Lucy was a mess, still reeling from the way his voice and words had affected her, and how utterly unaffected he clearly was. He was sitting behind his desk now, for all the world as if nothing had just happened, and as if he was waiting for her to sit and take notes.
‘Mr Levakis—’
His voice was curt. ‘We’ve been through this before. I told you to call me Aristotle. I don’t want to tell you again.’
Lucy all but exploded. ‘I am resigning. There is nothing you can do or say to stop me. I will not stay and be subjected to the kind of treatment you just…just subjected me to.’
Aristotle was looking down, flicking through papers, and he said easily, ‘Lucy, I didn’t even have to touch you to turn you on, so when the time comes and I do touch you for real can you imagine how good it’s going to be? Why would you deny yourself that?’
For a million and one good reasons! Lucy saw red spots dance before her eyes. His words had impacted upon her so deep, and in a place so visceral, she nearly screamed with frustration. But she swallowed it down and said, as coolly and calmly as she could, ‘It’s clear that your arrogance is clouding your ability to assimilate this information. Perhaps it’ll become more clear once I’ve gone. I can send you another copy of my resignation. Good day, Mr Levakis.’
She turned on her heel and was almost at the door when she heard him, deadly soft. ‘If you walk through that door, Lucy Proctor, you’ll be hearing from my lawyers within the hour.’
Lucy stopped in her tracks, her hand still in the act of reaching for the doorknob. She turned around slowly and saw that hard green gaze spearing her on the spot. Her stomach felt as if she was in freefall off a huge cliff.
‘What are you talking about?’ But dread was already trickling through her as her professional brain went into overdrive and she had a sickening memory of signing that other contract along with the one for her job. She really hadn’t thought this through with her usual clear rationality at all.
‘Well, for a start, you’re obliged to give me at least four weeks’ notice, as per your standard work contract, and if you leave before the merger is completed you’ll be sued. It’s quite simple.’
And utterly devastating…Lucy realised with mounting horror.
He sat back in his chair. ‘We leave for Athens in a week. You know far too much, and have been privy to all the top secret discussions. Quite apart from that, if you left now you’d be leaving me without an assistant for the most important joining between two Greek companies in years. That is something I will not allow to happen. If it means I have to threaten you with legal action to get you to stay then so be it. I won’t hesitate to use the full force of my power.’
He sat forward then, and he had never looked so intimidating. ‘Lucy, I don’t think I need to tell you that your career would be comprehensively ruined if you insist on leaving. You could be crippled financially for years.’
Lucy wasn’t sure how she remained standing. She’d known all this—she’d known. She’d been smart enough to read the fine print of both contracts, and at the time it had given her a sense of security to know that Levakis wouldn’t be able to turn around and get rid of her at a moment’s notice. It was what had given her the confidence to put her mum in that home—the confidence to go to the bank and take out a loan which would assure her mother’s place in that home for at least a year. Lucy had known that as long as she could keep up the payments everything would be secure for the short term, and hopefully for the long-term future.
But now…if she walked out of here and incurred Aristotle Levakis’ wrath she’d be kissing all that goodbye. She could well imagine the loan from the bank being called in. Losing her job would quickly mean that she’d have no source of income with which to pay for her mum’s accommodation. She’d be back to square one, becoming the primary carer, and without a job that would be impossible.
She said now, in a small voice, ‘You would do that…’ It wasn’t a question.
‘Without a doubt,’ he answered grimly. ‘This merger and this company are too important to me. They are everything.’
So what am, I then? Lucy wondered a little wildly. Just a convenient plaything because you happen to be bored with all the usual sycophants?
He stood again then, but Lucy was in too much shock and distress to move as he came closer, hands in his pockets. He looked smug. He knew he had her effectively trapped. Suddenly she longed to have no responsibilities, so she could just disappear. But she did, and she couldn’t.
He stopped a few feet away and looked at her. Her world had been reduced to this room, this man and those eyes. And that voice.
‘Lucy, I don’t want to be ruthless about this, and I certainly don’t relish the thought of taking action against you. I want the merger, yes, and I’ll do whatever I need to to protect it and make it happen. But I also want you, and I will do whatever I need to in order to make that happen too.’
Lucy shook her head dumbly, even now fighting. It made something in Aristotle’s eyes flash dangerously. She had thought that someone like him would give up when faced with obstinate resistance, although that assertion was now fast losing ground. She had to acknowledge that he’d most likely rarely, if ever, faced resistance from any woman.
‘You’ve made it quite clear that it is impossible for me to leave.’
That was the understatement of the year. Her conscience mocked her. She should have realised all this at the weekend, but he’d had her head in such a tizzy all she’d been able to think of was getting away from him. She realised now that
if she had thought it through she could have done her best to keep him at arm’s length for the duration of the merger and then given her notice—instead of these dramatics, which were so unlike her.
‘I’ll stay for the merger and then I’ll be giving you my notice.’
She would just have to worry about her mother when that happened. She hated the fact that she wasn’t strong enough to try and stay and resist this man indefinitely.
Aristotle just looked at her for a long, heated moment. Lucy saw a muscle throb in his temple and it made her insides quiver like jelly. He reached out a hand and cupped her jaw. Shock and instant heat paralysed her at his touch.
‘Say what you want, Lucy, if it makes you feel better, but know this: we will be lovers. It’s as inevitable as the inclement English weather. There’s something raw and singularly powerful between us and I’ve no intention of letting you go—either in the boardroom or in the bedroom.’
Lucy swallowed painfully. His hand still cupped her jaw, his thumb moving lazily against the sensitive skin under her chin. One thing was certain: if, in some parallel universe, she actually gave in to this man, she had no doubt that far from being given the luxury of giving notice he’d be the one saying goodbye—and so fast that her head would be spinning. Something like four weeks’ notice would be reduced to a mocking sham of a professional nicety.