The Notorious Greek Billionaires

CHAPTER TWO

RETREAT. REGROUP.

For the dozenth time in what felt like the longest afternoon of my life, I shook my head.

‘You don’t agree, Mr Xenakis?’

I refocused on the leader of the Brazilian marketing team gathered around the conference table and wondered what I’d missed while my brain was stuck in that endless cycle of life-altering words uttered by the most captivating creature I’d ever seen.

I’m sorry... I’ve destroyed...everything.

To think I’d been convinced she was pranking me. Or, even more amusing, that she had latched on to an inventive method of getting my attention, since most feminine ploys left me cold these days.

My steep drop in interest in the opposite sex hadn’t gone unnoticed in recent years. Socialites who’d smugly decided they were an integral part of my healing process were scratching their heads, wondering why I’d permanently lost their numbers. Heiresses who’d eagerly and blatantly sought an alliance with the newly unengaged Xenakis bachelor were left stunned as every avenue of contact was firmly rebuffed.

It hadn’t even been worth the time to inform them that the thrill of the chase had stopped being, well...thrilling. That the eighteen months I’d spent sowing every wild oat I could had left me ashen mouthed and even more jaded than I’d been when I woke up in that hospital to the cruellest betrayal.

To think I’d imagined that was the worst moment of my life.

The stark reality of Sadie Preston’s presence in my penthouse—as per Willa’s confirmation, minutes ago—attested to that moment having well and truly been usurped.

Was this how my brother Axios had felt when presented with the noose-like proposition he’d faced almost a year ago?

No, Ax’s sentence was finite. It would end...or rather should have been ending in a matter of weeks, had his bride of fewer than twenty-four hours not fled from him and vanished without a trace, leaving him bewildered and stuck in limbo.

Christos. If he’s feeling even a fraction of what I’m feeling now...

But then the bride he’d acquired hadn’t been wanted. Whereas what Sadie Preston had taken from me was...priceless.

The dreaded cancer diagnosis which had precipitated my sperm donation in anticipation of radiation might have turned out to be a false alarm when I was twenty-five, but the scars marring my skin beneath my clothes were a reminder of why that visit to the Phoenix Clinic had turned out to be a pivotal, life-affirming event for me. A light in the bleak darkness of the blissful ignorance I’d lived in for almost a year, before the blindfold had been ripped from my eyes almost as ruthlessly as the accident that had attempted to rob me of my life.

Anger and pure, unadulterated disbelief flashed like lightning through my system. I shook my head again, aware that I was attracting bewildered stares from the marketing gurus I’d hired to promote the interests of Xenakis Aeronautics in Brazil.

It had taken a draining amount of mental dexterity to get through my other two meetings, and now a quick glance at the presentation slide brought me up to speed with what I’d missed. Or rather, what they’d missed.

‘This isn’t going to work. Besides being unexceptional, you’ve aimed it at the wrong demographic.’

The team leader nodded enthusiastically. ‘Which demographic were you thinking of, Mr Xenakis?’

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Was I required to do all their work for them? ‘You have the data from the beta test. From what I’m seeing, you haven’t bothered to consult it. I’m not seeing any application of the feedback we received from millennials with children.’

My chest clenched as another percussive wave of shock pummelled me. Children. Families. Fatherhood.

A state I’d never experience now, thanks to the actions of a redhead whose lips had dripped words of remorse but whose attitude vaunted defiance. Those startling green eyes had dared me to bring it on even as her bedroom voice wobbled with apology.

That little chin had been raised in silent combat, displaying the silken skin of her throat and a shadow of cleavage. And as for the other treasures hidden beneath her cheap, threadbare clothes...and that hair I wanted to wrap my fist around...

Theos mou. Get a grip.

It was searing shock that had stopped me from instructing Wendell to hand her over to the authorities as soon as she’d confessed her crime.

And shock was the reason she was in my penthouse while I bought myself some time to deal with the earth-shattering news. Besides, as much as I trusted my security chief, some things were private. And this matter couldn’t get more private.

Sadie Preston had essentially taken every last shred of hope for my future and trashed it. And the worst thing was that I hadn’t known how much the nebulous prospect of fatherhood had meant until any chance of it had been destroyed—first with betrayal and lies, and then with a careless press of the delete button on a computer.

My chest growing tighter, I jerked to my feet, the need to do something clawing through me. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I trust we know which direction we’re heading for in the campaign now?’ At their nods of assent, I headed for the door. ‘You have one week to get it right. Don’t let me down.’

Don’t let me down.

