His Mistress By Blackmail

Nothing could go wrong with her audition. Not even worry about Ben and the possibility that he could end up in jail in the very near future if the ruthless Xandro Christofides had anything to do with it.

When she woke up a little bleary-eyed the next morning Sage told herself it was thoughts of Ben’s whereabouts that had made her dream so vividly about the silver-eyed magnate.

She was still trying to convince herself of that when her phone rang. Sage pounced on it, hoping it was Ben. It wasn’t. But the friendlier tone of Melissa Hunter’s assistant was equally welcome. Until Sage absorbed what she was saying.

‘Excuse me—could you repeat that, please?’ she asked.

‘I said you need to pack enough clothes for a week, maybe more. And also pack for the warm weather. Bring lots of sunscreen too. It’s only early May but I understand the temperatures can get quite high on the island.’

Sage blinked. ‘What island?’ she blurted.

‘I’m sorry, Miss Woods, but the exact destination is being kept confidential for now for publicity purposes. All you need to know is that you and the other dancers fly out of Dulles Airport on Monday afternoon. Everything else, including all your expenses, is taken care of.’

She suddenly felt a little uneasy. ‘Does this have anything to do with the new patron of the company?’

A few seconds of silence greeted her question, then the assistant giggled. ‘I guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh? Oh, what the heck. Yes, it is,’ she gushed. ‘You didn’t hear this from me, but the patron is investing in five years’ worth of productions, three productions a year, minimum! Isn’t it amazing? And if I’d known trips like this would come as part of the perks I’d have trained as a dancer myself, not be sitting here, eight months pregnant and barely able to waddle!’

Sage laughed, breathing a little easier now one question had been answered. ‘Good luck with the baby. And thanks for letting me know.’

‘No problem. Remember, the car service will arrive to pick you up at one o’clock sharp. Make sure you’re ready. And enjoy your adventure!’

CHAPTER FOUR (#u48d0685e-921d-54c4-ba6f-b4e71b472d04)

ENJOY YOUR ADVENTURE.

Three days later, as she stood frozen, her mind spinning, Sage wanted to curse the effervescent assistant for jinxing what should’ve been the perfect culmination of her hard work.

The wobbles of the first audition had calmed by the second, the bone-deep knowledge that this was what she was born for slicing away the ever-present self-doubt. Her third audition had ended twenty minutes ago and had gone even better. She’d known it even before receiving encouraging praise from the two Broadway choreographers who’d accompanied Melissa Hunter to the Greek island in the middle of the Aegean.

As for the island itself...

The ballroom she stood in was only a fraction less enthralling when compared to the jaw-dropping beauty of the island. At first, when she and her nineteen fellow dancers had arrived, she’d thought she was severely jet-lagged and dreaming the stunning beauty of Ianthe Island.

Every room, nook and cranny of the endlessly sprawling villa revealed a stunning blend of classic Greek architecture and modern style she’d only ever seen in glossy magazines. Marble sculptures of Greek gods vied with contemporary art. Breathtaking sunsets competed with stunning lighting that threw the whole island into a place of wonder come nightfall.

The guest room she’d been shown into by an impeccably dressed housekeeper was so gorgeous she’d been almost too afraid to sleep on the four-poster bed for fear she’d ruin the pristine Egyptian cotton sheets.

None of that beauty registered now, as her frantic gaze settled on the man who’d been absent for the three auditions but had now materialised out of nowhere, her heart dropping because she knew exactly what he was doing here.

She and her fellow dancers had stood at the window an hour ago and watched the sleek helicopter fly over the villa to land on an out-of-view helipad at the back of the property. Agog, they’d all speculated as to who was on board and how it impacted their presence here.

Now she had her evidence.

Her gaze raked him from head to toe, praying he would disappear in a burst of smoke. Or fire. Or a damn blizzard. Anything.

Her fervent wishes didn’t materialise. She wasn’t jet-lagged and she wasn’t dreaming.

Xandro Christofides was really sitting in the throne-like chair in front of her as though he were master of all he surveyed, his gaze conducting a thorough scrutiny of his own over her body, making her wish she’d thrown a sweatshirt over her leotard and leggings.

