- -
- 100%
- +
Noting that she was in serious danger of going up in flames at the torrid images that cascaded through her mind, she tried to move on. ‘Logic dictated that since I’m smaller in stature the sofa would be more suited to me. I didn’t see the need for chivalry to get in the way of a good night’s sleep for either of us.’
One brow shot up. ‘Chivalry? You think I did it out of chivalry?’ His amusement was unmistakeable.
A damning tide of heat swept up her face. But she couldn’t look away from those mesmerising eyes. ‘Well, I’m sure you had your own reasons... But I thought...’ She huffed. ‘It doesn’t really matter now, does it?’
‘I suggested it because it wouldn’t have been a hardship for me.’
‘I’m sure it wouldn’t, but you don’t have a monopoly on pain and discomfort, Mr Pantelides.’
He stiffened. ‘Excuse me?’
‘I just meant...whatever the circumstances of your past, at least you had a mother who loved you, so it couldn’t have been all bad.’ She couldn’t stem the vein of bitterness from bleeding into her voice, nor could she fail to realise she’d strayed dangerously far from an innocuous subject. But short of blurting out her own past this was the only way she could stop the slippery slope towards believing Sakis cared about her wellbeing.
She’d suffered a childhood hopelessly devoid of love and comfort, and the threat of a life of drugs had been an ever-present reality. Sleeping on a sofa bed was heaven in comparison.
His narrowed eyes speared into her. ‘Don’t mistake guilt for love, Moneypenny. I’ve learned over the years that this so-called love is a convenient blanket that’s thrown over most feelings.’
She sucked in a breath. ‘You don’t think that your mother loves you?’
His jaw tightened. ‘A weak love is worse than no love. When it crumbles under the weight of adversity it might as well not be present.’
Brianna’s fingers tightened around her tablet as shock roiled through her. For the second time in two days, she was glimpsing a whole new facet of Sakis Pantelides.
This was a man who had hidden, painful depths that she’d barely glimpsed in all the time she’d worked for him.
‘What adversity?’
He shrugged. ‘My mother believed the man she loved could do no wrong. When the reality hit her, she chose to give up and leave her children to fend for themselves.’ Casually, he flipped his pen in his hand. ‘I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time, Moneypenny.’
She believed him. She’d always known he possessed a hardened core of steel beneath that urbane façade, but now she knew how it’d been honed, she felt that wave of sympathy and connection again.
Ruthlessly, she tried to reel back the unravelling happening inside her.
‘Thanks for sharing that with me. But the sofa was really no hardship for me either and, as long as we’re both rested, that should be the end of the subject, surely?’
His eyes remained inscrutable. ‘Indeed. I know when to pick my battles, Moneypenny, and I will let this one go.’
The notion that there would be other heated battles between them disturbed her in an altogether too excited way. Before she could respond, he carried on.
‘You’ll also be happy to know there won’t be any need for me to crowd your personal space any longer. Another room has become available. I’ve taken it.’
Expecting strong relief, she floundered when all she felt was a hard bite of disappointment.
‘Great. That’s good to know.’
Her tablet pinged a message. Grateful beyond words, she jumped on it.
* * *
After breakfast they returned to the site, suited up, and joined the clean-up process. Towards mid-afternoon, she was working alongside Sakis when she felt him tense.
The pithy Greek curse he uttered didn’t need translating. ‘What the hell are they doing here?’
Her heart sank when she saw the TV crew. ‘This is one wave we’re just going to have to ride. Nothing I can do to send them away, but I may be able to get them to play nice. You just have to trust me.’ The moment the words left her lips, she froze.
So did he. Trust was an issue they both had problems with. She had no business asking for his when she hid a past that could end their relationship in a heartbeat.
But slowly, the look in his eyes changed from hard-edged displeasure to appreciative gleaming. ‘Efkharisto. I have no idea what I’d do without you, Moneypenny,’ he said in a low, rumbling voice.
Her heart lurched, then hammered with a force that made her fear for the integrity of her internal organs. ‘That’s good, because I’ve devised this cunning plan to make sure that you don’t have to.’