Was I wasting my breath, saying that? Was I doomed to be disappointed in everyone I put my trust in? Be it in personal stakes or in a supposedly exclusive, top-of-the-range clinic?

My mouth soured as I strode for the lift.

The Brazilian contingent only needed a little guidance—they’d come through eventually. If they didn’t, they’d simply be...replaced.

While I... Christos, I would never be a father.

I braced a hand against the wall, the weight of reality attempting to crush my shoulders.

So what if in the past I’d had my doubts about my potential effectiveness as a father? Xenakis men were many things, but exemplary fathers they were not. My grandfather had buried himself in work up to the point when he’d dropped dead of a heart attack, trying to save his near-bankrupt family. And long before that, my father had been denied his father’s favour, resulting in the neglect of his own family.

While we tolerated each other now, for the sake of the family business, I didn’t have a single memory of any bonding experience with my father. Boarding school had taken care of my formative years, followed by a gruelling apprenticeship at Xenakis Aeronautics.

I had respect and loyalty, earned from my position.

But affection? Or, hell, love?

In light of the bombshell that had flattened my life three hours ago, even the fake-it-till-you-make-it plan I’d so loftily believed would work with any future offspring had been shattered.

The finger I lifted to press the lift button shook with the force of the loss raking my insides. The moment I was inside the cubicle I attempted to breathe through the anguish, to get myself back under control.

Not even when Anneka had shown her true colours that day in the hospital three years ago had such a sense of deep loss affected me. While her betrayal had been similarly life altering, deep down a part of me had been thankful to have been given the opportunity to cut her out of my life before she truly sank her claws into me. Sure, my male pride had smarted for well over a year after she’d made a fool of me—cue excessive wild oat sowing—but ultimately, I’d escaped her trap.

With this there was not a single upside.

Save perhaps making the culprit pay?

The notion had gathered considerable pace by the time I entered my penthouse.

She stood at the glass window, her attention on the view. At some point between leaving the conference room only minutes ago and now, the sun had decided to shine. It threw a halo over her, turning her hair into living flames. Tendrils had slipped their loose knots, and as I watched she absently tucked a strand over her ear, slid her hand over her nape, then her shoulder, to massage it in firm, circular strokes.

The action sent another wave of tension through me, drawing my attention to her translucent skin, to the perfection of her hourglass figure and the stunning legs framed against the glass. Her other hand was splayed against it as if she yearned for the freedom beyond. Sensing my presence, she whirled around, those endless pools of green going wide at the sight of me.

‘Oh... I had no idea you’d returned.’

My lips tightened, and that percussive mix of anger and desolation threatened again. ‘I believe it’s your lack of awareness that has led us to this point.’

She had the audacity to look hurt. The surrealness of it nearly made me shake my head again—but enough. I was done with being confounded. The important thing was how to proceed from here.

Doctors. Specialists. Investigate one final time.

Every option left a trail of displeasure, and the prospect of having my dire circumstances prodded was even more unwelcome than the verdict I’d woken to after a three-week coma three years ago: the severity of my skiing accident meant that I couldn’t father children naturally. That my only hope of becoming a father rested on a sperm sample donated years ago, when I’d faced another crisis.

A seemingly miraculous turn of events that was now crushed to nothing.

Sadie Preston fidgeted where she stood, even as that pert little nose started to rise.

Christos, had no one ever taught this creature the concept of true contrition? But she wasn’t as calm as she attempted to look. Her chest rose and fell in gathering agitation, and her small feet were curling and uncurling within the cheap flat shoes she wore. The action highlighted the smooth definition of her calves, and against my will I dropped my gaze, the better to absorb it.

When that only prompted a sharp need to test their suppleness beneath my fingers, I turned, made a beeline for my drinks cabinet. A dash of Hine in the crystal tumbler clutched in my hand brought a little clarity.

At the delicate throat-clearing behind me, I squeezed my eyes shut for a control-gathering second. Before I turned, she was speaking.

‘I know you only need to look at me to remember why I’m here. What I’ve done. But I’ve been thinking... If you wouldn’t mind giving me a little information, maybe we can put our heads together and come up with a solution.’

Another urge to laugh this away in the hope that it was some extended acid dream hit me. ‘“Put our heads together”? Why would we want to do that? Are you a doctor?’

Rose-red lips compressed, drawing my attention to yet another tempting part of her body.

The body of your nemesis.

‘You know I’m not. I’m just trying to help—’

‘I think you’ve done quite enough, don’t you? Imagine we are the last two people on earth. Then be assured that I would rather take my chances with whatever apocalypse I face than accept your help.’

Her translucent skin lost a shade of colour. ‘Do you need to be so cruel?’ she muttered.

