that.”
“And what are you going to do about it?” Bradley’s nostrils flared. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do—I’m going to see Josh and find out why. I don’t know what it takes to make you see the truth about that woman, but if you won’t act, I will—”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?” Bradley leaned close to him. “I’ve never seen you like this, not in all the years I’ve known you. The company is in trouble, and you’re letting her lead you around by the—”
Dominic held himself back with supreme effort, reminding himself of all the years this man and he had been friends. “I will take care of it, Bradley. I will talk to Josh. You stay out of it.”
Triumph flared in his friend’s gaze. “When?”
“Don’t push it. This is my company, and I know my duty.”
“It’s not just your company, my friend, or have you forgotten?”
He’d never wanted more to smash his fist in someone’s face, and the very thought rocked him. What was it about her that could make him hesitate to act, make him want to take out his anger on his best friend?
With an effort like none he’d ever exerted in his life, Dominic forced his savage urge back under iron control. “I said I will take care of it. Now if you’ll excuse me—” He turned and walked away before he did something he would regret forever.
“You’re losing it, Dominic,” Bradley shot back before he turned. “No piece of tail is worth it.”
Dominic gripped the handle of his office door so tightly his knuckles went white. With extreme care, he quietly closed the wooden slab between himself and the only man he truly trusted. Inside his office, Dominic shed his suit coat and loosened his tie, running a hand through his hair, wondering what the hell had happened to him.
He stared out his window across the hills, in the direction where Lexie’s dome lay. It already seemed years ago that he’d been there.
Where had she been in the early dawn hours? Why hadn’t she answered the phone?
And what was she doing, talking to Josh?
He shook his head as his thoughts whirled, none of them pleasant. Too many questions, not enough answers.
“Mrs. Murray,” he spoke into the intercom. “What time is my appointment with Ms. Grayson?”
“I beg your pardon? Was I supposed to make an appointment for you?”
“She hasn’t called.” His jaw ground.
“No, sir. Would you like me to call her?”
“No. I will take care of it.” He’d like to head out there right now and track her down. Have it out and get his answers, for once and for all.
But would she tell him the truth?
And did he want to hear it?
Dominic ran his fingers through his hair again, then straightened and punched the intercom again. “Mrs. Murray, please check to see if Josh Logan is in the building.”
“You what?” Max thundered. He reached her in one step and whirled her around by the shoulders. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, obviously struggling for composure. “Say that again. No—” He held up a hand. “On second thought, don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it.” Wheeling away, he paced rapidly. “I don’t want to hear that my best friend—my idiot friend, I might add, is so damn careless of her own welfare, so certain that I can’t take care of myself—” He stopped and glared at her. “You lied to me, Lex. You risked—do you have any concept of what could happen to you? Industrial espionage is no laughing matter. I could wring your neck—”
He started pacing again.
“I just wanted to help you, Max. You’ve worked so hard to make your dreams come true. Your work has been stolen, and you said yourself that you had to have proof for anyone to take you seriously—”
“And you just happened to be there, anyway, so—” He swore darkly. “Lexie, this is serious—it’s not a game of cloak and dagger.”
“I know that—” She burst into tears.
He stopped immediately and rushed to her side. “Oh, kid, I’m not—it’s just that you scare the hell out of me sometimes. You’re loyal to a fault and you’re so impulsive.” He rested his cheek on her hair and rocked her slowly as she sobbed. “Hey…it’s not the end of the world.”
Her heart was breaking into a million pieces. “It’s worse than you know, Max.”
He leaned back. “Why?”
Here it came. She had to tell him, and how much could even Max forgive? But she was so confused, so torn she didn’t know what was right anymore.
Through the blur of her tears, she tried to focus on her oldest friend. “Do you remember the guy—” Her voice dropped to a shamed whisper. “That guy?
That night?”
His brows drew together. “What guy?” Then understanding dawned. “You mean, the one who—the one who got to you?”
She nodded, then dropped her gaze to the floor. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“I’m your friend, Lex. Nothing can change that.”
How she wished it were true. “It was Dominic Santorini.”
Max’s breath whooshed out in a gust. “Santorini.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—I didn’t know—I didn’t know who he was until—” She lifted her shoulders, determined to face him. “Oh, Max, I—”
“Unbelievable.” Max paced, his face shell-shocked.
She felt an inch high.
Then he whirled. “You poor kid.” His blue eyes filled with sympathy.
“You’re not mad?”
“Lex, you’re my best friend. You wouldn’t—” He broke off as it hit him again. “Mamma mia. What a mess.”
“I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe the man I—” Looking around and finding no tissues, she swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “I can’t believe he’d do that, Max, but I heard one of them talking to Josh about the new code that had been introduced recently, so I wanted to try those keystrokes you showed me in case it was yours, but I couldn’t tell what any of those lines said and—”
“Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute.” Max glanced around, then seized a rag and thrust it into her hands. Lexie blew her nose and tried not to wish she were dead. “You were in the office? You—you tried to—” He sucked in a deep breath, scrubbed his face, then turned his back on her and stalked toward the refrigerator. He came back with two soft drinks, holding one out to her. He dropped down on the plywood beside her.
“All right.” He shook his head, then reached out and hugged her. “We’ll figure this out. Just tell me what’s happened—and don’t leave out a thing.”
Lexie drew in a ragged breath and began talking.
Dominic walked back into his office at the end of a very long day and sank into his chair, staring off into the darkness, wishing he had never spoken with Josh.
The boy had confirmed Bradley’s darker suspicions. Lexie had been talking to him about hacking into computers and like the callow youth he was, Josh had never stopped to question why.
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