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With a sense of desolation more profound than she could have ever dreamed possible, Rio sat silently, watching the man to whom she’d lost her heart. As if that very thought made her presence felt, he turned to look at her, the emptiness in his eyes breaking her heart.
‘Rio?’ For a moment he seemed speechless, unable to say anything. ‘When did you get here?’
‘Early this morning.’ She didn’t know what to say to him. The way he searched her face, looking into her eyes for the answers she couldn’t give him—answers about more than what had happened to Xena—almost tore her heart in two.
‘How much longer is she likely to sleep?’ His voice was firmer now, his shock at seeing her gone, as he walked to the bottom of his sister’s bed. His height dominated the room, crowding her thoughts. The dark grey suit he wore only emphasised his muscular physique, reminding her how it had felt against her body when he’d kissed her. It had felt good. Right. But that had been before. That had been when she’d been a different person.
Aware that he was waiting for an answer, she dragged her thoughts back in line and resisted the urge to stand up and try to match his height. Instead she remained seated, hoping it would give off the message that she was as totally unaffected by him as she’d claimed when she had broken things off.
‘When she first came round, she was very distressed. She couldn’t remember anything, so the doctors gave her a sedative.’ Rio focused her attention on Xena. She couldn’t look at Lysandros. Not into those coal-black eyes. She didn’t want to see the questions. The accusations. ‘They said she will be sleepy for some time and are worried the knock on her head has affected her memory.’
‘Her memory?’ She had his full attention now. And the full force of his scrutiny.
‘She doesn’t recall the accident, or any other recent events, but as she knows who she is, the doctors are saying it’s her way of coping. She is blocking it out.’ Rio gulped back a wave of emotion. She had to be strong, had to focus on what Xena needed. Right now, nothing else mattered, not even her and Lysandros.
‘What happened?’ The question was firm, but by the look on his face she knew he was struggling to comprehend his sister’s injuries, intensifying her own guilt at what she’d done to him. She didn’t know how she was going to answer that and keep Xena’s recent relationship from him. A relationship that was now over. It might be the reason why Xena was here in hospital, but it was no longer of any importance or relevance. Just as all she and Lysandros had shared was no longer of importance.
Last night, when Rio had arrived at Casualty, Xena hadn’t recalled the promise she’d extracted from Rio. The promise not to tell Lysandros about her romance with Ricardo, a married man. A promise she’d never envisaged being brought into play, but last night Xena had been confused and distressed, unable to piece together recent events—or even Ricardo. The doctors had assured her it was almost certainly temporary, but it still upset Rio to see her friend like that and she knew she would do anything to make it better for her. Even keep the truth from her powerful and commanding brother. Just as she’d keep her true reason for ending their relationship from him.
Rio fought frustration and guilt as it welled up inside her. If only she’d been able to convince Xena that her married lover had ended the affair in order to make his marriage work. That he wouldn’t leave his wife. Then maybe the accident would never have happened. Xena wouldn’t be here now. But she hadn’t been able to convince her. She and Xena had fallen out over it and Xena had slipped out after Rio had gone to bed and now Rio blamed herself for being too hard on her friend.
‘What happened?’ Lysandros demanded again, his tone more insistent this time, dragging her back to the present.
‘A car ran the lights. It hit her car hard. Spun it round.’ As she thought of it, of the distress Xena must have felt, she closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples. She was tired. Upset. Seeing Lysandros again was too much on top of Xena’s accident.
‘Are you okay?’ Lysandros’s voice was so close it made her jump.
She opened her eyes to see him crouched before her, his hands holding the arms of the chair either side of her. Trapping her. Instantly all she could think about was the moment Hans had trapped her against the piano. No, she couldn’t allow that moment to rule her. Not ever. She just needed time to get over it.
‘Rio?’ Lysandros laid his palm on her lap, genuine concern in his voice. The heat of his hand grounded her, making her feel peculiarly safe.
She looked at him, almost bereft when he withdrew his hand, but this wasn’t a time to focus on her or what she wanted or even needed. The only thing she had to do now was be there for Xena, doing and saying whatever she needed her to say.