A corner of his mouth rose and fell in a swift smile. His gaze dropped to her lips, then rose to recapture hers. ‘When Ari threatened to poach you, I nearly knocked him out with my oar,’ he said, his voice rumbling in that gravel-rough pitch that made the muscles in her stomach flutter and tighten.
‘I wouldn’t have gone.’ Not in a million years. She loved working with Sakis, even if the last two days had sent her on a knuckle-rattling emotional rollercoaster.
‘Good. You belong to me and I have no intention of letting you go. I’ll personally annihilate anyone who tries to take you away from me.’
Her pulse raced faster. Work. He’s talking about your professional relationship. Not making a statement of personal intent. Brianna forced that reminder on her erratic senses and tried to breathe normally. When her belly continued to roil, she sucked in air through her mouth.
Sakis made a small, hoarse sound in his throat. Heat arched between them, making her skin tingle and the flesh between her legs ache with desperate need.
Hastily she took a step back. ‘I...I’ll go and speak to the TV crew.’
She turned and fled. And with every step she prayed desperately for her equilibrium to return.
The TV crew refused to leave but agreed not to interview any member of the crew. For that she had to be content.
Sakis’s meeting with the maritime disaster investigators went smoothly because he had already admitted liability and agreed to make reparations, and he barely blinked at the mind-bogglingly heavy fine they imposed on Pantelides Inc.
But his behaviour with her was anything but smooth. Throughout the meeting, Sakis would turn to her for her opinion, touch her arm to draw her attention to something he needed written down or shoot her a question. Fear coursed through her as she realised that the almost staid, rigidly professional team they’d been seventy-two hours ago had all but disappeared.
By the time the meeting concluded, she knew she was in trouble.
* * *
Sakis pushed a frustrated hand through his hair and paced the conference room, anger beating beneath his skin. The investigators had just confirmed the accident was human error.
Striding to his desk, he threw himself in the chair.
‘Has Morgan Lowell’s file arrived yet?’ he asked Brianna.
She came towards him and he tried not to let his gaze drop to the sway of her hips. All damned day, he’d found himself checking her out. He’d even stopped asking himself what the hell was wrong with him because he knew.
Lust.
Untrammelled, bloody, lust. From the easily controlled attraction he’d felt when he’d first met her, it now threatened to drown him with every single breath he took in her presence.
She held out the information he’d asked for and he tried not to stare at the delicate bones of her wrist.
‘What do we know about him?’ he asked briskly.
‘He’s married; no children; his wife lives with his parents. As far as we can tell, he’s the sole provider for his family. And he’s been with the company the last four years. He came straight from the navy, where he was a commander.’
‘I know all of that.’ He flicked past the personal details to the work history and paused, a tingle of unease whispering down his spine. ‘It says here he’s refused to take leave in the last three years. And he’s been married...just over three years. Why would a newly wedded man not want to be with his wife?’
‘Perhaps he had something to prove, or something to hide,’ came the stark, terse response.
Surprised, he glanced up. Unease slid through her blue eyes before she lowered them. He continued to stare, and right before his eyes his normally serenely professional PA became increasingly...flustered. The intrigue that had dogged him since seeing that damned tattoo on her ankle rose even higher.
He sat back in his chair. ‘Interesting observation, Moneypenny. What makes you say that?’
She bit her lip and blood roared through his veins. ‘I...didn’t mean anything by it. Certainly nothing based on solid fact.’
‘But you said it anyway. Instinctive or not, you suspect there’s something else going on here, no?’
She shrugged. ‘It was just a general comment, gleaned from observing natural human behaviour. Most people fall into one of those two categories. It could be that Captain Lowell falls into both.’ She firmed her lips as if she wanted to prevent any more words from spilling out.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked. Impatience grew when she just shook her head. ‘Come on, you have a theory. Let’s hear it.’
‘I just think the fact that both Lowell and his two deputies are missing is highly questionable. I can’t think why all three would be away from the bridge and not respond when the alarm was raised.’