Absurdly, that plaintive question sent an arrow of guilt through me. Theos mou. What the hell was going on? Was it Upside Down Day? I downed half my drink, hoping the alcohol would burn through the fog.

The hope was in vain. So I approached until we stood half a dozen feet apart. ‘Fine. Humour me. How would you propose we “put our heads together”?’

‘Well, I was thinking that if you wouldn’t mind telling me the circumstances behind your needing to use the Phoenix Clinic the first time around—’

‘No, I would not. Next scenario.’

She hesitated, the tip of her pink tongue darting out to wet her lower lip. This time the punch in my gut was purely carnal. Ravenous. Demanding. Lustful.

For this woman? Christos, the world had truly turned upside down!

‘Okay. If you’re in a position to deposit another sample, perhaps I could contribute financially towards the future storage?’

Bitterness and bleakness lanced me in equal spikes. ‘You don’t look as if you can afford decent attire, let alone the fees of a clinic that charges upward of six figures. Do you have secret access to a gold mine, Sadie Preston? Or clairvoyant insight to the next set of lottery numbers?’

Her eyes flashed. ‘Has anyone ever told you it’s a mistake to judge a book by its cover?’

‘If I am misjudging you, I’ll consider rendering you an apology. Am I?’

She managed to hold my gaze for all of three seconds before her eyes dropped. Against her smooth cheeks, her long, unadorned eyelashes fanned in a seductive curl, highlighting her delicate eyelids. The combination of delicate, defiant and alluring made me grip my glass harder. But, more than that, I wanted her to lift her gaze, to show me those hypnotic green pools once again.

When she did, my breath caught.

I was attracted to her.

This woman, who’d brought me news of an apocalyptic kind, had awakened a libido grown so jaded I’d set it on the back burner in favour of pursuing even more success in the challenging boardrooms of Xenakis Aeronautics.

Was it the heightened bleakness of it all triggering this? And why was I wasting time deciphering it when I had no intention of following through on it?

‘No, you’re not wrong. I can’t afford to foot the bill now. But perhaps we can come to an agreement?’

Here it comes. The age-old proposition.

The idea that she would offer herself to me on a platter drew deep disappointment. Enough to make me down the rest of my drink in abject resignation.

‘Enlighten me about this agreement.’

‘I’m two semesters away from completing a marketing degree. I’ve been top of my class every year. I can maybe work for your company from when I’m done? Pay you back that way?’

Surprise jolted me, followed by the familiar echo of wanting something because I’d been denied it. Had I wanted her on a platter? More specifically in my bed?

Yes!

I ignored the blaring affirmation, concentrated on what she’d said. So she wasn’t just a simple receptionist.

The determination stamped across her face almost made me believe her. Almost. For all I knew she was just spinning tales. Just as Anneka had spun lies around our relationship until an unguarded phone conversation had revealed the depths of her deplorable nature and the lengths she’d been prepared to go to ensure she received an unrivalled payday.

‘How old are you?’

The mutinous look that crossed her face said she was debating not answering. Perhaps suggesting I mind my own business. But she realised very quickly that the question pertained to the proposal she was making.

‘I’m twenty-five,’ she offered, with clear reluctance.

‘Most twenty-five-year-olds are done with their education.’

‘My circumstances are different. I had to interrupt my education for personal reasons.’

Reasons she clearly wasn’t about to disclose. I hid my disgruntlement. For now. ‘Why a receptionist? Why not a paid internship in your chosen field?’

Impatience crossed her face. ‘With respect, my reasons are private. But what I’ve said can easily be verified with my university professors.’

Enough. This had gone on long enough. ‘You walked in off the street to confess a crime. As admirable as you seem to think admitting your culpability should be, I have zero reason to trust you. Not with my personal property and certainly not with my business. Your offer is declined.’

She inhaled sharply, the action drawing my attention to her chest. To her parted lips. Christos.

‘So that’s it? You’re going to throw me to the wolves?’

‘For what you’ve done? Yes, Sadie Preston. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.’

Despite his doom-filled decree, he didn’t move.

In the hours I’d been stuck in his opulent penthouse, one question had persistently swarmed my mind—why did a man whose every breath and expression spelled out his masculine potency and unapologetic virility need to store a sperm sample?

Eventually, curiosity had got the better of me. And the internet had been breathlessly efficient in providing high-resolution digital answers.

‘Is this to be a staring contest?’ he mused now, in a bone-dry tone tinged with that note I’d mistaken for bleakness earlier when I delivered my news. ‘You’re attempting to hypnotise me into reversing my verdict, perhaps?’