Loe raamatut: «Contracted For The Petrakis Heir»

CHAPTER ONE

ADONI PETRAKIS SURVEYED the crowd filling the ballroom of his flagship London hotel. Initially the guests had been on their best behaviour for the wedding ceremony, partly from finding themselves in such a prestigious venue. There had been open-mouthed stares at the soaring antique glass domed ceiling, the recently refurbished hand-blown chandeliers and the other elegant furnishings.

Now the mood bordered on raucous. His school friend Leo’s new English in-laws were letting down their hair with abandon.

Adoni’s gaze cut to Leo and his bride, now changed out of their church clothes, surrounded by a phalanx of groomsmen playing a drinking game. There was a flurry of bridesmaids in ostentatiously frilled dresses that ranged from pale lemon to a particularly bilious shade of mustard. A braying laugh from one of them scraped like fingernails across a blackboard and Adoni shuddered.

Now the formalities were over, the cake cut, photos taken and speeches delivered, there was nothing keeping him. He’d done his bit, offering Leo the premises for the event and attending in person, even dancing with the bride.

He lifted one shoulder, easing the old stiffness in his collarbone. It had been a long week. A long month for that matter, and while he wasn’t ready for bed, nor was he inclined to stay for an increasingly rowdy party. This group had little in common with a man whose life was devoted to business.

If there’d been a woman here he found attractive he might have invited her up to his suite for a private celebration. There wasn’t. The only really pretty women were either attached or looked at him with dollar signs in their eyes.

He’d learned his lesson long ago with that breed.

Instead he crossed the room, wished the happy couple all the best, kissed the flushed bride on both cheeks then left. A nod to the hotel events coordinator who was keeping an eye on the evening, then Adoni was in the blessed peace of the atrium.

Since he didn’t have company for the night, he’d look over that new contract. Or maybe use the gym.

He was restless, his thoughts on the couple who’d just pledged their lives to each other. And, inevitably, on his own hastily cancelled wedding years ago. His mouth firmed.

He sure as hell didn’t carry a torch for Chryssa. Yet it was strange how, all evening, his mind had backtracked to that half-forgotten past, when life had seemed straightforward and he’d believed in love.

A lifetime ago.

He keyed in the code for his private lift to the owner’s suite. The doors slid open and he stepped inside. Seconds later a figure catapulted into the small space, slamming against him in a slither of satin and a cloud of pungent hairspray.

Adoni’s nostrils pinched and a sneeze escaped.

‘I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?’ a husky voice whispered near his chin. ‘But please, don’t give me away.’ Instead of moving back the girl pressed closer, hip to his thigh, hand clawing his sleeve.

‘Give you away?’

‘Please. He’ll hear.’ She reached out a pale hand and jabbed the button to make the door close. As soon as it did she released her grip and sank back into the corner.

‘Are you okay?’ Adoni’s voice sharpened. Her head was downcast but the tension in her shoulders and the frenetic pulse at the base of her throat spoke of fear. ‘Has someone hurt you?’

‘Hurt me?’ She shook her head and straightened away from the wall, swaying a little. ‘No, though I’m sure he’d like to strangle me if he could. He hates me and he’s a vicious little toad.’

With a gasp she clapped a hand over her mouth and looked up. Unfocused eyes of slate blue met his. Eyes that might have been pretty if it weren’t for the huge swathe of too-bright azure eye shadow and the most enormous pair of false eyelashes weighting her lids. She looked like a startled trollop.

‘I didn’t mean to say that out loud.’ She frowned up at him suspiciously as if he’d coaxed the words from her.

‘He sounds like a man to avoid.’

‘Oh, he is.’ The girl nodded so emphatically another acrid wave of hairspray assaulted him. She was a girl. Eighteen maybe, twenty max, and trying to look older with that brash make-up. ‘If I’d known he was going to be here I’d never have said yes to Emily. Discretion is the better part of valour, after all.’

‘Emily?’ Adoni crossed his arms and settled his shoulders against the wall, intrigued. Why this unprepossessing female caught his curiosity, he couldn’t say. But he was in no hurry. There was nothing waiting in his suite except work and a good brandy.