‘It’s Xena who needs your concern, not me.’ Even to her own ears, her voice sounded cold and emotionless.
He stood up, his long legs making him intimidatingly tall as he towered over her. She looked up at him, straight into the black depths of his eyes. She couldn’t look away. Couldn’t help herself wondering. Did the desire that had once filled them lie beneath their lacklustre darkness?
She forced her attention back to Xena’s sleeping form, desperate to focus her emotions. She looked up at Lysandros again, the man she could have been so happy with if other things hadn’t got in the way. ‘I have spoken to the doctor. She should start to come round soon. Her broken arm and fractured wrist are expected to heal, although her injuries will mean she won’t be able to play the violin for some considerable time.’
If only he knew the full truth of it all. Playing the violin would not be what Xena worried about as she recovered. It would be the loss of the man she loved that would fill her mind, her heart. If she remembered him. Tears sprang to Rio’s eyes and she blinked rapidly to hold them back. Jumping up, she went to the window, looking out over the city bathed in glorious spring sunshine as the day began. Anything to get away from his scrutiny.
‘Why?’ He glanced at Xena, sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing around her. She’d promised Xena her secret would be exactly that until she was ready to tell anyone. With a clarity and determination she’d never felt before, Rio knew she would do whatever she had to for Xena. That was what friends did and she knew without a doubt that Xena would do the same for her.
She looked at Lysandros and refused to quake at the power that radiated from him, refused to bow to his superior command. This wasn’t a business transaction—this was his sister’s life. Xena’s future. All Rio wanted was to be there for her.
‘Even without the amnesia, the injuries Xena has sustained will require time to heal. She may not even be able to play when the new season starts in the autumn.’
Rio calmly laid the foundations, which, although true, was not the reason why Xena wouldn’t want to rejoin the orchestra. Ricardo was part of the stage crew and amidst a torrent of tears Xena had clung to Rio before they’d fallen out, saying there was no way she could be part of the orchestra now. Rio’s heart still broke to remember the pain in her friend’s voice, knowing it came from losing the man she loved. A pain she also knew—because if she was truthful with herself, she had loved Lysandros.
‘Then the best option is for Xena to return to Greece.’ Lysandros looked at his sister, then back at her. The firm tone of his voice left her in no doubt that he did not expect his decision to be challenged—by anyone.
Rio had no intention of challenging him or his superiority. Relief flooded through her. If Xena left London and went to her island villa to recover, then any chances of gossip about her and Ricardo would be lessened. Ricardo certainly wouldn’t be the one to say anything. He was a married man and stood to lose everything. Xena would be able to recover in peace, and although the thought of saying goodbye to her friend at such a time hurt, it was the best solution.
‘Yes, I think that would be exactly what she needs in the circumstances.’ Rio’s voice had lost that determined edge, but she was acutely aware of Lysandros’s scrutiny.
He moved back to the window, looking out over London for a moment before turning to face her. Like an animal trapped in the beams of car headlights at night, she froze to the spot. Was he going to demand an explanation? From her? Was he now about to demand to know why she’d stood him up that night?
‘And what about you?’ He spoke gently and she swallowed down her guilt. She didn’t deserve his concern. She might not have been directly involved in the accident, but she blamed herself. ‘I can see this is affecting you too.’
He moved closer to her, his handsome face softened by the kind of concern she guessed those he did business with rarely saw. She wanted to back away, wanted to keep as much distance between herself and this man as possible. But she couldn’t. He mesmerised her, made her want things she couldn’t have now.
‘I will stay in London.’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper. He reached out and pushed the stray strands of her hair back from her face, just as he’d done the last time he’d seen her. Before he’d kissed her.
She caught her breath. Her pulse raced so fast she couldn’t say anything. All she could do was look into his hypnotically sexy black eyes.
‘You have had a shock too. You shouldn’t be alone.’ His words were heavy with his Greek accent, making her body’s reaction to him, to his nearness, even more intense.
She stepped back from him, away from the strange power he had over her. ‘I will be fine here.’
‘I am sure Xena wouldn’t want that,’ he insisted, his eyes dark and watchful, as if he was trying to tell her he wanted her there.
