Tara Pammi - A Deal with Demakis

Nikos reached her in a single step and caught the paperweight midair this time, his hand grazing hers. She jumped back like a nervous kitten. “I mean you no harm, Ms. Nelson.”

“Yeah, right. And I’m a Victoria’s Secret model.”

Laughter barreled out of him. Her blue eyes wide, she stared at him.

She was no model with her boyish body and nonexistent curves. Yet there was something curiously appealing about her even to his refined tastes. “I think you’re a foot shorter—” he let his gaze rove over her small breasts, and her hands tightened around her waist “—and severely lacking in several strategic places.”

Crimson slashed her cheeks. She lifted her chin, her gaze assessing him, and despite himself, he was impressed. “Why the power play? You didn’t open that file in front of me to double-check your facts. You wanted me to know that you had all that information on me. Is that how you get your kicks? By collecting people’s weaknesses and using them to serve your purpose?”

“Yes,” he replied, and the color leached from her face. He has no delusions about himself. He was by no means above using any information in his hands to gain the upper edge in business or life. And especially now when it concerned his sister’s well-being, he would do anything. If you didn’t protect the ones who depended on you, what was the point of it all? “I need you to do something for me and I can’t take no for an answer.”

CHAPTER TWO

DISBELIEF PINCHING HER mouth, she stared at him. “It didn’t occur to you to just ask nicely?”

He covered the distance between them, shaking his head. She stepped back instantly, but not before he caught her scent. And racked his brains trying to place it. “Nicely? Which planet are you from? Nothing in this world gets done with please and thank you. Hasn’t your life already taught you that? If you want something, you have to take it, grab it with both hands or you’ll be left behind with nothing. Isn’t that why you robbed that house?”

“Just because life gets hard doesn’t mean you lose sight of the good things.” Her hands tightened around the strap of her bag, her skin tugged tight over her cheekbones. “I robbed the house because it was either that or starve for another day. It doesn’t mean I’m proud of my actions, doesn’t mean I don’t wish to this day that I had found another way. Now, please tell me what happened to Tyler.”

Her words struck Nikos hard, delaying his response. The woman was nothing short of an impossible paradox. “Venetia and he were in a car accident.”

Her face pale, she flopped onto the leather couch behind her, her knees tucked together. “Physically, there’s not a scratch on him,” Nikos offered, the pregnant silence grating on his nerves.

She pushed off from the couch again. “The person who called me made it sound like it was much worse. I kept asking for more details but he wouldn’t answer my questions.”

She walked circles around him, running long fingers over her bare nape. Once again, the boyish cut only brought his attention to her delicate features. Bones jutted out from her neck, the juncture where it met her shoulders infinitely delicate.

Her knuckles white around her bag, she came to a stop in front of him. Shock danced in her face. “It was your doing. You had one of your minions call me and make it sound like that. Why?”

He shrugged. “I needed you to be here.”

“So you manipulated the truth?”

“A little.”

Her forehead tied into a delicate little frown, she cast him a sharp look.

“I don’t have a conscience when it comes to what I want, even more so when it comes to my sister, Ms. Nelson. So if you are waiting for me to feel guilty, it’s just a waste of time. Except for a hitch in his memory, your ex is fine.”

“A hitch in his memory?”

“A short-term memory loss.” He leaned against his desk. “To my sister’s eternal distress, he doesn’t remember anything of their meeting, or their plans to marry.”

He paused, watching her closely, and right on cue, the color leached from her face.

Her teeth dug into her lower lip. “They are engaged?”

He nodded.

She ran a shaking hand over her nape again. “I don’t understand why you are telling me this.”

“All he remembers is you, and he keeps asking for you. It’s driving Venetia up the wall.”

He thought he would see triumph, pure female spite. Because whatever else he might think, Venetia had stolen Tyler from this woman. He braced himself for a deluge of tears, OMGs and “why-did-this-happen-to-me?”s. At least, that’s how Venetia had reacted, even though she had been pretty unscathed from the accident. But once the doctors had informed them about the memory loss, it had become worse as though she had taken on the leading role in a Shakespearean tragedy. And contrary to his expectations, that their relationship would lose its appeal, Venetia had only held on harder to Tyler.

Seconds ticked by. Ms. Nelson stared out through the glass windows, but the tears didn’t fall. She took a deep breath, pressed her fingers to her forehead and turned toward him. “Where is he now, Mr. Demakis?”

The glimmer of stark pain in her eyes rendered his thought process still. Much as he would detest it, he wanted her to throw a tantrum. That he could handle. This quiet pain of hers, the depth of emotion in her eyes, however, he wanted no part of it.

It reminded him of another’s pain, another’s grief so much that a chill swept through him. He had worked very hard to keep his father’s face neatly tucked away. And he wanted to leave it that way. “On our island in Greece.”

“Of course, it is not enough that your sister and you are gorgeous. You have to own an island, too.”

He smiled at the caustic comment, at the glimpse of anger.

“All the lengths you have gone to get me here, I’m assuming it’s not for the pleasure of giving me bad news. No more games. What is it that you want me to do?”

“Come with me to Greece...take care of him. Venetia won’t stop turning everyone’s life into a circus until he remembers her.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Her gaze flew to him, shock dancing in its blue depths. “Did I miss the memo on amnesia that says there’s a switch to turn it on and off? An ex’s kiss, maybe? What makes you so sure that I can just make him remember her?”

“Your ex wants to come back to New York so that he can see you,” he said, joining her in the small sitting area. “Venetia won’t let him out of her sight until he remembers their great love. His confusion and her ongoing drama are driving me insane.”

“And I care about this why?”

Her tone was so irreverent that it was like seeing a different woman. “You don’t. That’s why the little twisting of the truth.”

The moment he stepped into the sitting area, she tensed. Nikos could almost feel her suspended breath as she wondered if he would sit too close. Stifling a curse, he settled onto the coffee table instead. Instantly, her breathing evened out. Never had a woman irritated him so well and so easily.

“I want her future settled. More than anything else in the world. Which means, the only thing to do is for you to join them. With the long history between you two and your unwavering support now, Tyler will mend soon. He will remember his undying love for Venetia, and they can ride off into the sunset together,” he said, struggling to keep the mockery out of his tone.

She settled back onto the couch, and crossed her legs. “You’ve got balls asking me to help you.”

Nikos grinned. There was such a change in her demeanor, in the way she met his gaze head-on from the woman who had timidly followed him in. Because she knew now that he needed her, and she was adjusting her attitude based on that just as he had done. And to his surprise, he liked this gutsy version of her so much better. “My...manhood has nothing to do with the matter at hand. It’s something I need to do for my sister, and I’m doing it.”