Tessa blinked to clear her gaze as she looked back at the document before her.
She dragged in a deep breath and picked up the pen.
CHAPTER NINE
TESSA had almost reached the top of the central staircase when she heard a door slam and the sound of rapid steps crossing the vast marble-floored vestibule. Instantly she quickened her pace.
She’d done what he wanted, signed his bloody document. Now there was just one thing more she had to do: pack her few belongings and leave. With or without her passport it was time she left. This time tomorrow she’d be in Athens, organising her flight to Sydney.
Tessa turned down the corridor towards her room, trying to think about where she’d go when she landed, while she looked for a place to live.
‘Not so fast.’ Stavros’ deep voice from just behind her was silky smooth but it held a note of warning that accelerated her pulse. He was close enough for his breath to stir her hair. Adrenaline burst into her bloodstream, fuelling an instant desire to flee.
Long, hard fingers encircled her elbow in an implacable grip. Unreasoning panic flared, made her twist in his hold.
What more did he want from her? Hadn’t she done what he demanded? Surely he was satisfied now.
‘Let go of me!’
‘Not until I have some answers.’
His hold tightened as he marched her straight past the door to her suite. He didn’t bother to shorten his stride to match hers and she stumbled, struggling to keep up.
‘You’re hurting me.’ His grip had tightened as she tried fruitlessly to shake him off. It was like trying to wrest off an iron manacle without a key.
‘And you think I care?’ His voice was grim, as if he only just managed to keep a lid on his boiling wrath. Nevertheless his hold eased. Not enough for her to tug free, but his fingers no longer bit into her flesh.
They turned into another hallway, one she’d never seen. Tessa had a fleeting impression of vivid abstract paintings on the walls and then he shoved open a door on the left, dragged her in and slammed it shut behind them.
The crash of solid timber echoed in the silence reverberating between them. Tessa lifted her eyes to his and flinched at the naked fury she found. Gone was his ice-cold mask, the steely glint that had so often sent a shiver down her backbone. Now his eyes blazed, lit by a furnace of raw emotion that blasted her to the core.
‘What?’ she challenged. ‘What have I done now?’
She tugged and this time he let her go. Involuntarily she backed up a step, and another. His wrath shimmered in the air between them, a potent, tangible force.
He jammed his fists on his hips and stared down at her. It was a wonder that look didn’t burn her to a crisp, reduce her to a pile of smouldering ash on his expensive carpet.
And suddenly Tessa had had enough. Finally, gloriously, she’d reached the absolute end of her control.
She didn’t give a damn what his problem was. She didn’t care what power he had or how difficult he could make her life. She didn’t even care about her own sense of guilt at this ridiculous pot-boiler drama of a situation she’d landed them in. The blood sang through her body as she planted her feet wide and matched him, glare for glare.
‘Go on,’ she challenged. ‘Spit it out.’
His eyes narrowed. A week ago, even a few days ago, she would have trembled at that look. Would have backed down and tried to find a way to escape the rage that vibrated from him. Now she almost welcomed it.
Anger rose and coiled up within her, like a sleeping dragon waking to take flight. She felt strong. Powerful. The strength of her fury blotted out everything else, even her pathetic yearning for this man.
‘What’s your game?’ he snarled.
‘I don’t play games. I leave that to you.’ Euphoria buoyed her as she challenged him. It was liberating, shedding that fear and those other, weaker emotions, tapping into the frustration and anger she’d reined in for so long. Releasing some of the pain of recent years.
‘You can’t win against me. I have the resources to squash you. Like that.’ He raised a hand and squeezed one clenched fist till his knuckles whitened.
She revelled in the sight of him so clearly at the edge of his control.
‘You can only win if I choose to play your game.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
She shook her head. For an intelligent man he had a lot to learn. After the way he’d treated her he could wallow in doubt for however long it took. One day he’d realise how he’d miscalculated her motives.
He paced closer and she lifted her chin to keep eye contact.
‘Work it out for yourself, Kyrie Denakis.’
A low noise, almost a growl, throbbed through the air between them. Instinctively Tessa backed a step away as the feral sound shivered across her skin.