‘The bride.’ The frown became a scowl. ‘Weren’t you at the wedding? I thought I saw you on the other side of the room looking all dark and brooding.’ She leaned closer, her gaze intent, and beneath the sharp hairspray smell he caught a hint of something delicate.

She swayed back again. ‘I’m sure it was you. The silly sisters were tittering with excitement, egging each other on to ask you to dance.’

‘Silly sisters?’

‘The other bridesmaids.’

‘Ah.’ No wonder she looked vaguely familiar. This was the bridesmaid who’d sat on the end of the long table, her dress of dark yellow tinged with green making her look slightly nauseous. Or maybe she was nauseous.

‘Are you sick?’

‘Only of the company in there.’ Again those eyes grew huge and her hand hovered over her mouth.

Adoni watched, fascinated despite himself, as she blinked and stood straighter, the top of her head reaching the level of his mouth.

‘It must be the champagne,’ she murmured, her hand dropping. ‘Who’d have thought it? I only had two glasses. Would that do it?’ She tilted her head, surveying him owlishly.

‘Do what?’ Adoni repressed a smile.

‘Make me so loqua...’ Her brows knotted in concentration. ‘Talkative. Normally I think before I speak. Always.’

He folded his arms over his chest. ‘It depends how much you usually drink.’

‘I don’t. Tonight was my first taste of champagne.’

‘Then yes, it probably is.’ Diverted as he was, her friends would be looking for her. ‘Isn’t it time you went back?’

She shuddered and clutched his sleeve. ‘No! Not till he’s gone.’ She looked at the controls. ‘Why aren’t we moving?’ She slammed her hand onto the up button. ‘I’m sorry. I hope you want to go up. I’ll go anywhere so long as it’s away from him.’

‘The toad?’

‘Yes! How did you know?’ Her face broke into a wide smile that hit him in the solar plexus. When she smiled he saw something that even the plastered-on make-up couldn’t conceal. ‘Dark and brooding and clever too! I like you, Mr...?’

‘Petrakis. Adoni Petrakis.’

Again those eyes rounded. ‘Adoni?’

He nodded, waiting for the usual gushing excitement. He’d never had trouble attracting women but since he’d built his fortune...

‘As in Adonis?’

‘It’s a Greek name.’

‘Of course it is, but it’s all wrong for you.’ She squinted up at him, her lips pursed in a moue of concentration that looked surprisingly sexy, despite the bright shade of coral lipstick that clashed horribly with her pale skin. ‘You’re no Adonis.’

Adoni stared down at her. He was accustomed to flattery from women, not disappointment.

‘You know who Adonis was?’

She waved a dismissive hand as if he interrupted her thought processes. ‘In Greek mythology he was a gorgeous young man, loved by Aphrodite and later killed by a boar.’ She bit her lip. ‘Or maybe by someone else, I can’t remember. But you’re not an Adonis.’

Adoni couldn’t keep his smile back. Had he ever met a woman who spoke to him like this? Not flattering and eager? ‘Not pretty enough?’

Again that disparaging wave of her hand. ‘No one could call you pretty.’ Her voice rang with certainty. ‘Handsome yes, but in a tough, dangerous sort of way. And those wicked eyebrows.’ She lifted a hand towards his face but stopped short of touching him. ‘More like Ares, god of war. Sexy but hard.’

The doors slid open behind her and she turned while Adoni was still trying to work out if he’d just been insulted or complimented.

‘Oh, this is nice.’ She drifted out of the lift into the foyer of his private suite, peering through the open door to the vast sitting room. ‘Do you think it would be okay for me to stay here for a bit till he’s gone?’

She moved forward, catching her shoe on the hand-knotted rug. Arms windmilling, she swayed till Adoni strode over and caught her upper arm. Her flesh was cool and smooth as silk.

‘Are you sure you only had two glasses of champagne?’

She sagged against him, one hand planted on his chest. ‘Absolutely. But I don’t think I’d better have any more. I feel a little...different.’ She blinked hazily up at him. ‘Do you think I’m behaving oddly?’

