Theo held his gaze. “Marry my daughter, Nikos. Join the Demakis and Katrakis name forever.”
A buzzing filled Nikos’s ears. He shot up from his seat and grabbed the railing. The sea glimmered endlessly blue in front of him. But he heard nothing of the waves with blood rushing into his ears.
His first instinct was to scream the denial that was struggling to be let out of his throat. Distaste coated his tongue at the very thought of Eleni Katrakis. He would find a different way to the CEO’s chair. He couldn’t even indulge in the idea of looking at any other woman except Lexi, he couldn’t even...
All his thoughts came to a suffocating halt, his gut twisting into a hard knot. A chill broke out over his skin, despite the sun shining down. Was he actually considering walking away from his life’s mission because of one woman? Turning his back on everything he had worked toward? To give in to the unknown, unnamed sensation in his gut that filled him with fear over tangible prize? To follow in the same path his father had trodden, leaving nothing but destruction in his wake.
Nikos did not want that life; he had done everything he could to get away from it.
He had nothing to give Lexi, not the kind of woman she was—kind, generous, affectionate. The sooner they moved on with their lives the better.
It was an affair—they both had known that from the beginning. And all affairs, at least his, came to an end.
* * *
Lexi had never felt more intimidated in her life. Even though, for once, she was wearing the right clothes, shoes and even makeup.
The blue cocktail dress was strapless and hugged her chest and waist and then fell to her knees in a playful skirt. Her hair was combed back and piled high, thanks to the stylist that Nikos had insisted on, leaving her nape bare. She had thought the classic lines of the dress would clash with her boyish haircut. But as the stylist had claimed, the blunt haircut made the small planes of her face stand out.
The inaugural party for the hotel on the other side of the island, the same hotel she and Nikos had christened so colorfully just two weeks ago, was open as of tonight. And from what she had overheard from Nikos’s assistant, booked for the next five years through, just as Nikos had predicted. Apparently there were a lot of high-profile celebrities who were really into low-key vacation spots that were a slice of paradise.
Even the party today, set up under an elegant marquee on the beach was a low-key one. Lexi had spotted a celebrity chef that she was dying to tell Tyler about and even a famous underwear model. But more than the international celebrities, it was the presence of Savas Demakis that unsettled her.
With her heated imagination, she had imagined Savas to look cruel and scary. But he looked like any other man here tonight for the most part. Except when he had stopped in front of Lexi fifteen minutes ago and fired off questions without so much as a greeting, as if it was his privilege to be answered.
Cowed by his presence, Lexi had automatically answered. He clearly didn’t like her presence here tonight, but she refused to hide like a dirty secret. With a sigh, she realized that more of Savas’s guests had begun casting looks in her direction, their curiosity blatant.
She would have left for the villa on the other side if it hadn’t been for the fact that she hadn’t seen Nikos in three days. He had spent a week with her and Venetia and Tyler; curiously they had made a very peaceful foursome at the villa before urgent business had called him away. From the way his eyes had lit up, Lexi had known it had to do with the vote for the CEO position on the Demakis board.
She had wished him luck. Only he had told her that he didn’t need luck. And he hadn’t returned or even called her. She had swallowed her disappointment but couldn’t stay away tonight.
According to Venetia, the board was present and was going to make an announcement. Her heart raced as Lexi heard the sounds of a helicopter. She dug her heels into the carpet laid on the beach, fighting the urge to go to Nikos.
She took a champagne flute from a uniformed waiter and joined Tyler and Venetia at their table. The moment Nikos appeared in front of the small dais, people mobbed him from every side.
Glad that she was sitting, Lexi took a sip, just to give her shaking hands something to do.
Surrounded by powerful men and women, Nikos seemed far from the man who had surprised her with the studio.
His gaze raked the crowd, and finding her, settled on her. Across the distance separating them, Lexi felt the weight of it as if he had walked up to her and touched her.
An older man claimed Nikos’s attention and the moment was gone.
A few minutes later, the guests began to settle around the tables under the artistic handmade paper lanterns hanging from the roof of the marquee. And the speeches began.