‘Wait.’ She stopped him with a hand on his arm, which she dropped quickly, much to his escalating frustration. ‘I...I need to talk to you. Tonight, after the party.’
Real trepidation had darkened her eyes. The unease he’d banked but which had never left him since he’d seen that first text roared to life.
He forced a nod and went to give his speech, then for the next hour he mingled with his employees, the volunteers and salvage crew. But he made sure Brianna was glued to his side. Whatever it was that needed to be aired, he wouldn’t let it get in the way of what they had.
He breathed a sigh of relief once the boats arrived to ferry his guests to Argostoli, where the chartered flight waited to take them back to London.
Once the last guest had boarded the boat, he headed towards where Brianna was dismissing the catering staff.
Finally...
The need to touch her made his fingers tingle as he came within a few feet of her. She looked up and her desolate expression made his insides clench hard.
‘Brianna? What the hell is it?’
She shook her head and looked around. ‘Not here. Can we...can we go inside?’
Breaching the gap between them, he caught her hand and kissed the back of it as he steered her towards the villa. ‘Sure, but whatever this is let’s make it quick. I’ve been waiting since the crack of dawn to make love to you again. I’m not sure how much longer I can last.’
Her sideways glance was ragged and pain-filled, and he felt his heart stutter then triple its beat as trepidation ramped up higher.
He passed Theo and Ari in the hallway and barely noticed their exchanged glances.
Entering his study, he shut the door and turned to her. ‘What’s on your mind?’
For several seconds, she didn’t speak. She looked lost, miserable, like the bottom had gone out of her world. His heart swelled with the need to take away her pain.
‘Brianna, pethi mou, whatever the hell it is, I can’t fix it until I know what it is.’
That got her attention. She slowly shook her head. ‘That’s just it. I don’t think you can fix this, Sakis.’
His palms grew cold. Clenching his fists tight, he waited.
‘A few years ago, I worked for Greg Landers.’
The name popped like a firework in his brain. ‘Landers? The guy who was working with Moorecroft?’
‘Yes. But back then he owned a gas brokerage firm.’
‘And?’ he demanded, because his gut told him there was more. Much, much more. ‘He’s the one who’s been texting you. He’s G.’ He didn’t try to frame it as a question. He knew.
She licked her lips and, despite the fear and desperation clawing through his belly, he couldn’t stop his body’s sexual reaction. ‘Yes.’
Sakis breathed in deep, but the control kept unravelling. It took every ounce of strength he had to remain standing. ‘Is he your lover?’
She gasped. ‘No!’ A look very much like shame crossed her face. ‘But he was,’ she whispered.
He’d never understood jealousy up until now. Never got why it compelled strong emotion in others. In that moment, he understood. All Sakis could see in that moment was red, fiery red anger, and white-hot pain. ‘Why does he call you “Anna”?’
‘Because that’s my name. My real name is Anna Simpson. I changed it to Brianna Moneypenny after...after...’
‘After what?’
‘After I served just under two years in jail for embezzlement and fraud.’
Ice, sharp and deadly, clenched hard around his chest. ‘You went to jail? For fraud?’
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she nodded.