A Deal with Demakis

“He conveniently turned his head and walked away while you were thrown on the street,” he continued, refusing to lay off.

“And you thought no self-respecting woman would agree to help him after that.”

He nodded. “I thought I would need some additional...leverage to persuade you. Obviously I don’t.”

She raised an eyebrow, her chin tilting up. “No?”

“You’re here, aren’t you?” he said, standing up. Lexi Nelson was the epitome of everything that had gone wrong in his life in the name of love. He felt a tight churning in his stomach, a memory of the grief and rage that he had propelled into the need to survive, for his sister’s and his sake. “One call and barely an hour later, you come running back for him, your heart in your throat, and you walked up nineteen floors. Why ask so many questions, Ms. Nelson? Why pretend as though there’s even a doubt as to whether you will drop everything to take care of him?”

Lexi struggled to remind herself that Nikos Demakis didn’t know her, that his opinion didn’t matter. But the incredible arrogance in his words that she had fallen into his plans exactly as he had intended chafed her raw.

How she wished she could turn around, throw his disdain back in his face.

But this wasn’t about the infuriating man in front of her. This was about her friend, her family, the one person in the entire world who had always cared about her. After Tyler’s caustic words, after this last fight, she had finally accepted that whatever had been between them had never stood a chance. And she had no idea why.

It would hurt to see Venetia Demakis with him for sure. The young heiress was everything Lexi wasn’t. Rich, sophisticated and exceptionally beautiful.

But what if she was being given another chance to right things between her and Tyler, to have her friend back? He had been there every time she had needed him. Now it was her turn.

The scorn of the man in front of her, however, was a bitter pill to swallow. She was going to say yes, but it didn’t mean she had to do it on his conditions.

She leveled her gaze at him, stubbornly reminding herself that Nikos Demakis needed her just as much as she needed to see Tyler. And she couldn’t let him forget that, couldn’t let him think for one moment that he had the upper hand. “You have made a miscalculation, Mr. Demakis. I have no wish to help you or your sister.”

His dark brown gaze gleaming, he neared her before she could blink.

She stood her ground, but she was too much of a chicken to wait and hear what he would threaten her with. “Not without a price.”

“What is it that you want, Ms. Nelson?”

“Money,” she said, satisfaction pouring through her at the surprise in his eyes. She smiled for the first time in more than a month. Her heart thundering inside her chest, she closed the door and leaned back against it. “You have oodles of it and I have none.”

The dark browns of his eyes flared with something akin to admiration. Lexi frowned. She had meant to anger him, needle him, at least. She had uttered the first thing that had come to her mind. Instead, the edge of his contempt, which had been a tangible thing until now, was blunted.

“Quite the little opportunist, aren’t you?” he said, gazing at her with intense interest.

There was no rancor in his words. Struggling to keep her confusion out of her face, she smiled with as much fake confidence as she could muster. “I have to protect my interests, don’t I? You’re asking me to put my life here on hold and place my trust in someone like you.”

He laughed. “Someone like me?”

“Yes, by your own admission, you don’t have a conscience when it comes to what you want. What if things don’t go your way, what if something happens that you don’t like? You’ll blame me...”

“Like what?”

“Like Tyler regaining his memory and deciding he didn’t want to be with Venetia anymore.”

A feral light gleamed in his gaze. “That would not do.”

“I have no older brother to rescue me, no family to watch out for my welfare,” she said, swallowing the painful truth. “For all I know, you and your sister could do untold harm to me, so I’m being prepared.”

“Believe me, Ms. Nelson. Family is highly overrated. You grew up in foster care—doesn’t that tell you something?”

The vehemence in his tone gave her pause. She had wondered a million times why her parents might have given her up, wondered in the lowest times if there was anyone who thought of her, who wondered about her, too. Except for excruciating sadness and uncertainty, it had brought her nothing. “But you’re here, aren’t you? Taking every step to ensure Tyler remembers your sister, setting her world to rights. Making sure no one deprives her of her happily ever after.”

“What if I don’t agree to your condition?” He moved in that economic way of his and locked her in place against the door. His scent teased her nostrils, his size, the quiet hum of power packed into his large body, directed toward her making her tremble from head to toe. He had neatly sidestepped her question. “What if, instead, I alert your boss about your colorful teenage years?”

