Lucy’s belly clenched painfully. It wasn’t so much about trust as necessity and desire, but of course she couldn’t explain that. She frowned slightly. ‘I’m aware of that.’ She didn’t want to say more. She didn’t know Aristotle’s reasons for not divulging this to his family, and she knew the only reason they were here in Athens was because Parnassus had requested it.
‘He’s driven.’
Lucy was lost in her thoughts for a moment. She almost didn’t hear what the man said. But he was continuing, looking down at the view laid out before them.
‘He reminds me of myself when I was his age.’ Parnassus smiled, but it seemed sad. ‘He reminds me of my own son. In exile. Driven to succeed at all costs. And for what?’
Lucy was nonplussed. Parnassus caught her look and chuckled. ‘I’m sorry—you don’t want to hear an old man’s ramblings. We should go back inside.’
She put out a hand. ‘Oh, not at all…I just…I don’t know Ar—’ She blushed. ‘That is, I don’t know Mr Levakis all that well.’
Parnassus stalled and looked at her closely. He gestured with an arm to encompass the view and the villa. ‘See all this?’
Lucy nodded and sat back against the balustrade, captivated by this wizened man, by his deeply ingrained accent which he obviously hadn’t lost despite living in the US for decades.
‘It’s taken me years to build it up. My family left this country in shame, and all I’ve ever wanted was to come back in a blaze of glory.’
Lucy frowned. ‘But…that’s what you’re doing with this merger, isn’t it?’
He shrugged one bony shoulder. ‘Ack. In some ways. It’s not how I imagined it, even though I’ll get what I want for my children, whether they want it or not: re-introduction and acceptance into Athens society. But the ultimate glory will belong to that man in there, and he’s welcome to it.’
They both looked to where Aristotle stood, surrounded by a fawning crowd. Lucy shivered slightly despite the treacherous heat curling down low in her abdomen. He reminded her of a lone wolf. Head and shoulders above everyone else, supremely confident, supremely sexy and yet…alone. She hadn’t really thought of him like that before, and didn’t like the tender feelings it aroused.
At that moment a very glamorous-looking middle-aged woman came out to the terrace. Parnassus introduced her as his wife, bade Lucy goodnight and went back inside. Lucy turned to face the view again, her mind full of questions. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a sudden cool breeze. What did Parnassus mean about Aristotle? Did he somehow see him heading for an empty life, driven by a need to succeed? Clearly he wasn’t far wrong. Aristotle had said himself that this merger was the most important thing, and yet—
She jumped when she felt a warm blanket of heat settle around her shoulders and heard a deep, ‘We should get going. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.’
His jacket was warm with his body heat and scent. It enveloped Lucy, making her sway a little as they went back in. She didn’t say a word. Every nerve was twanging at the thought of sharing a car with him again, and her head was bursting with all the enigmatic questions Parnassus had posed.
But she needn’t have worried. Aristotle couldn’t have made it clearer he had no intention of touching her. Lucy sat in her corner and watched as they were driven down the hill towards the city centre. Feeling somehow compelled, she turned to face Aristotle and asked, ‘Don’t you have a family home here?’
She sensed him tensing, but he just said, without looking at her, ‘Yes, it was my father’s home, but I prefer to stay in a hotel.’
And then, before Lucy could halt her runaway mouth, she heard herself asking, ‘Why don’t your family know about the merger?’
His head whipped around so fast that she nearly flinched back. The lines in his face were stark. ‘What makes you ask that?’ The thread of warning was explicit.
Lucy shrugged. ‘I just…wondered.’
‘None of them are aware,’ he said curtly. ‘And I’ve already told you they must not know. As far as they’re concerned I’m here for three weeks to check up on the Athens side of the business.’
Lucy’s jaw clenched. ‘I know all that, and of course I won’t be telling them anything. I’m well aware of the terms of my contract.’
She turned her head away, stunned to feel a welling of emotion and discover that she had sudden tears stinging the backs of her eyes. What on earth was that about?
When she felt her hand being taken by a much larger, warmer one, her heart tripped. She looked around warily. She couldn’t really see Aristotle’s face in the dark gloom.
He sounded weary all of a sudden. ‘Look, it’s complicated, OK? It’s family stuff between them and me and they just don’t need to know. It’s for security reasons…’
‘That’s all you had to say.’ Lucy took her hand from his and took off his jacket, handing it back to him. ‘I’m warm enough now, thanks.’
Boss/assistant. The lines of demarcation were unmistakable. Aristotle cursed himself again for having lost control earlier. In all honesty the depth of that desire still shook him up. He took the jacket and watched as she turned her head to look out of the window again. The curve of her cheekbone, the fall of her hair was an enticing temptation to turn her face back, seek out those warm lips, sink into her yielding soft body again.
He swore under his breath. He’d vowed he wouldn’t take her like some randy over-sexed teenager, but here he was mentally stripping her, moments away from trying to seduce her all over again. He sat rigid in his seat the whole way back to the hotel. Never had a woman caused him this much frustration.
When they got back to the hotel Lucy skittered away from him like a scared foal. He let her go, bidding her goodnight, then went into the bar and ordered himself a shot of whisky. It was going to be a long three weeks.
Towards the end of that first week, Lucy half heard a question from Aristotle as they sat in his office in the centre of Athens. In essence they were conducting separate lives: presenting a benign face to his Athens-based company, and conducting top secret meetings with Parnassus at the same time. The meetings with Parnassus’ side were complicated and technical, calling on all of Lucy’s skills and much of the small amount of legal training she’d done.