The old man remained inflexible for another second before he relaxed in his seat. ‘You said you’re up to the game? Prove it.’
The words still echoed in Alexis’s head as they finished their refreshments and Costas’s nurse firmly steered the old man away for a rest.
As Alexis and Christos retreated to the suite in the left wing of the villa, she all but felt the tension vibrating off him.
The moment the door shut behind them he muttered a curse under his breath.
‘He knows we don’t live together,’ she said. ‘And he’s been keeping tabs on us.’ Alexis wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about being under such scrutiny.
His lips pursed. ‘Yes. And I’m fairly certain I know who’s behind it.’
‘Your cousin?’
He shrugged, clawing his fingers through his hair as he began to pace. ‘We’ve been married for a year. If he’d known all along that we lived separately, he would’ve said something before now. I can only conclude that he’s been fed the information recently.’
She wrapped her arms around her middle, the silken web closing over her making her shiver. ‘So what are we going to do about it?’
He slowed to a stop, his laser gaze fixing on her. Whatever he read in her face made his lips thin. ‘You don’t need to worry that your precious Hope House will suffer because of this, Alexis.’
Hurt made her gasp. ‘That was the last thing I was thinking of. If you must know, I was thinking of you!’
He tensed. ‘Me?’
‘I saw your face when we arrived. This place means something to you. More than a simple birthright you don’t want your cousin to claim.’
For a moment, he looked poleaxed. Then his features shuttered. ‘The why doesn’t matter. It’s the how we need to concern ourselves with.’
The hurt she felt at his shutdown was as bad as the Hope House dig. But she was determined not to show it. She was too busy grappling with the unnerving emotions she’d been unable to control all week.
‘I think we can be assured the none of your business argument isn’t going to fly with him,’ Christos said, resuming his tight pacing. ‘The only way to kill his suspicions is to successfully convince him that this marriage is real.’
His words steeped her deeper in the present, her pulse rattling faster as her gaze darted around the room.
Their suite was the last word in comfort and luxury. Each suite had twin dressing rooms, a sumptuous living room and private terrace.
In the past, Christos had yielded the bed to her and slept on the sofa. But, in light of the altered dynamic between them, her attention was held most of all by the four-poster bed dominating the room. Heat unfurled through her at the thought of Christos in that bed. With her.
Their bodies sliding, straining and locking together. The pleasure he’d harnessed and then detonated in her.
A small sound escaped her throat before she could stop it.
Then she watched as Christos presumably mistook the sound for distress, his eyes hardening. ‘I’m not going to unleash my animalistic desires on you right this minute, if that’s what you’re concerned about, Alexis.’
Rather than disclose the reason for her fluster, she brazened it out. ‘You said you hadn’t had a woman in a year. Maybe you see this as an opportunity to scratch an itch?’
His lips curled with distaste as he stopped in front of her. ‘What an unsavoury turn of phrase. I prefer the more authentic and earthy description of lust, sex and mutual satisfaction.’
She grew hot again, an alarmingly frequent occurrence every time he was within touching distance. His scent reached out and wrapped around her as he stood staring down at her.
‘We’re both adults, Alexis, with needs. If we decided on a mutually satisfactory path to pleasure, I know I can trust in your discretion.’
The very idea sent another minor earthquake through her system. ‘Aren’t you even a little bit worried that I might turn overly emotional if we indulge in whatever it is you’re insinuating?’
His gaze grew contemplative. ‘Besides your wish to secure the future of Hope House, why did you agree to my proposition?’
It was her turn to tense. ‘Why does it m
atter?’