Maya Blake - Greek Bachelors - Paying The Price

‘I fail to see...’ She stopped because the Greg she’d known, the man she’d once foolishly thought herself in love with, hadn’t changed. He believed himself a witty and clever conversationalist and was never one to get to the point until he was ready. It was one of the things—many things, she realised now—that had irritated her about him. ‘Blonde is my natural colour.’

Greg sighed. ‘Such a shame you chose to wear that dull brown when I knew you. Maybe I’d have thought twice before taking the route I took.’

‘No, you wouldn’t have. Your slimy nature makes you interested in taking care of number one. Are you going to tell me what you want any time soon?’

‘You’re distressed so I’ll let that insult slide. But be careful now or I’ll forget my manners. Now, what do I want? It’s very simple: I want Pantelides Shipping. And you’re going to help me get it.’

You’re out of your mind was the first of many outraged responses that rushed into her head. She managed to stop herself before they spilled out. Slowly, she sank onto her sofa, the only piece of furniture in her living room aside from a lone coffee table, as her mind raced.

‘And why would I do that?’

‘To protect your dirty little secret, of course.’

She licked her lips as fear threatened to swamp any semblance of clear thinking. ‘What makes you think my boss doesn’t already know?’

‘Don’t take me for a fool, Anna.’

‘My name is Brianna.’ The woman Greg thought he knew no longer existed.

‘If you want to keep calling yourself that, you’ll give me what I want. And don’t bother telling me Pantelides knows about your past. He’s scrupulous when it comes to any hint of scandal. You’re the last person he’d employ if he knew your past was as shady as his father’s.’

This time her gasp was audible. It echoed around the room in tones of pain, shock and anger. ‘You know about his father?’

‘I do my homework, sweetheart. And if he’d bothered to do his he’d have discovered who you really were. But I’m glad he didn’t, because now you’re in the perfect position to help me.’

The vice tightened harder around her chest. ‘What exactly is it you want me to do?’

‘I need information. As much as you can get your hands on. Specifically, which of the board members hold the largest shares, aside from Pantelides. And which of the other members will be amenable to selling what shares they have.’

‘You know this will never work, don’t you? Sakis—Mr Pantelides—will crush you if you come within a whisper of his company.’

‘God, you haven’t gone and done it again, have you, Anna?’ came the soft taunt.

Brianna shivered. ‘Done what?’

‘Offered that foolish little heart of yours on a silver platter to another boss?’ he murmured in a pitying voice.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But deep down there was no hiding from the truth. Her feelings for Sakis had morphed from purely professional to something else. Something she was vehemently unwilling to examine right now, when she needed all her wits about her to defend herself against what her grimy ex was intent on pulling her into.

‘You have four days, Anna. I’ll be in touch and I expect you to have the information I need.’

Her mouth went dry. Her heart hammered with sick fear and loathing and the unmistakeable, sinking feeling of inevitability. ‘And if I don’t?’

‘Then your boss will wake up to a most tantalising double-page spread of his treasured assistant in the tabloid press on Saturday morning. I’m pretty sure with very little effort I can get Pantelides Shipping to start trending again on all social media.’

Her belly quivered and she clenched her muscles hard. ‘Why are you doing this? Haven’t you done enough? Aren’t the millions you squirrelled away enough?’

‘Every Joe Bloggs knows how to make a million these days. No, sweetheart, my ambitions are set much higher than that. I’d hoped my association with Moorecroft would see me there but the fool folded at the first sign of adversity. Fortunately, I have you now.’

‘I haven’t agreed to anything.’

‘But you will. You covet your position almost as much as I covet the prospect of acquiring Pantelides Shipping. Make no mistake, I will have it.’

‘Greg—’

‘I’ll be in touch on Friday. Don’t disappoint me, Anna.’

He hung up before she could appeal to his better nature. Who was she kidding? Greg had no better nature. He was a vulture who ruthlessly fed on the weak.

The discovery that he’d engineered her to take the fall for his failing company over three years ago had rocked her to the core. When he’d pleasantly asked her to act as his co-director, she’d thought nothing of it, especially when he’d brought in a legal expert to explain things to her. Of course, it’d turned out the so-called legal expert had been in on the scheme to bleed his company dry before declaring bankruptcy and leaving her to take the fall.

She’d had time to dwell on her stupidity and gullibility in the maximum-security prison the judge had sentenced her to, to set an example.

Brianna staggered up from the sofa, swaying on shaky legs as her mind spun with the impossibility of her situation.

The very idea of betraying Sakis made her stomach turn over in revulsion.

He would never forgive her if she brought his company under unpalatable scrutiny so soon after his tanker’s crash and having the memory of his father resurrected.

She could resign with immediate effect. But what would stop Greg from spewing his vitriol purely out of spite?

Telling Sakis the truth was out of the question.

Betrayal is betrayal. The reason for it ceases to matter once the act is done.

Casting her gaze around the almost empty room, another shiver raked through her.

Run!

The stark reality of her harsh childhood had made it impossible for her to fully imbed herself in any one place, even this place she called her sanctuary. At least, if she had to run, she could be out of here in less than half an hour.

She pressed her lips together as a spike of rebellion clayed her feet. Why should she run? She’d done nothing wrong. Her only folly had been to delude herself into thinking Greg cared for her. But she’d paid the price for it.

No more. No more!

Throwing down the mobile phone, she went into her equally sparsely furnished bedroom. The bed lay on wooden slats on the floor. Aside from a super-sized papier-mâché cat she’d bought at a Sunday market months ago, only a tall, broad-leafed ficus plant graced the room. Her only indulgence was the luxury cashmere throw and the fluffy pillows on the bed. Even the built-in wardrobe held only the collection of designer suits Sakis had insisted she used her expense account for when she’d joined Pantelides Shipping. Her own clothes consisted of a few pairs of jeans and tops, one set of jogging bottoms and jumper and two pairs of trainers.

Those would be easy to pack.

No; she refused to think like a fugitive. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

With shaky fingers, she undressed and entered the en suite bathroom, suddenly eager to wash away the grime of her conversation with Greg. But his threat lingered in the air, in the water. No matter how much she scrubbed, she felt tainted by the thought that she had even contemplated betrayal to save her own skin.

The pounding at her door finally registered over the hammering of her heart and the rush of the shower. Twisting the tap shut, she heard the faint sound of her mobile just before another round of hammering made her lunge for her dressing down. With a quick sluice of a towel over her body, she went to her door and peered through the peephole.