“Anna, you know that’s not—”
“I gave you everything, and you broke my heart.” She turned away, barely holding back tears as she looked down at her sleeping son. “Go, Nikos. Just leave. That’s what you do best, isn’t it?”
He grabbed her shoulders, whirling her around. “I can’t believe this. That’s why you kidnapped my son and caused me four months of hell? Because of some damned lies Lindsey told you?”
His hands tightened painfully, and she was suddenly aware of his body close to hers. His breath brushed her cheek, sending waves of heat up and down her body. Her gaze fell to his mouth.
She licked her own lips unconsciously. “Lindsey is your lover. Why won’t you just admit it? You didn’t hesitate to tell me the brutal truth this morning about my father. I thought you said you were done protecting me!”
He pulled her close, wrapping his muscled arms tightly around her as he whispered in her ear, “Damn you, Anna.”
He abruptly released her, striding for the door.
“I’ll be back for dinner,” he tossed at her without a backward glance. “I expect you to be waiting for me when I return.”
She stared after him, still shivering. She had no doubt as to what he expected of her. To be waiting for him in lingerie, holding two flutes of champagne, hot and ready for his seduction. He thought she was weak. He thought that, even though she hated him, she would be powerless to resist.
No, she thought. No way.
Resting one hand protectively on her son’s crib, Anna narrowed her eyes.
Whether he was more dangerous or not, Anna had to get Victor’s help so she could get out of this house. She had no choice. Because when Nikos had told her that Lindsey’s words were lies, she’d found herself wanting to believe him. Aching to believe him.
Being this close to Nikos was killing her.
She’d go to Victor’s club tonight. She’d beg for his help. In exchange, she would promise to work for him again—something she’d sworn she’d never do. She’d do anything short of becoming his lover. And once she had Victor’s help Nikos would see who was powerless and weak.
She clenched her hands into fists, remembering the arrogant way he’d demanded that she wait for him tonight. She’d be waiting, all right.
Waiting to give him the shock of his life.
* * *
Nikos poured himself a small bourbon from the crystal decanter in his office on the fourth floor of L’Hermitage.
He swished the glass and leaned back against the desk, staring out through the wide windows overlooking the Las Vegas strip. The brilliant blue sky and desert sun were beating down on the palm trees and garish architecture. The blacktop of Las Vegas Boulevard reflected waves of heat on the camera-wielding tourists, the gamblers and the drunken, ecstatic newlyweds.
He took a sip of bourbon. The normally smooth flavor was tasteless. Staring at the amber-colored liquid, he set down the glass and rested his head against his hands.
At last he understood.
He’d thought Anna had left because he’d tried to protect her during her pregnancy. He’d fired her because he’d sworn he’d be damned if his child’s mother would ever have to work—not after he’d watched his own mother work herself to death. He’d blocked Anna’s phone calls because he’d too often found her pacing while she solved problems at the casino building site, or tried to solve the endless foolish problems of her mother and sister. In both cases she’d been taking on problems that other people should have handled for themselves. Her first priority should have been her child, to the exclusion of all else. Why had she not seen that? Why had she been unable to let the weight of responsibility rest on him? Why had she fought his efforts to keep his fragile new family safe and protected?
Perhaps he should have told her about her father’s initial request for an investment, but Alexander Rostoff had asked Nikos to keep it quiet. Later, when Nikos had discovered the embezzlement, Anna was already pregnant, and upsetting her had been the last thing he’d wanted to do. Anna already took too much on where her family was concerned.
But he couldn’t believe that his real mistake, what had truly driven Anna away, had been leaving her bed.
She’d been so beautiful in her final trimester, lush with curves and ripe with his child, that Nikos had known there was no way he could keep his hands off her. He’d read in a pregnancy book that late-term sex could be a factor in early labor, so he’d forced himself to leave her, moving to his newly finished penthouse at L’Hermitage. To an empty bed and a lonely apartment. For her sake. For their child’s sake.