Ice slammed into his chest. ‘The investigators think it was human error but you think it was deliberate?’ Reactivating the tablet, he flicked through the rest of Morgan Lowell’s work history but nothing in there threw up any red flags.
On paper, his missing captain was an extremely competent leader with solid credentials who’d piloted the Pantelides tanker efficiently for the last four years.
On paper.
Sakis knew first-hand that ‘on paper’ meant nothing when it came right down to it.
On paper Alexandrou Pantelides, his father, had been an honourable, hard-working and generous father to those who hadn’t known better. Only Sakis, his brothers and mother had known it was a façade he presented to the world. It was only when a scorned lover had tipped off a hungry journalist who’d chosen to dig a little deeper that the truth had emerged. A truth that had unearthed a rotten trough full of discarded mistresses and shady business dealings that had overnight heaped humiliation and devastation on the innocent.
On paper Giselle had seemed an efficient, healthily ambitious executive assistant, until Sakis’s rejection of her one late-night advance had unearthed a spiteful, cold-blooded, psychopathic nature that had threatened to destabilise his company’s very foundation.
‘On paper’ meant nothing if he couldn’t look into Lowell’s eyes, ask what had happened and get a satisfactory answer.
‘We need to find him, Moneypenny,’ he bit out, bitterness replacing the ice in his chest. ‘There’s too much at stake here to leave this unresolved for much longer.’ For one thing, the media would spin itself out of control if word of this got out. ‘Contact the head of security. Tell them to dig deeper into Lowell’s background.’
Sakis looked up in time to see Brianna pale a little. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.
Her mouth showed the tiniest hint of a twist. ‘No.’
His gaze dropped to hands that would normally be flying over her tablet as she rushed to do his bidding. They were clasped together, unmoving. ‘Something obviously is.’
Darkened eyes met his and he saw rebellion lurking in their depths. ‘I don’t think it’s fair to dig into someone’s life just because you have a hunch.’
Her words held brevity that made Sakis frown. ‘Did you not suggest minutes ago that Lowell could be hiding something?’
She gave a reluctant nod.
‘Then shouldn’t we try and find out what that something is?’
‘I suppose.’
‘But?’
‘I think he deserves for his life not to be turned inside out on a hunch. And I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that was what I wanted, because it’s not.’
A tic throbbed in his temple. Restlessness made him shove away from the desk. His stride carried him to the window and back to the desk next to where she sat, unmoving fingers resting on her tablet.
‘Sometimes we have to bear the consequences of unwanted scrutiny for the greater good.’ As much as he’d detested the hideous fallout, having his father’s true colours exposed had ultimately been to his benefit. He’d learned to look beneath the surface. Always.
She looked at him. ‘You’re advocating something that you hated having done to you. How did you feel when your family’s secrets were exposed to the whole world?’
Shock slammed into him at her sheer audacity. Planting his hands on the desk, he lowered his head until his gaze was level with hers. ‘Excuse me? What the hell do you think you know about my family?’ he rasped.
She drew back a touch but her gaze remained unflinching. ‘I know what happened with your father when you were a teenager. The Internet makes information impossible to hide. And your reaction to the tabloid hack’s question yesterday—’
‘There was no reaction.’
‘I was there. I saw how much you hated it.’ Her voice was soft with sympathy.
The idea of being pitied made his fist tighten on the table.
‘And you think this should make me bury my head in the sand about Lowell?’
‘No, I’m just saying that turning his life inside out doesn’t feel right. Since you’ve been in his shoes—’
‘Since I don’t know anything more than what his human resources file says, that’s a lofty conclusion to draw. And, unlike what you think you know about me and my family, what I find out about Captain Lowell won’t find its way to the tabloid press or any social media forum for the world at large to feast over and make caricatures out of. So I say no, there is nothing even remotely similar between the two situations.’
She drew in a slow, steady breath. ‘If you say so.’ Her gaze dropped and she pulled the tablet towards her.
Sakis stayed exactly where he was, the urge to invade her space further an almighty need that stomped through him. In the last twenty-four hours, his PA had acted out of character, challenged him in ways she’d never done before.
