She screwed her eyes tight shut, fighting the fresh panic clawing at her chest.
That recording must never find its way into the public domain. Violet’s recovery was too fragile and nebulous to cope with that. She didn’t want her sister to have an excuse to dive back into the horrid, seedy world that had almost killed her.
A sliver of hazy light filtered the gap in the heavy curtains. Night was fading, the sun was rising and Andreas still hadn’t come to bed.
Rubbing her hand over her forehead, she rolled over so her back was to the door.
What was the point in moving rooms? she thought as hot tears prickled her eyes. She would be sharing a roof with him for the next six months.
She was trapped.
* * *
Andreas stepped onto the veranda and breathed in the hot salty air, trying to clear the last of his lethargy away.
Going to bed after the sun had risen had not been conducive for a decent sleep but he’d thought it safer to wait until he could comfortably walk before putting himself an unlocked door’s distance from Carrie.
He’d dreamed of her, hot lusty dreams as disturbing as they had been erotic, waking to the taste of her kisses on his tongue. He hardly ever remembered his dreams but these were still vivid, playing like a reel in his mind.
The real kisses they’d shared were still vivid in his mind too. He smiled to remember the little stumble she’d made when she’d walked away from him, her nonchalant charade not fooling either of them.
She wanted him. It had been there in the heat of her kisses and the heat from her flesh.
She really thought she could resist the attraction for the six months they would be married?
He’d known her for mere days but knew, as he knew his own name, that Carrie would resist until her stubborn little feet got sore.
It was more than mere stubbornness. When she set herself on a path it needed a bulldozer to steer her off it. Look at her work, the powerful men she had exposed, the focus and dedication it had taken to infiltrate their organisations and find the evidence needed to expose them.
And then there was her unflinching support for her sister and her stubborn refusal to accept the truth about what had happened those years ago when she knew—and he was certain that deep down she did know—that he spoke the truth.
She’d believed him to be the friend of a monster, a thought that darkened his mood. Carrie had believed him capable of setting up a teenage girl with drugs. She believed him to be the same as the men she’d described who didn’t think twice about stamping on lesser mortals if they got in their way.
There were many men in his circles who did behave like that, men who believed their wealth and position in society gave them free rein to do exactly as they pleased and generally they were right. Society turned a blind eye unless irrefutable evidence of the kind that tenacious journalists like Carrie produced meant action had to be taken.
She believed he was just like them. She believed he’d become seduced by the trappings of his wealth and lost his soul.
He inhaled even more deeply and closed his eyes, letting the burst of anger flow into his lungs and then expelling it out of his body.
His father had held onto his anger at the business rivals who had used such cruel tactics to destroy his business and it had put him in hospital with a failing heart. Deal with the root cause of the anger, punish those that needed it and move on—that was Andreas’s way.
Carrie had held onto her hatred towards him for three years. She’d bided her time, taken out James first and then had decided the time was right to strike at him.
He took much satisfaction in knowing he’d cut her off at the head and foiled her plans. Marrying her ensured his business and reputation would be safe. And what were six months? As he’d told Carrie, he’d already waited fifteen years for his freedom so a few extra weeks were nothing.
At least those months would be eventful, something he’d not had the luxury of allowing his life to be since he’d left his Greek Island of Gaios for the adventure that was America. He’d planned out his whole life: work hard and play hard at university then work hard and play hard as he built a financial business for himself and then, and only after he’d enjoyed everything life had to offer, find someone to settle down with.
Of those three goals only the first had been achieved and he looked back on his university days with nostalgia.
No sooner had he graduated than he’d discovered the dire mess his parents were in.
Movement behind him made him turn. A member of his staff had brought him a tray of food, a light mezze to sustain him, the time being closer to lunch than breakfast and the sun already burning hot.
‘Have you seen Carrie?’ he asked. He’d knocked on her door before leaving his bedroom and, when there had been no answer, had taken a quick look and found her room empty, her bed neatly made.