What he thought was that, beneath the harsh make-up and the unflattering dress, this young woman was surprisingly appealing. And potentially vulnerable.

‘Your friends will be missing you.’

She shook her head. ‘Not my friends and they won’t miss me. I don’t know anyone there, except Emily—she’s my cousin. And her parents. But they don’t have time for me. They never did. I’m just a ring-in because bridesmaid number seven had to bail at the last minute. Oh, and the toad—I know him.’ She grimaced. ‘But I don’t want to see him. Couldn’t I just sit quietly for a bit? I could sneak out and catch a train home but I do feel a bit wobbly.’

Adoni scrutinised her. Clearly she couldn’t make her way home alone yet. She was far too trusting to be let out without someone to keep an eye on her.

‘Very well. Stay here and I’ll make us coffee.’

‘Lovely! I never thought of Ares being so domesticated. I think of him being all passion and fire.’ She beamed again, that huge, beatific smile, and to his astonishment Adoni found himself smiling back. She was talking nonsense but her sense of humour appealed. As did the fact she didn’t walk on eggshells around him.

‘Do you think I could use the bathroom?’

‘Of course. Down the corridor on the left.’

The sitting room was empty when Adoni came back. He set the tray of coffee and sweet shortbread on a table, telling himself he’d been a fool to let her in. He didn’t know anything about her. Except that she couldn’t hold her champagne and did know a surprising amount of Greek mythology. He didn’t even know her name.

He stalked from the room, doubt rising. Where was she?

‘Are you okay?’ He pounded on the bathroom door.

‘Sorry. I won’t be long.’

‘Are you sick?’ She’d seemed tipsy, not drunk, but perhaps he was wrong.

‘No. Not sick. Just sticky.’

Sticky? Adoni scowled. That made no sense.

The door opened and his visitor stepped out. She looked completely different. Shorter for a start, her shoes dangling from her hand.

‘I used the shower. I feel much better now.’ She stepped out into the corridor and tripped over the hem of her long dress, straight into his arms. Automatically Adoni caught her, but not before her soft breasts collided with his torso and her slim frame came to rest against him.

‘Oops. Sorry.’ She pulled back and smiled vaguely. ‘This dress is too long. It was made for someone else.’

‘Someone wearing shoes,’ he murmured, trying to shove the thought of her lithe body from his mind.

‘Ah.’ She nodded. ‘That explains it.’ She sniffed. ‘Is that coffee I smell?’ Before he could answer she lifted her trailing skirt so high he caught a tantalising amount of shapely, bare legs before she turned and, hand on the wall, made her way to the sitting room.

Adoni took his time following. He’d been rocked by his response to the woman who’d emerged from the guest bathroom. Gone were the thick make-up and fake lashes. Without them he discovered a clear peaches and cream complexion that suited those dark blue eyes. Then there was a heart-shaped face and a pink mouth that looked too much like a cupid’s bow for comfort.

Gone too was the elaborately curled and rigid hairstyle, threaded with mustard-yellow ribbon. Instead her dark hair lay straight and long around her shoulders. It was still wet, dripping at the ends, making the bodice of her dress water-stained and clingy.

He swallowed as he watched her turn and sink abruptly onto the sofa, the lamplight caressing the unexpectedly sweet tilt of her breast beneath the wet fabric. Heat stirred in his groin at the astounding sexual allure of her gentle curves and bare face.

Adoni frowned. His sex drive was healthy but such an instant, urgent response was rare. Especially as she wasn’t even trying to attract him.

Was she?

He’d met some devious women in his time, going to extraordinary lengths to snare him, but instinct told him this one was exactly what she seemed.

‘What’s your name?’ His voice emerged thick and abrupt but she didn’t seem to notice.

‘Alice. Alice Trehearn.’ She looked over her shoulder at him and, to his astonishment, the line of her throat, the angle of her neat chin and the curve of her smile fanned the fire in his belly to a needy, urgent blast of heat.

‘Don’t frown, though I have to say you look very sexy when you do, all macho and...’ Her words petered out and she squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Remind me never to drink champagne again.’

