The Greek's Convenient Wife

Their father had worked for Demetrius Papasakis as an assistant accountant in the Papasakis hotel chain for years, only to be dismissed without a fair hearing when a question had been raised about the supposed misappropriation of funds. The mud thrown had stuck, and within weeks their father had collapsed with a fatal heart attack, which Maddison knew had been due to the intolerable strain he had faced at the time.

‘People like Demetrius Papasakis usually get their comeuppance in the end,’ she said instead. ‘The trick is to hang around long enough to witness it.’

‘Maybe you’re right.’ The edge of her brother’s mouth lifted in a small smile. ‘According to yesterday’s paper, Papasakis is currently in the middle of yet another relationship scandal, a rich divorcee this time, the ex-wife of one of his business rivals.’

‘At the moment I’m not too concerned about the trouble Demetrius Papasakis may or may not be in,’ she said. ‘The thing I’m concerned with right here and now is how we’re going to get you out of the firing line until the dust settles over this boat episode.’

‘I’m not afraid of Papasakis,’ he said with a lift of his chin.

‘I know, more’s the pity,’ she answered wryly. ‘But I am. He’ll stop at nothing to pay back a misdemeanour such as this and I don’t want to make it too easy for him to do so.’

‘What do you think I should do?’

Maddison took a deep breath of resignation before answering. ‘You’ll have to go into hiding.’

‘Run away, you mean?’ The look he sent her was brim-full of male affront.

‘Not in so many words,’ she reassured him. ‘I have a friend who is working as a nanny on a cattle property in the Northern Territory. In her last letter she told me of the trouble Gillaroo is having recruiting reliable station hands. I can just about afford to pay for your airfare to get you there. After that the rest is up to you.’

‘A station hand?’ Kyle wrinkled his nose.

‘Listen, Kyle.’ She eyeballed him determinedly. ‘I’m running out of both money and patience. This is your last chance. If you don’t take it I’m going to have to wash my hands and leave you to face the music, but let me warn you the sort of music Papasakis will want to play won’t be to your taste.’

‘All right,’ he said. ‘I’ll do it, but only because you want me to, not because I’m scared.’

‘Believe me, you don’t have to be scared,’ she said with feeling. ‘I’m scared enough for both of us.’

Maddison had not long returned from the airport after her younger brother’s departure when the doorbell of her small apartment rang. A flicker of fear brushed the floor of her stomach as she went to answer it, her instincts warning her off opening the door.

The tall, intimidating figure of Demetrius Papasakis stood framed in the doorway, his brown, almost black, eyes glittering as they insolently raked her from head to foot.

Shock rendered her momentarily speechless. How had he known where she lived? And, more to the point, what did he know about her brother’s activities the night before?

‘Miss Jones, I presume?’

‘Th…that’s correct.’ It annoyed her immensely that her voice had sounded distinctly husky. ‘How can I help you?’

‘I’d like to speak with your brother.’

Her eyes flickered briefly away from the dark intensity of his.

‘He’s not here right now.’

‘Where is he?’ The three words were as sharp as daggers, accusing almost.

‘I don’t actually know.’ She reassured herself that it was the truth; she had no idea what part of the continent Kyle was currently flying over.

‘Don’t play games with me, Miss Jones,’ he warned her silkily. ‘I have an issue to discuss with your brother and it would be in his best interests to hear me out.’

‘I’m sorry I can’t help you.’

She began to close the door in his face but before she could get any weight behind it, he reached out a lean hand and the door slammed back against the wall with a resounding thwack.

She shrank back, her hand going shakily to her throat.

He stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him with exaggerated care.

‘I wouldn’t like your neighbours to overhear what I have to say,’ he said.

‘I’d like you to leave.’ She stepped back another step. ‘Right now.’

‘Before or after I call the police?’ He unhooked his mobile phone from the waistband of his trousers.

She swallowed the constriction in her throat as his lean brown fingers began typing in some numbers.

‘What’s it to be, Miss Jones?’ His forefinger paused over the last digit.

Maddison bit her lip.

‘I have your brother’s probation officer’s telephone number right here,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you’d like to speak to him about your brother’s whereabouts last night?’

‘He was here, with me,’ she said in a thin voice.

He lifted a sceptical brow. ‘You expect me to believe that?’

‘Believe what you like.’

‘You’re playing a dangerous game, Miss Jones. Perhaps I’m not making myself clear.’ He stepped closer to where she was backed up against the wall. ‘I’m not leaving here without information about your brother’s whereabouts.’

‘I hope you’ve brought a toothbrush then.’ Her sapphire-blue eyes flashed with fire. ‘I don’t have a spare.’

His eyes glinted with reluctant amusement at her show of spirit.

‘Are you offering me your bed?’

‘Not a chance,’ she returned primly. ‘You’re not my type.’

He leant one hand on one side of her head and surveyed her up-tilted face in a leisurely manner.

Maddison sucked in a sharp little breath when his fingers captured a strand of her ash-blonde hair, coiling it repeatedly until she was forced to take a tiny step towards him. She could feel the heat of his body this close, his dark eyes so mesmerising she felt as if he was seeing through to her very soul, laying all her innermost secrets bare. She could pick up a faint trace of his citrus-scented aftershave in the air surrounding them, and her bare leg beneath her skirt felt the unmistakable brush of a hard muscled, very male thigh.

‘Now, let’s try it one more time.’ His voice was a silky caress across the sensitised skin of her lips. ‘Where is your brother, Miss Jones?’

She sent her tongue out to the tombstone-dryness of her lips. She saw his dark eyes follow the movement and the breath in her chest tightened another notch.

‘He’s…away,’ she croaked.

His brows snapped together in a frown. ‘Away?’