She blinked as a sliver of tension suddenly arced between them.
“You look stunning, Ms. Nelson.” He delivered those words with the same silky smoothness as when he insulted her. As if it had no effect on him. Had she imagined that look? “Your ex won’t know what hit him when he sees you in it. If that doesn’t bring him back to his senses...”
She didn’t hear the rest of his sentence as something nauseating neatly slotted into place. The silky slide of the dress chafed her.
Her heart thumping in her chest, she followed him into the lounge and stood in front of him. “What is this really about, Nikos? Why do you care so much how Tyler sees me? Tell me the truth or I’ll walk out right now.”
With a nod of that arrogant head, he dismissed the stylist and her assistant. The prickly humor was gone. The man staring at her with a cold look in his eyes was pure predator. “Don’t threaten me, Lexi.”
Even his use of her name, given he usually patronized her with Ms. Nelson, was pure calculation to intimidate her. She was intimidated by everything about this man, but she refused to show it. Had she really thought him kind just because he had listened to her sob story, asked her about her little hobby? He had manipulated her from day one. “Don’t lie to me, Nikos.”
His silence was enough to convince Lexi of the truth that had been staring her in the face all this time. Her stomach felt as if it was falling through an abyss. “You mean to use me to separate Tyler from Venetia.”
She reached for the zipper on the side, feeling as dirty as she had felt the day she had broken into that house. But her fingers shook, fumbled over the zipper. She grunted, impatient to get it off.
Nikos looked down at her, frowning. “Calm down.”
“No, I won’t calm down. And take this zipper off.”
He did it. Silently and without fumbling like her, with his hands around her body, but not touching her. She felt enveloped by him, her heart skidding all over the place. This was wrong. Everything about this situation, everything about what he made her feel, everything about what he was using her for, they were all horribly wrong and quickly sliding out of her control. Cold sweat gathered over her skin.
The minute the zipper came down, she rushed into her bedroom, took the dress off and donned her usual shorts and T-shirt. Marching back into the room, she threw the dress at him.
“Drama, Ms. Nelson?” he said, bunching the expensive fabric in his hands and throwing it aside. “Finally, something Venetia and you have in common, other than Tyler.”
“I’ll scream if you call me Ms. Nelson again in that patronizing tone. You have manipulated me, lied to me and picked me up like I was a bag of potatoes. You will call me Lexi and tell me why you are doing this.”
He took in her rant without so much as a flicker of his eyelid. “Tyler is a manipulative jerk who doesn’t deserve Venetia. I want him out of her life.”
“Tyler isn’t—”
“Your opinion of him means nothing to me.”
She flinched. “Why?”
“You’re—” She had the distinct impression that he was choosing his words carefully, which was a surprise in itself. Because usually he didn’t mince his words, cutting through her with his sharply acerbic opinions. “Blind when it comes to him.”
Confusion spiraled through her, coated with a sharp fear. What had she signed up for? “Then why let her see him? Why pretend as though you support them?”
“Venetia, for all her outward drama, is very vulnerable and volatile. She never recovered from our parents’ death. I’m the only one in the world who hasn’t hurt her until now. I will not change that.”
“So you’re having me do the dirty work for you? And what do you think is going to happen to your precious sister if, heaven forbid, everything goes according to your plan?”
Distinct unease settled over his features. Granite would have more give than his jaw. “She will cry over him. I will explain it to her that you and he—” utter distaste coated his words now “—you always go back to each other, whatever transpires in between. Not unbelievable with your long history.” He rubbed his jaw with his palm, his movements shaky. “I hate that I can’t prevent this. But I will accept a few of her tears now than something more dangerous that she could do later when she realizes that Tyler never really loved her.”
The emotion in his tone was unmistakable. His every word, his manipulations—everything had been to this end. And Lexi understood it, could almost admire him for it if it wasn’t also highly misguided. “You can’t protect her from everything in the world, Nikos.”