Despite himself Adoni laughed. There was something so refreshing about a woman who spoke her mind.

‘How old are you, Alice?’ Suddenly it was important he find out.

‘Twenty-three next week.’ She turned away and poured milk into one of the coffees. ‘How old are you?’

Relief filled him. With her unguarded behaviour he’d wondered if perhaps she was far younger. ‘Thirty-one.’ A lifetime apart from her in experience, but, he realised in shock, that didn’t dim his interest. His burgeoning interest. His trousers were too tight as he sat down opposite her.

‘You look older.’ She tilted her head as she surveyed him. ‘Except when you smile. I like your smile. You should smile more often.’ Carefully she put the milk jug down on the table.

Adoni’s lips twitched. Had he really preferred candour?

The answer was a definite yes.

‘I thought you liked my...er...dark, brooding looks.’

‘Oh, I do.’ She stopped abruptly, her mouth sagging a little as if she realised what she’d said, then she focused on the mug of coffee, cautiously taking a sip. ‘But your smile makes you look less like some bossy Greek god.’

‘Ares?’

She nodded emphatically. ‘Yes.’ She paused. ‘Or the one who threw thunderbolts.’

‘Zeus?’ Was he really so fearsome? Adoni preferred to think of himself as controlled and focused, a man who didn’t suffer fools in business or gold-diggers in his personal life.

‘That’s the one.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘Except they always show him with a beard and you don’t have one.’

Adoni suppressed a smile. ‘I could grow one.’

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘That would be a waste. You’ve got a nice chin. Maybe a bit on the obstinate side but very nice.’ She took another sip of coffee and smiled vaguely.

‘Thank you. So do you.’ It was a little pointed perhaps but just the right counterpoint for that lush mouth he found himself staring at.

Adoni leaned in and grabbed his mug, gulping hot coffee. When he lowered it, she was staring, her mouth slightly open and her breathing quick.

‘Is everything all right?’ He told himself he was behaving impeccably, pretending he didn’t recognise her response for what it was—feminine interest. An answering interest quickened his pulse as he took in her delicate features and slim body.

‘Fine. You just look so...’

Maybe she was sobering up, for she thought better of finishing her comment.

‘So...?’ Adoni didn’t fish for compliments but he found himself wondering what she’d been about to say.

Dark lashes veiled her eyes as she took another sip of coffee. ‘Nice. You look nice.’

He’d bet his last dollar that wasn’t what she’d been going to say. ‘You do too.’

‘There’s no need to lie.’ She lifted her head, viewing him from under regally arched eyebrows. ‘I look dreadful. Why Emily chose this colour I don’t know. Honestly, it’s the colour of baby poo.’

Adoni laughed. She was right; it was reminiscent of a rather nasty stain. ‘It’s fair to say it’s not a good match for your colouring.’

‘That’s what I said, but it was too late to change it. Too late even to alter the fit.’ Her mouth turned down in a sulky pout Adoni found far too seductive.

‘At least it’s only for one night.’

She nodded. ‘That’s what I keep telling myself. It’s a day of firsts.’

‘Firsts?’

Another nod. ‘Absolutely. First time wearing yellow, for one thing. Never again.’ She shuddered. ‘First time in London. First time as a bridesmaid. I thought it would be a lot more fun but the other bridesmaids kept tittering and gossiping amongst themselves. And the groomsmen...’

‘Not your type?’

She shrugged hugely and one pillowy puffed sleeve slid off her shoulder. ‘I don’t really know. But I think not.’ She lifted her legs and tucked them under her then wriggled back on the sofa.

There shouldn’t have been anything remotely seductive about the action yet Adoni found himself fixated on that luscious little shimmy of hips and breasts.

‘You don’t know?’ His voice sounded unfamiliar.

She shook her head. ‘I need to research more.’ She blinked back at him and smiled. ‘I have some firsts.’ She looked down at her dress and scowled. ‘But there are a lot of nevers too.’

‘Nevers?’ Adoni’s English was excellent but he’d never heard of that before.

