The screen went blank. Spiros appeared, white-faced and wide eyed.
“What’s going on, sir?” he asked with a frown.
“A situation that will be taken care of very soon. I’m trusting your discretion here.”
Spiros nodded. “Of course, sir. I’ll lock everything in the safe right away.”
“Good. I’ll be in touch.” He turned off the screen and looked down at Belle.
“Why are you looking so pleased?” she asked.
“Right now, Mwana is pissed and not thinking straight. Just the way I like my enemies.”
She gave a worried frown. “Doesn’t that make him even more dangerous?
“Sure, but it also lowers his guard, and fuck if that doesn’t please me.”
“So what now?”
He sighed. “It’s only a matter of time before the press start mooring off the beach with their damned telephoto lenses. We can’t stay here forever, matia mou, much as I’d love to. It’s time to return to the real world.”
The thought of the media invading Althea made her shudder. But equally, the thought of returning to Athens or even London where her every step would be dogged by hungry paparazzi made her feel even sicker.
Her anguish must have communicated itself to him. His body lost some of its tension.
He cupped her face and kissed her. For a moment, his eyes dropped to the rings on the platinum chain around her neck. Without conscious thought, her fingers moved to touch them.
Time to return to the real world.
Trying to distract herself from the path her thoughts traveled, she dropped her hand. “Can’t your PR people handle the publicity, as they always do?”
His eyes remained on the rings a while longer, the intensity in the gray depths branding the metal into her skin.
With another kiss, he stepped back. “They can, but this might be a way to bring things to a head. I also need to find out what the repercussions of this situation will be for the company—my board members will be having kittens by now.”
Almost on cue, his phone rang.
“I have to take this, then make a few arrangements. I’ll be as quick as I can, all right?” he murmured against her lips.
She knew a dismissal when she heard one.
“Okay.” Despite the horror of Mwana’s threats, she walked away without paralyzing fear gripping her. Whatever else was happening, Nick was starting to let her in, including her in his life in a way he’d never done before. And that made a world of difference to her.
The talk by the waterfall had set a solid foundation for whatever came next, and she felt a sense of quiet elation as she went upstairs to take a shower.
The next few days would be rough, but they had one last night on Althea. And she vowed to make it a night Nick would never forget.
Chapter Thirteen
Nick put the receiver down, his mind whirling with the implications of his last phone calls.
His conversation with Allen just now had brought grimmer news. In the bid to trace the rebel leader, Allen had dug deeper into the Nawakan’s background. Interpol wanted Mwana for several kidnappings, two of which had ended in deaths, the victims both female. One of them had been sexually assaulted.
Murderous rage grew at the thought of the madman coming anywhere near his wife.
His investigators had also finally come through, albeit a little too late. They’d traced one of the phone numbers Richard Francis had used to call Belle’s father. Nick had informed the police in London, and they were tracking down the address he’d supplied them with.
Nick had tightened Belle’s protection considerably, and now he had to find a way to break it to her that her security detail had been tripled. He grimaced. She would hate it, but he had no choice.