‘No, I should stay here.’
* * *
Lysandros took in Rio’s face, unusually bare of make-up, and along with the casual jeans she wore with a sweater, she had an air of complete innocence. What was it about this woman? Why did she affect him like this? Why did he want to take on the challenge she’d unwittingly issued when she’d stood him up and then told him it was over? Her response to his kiss after the piano recital had promised him so much. So what had changed that?
Xena stirred and he forced his mind from those questions. Instantly Rio was at his sister’s side, her attention focused completely on her friend. He should be giving Xena the same attention, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Rio. Her hair, loosely pulled back, looked tousled, giving away the haste in which she’d obviously left her bed early this morning. She might well have been here for hours, but she looked beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. His heart wrenched.
‘Lysandros is here,’ Rio said softly as Xena opened her eyes, a look of bewilderment on her pale face.
Xena winced as she tried to slide up the partially elevated bed. Rio fussed with her pillows, going to great lengths to make them right. Anything, it seemed, to avoid looking at him. Anything to avoid that sizzle of attraction that still sparked between them, despite the current situation.
‘Lysandros?’ Xena asked shakily as she turned to look up at him.
‘I came as soon as I heard,’ he said, taking her hand in his. He knew Rio was watching him. Every nerve in his body was tuned in to her.
‘But you only just returned to Greece,’ Xena said weakly as she looked at him, then at Rio. Lysandros’s heart sank. He’d been in Athens for the past six weeks. Xena obviously didn’t remember much at all.
‘Do you think I would stay there when I had just been told by Mother that you had been involved in an accident?’ He glanced up at Rio.
‘I was in an accident?’ The panic-laced question confirmed all Rio had just told him about Xena’s memory loss.
‘Yes,’ Rio added gently, and Xena looked at her. ‘A car accident.’
‘I don’t remember.’ Xena shook her head. Then her eyes widened. ‘I don’t remember anything.’
‘Don’t panic,’ Rio soothed, and Lysandros marvelled at her command in the face of Xena’s fear. ‘You’ve had a bump on the head. I’m sure it’s perfectly normal not to remember things straight away. I’ll go and find the doctor now, get him to come and reassure you.’
‘Don’t go yet,’ Xena pleaded, and Rio hesitated. ‘There is something else wrong, isn’t there? Something is wrong between you two. I can feel it.’
‘Don’t worry about us,’ Rio said soothingly, again fussing with the bedsheets.
Xena laughed softly. It was such an unexpected sound that Lysandros looked at his sister, not sure what was coming next. Tears maybe, as the shock of the accident set in.
‘Well, I hope you two haven’t fallen out.’ Xena rested her head back against the pillow, her face as pale as the white sheets. ‘Because you do realise you were meant for each other?’
Lysandros didn’t dare look at Rio. It wasn’t just the accident Xena didn’t remember; she didn’t remember he and Rio were no longer dating. ‘Of course we haven’t fallen out. Far from it.’
He looked at Rio across the bed, shocked to find how near they now were. Their concern for Xena had drawn them physically so close he only needed to lean forward a little to kiss Rio. And he wanted to. She still had that effect on him, still raised the desire in his blood until it almost boiled.
‘Fallen out?’ Rio frowned, her gaze locked with his, and he saw the moment she realised what he was doing, that he didn’t want to panic Xena or worry her by explaining they had done exactly that six weeks ago. He let out a breath of relief when she laughed softly, looking at Xena, apparently happy to conspire with him. ‘Of course we haven’t.’
Lysandros straightened away from the temptation of kissing Rio once more and looked at her. ‘You will, of course, come to Greece with Xena. I’m sure it’s what she will need to aid her recovery.’
Rio’s eyes snapped to his. ‘I don’t think that is necessary,’ she said firmly, a clear challenge in her voice.
Lysandros should be worried about Xena, should be anxious about her amnesia, but all he could think about was getting Rio to his Greek island. Getting her alone. Then he could convince her that what they’d had before she’d stood him up had been good, worth continuing. He wanted Rio. Couldn’t get her out of his mind. It was not just because she was the only woman to have stood him up. It was more than that. He couldn’t make sense of his reaction to her. All he knew was that this might be the only opportunity to discover the pleasure of making her his.