‘Absolutely.’ She lifted one finger. ‘Never had luck with the opposite sex.’ Then a second finger. ‘Never had a kiss that blew my socks off.’ Her gaze narrowed. ‘You look like a man who could blow a girl’s socks off with a kiss.’

Adoni choked on his coffee. ‘Is that a proposition?’ He was torn between amusement and a dark, fast-running channel of temptation.

Devoid of that tacky lipstick, Alice Trehearn had the most alluring mouth he’d ever seen. He swallowed hard and reminded himself this was the drink talking.

‘As if a man like you would kiss a girl like me.’ She leaned her head back against the sofa, her eyelids drooping. She lapsed into silence and he wondered if she was falling asleep.

‘Never driven a car either.’ She sighed. ‘I bet you have a lovely car.’

‘Yes, I do.’ And there was no way he was letting this inebriated woman near it, despite her eager smile. ‘But I’m not letting you drive it.’

She looked so ridiculously disappointed, her mouth turning down at the edges, that he almost wished he could bring back that sunny smile of hers and the twinkle in her fine eyes.

‘Is there anything else on your never list?’

Alice opened her mouth then closed it again. A flush of pink rose to her cheeks. Instantly his interest piqued.

‘Alice?’

She shook her head. ‘It’s nothing.’ She leaned forward, reached for her coffee and, seeing the mug empty, sank back.

‘You might as well tell me what it is you haven’t done. I promise to keep it to myself.’

Was he really so curious about her?

To his surprise, Adoni discovered he was.

She fidgeted. ‘I’m doing all the talking. Shouldn’t you tell me something?’ Just as if she hadn’t barged uninvited into his private suite. Yet Adoni hadn’t enjoyed a woman’s conversation so much in a long time.

What did that say about the women he dated?

‘What do you want me to say?’

She shrugged, melting even further into the sofa. ‘Anything you like. Tell me something you haven’t told anyone else. I promise to keep it to myself.’

The idea was absurd. Why share with a complete stranger? Yet as he sat in the mellow lamplight, watching Alice Trehearn’s easy smile and expectant look, he found himself tempted.

Because he wasn’t accustomed to sharing anything truly personal?

Because she was a stranger he’d never see again?

That, and the surprising tug of attraction, must be why he even considered playing along. And why he’d allowed her into his space when he was notoriously private.

His mood had been odd all evening. Restlessness had kept him on edge. Remarkably, it was only since she’d inserted herself into his presence that he’d begun to relax.

‘I don’t like weddings.’ The words came suddenly. Adoni was surprised how good it felt to admit it.

‘Really?’ One fine eyebrow arched. ‘Any particular reason?’

He took another mouthful of coffee. It didn’t taste as rich this time. ‘I was nearly married once. I suppose weddings bring back memories.’

Of rejection, disbelief and disappointment. But he’d been young enough to learn his lesson well. These days, apart from his hand-picked managers, he didn’t put his trust in anyone but himself. It was safer that way. When those closest to you could turn so viciously against you, trust was the first casualty, along with love.

Absently he rolled his shoulder, releasing a stiffness along the collarbone.

‘I’m so sorry.’ She leaned forward, her hand lifted towards him as if to smooth away the frown he felt settle on his brow. Then she sank back, regarding him seriously.

He waited for the inevitable, a question about why his marriage hadn’t proceeded, but again Alice Trehearn surprised him. Even inebriated she had enough delicacy not to trespass further. ‘Tonight must have been a trial.’

He shook his head, automatically rejecting sympathy. ‘It was fine. It was no big deal.’ Time to change the subject. ‘So what is the other thing you’ve never done? I told you my secret. It’s time for you to share too.’

She blinked, staring back at him with a look he couldn’t interpret. Annoyance? Embarrassment? Certainly the colour in her cheeks warmed to rose madder.

‘Alice?’

Her mouth tightened and then the words tumbled out. ‘Never had an orgasm, if you must know.’ For an instant she looked as regal as a young swan, stretching her neck higher and tilting her chin, trying to hide what he guessed was embarrassment.

Then something unexpected flashed in her eyes. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to help me with that?’