He could never tell her that, of course. But what he could and intended to do was to apologize. He might not be able to give her a reason for cursing at the sight of her, but he could at least say sorry.
And that was the plan...
But it was a plan that appeared impossible to execute, with the way Tahey suddenly seemed too busy to even meet his gaze.
The fuck?
Tahey forced herself to keep typing on her smartphone even as Dmitry's brooding gaze never wavered from her. Every once in a while, she'd feel the strongest urge to look up and plead for his forgiveness. I'm sorry. I don't want to act like I'm ignoring you, but I have no choice.
She had to be strong. She must remember that this was only temporary, and that concentrating on her job was the best way to remind Dmitry of the reason he and the other guys had her headhunted in the first place.
So stay the course, T.G.!
Stay the course!
Tahey could only repeat the words desperately in her mind as she continued to ignore Dmitry's brooding gaze.
Once out of the airport, a limousine had come to whisk them off to the hotel, where the rest of Strakh Inc. was already waiting.
A breakfast meeting was the first thing on today's agenda, and while the five men closeted themselves in a private conference room, it was Tahey's first time to meet the two other people working for the company. Sixty-year-old Ada used to work for the IRS and was now Stelios' executive assistant while "Panda", a Chinese-American in his thirties, worked under Drake and introduced himself as "someone who used to be real bad."
Sasha and Bastien hadn't any assistants, Ada shared complacently, but it should only be a matter of time until they did.
It was already half-past ten when the meeting ended, and Dmitry came out half-expecting Tahey to pop up with a ready smile on her face and a cup of his favorite coffee in hand.
Instead, he found her hard at work with Ada and Panda—-
Which is as it should be, he reminded himself forcefully.
Stelios, having received a rather informative and amusing text from Sasha, strolled out to the balcony where the other assistants were also having their own meeting.
Ada glanced up and noticed right away the gleam of mischief in her boss's eyes. Oh dear.
Panda, seeing the same thing as well, hastily excused himself from the table. Whatever trouble Stelios had cooking, he wanted no part of it.
"Bonjour, mademoiselle."
Tahey suddenly found her chin being tipped up by the Greek billionaire, and her confusion only grew when she saw the seductive smile that had curved over his lips. He had always been charming and flirtatious, and she knew of his playboy reputation from the tabloids, but he hadn't ever tried hitting on her...until now.
"Um...bonjour back?"
Stelios laughed, and Tahey could only smile weakly even though she didn't really think her answer had been funny at all. Bonjour, merci, and c'est la vie were pretty much the sum total of her knowledge of French.
Sasha came to stand next to his brother and allowed a feigned frown to crease his forehead as he watched Stelios continue to banter with Dmitry's secretary. "What the hell is Stelios thinking?"
Dmitry's lips tightened.
"Doesn't he realize how impressionable Tahoma is?" Sasha shook his head in disgust. "I enjoy teasing Ms. Baskerville once in a while myself, but I've at least made sure she knows not to read anything in it. Stelios, however..." He stopped speaking, with Dmitry having already stalked off towards the balcony.
Job well done, Sasha thought, and he could only hope that Dmitry would thank him for it one day.
Dmitry could feel his blood boiling hotter as he heard more of Stelios' conversation with Tahey. What the hell was the other man thinking, poaching on his—-
Shit.
His steps came into an abrupt halt as he found himself grappling with an internal dilemma. Sasha's observations had been entirely accurate, and Dmitry knew better than anyone else what a gullible little fool Tahey could be. And as for Stelios...if there was any man who could turn Tahey's head around, make her forget about her feelings for Dmitry—-
Fuck.
Who knew if she still had feelings for him anyway? And with Stelios around, and Stelios being Dmitry's exact opposite - maybe it was inevitable for Tahey to forget Dmitry and move on with the Greek playboy.
And if that happened...
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Now was the time to prove to himself that he didn't care for her in any way.
That she was nothing to him.
But then he heard her laugh—-
A soft, musical sound that was only supposed to be his.
Just for his fucking ears, dammit.
And Dmitry saw red.
Tahey let out a startled gasp when a strong hand suddenly gripped hers just before she was being yanked off from her seat. Her head jerked up, and glittering golden eyes immediately captured her gaze.