And she’d taken that as rejection?
In leaving Anna’s bed he’d given up the greatest pleasure he’d ever known. He’d even told her why he was leaving, but apparently she hadn’t believed him. Instead of being grateful, she’d been angry at his sacrifice.
He clenched his jaw. Hell, how could she have felt otherwise after what Lindsey had told her?
Furious, he rose from his desk and paced his office, crossing to the opposite wall of one-sided windows that overlooked the main casino floor. Leaning against the glass, he stared down at the wide expanse of elegant nineteenth-century Russian architecture, the soaring ceilings with high crystal chandeliers and gilded columns, packed in with slot machines, card tables and well-heeled gamblers.
He spotted Lindsey weaving through the crowds, rushing toward the employee elevator. She was carrying a bag from a high-end lingerie store in the Moskva Shopping Complex within the casino. Even after he’d ordered her to wait for him here at the office she’d taken time to go shopping. Unbelievable.
He missed Anna.
Anna, the perfect secretary. Anna, who’d read his mind. Anna, who’d solved problems before he’d even known they existed.
He’d first met her in New York, when Victor Sinistyn had pitched that ridiculous idea for an Elvis-themed hotel-casino called Girls Girls Girls. The meeting had been an utter waste of his time. With twenty boutique hotels around the world, Stavrakis Resorts were known for their elegance, not for their go-go dancers.
Nikos had noticed Sinistyn’s executive assistant, with her cool efficiency and aristocratic demeanor. He’d needed someone who could handle the complex details of running a billion-dollar business while still maintaining the image of his company. He’d needed someone with understanding and discretion, who wouldn’t let herself be bullied—not even by him.
Anna Rostoff had been everything he’d wanted and more. Hiring her away from Victor Sinistyn had caused him no end of grief, for the man had been a furious thorn in his side ever since. But Sinistyn’s enmity had been a small price to pay. For five years he and Anna had worked together, traveling around the world in his private jet, often working around the clock. She’d never complained. She’d never failed him. She’d never made a mistake. And he’d compensated her accordingly. When he’d found out she was sending most of her salary to support her mother and younger sister in New York, he’d given her a raise that had sent her salary skyrocketing deep into six figures.
He’d known by then that she was indispensable to his empire. Indispensable to him.
“I’m here.” Lindsey’s voice was panting as she leaned against the doorway. She’d stashed the lingerie bag somewhere en route, and now brought a hand to her heaving chest. “I was...um...”
“Stuck in traffic?” he said laconically.
“Right. Stuck in traffic.” She looked relieved. “You know Las Vegas Boulevard is a nightmare this time of day.”
“Don’t worry.” Standing over his desk, he leaned forward and gave her a lazy smile. “You’re just in time.”
“In time?” Her eyes lit up, and her hips swayed as she came toward him. Harsh afternoon sunlight hit her tanned face as she stretched a manicured hand to caress his cheek. “Past time, I’d say.”
He removed Lindsey’s hand.
“Stop it, Lindsey. It’s not going to happen.”
The desire for release was strong in him. The desire to forget, to bury himself in flesh and curves and the hot scent of woman. To pull her long hair back, exposing her throat for plunder, to possess her mouth and see the answering spark of desire in her eyes...
He wanted a woman. God, yes. Just not this one.
He wanted the woman who was at home right now, hating him.
Undeterred, Lindsey stroked his thigh. “Why do you think I took this stupid job? I know we’d be perfect together. I’ll make you wild. I’ll make you so hot and worked up that you’ll forget that tramp—”
He cut her off, his tone ruthlessly cold. “You told Anna that we were lovers. When she was pregnant and vulnerable you lied to her. I want to hear it from your mouth.”
“All right.” Lindsey dropped the seductive pose, and her young, pretty face took on the hard, calculating look of a hustler. “But, the way I see it, I was doing you a favor.”