The Maid's Best Kept Secret (The Marchetti Dynasty 1)

‘Were you at another function, shoring up the Marchetti brand?’

Or, worse, flirting with women? Her insides seized with pain.

‘I was at a function in London, yes.’

Her heart thumped. He’d come all the way here straight from London?

‘How’s Daniel?’

Something inside her fell. She castigated herself. Of course this was about Daniel. He cared about his son. This was a good thing.

‘He’s fine—upstairs, asleep. If you want to talk about visitation rights I think it’s best for all of us if we do it through intermediaries. This really isn’t cool.’

He walked towards her, shucking off his jacket, letting it drop to the floor as he did so. He stopped in front of her. ‘Oh, really? Intermediaries?’

Some of Maggie’s bravado leached away. And some of the anger. Electricity crackled between them.

‘Nikos...what’s going on?’

For a second she thought he was going to kiss her, and then he stepped away and funnelled his hands through his hair. She could see the muscles in his back were taut. Of course he wasn’t going to kiss her—he didn’t want her. But then he turned around, eyes burning, and she was in his arms and his mouth was covering hers before she could form another thought.

Maggie’s brain melted. And her bones. And her heart.

She clung to Nikos and he hauled her up against him. She wrapped her legs around him. His hands were under her bottom, holding her up.

She pulled back and sucked in air, heart hammering. He looked up at her. She pushed to get down and he released her.

She stepped back on trembling legs. ‘What’s going on? You said...you said desire faded...’

He emitted a bleak-sounding laugh. ‘It was a lie. One of many.’

He reached for her hand with his. She looked at it warily.

He said, ‘Please? Let me explain.’

She looked at him. Suddenly he didn’t look so confident.

Against all her better instincts Maggie put her hand into his and let him lead her into the living room.

He let her go and walked over to the bookshelves. ‘Your books are back.’ He turned around. ‘I missed them.’

‘Nikos...’

She noticed then that he was unkempt. A bit wild. Dark circles under his eyes. Stubble. Actually, more than stubble. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in—

As if hearing her thoughts, he said, ‘I don’t think I’ve actually slept since you left last week. I went straight down to the casino and the whole week since has been a bit of a blur.’

Maggie felt anger rise again. ‘I can show you the headlines if you want your memory refreshed. You fell out of the casino at lunchtime on—’

He held up a hand. ‘I know.’ He looked at her, deadly serious. ‘But you see I was being an idiot. Because I love you. And when you said it to me I couldn’t believe it. I already felt guilty for infecting you with my toxicity, and—’

Maggie interrupted him. ‘What did you just say?’

Nikos frowned. ‘Which bit?’

She went over and caught his shirt in her hands and glared at him. ‘You know which bit.’

He looked intense. More intense than she’d ever seen him.