The incident with the tent and the sleeping on the sofa bed, he was willing to let go. This latest challenge—breaching the taboo subject of his father—should’ve made him fire her on the spot. But, as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. The journalist’s question had shaken him and unearthed volcanic feelings he preferred masked.
In silence, he watched her compose a succinct email to his security chief, stating his exact wishes.
The electronic ‘whoosh’ of the outgoing email perforated the silence in the conference room. It was as if the very air was holding its breath.
Brianna raised her head after setting the tablet down. ‘Is there anything else?’
His gaze traced over her. A tendril of hair had escaped its tight prison and caressed the wild pulse beating in her neck. His fingers tingled with the need to smooth it away and trace the pulse with his fingers; to keep tracing down the length of her sleek neck to the delicate collarbone hidden beneath her T-shirt.
‘You disagree with what I’m doing?’
Her full pink lips firmed. That dimple winked again. His groin tightened unbearably.
‘Privacy is a right and I detest those who breach it. I know you do too, so I’m struggling with this a little, but I also get why it needs to be done. I also apologise if I stepped out of line but...I trust you when you say you won’t let it fall into unscrupulous hands.’
Her last words drilled down and touched a soft place inside him, soothed the ruffled edge of his nerves a little. ‘You have my word that whatever we discover about Lowell will be held in strictest confidence.’ The knowledge that he was reassuring her, was justifying his behaviour to his assistant, threw him a little, as did the knowledge that he wanted her to approve of what he was doing. He pushed the feeling away as she nodded.
The movement slid the silky hair against her nape. The soft scent of her crushed-lilies shampoo hit his nostrils and his fingers renewed their mad tingling.
‘And, Moneypenny?’
She glanced up. This close, her eyes were even more enthralling. His heart raced and his blood rushed south with a need so forceful, he sucked in a shocked breath.
‘Yes?’ Her lips were parted, the tip of her wet tongue peeking through even teeth.
Sakis struggled to remember what he’d meant to say. ‘I don’t trust easily but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate people who place their trust in me. In all the time you’ve worked for me, you’ve proved yourself trustworthy and someone I can rely on. Your help especially in the past two days has been priceless. Thank you.’
Her eyed widened. God, she was beautiful. How the hell had he never noticed that?
‘Of...of course, Mr Pantelides.’
Curiously, she paled a little bit more. Sakis frowned then chalked it down to exhaustion. They’d both been driven by dire circumstances to the pinnacle of their endurance. He needed to let her go to her room instead of crouching over her like some dark lord about to demand a virgin sacrifice.
He grimaced and stepped back, slamming down the need to stay where he was. Tension stretched over every of inch of his skin until he felt taut and uncommonly sensitive. ‘I think we find ourselves in a unique enough situation where it’s okay for you to call me Sakis.’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
His brow shot up. ‘Just...no?’
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t.’ Edging away from him, she sprang to her feet. ‘If that’s all you need tonight, I’ll say goodnight.’
‘Goodnight...Brianna.’ Her name sounded like the sweetest temptation on his lips.
She hesitated. ‘I would really prefer it if you kept calling me Moneypenny,’ she said.
Immediate refusal rose to his lips. Until he remembered he was supposed to be her unimpeachable boss, not a demanding lover who was at this moment repeating her given name over and over in his mind. ‘Very well. See you in the morning, Moneypenny.’
He straightened from the table and watched her walk away, her pert bottom tight and deliciously curvy beneath her khaki pants, causing blood to rush hot and fast southward.
He still sported a hard-on that wouldn’t die when his phone rang in his suite an hour later. He stopped pacing his small balcony long enough to snag it from the coffee table where he’d dumped it.
‘Pantelides.’
The short conversation that ensued made him curse long and fluently for several minutes after he hung up.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE FIRM HAMMERING on her door made Brianna’s already racing heart threaten to knock itself into early retirement. Considering the way it’d been racing for the past hour—ever since her wits had deserted her in the conference room—it would’ve been merciful.
What the hell had she been thinking?
Hard knuckles gave the wooden door another impatient workout.
Consciously loosening her tense shoulders, she blew out a reassuring breath and forced composure back into her body. The hastily pulled together bland look was in place when she answered the door.