Rio took a step away from the bed, away from him. As if she sensed his ulterior motives. As if she knew the reason he wanted her in Greece was because he couldn’t accept that she didn’t want him.
He damn well couldn’t.
Not when desire had sparked within every smile she’d bestowed on him. Not when she had seductively let him know she was ready to take their relationship to a different level.
Even now, in the hospital, with his sister’s suspected amnesia looking ever more likely, the air was filled with sexual tension, pulling him and Rio together, invalidating her claim they were over. How could he turn his back on something so powerful, something that had promised to be amazing? The disaster of his engagement had loomed over him for ten years, but whatever it was between him and Rio, this was the first time that shadow had been eclipsed.
‘Xena, do you want Rio with you in Greece?’
‘Most definitely,’ Xena said, her voice still wobbly as she looked from one to the other, as if she couldn’t make out what was happening.
‘Then I will make arrangements immediately for you both to travel to Greece.’ He turned to leave. He couldn’t stand this close to Rio and not touch her, not try to convince her with a kiss that they needed to explore the attraction between them. They needed to extinguish the fire of desire and he knew exactly how. ‘I will speak to a doctor right now.’
He strode out of the room, not expecting Rio to follow him, but he knew she had. He sensed it with every taut muscle in his body. He continued to walk briskly down the hospital corridor, wanting to be completely out of Xena’s hearing before he turned to face the onslaught of Rio’s anger. Anger that radiated up the corridor after him.
‘Lysandros, will you wait?’ She was angry all right. He turned slowly to face her, keeping his expression devoid of emotion. ‘Why are you allowing Xena to think we are still together?’
‘Because I don’t wish to upset her.’
‘I can’t just go to Greece and pretend everything is right between us.’ The defiant tilt of her chin should have annoyed him, but instead it set light to the fuse of lust once more. Why did this woman drive him so wild with desire? Her lack of experience with men had been evident from the first day Xena had introduced them. So why did he want her so much when he’d always preferred experienced women? The kind of woman who wouldn’t demand anything more than a night of exquisite pleasure? No questions, no longing for happy endings, just hot, passionate nights until the desire cooled.
‘Rio.’ He’d always liked the feel of her name on his lips and moved closer to her. ‘Xena needs you. You are her closest friend.’
She folded her arms across her slender body, adding to the aura of defiance—and the spark of lust in him.
‘I should be playing the piano each day, even though the season is over.’ He didn’t believe the hostile glint in her eyes for one minute. Just as he didn’t believe that excuse. There was an emptiness in it that warned him she was hiding something.
He smiled at her weak excuse. Was she afraid of what was between them? Afraid of its power? ‘Xena has a grand piano in her villa, which I am sure she would love you to play.’
He didn’t go on to say that he also had a piano in his Athens apartment. That would deter her further, but the thought of her playing it—just for him—fired his lust higher.
She shook her head. ‘No. I need to stay in London.’
He moved closer still, putting temptation in his path once more. He couldn’t allow that to distract him, not when he knew Xena would want her friend with her if she had to return to Greece. If she had to face the reality of not only her loss of memory but being unable to play her violin while her wrist and arm healed, she would need Rio.
He would need Rio there too. As hard as it was to admit, he found it difficult to emotionally connect with anyone, even Xena. Angered that his flaw had surfaced, that maybe it had chased Rio away, he drew on the few facts he knew about the accident.
‘Why was Xena out alone when she wasn’t familiar with driving in a big city at night?’
Rio’s eyes sparked with anger, her soft lips pressing into a firm line. For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to answer. ‘I had no idea she’d gone. We’d...had words.’
‘Was she meeting someone?’ He might still want Rio in a way that unnerved him, but right now she was the only person who could help him understand what had happened last night.
‘I think so.’ He heard the pain in her voice and a twinge of guilt spiralled through him until he reminded himself he was doing this for Xena. She would have been furious with him for upsetting her friend, but he needed to know and right now Xena was unable to talk for herself.
He gentled his tone. ‘Who?’
‘Just a friend.’
