A Diamond Deal With the Greek

When Draco’s eyes clashed with Rebel’s, his rage had quadrupled. ‘What the hell’s going on here?’

‘I’m conducting a training session. Have you been out of the game so long you’ve forgotten even the basics, Angelis?’ Tyson sneered.

Draco ignored him. Striding to the edge of the ring, he called out, ‘Carla. Come here.’

‘Hey, what the hell—? Stay where you are, girl,’ Tyson countered.

After a moment’s hesitation, Carla skated to Draco. This close, the finger marks where Tyson had gripped her were visible against her pearly skin.

Fury flared through Draco’s nostrils. ‘Did he do this to you?’ he grated out.

Hesitantly, Carla nodded. Draco pointed a finger at Tyson. ‘You’re finished. If you know what’s good for you, find a deep dark hole and disappear inside. If I see you around one more skater, the only place you’ll be heading to is jail to join your bastard uncle.’

‘You have no authority here, Angelis. I have Olivio’s full support. If you think you’re going to change that, forget it,’ he snarled. Glancing at Carla, he added, ‘We’ll pick this up later.’ Tyson rolled back to the other end of the ice rink, kicked off his blades and stormed out via another entrance.

Holding out his hand, Draco helped Carla down. ‘Take off your blades. I’ll take you back to the villa.’

With a dazzling smile at Draco, Carla replaced her blades with heeled boots and tucked her hand through his arm.

Despite choosing to believe that there was nothing romantic between Draco and Carla, Rebel’s stomach still contracted with irrational envy as she watched them disappear through the door.

‘Right. Guess I’ll see you when I see you,’ she muttered, unprepared for the renewed misery snaking through her. Just as she was unprepared for Draco to suddenly reappear as she mounted the stairs to the weight room.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he snapped.

She paused on the second step. ‘Umm...going training?’

‘Not without me, you’re not.’ Taking her arm, he walked her out and sat her on the remaining unoccupied passenger seat of the buggy, which happened to be behind a less-than-happy-looking Carla.

Draco walked Carla to the villa door once they arrived, his low murmuring voice eliciting several nods from her before she went in and shut the door behind her.

His demeanour changed as he strode back to the buggy. Sliding behind the wheel, he flicked her a glance. ‘Get in the front.’

She complied, simply because she wanted to be closer to him. She was barely seated when the buggy surged forward. The five-minute journey felt like hours, the easy silence they’d shared last night a smoky figment of her imagination.

As they crested the hill she cleared her throat. ‘Are you upset with me?’

His jaw clenched hard before he spoke. ‘Damn right. You were supposed to wait for me. Instead I returned to find you gone.’

‘I woke up early and thought you were here, at the facility.’

‘I’d just gone to get a drink of coffee. We agreed to come here together. At five. Instead I found you here, in the cross hairs of a man I wouldn’t trust with my goldfish.’

‘Then we should be thankful I’m more substantial than a goldfish, shouldn’t we? And for the record, I pack a hell of a punch when threatened.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Is that jibe aimed at me?’

‘Unless you plan to attack me, no.’

His hand slashed through the air. ‘I don’t like this. In case you’ve forgotten we’re still playing a role. One Olivio is keeping a close eye on.’

‘Being engaged doesn’t mean we’re joined at the hip. You were worried about overcooking things. You not letting me out of your sight runs the risk of doing just that. You can frown all you want, but it’s the truth.’

‘I hardly think not wanting to be parted from you sends that message. Certainly not at four o’clock in the morning when you should be in bed with me.’

Rebel sighed. ‘You found me, Draco. I’m okay. Let’s chalk it up to a win because my getting here early stopped Tyson from manhandling Carla more than he did.’

Fury detonated. The vibrations from him threatened to flatten her. ‘What if you’d been on your own with him?’ he seethed.

‘I wasn’t,’ she stated simply.

He fisted his hair for a charged second before he jerked out of the buggy. ‘You wanted to train so badly? Let’s get to it, then.’

Rebel followed him in, her senses surging higher as she followed his ruggedly lean body up the stairs to the weights room.