Sakis stood on the threshold, frowning down at his phone.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked before she could stop herself. The feeling that passed through her, she recognised as worry, a curiously recurring feeling over the past two days. Not cool, Brianna. In fact, a wincingly large percentage of her reactions today had been...off. From the moment he’d stared down at her and told her in that mesmerising voice, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you,’ her judgement had been skewed.
Watching him pace with mounting frustration all day, wishing there was something she could do, had rammed home the fact that her professional equanimity was still very much in jeopardy.
Now...now he looked as if he’d clawed frustrated fingers through his hair several times. And the lines bracketing his mouth had deepened. She cleared her throat.
‘I mean, is there something you need, Mr Pantelides?’
His gaze flicked over her then returned to her face. ‘You haven’t changed for bed yet. Good. The pilot is readying the chopper for take-off in fifteen minutes.’
‘Take-off?’
His hand tightened around the phone as it signalled another incoming message. ‘We’re leaving for the airport. I’ve called an emergency meeting first thing in the morning back in London.’
‘We’re returning to London? But...why?’
His lips firmed. ‘It seems more vultures are circling over our disaster.’
Stunned, she stared at him. The thought that anyone would want to challenge Sakis Pantelides at any time, let alone when he was at his most edgy and dangerous, made her doubt his opponent’s sanity. ‘Media or corporate?’
His smile was deadly. ‘Corporate. I’m guessing the usual suspects who chest-thump every now and then will be feeling bolder in light of the slumping share price as a result of the tanker accident.’
She retrieved the bag she’d left at the foot of her bed. ‘But the shares have started to recover again after the initial nosedive. Your statement and the very public admission of liability made it stabilise very quickly. Why would they...?’
‘News of a takeover bid would make it plunge again and that’s what they’re counting on.’ His phone pinged again and he growled. ‘Especially if two of those companies are announcing their intended merger in the morning.’
He cursed in Greek, using a particular word that made heat rise to her cheeks as she dove into the bathroom for her toiletries bag.
‘Which two companies?’ she called out as she zipped up her bag and checked the room to make sure she hadn’t left anything important.
Exiting, she saw the lines of fatigue etched into his face and her heart lurched.
‘Moorecroft Oil and Landers Petroleum.’
It was only because he’d turned away, his attention once more on this phone, that Sakis didn’t see she’d stopped dead in her tracks; that the blood had drained from her face with a swiftness that made her dizzy for a moment.
It couldn’t be. No. It had to be pure coincidence that the petroleum company shared the same name with Greg, her ex-boyfriend. Landers was a fairly common name...wasn’t it? Besides, Greg’s company when she’d been a part of it before he’d struck the deal that had doomed her, had been a gas-brokering company; a company that had since declared bankruptcy. And certainly not one large enough to take on the juggernaut that was Pantelides Shipping.
‘I’d like to get out of here this side of— Brianna? What’s wrong?’
For goodness’ sake, pull yourself together!
Dry-mouthed and heart thumping, Brianna forced herself to breathe. ‘Nothing; it’s the heat, I think.’
Keen eyes scoured her face and gentled a fraction as he pocketed his phone. ‘Not to mention the lack of sleep. My apologies for dragging you off like this. You can sleep on the plane.’
Stepping forward, he held out his hand for her bag. Their fingers touched, lingered. Heat shot through her and she hastily pulled back from the scorching contact. Swallowing, she followed him out and shut the door behind her. ‘I’ll be fine. And you’ll need me to find out everything we can about the two companies.’ Not to mention she needed to know whether Greg had anything to do with Landers Petroleum.
The thought that he might have started another company, might be cultivating another patsy the same way he’d cultivated her, made her stomach lurch sickeningly.
Could she alert Sakis without drawing attention to herself? Out herself as the needy woman, so desperate for love she hadn’t seen the trap set for her until it’d been too late?
Her belly churned with fear and anxiety as they left the hotel and rode the short helicopter journey to the private hangar at Agostinho Neto airport.
Dear God. She could lose everything.