Her hackles rose higher as the unease she’d felt in DC came roaring back with a vengeance. Timings and too-good-to-be-true coincidences tumbled through her mind, and dread that she’d been manipulated grew too large to dismiss.

She tried to caution herself not to jump to conclusions about the Greek magnate’s presence here until she had all the facts. But the blaring of her instincts was all too familiar.

And everything pointed to the fact that Xandro Christofides’s presence here, in this place, wasn’t by accident.

Sage wrestled down rising panic and looked properly at the man.

With one leg crossed indolently over the other, he stared back at her, a mocking gleam in his eyes telling her he knew the exact effect his presence was having on her. He had her exactly where he wanted her. And he was enjoying the hell out of it.

‘What are you doing here?’ she blurted when it all got too much and she had no choice but to take the bull by the horns or scream her frustration.

Melissa Hunter jerked up from her seat, her impeccably made-up face tightening with displeasure. ‘Miss Woods, I’m going to assume the acoustics in the room just played tricks on me and you didn’t demand to know what Mr Christofides is doing here!’

Sage pursed her lips hard to keep from snapping out the other dozen questions burning on her tongue. ‘I’m... I’m...’

‘Apology accepted,’ Xandro Christofides drawled lazily, the gleam in his eyes growing by the second.

She lowered her gaze to hide her blazing need to glare, and took a deep sustaining breath.

‘From the ominous rumble of thunder I’m hearing, I assume you two know each other?’ Leonard Smith, the well-known Broadway choreographer, asked after a minute of awkward silence.

‘Yes, you could say we’re...acquainted,’ Xandro offered.

The other three judges exchanged looks. When Melissa’s eyes narrowed ominously, Sage’s already plummeting heart dropped a little bit more.

She didn’t want to think the whiff of cloak-and-dagger surrounding their travel from Washington, DC, to Greece had all been because of this.

Xandro Christofides was an indecently wealthy man with time to plot something like this just to teach her a lesson because she’d refused to answer his questions about Ben. Or had he drawn a blank in his search for her brother?

She searched his granite-hard, utterly breathtaking face for answers. All she got back was a cocked eyebrow and inscrutable silver-grey eyes that told her he’d divulge his intentions only when he was well and truly ready.

The sense of déjà vu that assailed her tightened her chest. Once again someone was attempting to control her, threatening the one thing she treasured most in order to bring her to heel for their own purposes. The bitter taste in her mouth was hard to swallow, as was the notion that she’d been foolish enough to think Xandro Christofides had given up and walked away. Even from wherever he’d retreated to after that night in Washington, he’d been pulling her strings.

Melissa Hunter cleared her throat, redirecting Sage’s attention back to her. ‘Since it seems you already know Hunter Dance Company’s latest patron, I won’t bother with introductions—’

‘We will say, however,’ Leonard said in a droll voice, completely unapologetic about interrupting Melissa, ‘that your last audition was as impressive as the other two. So good, in fact, that I’m almost tempted to give you a role in my next—’

‘Let’s not lose sight of why Miss Woods is here, shall we?’ Xandro interjected with a soft but deadly bite to his voice that stopped Leonard’s words cold. ‘She’s here under the auspices of Hunter Dance Company. Any deviation from that role will result in an immediate end to her auditions. Isn’t that right, Melissa?’ he asked without taking his eyes off Sage.

Melissa, lips pursed, glared at Leonard. ‘Yes. So try not to dangle your questionable carrots in front of my dancers before this process is over, would you, Leo?’

‘Gosh, everyone’s so touchy,’ Leonard mumbled, but Sage caught a cheeky smirk as he winked at her.

‘As I was saying,’ Melissa continued, ‘we wanted to let everyone know that Mr Christofides isn’t just our latest patron, he’s also, as of this morning, the majority shareholding member of the board of directors of Hunter Dance Company. Which means, were you to become a member of this company, you’ll be answerable to him as well as to me.’

Whatever lingering hope she’d clung onto that this was all a nightmare she would wake up from any second promptly evaporated. Had her feet not stopped working in that moment, Sage would’ve walked away.

After years of blatant disbelief from her parents about her being bullied, followed by subtle hints that their support would only come if she gave up her dancing, she’d finally drawn a very painful line in the sand. A line they’d repeatedly attempted to persuade her to remove, until three years ago when she’d promised herself never to fall victim to mind games again.