‘And what were you doing at this time?’ He hated himself for needing to know just where Rio had been that night. Xena had assured him Rio hadn’t dated anyone else since their split and he’d accepted that, had given Rio the space she’d asked for. Maybe now he’d get the answers he wanted, maybe even continue where they’d left off.
‘I went to bed, assuming Xena had too.’ Rio looked boldly at him, daring him to challenge her explanation. And he would. He hadn’t got where he was now in business by not taking risks. His world-renowned luxury yacht company had pushed him to the limits and beyond as he’d fought to bring his father’s declining shipping company into the twenty-first century and expand it. There was no way he was going to allow Rio to undermine him. He wouldn’t allow her to keep him from the truth about last night—or any other night, for that matter.
‘You said you’d had words. What about?’ His usually all-too-effective charm slipped into his voice and he watched as a flurry of emotions crossed her face.
‘It doesn’t matter now.’
He hadn’t expected that. ‘And why would that be?’
She inhaled deeply then moved a pace towards him. A valiant attempt at bravado.
‘It was nothing; you don’t need to concern yourself.’ He hadn’t anticipated the innocent and somewhat shy Rio Armstrong to have such a sting in her tail.
‘My sister is lying in a hospital bed, unable to recall the accident and obviously other things too. I have every right to concern myself.’ He looked back up the corridor to where Xena’s private room was, giving weight to his argument.
‘We were talking about a man.’ She paused as if contemplating her next words carefully. ‘That’s all you need to know.’
So Rio had spurned him, only to move on to a new lover. ‘And this man is the reason you stood me up?’ He waited for her answer, the unexpected turn in the conversation working in his favour.
‘That’s not important now.’ Rio skilfully avoided the issue, but he wasn’t going to let her get away with not answering him that easily.
‘Why did you stand me up, Rio?’ The need to know surged forward, pushing all other thoughts to one side. ‘Because you kissed me? Told me you wanted to spend the entire night with me?’ He taunted her mercilessly.
She gasped, her gaze meeting his, indignation in her eyes. ‘No.’
‘Why did you change your mind?’ If only she could admit there was something between them. ‘What are you afraid of, Rio?’
‘I’m not afraid of anything. I simply don’t want a man in my life—any man.’ Sparks of anger filled her words, but he refused to allow them to penetrate his armour. He’d do precisely what he’d done for the last six weeks and wait for the right moment. This was a conversation to have later, in Greece, on the island, when she would have no option but to talk to him.
‘Xena would want you to come to Greece and help her through this difficult time.’ He pushed home his point, satisfied when he saw her conflicted expression. ‘The last thing Xena needs right now is to think you and I have fallen out. Whatever has happened between us, we owe it to her to be there for her in Greece—as a couple.’
* * *
Rio wanted to crumple to the floor. She was ensnared in a trap of her own making. Damn Lysandros. He’d led her right to it and she’d obliged, stepping in. Yet despite all this she knew he was right. Xena would need her, and if that meant going to Greece and pretending she and Lysandros were still together, then that was exactly what she would do. Not because Lysandros had asked her but because of the bond of friendship between her and Xena.
Lysandros had a business to run and she knew he preferred to spend his time in Athens, where he notoriously played as hard as he worked. Surely he would return to that life once Xena was settled into her island villa? Surely he wouldn’t pursue her or the promise she’d once made. Not when he could have any woman he wanted.
‘That’s unfair,’ she defended herself as he regarded her from dark and unyielding eyes. If only he wasn’t so striking, so handsome. If only he didn’t make her heart flutter so wildly. If only she didn’t find him so attractive and hadn’t almost given herself so completely to him. ‘I’d do anything for Xena.’
His brows rose in disbelief. ‘Except come to Greece and spend the summer with her—because of me.’
‘You really are very arrogant.’ She grappled with the way he made her body tingle as he moved closer. He searched her face, his eyes darkening, reminding her of the moment she’d told him she’d wanted to spend the entire night with him.
Her pulse leapt wildly as that moment clashed with this, confusing her after his annoyance. She wanted to turn away, wanted to conceal the attraction she had for him, but she couldn’t. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t fight the way he made her feel.