It took everything within her to stay unmoving, to meet his gaze when all she wanted was to skittle away from him. Don’t betray your fear, she reminded herself, even though she had no idea if it was his threatening words or his nearness that was causing it. “You will ruin me and it will be pointless, but it won’t go like that. Are you that heartless that you would wreck a perfect stranger’s life because she won’t suit your plans?”

“Yes, I will,” he whispered, moving even closer. His palm landed on the door, near her face, his breath feathering over her. The heat of his body coated her with an awareness she didn’t want. Every inch of her froze, and she struggled to pull air into her lungs. “Make no mistake about me. To ensure my sister’s happiness, I will do anything that is required of me, and not feel a moment’s regret about it.”

Her stomach tight, she forced herself to speak. She had no doubt that he was speaking the truth. “But it doesn’t really serve your purpose, does it? Ruining me won’t set your sister’s world right. You need me, and you don’t like it.” His mouth tightened an infinitesimal amount and she knew she had it right. “That’s why you collected all that information. Because you needed at least an illusion that you have the upper hand in the situation, to make sure you’re the one with control.”

Something dawned in his gaze and she knew she had hit the nail on its head. Her pulse jumped beneath her skin. “You have twisted something very straightforward into a game. I would have dropped everything to take care of Tyler. But now, I’ll only come if you agree to my condition,” she finished, every nerve ending in her stretched tight.

She was playing a dangerous game. But she would do this only on her terms, refused to let herself be bullied again. Even for Tyler.

His gaze swept over her. “Fine. Just remember one thing. I’m agreeing because this suits me. This way, you’re my employee. You do what I say. You can’t cry foul, can’t say I manipulated you.”

“Even if I did, it’s not like you’ll lose any sleep over it.”

His teeth bared in a surprisingly warm smile. “Good, you’re a fast learner. I’m the one who will be paying you. I’ll even have my lawyers draw a contract to that effect.”

“Isn’t that a little over-the-top? I’m there to help Tyler, not for any other reason.” His continued silence sent a shiver of warning through her. “Am I?”

He didn’t answer her question and his expression was hidden by the thick sweep of his lashes. A knock sounded on an interconnecting door she hadn’t noticed. The brunette she had spied earlier walked in, her mouth set into a charming pout. Her long-legged gait brought her to the sitting area in mere seconds while her expertly made-up gaze took in Nikos and her with a frown.

She pulled him toward her, nothing subtle or ambiguous in her intentions. “I thought you wanted to celebrate, Nikos. Are you ever going to be free?”

Her mouth dry, Lexi watched, her thin T-shirt too warm.

His gaze didn’t waver from Lexi. A sly smile curved his mouth as he obviously noticed the heat she could feel flush her cheeks. He wrapped his hand around the woman’s waist, his long fingers splayed against the cream silk of her dress. “I believe Ms. Nelson and I have concluded our business to mutual satisfaction. So, yes, I’m free to celebrate, Nina.”

CHAPTER THREE

NIKOS CURSED LOUDLY and violently. The words swallowed up by the crowd around him didn’t relieve his temper one bit.

It had been three days since Lexi Nelson had come to see him and yet the sneaky minx had avoided his assistant’s phone calls. Exasperated, Nikos had been reduced to having Kane discover her shift times at the club. Thoroughly disgusted by his minions’—a word he couldn’t stop using ever since she had—failure to persuade the woman to leave for Greece, he had flown back to New York.

He had arrived at three in the morning, forced himself to stay awake and arrived at Vibe five minutes after five. Only to find her gone. So he had his chauffeur drive him to her apartment in Brooklyn.

But even after a ten-hour shift, the irritating woman still hadn’t returned. He had been ready to call the cops and report her missing. In the end, he had entered her apartment, barged into a bedroom and forced the naked couple in the bed to tell him where Ms. Nelson was. Her eyes eating him up, the redhead had finally informed him that Lexi had gone straight to another shift at a coffee shop around the corner.

So here he was standing on the sidewalk at nine in the morning outside the bustling café amidst jostling New Yorkers. He was tired, sleep-deprived and furious.

He understood the need for money. He was the epitome of hunger for wealth and power, but this woman was something else.

Ordering his chauffeur to come back in a few minutes, he entered the café. The strong smell of coffee made his head pound harder. With the hustle and bustle behind the busy counter, it took him a few moments to spot her behind the cash register.

His heartbeat slowed to a normal pace.