But today, Stavros was the one who felt bloodthirsty, like he was coming apart at the seams.
After two days in which he had been supremely unproductive, he still hadn’t been able to master his reaction to seeing Leah.
You already know that I don’t care about anyone but myself, don’t you?
Her words rang through him, her glittering gaze and her vibrating body etched into his brain.
The brazen curve of her mouth, the reckless shrug with one hand on a bony hip, her dark brown hair drying in curls around that angelic face... Cristo, he still couldn’t believe that...boldly stunning creature had been Leah.
Leah, who had jumped like a live wire when he had touched her without meaning to...
Leah, who, even at a naive sixteen, had somehow always pushed all the wrong buttons in him...
Leah, who was, even now, insidiously unfurling the iron fist with which he ruled his...
No!
Moving his right foot forward, Stavros swung his left hook with a vicious fury. The thwack of his knuckle against Dmitri’s jaw, and the hiss of his exhale, followed by the filthiest curse words reverberated in the quiet.
Shock flashed in Dmitri’s eyes.
That Stavros had gone on the offense when it had always been about letting Dmitri work through one of his tempers, who learned to use his fists on the streets of London amidst gangs, spoke to his ragged control.
“Ding, ding,” Dmitri mocked, dark amusement in his gaze. “Point for Leah Huntington Sporades.”
Gritting his jaw, Stavros shot him a filthy look.
Massaging his jaw with one hand, Dmitri reached for a bottle of water with the other. “In all the years that we have known each other, you have never gone on the offensive. Today’s win has to go to her.”
Knowing how cunningly perceptive Dmitri was, Stavros decided to leave. It had been a miracle in itself that Dmitri had—showing what Giannis would have called uncharacteristic wisdom—left Stavros alone after Leah’s latest stunt.
He didn’t want to discuss Leah, with him of all people.
Dmitri’s jaw was already black and blue, and for once, Stavros enjoyed the result of his loss of control. “Put some ice on it.”
Dmitri stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You’re pushing it too far, Stavros.”
“Leave it alone, Dmitri.” He knew exactly what his friend was talking about.
Moving around him, Dmitri blocked his path. “You went above and beyond what Giannis asked of you. Wash your hands off.”
Giannis, to whom he and Dmitri owed their entire world, had asked for only one thing in return after becoming their salvation when they had been nothing but uneducated thugs.
And Stavros had failed spectacularly at it. “Have you forgiven yourself for everything you have ever done? Or failed to do?”
All emotion seeped out of Dmitri’s face, leaving an uncaring mask in its place. “Do I look like I have been punishing myself for the last decade?”
Stavros made a doubtful sound of assent in his throat. “See you next week.”
“Giannis asked you to protect her, Stavros, ne?” His breath hung in his throat as Stavros waited. “But what I saw two days ago... He should have entrusted me with Leah. I would have seduced her within the day, made her fall in love with me and then cast her aside after a week. She would have learned her lesson.
“But you—”
Stavros curled his hand around his friend’s throat, fury filling every vein. The thought of Dmitri seducing and throwing away Leah made him crazy like a rabid dog he had once put down as a teenager. “She is not one of your party bunnies, Dmitri. She’s...she’s Leah.”
His breathing loud to his own ears, Stavros stilled. Dmitri watched him with hooded eyes, not even trying to shake off his grip. They both knew what he had been about to say.
She is my wife.
When had he become so possessive of Leah? When had she gone from a chain around his neck to something that could incite him like this?
“To see Stavros Sporades’s ironclad control unravel like this... But even a man made of stone would have noticed that gorgeous body. Leah could always get under your skin so easily,” Dmitri continued, frowning, “but now, she has another weapon to wield against you.”
“Enough, Dmitri! I don’t interfere in your life nor pass judgment on it.”