She had been prepared to see them together, knew that whatever problems she and Tyler had, had begun before he had met Venetia. But even she, with her wishful thinking, couldn’t miss that whatever Tyler and Venetia had shared was strong. Which was going to make one ruthless Greek very angry.
Lexi shivered even though the sea air was balmy. Tyler and Venetia stood on the far side of the deck surrounded by Venetia’s friends. Venetia wasn’t going to let Tyler even look at her tonight. Probably never, if Nikos wasn’t there to persuade her.
Which made her want to find Nikos and give him a piece of her mind for dragging her into this mess.
Stepping off the deck without another glance, she refused the offer of a buggy from one of the security guards.
The warm breeze from the sea plastered her T-shirt and shorts against her. She clutched the worn-out cotton with her fingers, trying to root herself.
The wealth and the sophistication of the people partying behind her, it overwhelmed her. But that wasn’t the reason for the heavy feeling in her gut.
She would not feel sorry for herself. It was a glorious island the likes of which she would never see again, and she would not let the loneliness inside her mar her enjoyment of it.
* * *
Nikos punched in the code and kicked the heavy garage door back, hot rage fueling his blood.
Once again, Savas had thwarted him. In the three years that Nikos had carved his way into the Demakis empire through sheer hard work and determination, he had brought Savas’s bitterest rival, Theo Katrakis, onto the Demakis board, despite Savas’s vehement refusal, proving that it was time to bring new money and partnerships into the company.
And it had paid off. In two years of partnership with Theo, a shrewd businessman with a practical head, Demakis Exports had increased their revenue by almost forty percent. Nikos had no doubt he would succeed in the new real-estate venture, as well.
But Nikos’s success, perversely, made Savas push him a little more.
Why else would he, again and again, deny Nikos what he wanted the most? Another board meeting, another refusal to elect him CEO.
Locking away the scream of rage that fought for outlet, Nikos stripped off his trousers and dress shirt and pulled on old jeans.
He walked back out into the hangar area of his garage and pulled the tarp off the Lamborghini Miura S that he was restoring. He was being tested, he was being punished, he was being denied his rightful place because he was his father’s son.
Because Savas had still not forgiven his son, Nikos’s father. The one thing Savas didn’t understand was how much Nikos hated his father, too. He was nothing like his father and he never would be.
He had only two goals in life. He had hardened himself against everything else. He had driven himself to exhaustion and beyond, forgone any personal relationships, hadn’t forged any bonds with his cousins, all in pursuit of being his own man, of doing what his father had failed to do.
Protecting Venetia and becoming the Demakis CEO. And he would do both at any cost.
Renewed determination pounded through his blood. Switching on his mobile, he placed a call to his assistant and ordered him to arrange a meeting with Theo Katrakis.
* * *
“You will go blind drawing in the dark.”
Lexi gasped and looked up, the growly rumble of Nikos’s words pinged across her skin like sparks of fire. She did it so fast that that the pencil flew from her hand. Her legs ached under her, from their position on the hard concrete floor of the garage.
She had sneaked in, wondering what the structure was, and seeing Nikos, naked from the waist up, working with a furious energy on the car behind him, she had stopped still, feeling the familiar itch in her fingers to reach for her sketch pad. Every time he had crawled under the car, her breath had hitched in her throat.
Obviously, she hadn’t realized how much time had passed.
Nikos’s hand dangled in front of her. The veins in his forearm stood out thickly, his fingers shining with grease. “How long have you been here?”
With a sigh, she gave him her hand and let him tug her up. Her legs, sore from sitting in that position for so long, gave out from under her.
His arm going around her, he steadied her against his chest. Molten heat swathed Lexi inside and out. He smelled of sweat and grease, an incredibly strange combination that cut off her breath effortlessly. Sinuous muscle tightened under her fingers and she jerked back, the warmth of his skin singeing the pads of her fingers.
He looked nothing like the suave businessman that had mocked her that first day. This Nikos was more down-to-earth but no less intense.
Lean muscle covered up by glorious olive-toned skin. Tight, well-worn jeans hanging low on his hips. A chest that could have been carved from marble, despite the sprinkling of hair. Washboard abdomen and Dear God Of All Glorious Things, that line of hair that disappeared into those jeans.