Sakis heard the tremble in her voice and wondered at it.
‘Then I’ll make sure he pays to the fullest extent.’ His father had got away with shady business deals for a long time before he’d been brought to justice. The same newspapers that had uncovered his treachery had uncovered the many families and employees his father had duped out of their rightful rewards.
Once his father had been put behind bars and Ari had been old enough to take over the reins of the company, the first thing he’d done was make sure the affected families were recompensed.
Letting anyone get away with fraud and duplicity would never happen.
He glanced down into the face of the woman whose body had invaded his dreams last night. She’d paled considerably, her eyes wide and haunted. His frown deepened.
‘What’s wrong?’
She surged to her feet and started gathering her things. ‘Nothing.’
‘Wait.’ He placed a halting hand on her waist and immediately felt her tense. Another stream of irritation rushed upward.
‘Y-yes?’ Her voice wasn’t quite steady and her head was bent, hiding her expression.
‘Brianna, what’s the hell is going on?’
‘Why should there be anything wrong? I’m merely returning to my office to get on with the rest of the day.’ Her words emerged in a rush.
Something was definitely wrong; something he’d said. He replayed his last words in his head, then his lips pursed.
‘You think my views are too harsh?’
Her mouth tightened but she still avoided eye contact. ‘What does it matter what I think?’
‘Tell me, what would you do?’ His hand curved firmly around her waist. When she moved, he felt the warm softness beneath his fingers. He wanted to pull her closer, glide his hand upward and cup her breast the way he had last night. It took every single ounce of willpower for him to hold himself still.
‘I...I would listen to them, find out the motive behind their actions first, before I throw them to the wolves.’
‘Greed is greed. Betrayal is betrayal. The reason for it ceases to matter once the act is done.’
Her soft lips pursed. Her nostrils flared and Sakis caught a sense of anger bubbling beneath her skin. ‘If you truly believe that, then I don’t see the point of you asking me.’
‘Under what circumstances would you forgive such an action?’
She gave a small shrug. The movement drew his attention to her breast. Sakis swallowed and cursed the heat flaring through his groin. ‘If the act was done to protect someone you cared about. Or perhaps it was done without the perpetrator knowing he was committing an act of betrayal.’
Sakis’s lips twisted. ‘My father’s betrayal was an active undertaking. So is Moorecroft’s.’
Her eyes clashed with his then she glanced away. ‘You can’t assign your father’s sins to every situation in your life, Mr Pantelides.’
This was getting personal again. But he couldn’t seem to stop himself from spilling the jagged pain in his chest. ‘My father actively cheated and bribed his way through his business dealings for decades. He betrayed his family over and over, letting us think he was one thing when he was in fact another. Even after he was found out, he was remorseless. Even jail didn’t change him. He went to his grave unrepentant.’ He sucked in a breath and forcibly steered his thoughts away from the bitterness of his past. ‘You’re deluding yourself if you think there’s such as a thing as blind, harmless betrayal.’
A shaft of pain and sympathy flitted through her eyes, just like it had back at Point Noire. She even started to move towards him before she visibly stopped herself.
Sakis felt curiously bereft that she succeeded.
‘I’m sorry for what happened to you. I...I have emails to catch up on so, if you don’t mind, I’ll get back to the office.’
‘No.’
She stared at him in surprise. ‘No?’
He glanced at his watch. ‘You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?’
‘No, but I was going to order some fruit and cereal from the kitchen.’