The Greek's Stolen Bride (3 page)

Quickly he dropped her arm and stepped away.

"I don't think your father would be pleased to see you prowling into my bedroom."

She straightened, her eyes flashing and her mouth pursing. "No, he wouldn't. And if you are inclined to apprise him of the fact, then you are not half the man I thought you were."

Theo chuckled softly. "I would hate to garner such a low opinion. What are you doing here, Ariana?"

He saw her react to the use of her name; she didn't move but he felt the shiver of awareness ripple through her. So she felt it too; this attraction, as inconvenient as it might be, was mutual.

"I want to talk to you."

"So talk."

She glanced down at him, taking in his low-slung pajama bottoms, her eyes widening as she obviously realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. Theo smiled, stared evenly back. Thank God she hadn't come a moment earlier. She would have seen him prowling around just as she had been, and that could lead to some very inconvenient questions.

She licked her lips, and Theo felt again that pulse of desire. She was an uncommonly beautiful woman, but more than that, she had a strength of character that intrigued him. If circumstances were different, and she were not the daughter of his enemy, he would like to get to know her. And, Theo admitted fairly, to take her to bed.

"I have information you need."

He quirked an eyebrow, surprise rippling through him along with a flicker of admiration. She sounded very sure. "I'm not aware of needing anything."

She lifted her chin. "I know how to disarm the computer virus."

"Do you?" He folded his arms. "And you are willing to give me this information--for what?"

"For my freedom."

"Your freedom," Theo repeated slowly. "Are you not free?"

"I have not left this island in five years," she answered flatly, and Theo felt another ripple of surprise.

"And your marriage to Paranoussis?"

Her lips thinned. "Unwanted."

He suppressed the pang of sympathy he felt for her. He did not have the luxury of such a soft emotion. He'd come here for revenge, nothing more.
And yet...
wouldn't the ultimate revenge be to steal Leotokos's daughter from under his nose? His precious, protected daughter whom he clearly used as a bargaining chip?

Theo eyed her with new consideration. "And how," he asked, "am I meant to gain your freedom?"

"You are not without resources."

"You think I can buy it?"

Her eyes flashed scorn. "I'm not talking about financial resources. I mean creativity, courage." Ridiculously, he felt himself puff up a little at her words.

"You've assessed my character rather quickly, Miss Leotokos."

"I had no choice. And I admit, it is a risk. For both of us." Her eyes shadowed with pain or perhaps even fear. "I am not naive about that."

"So how am I meant to use my creativity and courage to free you from this place?"

"You disarm the virus. My father will have you escorted to his yacht--"

"How do you know what he will do? No one has successfully disarmed the virus before." She bit her lip, and his libido stirred yet again, more insistently, at the sight of her pearly white teeth taking that lush fullness into her mouth. "Perhaps," he conjectured, "he will ask me to stay, throw a party, celebrate such a victory." Her eyes narrowed and he continued softly, "or perhaps he will find a way to discreetly get rid of me."

Her eyes widened now, her lips parting. He could still see the bite marks she'd made in the pink softness of her lower lip. "My father is not a murderer."

"He is a destroyer of dreams, of lives. He might not draw blood, but he is still capable of killing."

"You sound as if you speak from experience."

"No," Theo said swiftly. He sought to even his tone, make it light. He would reveal nothing to this woman. "But his reputation is known."

"Very well." She nodded, decisive now. "No matter what my father intends, all you need to do is get yourself on that yacht. I'll be hiding--"

Theo's lips twitched. This sounded about as sophisticated as a girls' adventure story. "Hiding?" he repeated and she glanced at him sharply.

"Yes. Once the yacht docks in Piraeus, you only have to distract Aries and I'll--"

"You'll clamber off the boat and run down the docks of Piraeus?" he finished sardonically. "I wonder how long you'll last." 

She paled and Theo wondered how she had not thought of this before. Was she really so appallingly naive?

She lifted her chin, her eyes glittering silver. "I'd need some money," she stated baldly. "Only a little. That would be part of our bargain."

"So I'm meant to let you loose in Athens with nothing but the clothes on your back and a few euros?" Theo shook his head at her naiveté. No, not naiveté, he realized as he met her blazing gaze. Just incredible desperation.

"I'll be fine," she said quietly. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I never said I was."

"Well, then." She drew herself up. "Will you do it?"

Theo raised his eyebrows, still disbelieving. "Do what? You don't even have a plan, sweetheart. You don't have a
prayer
. Don't you think your father might noticed your absence, not to mention my involvement in this absurd plan? And as for when you get to Athens..." He shook his head. "It's idiocy. Suicide."

"No," Ariana said quietly. "Suicide is staying here." Gazing at her face set in hard lines of determination, he realized with a chill that she meant it quite literally. "You do know," she said after a moment when neither of them had spoken, "you will be ruined if you don't disarm the virus? That is the price my father exacts. A few well-placed phone calls, a few whispers, and no one will hire you again."

"Good thing I have my own company."

"You will receive no new contracts--"

"You think your father has that kind of power?"

"I know it."

And so did he. His father had been ruined by similar phone calls, a few whispers in the right--or really, wrong--ears. Innuendo and suggestion had had investors pulling out of his father's financial management firm and an accusation of insider trading had followed. It had been false, buoyed by manufactured evidence and one man's determination to rid himself a worthy competitor, but it had been enough to see his father's firm--and fortune--collapse.

Would Leotokos try the same with him? Theo had no doubt. It was a risk he was willing to take to expose the man for what he was--a criminal.

"Knowing your father," he said, "it doesn't matter whether I disarm the virus or not. He will want to ruin me either way."

"He has promised millions--"

"Do you trust your father's promises?"

She frowned. "His intention is for the victor to work for him. He would want that, he likes collecting trophies--"

"Alas, I am not a trophy."

Her frown deepened, shadows darkening the silver depths of her eyes. "Then why are you here?"

"I told you at dinner. I like a challenge."

"Then surely the challenge of getting off this island with Leotokos's only child in tow would appeal to you."

He laughed softly, impressed with her quick rejoinder and her fiery spirit. She was a worthy adversary. She would, perhaps, be an even worthier partner... in all senses of the word.

He just needed a workable plan, and it didn't involve hiding Ariana away on her father's yacht.

"Your plan is madness, Ariana. The likelihood of no one noticing your absence--I assume you have no one you can trust to cover for you?"

"If I did, we would not be having this conversation. Every servant is my father's spy."

He thought of the way she'd hidden from the butler that afternoon. "And yet you still intend to attempt an escape?"

"I have no choice."

"Your father is not a stupid man. He will suspect my involvement. Why would I risk that?"

Color appeared high on each sharp cheekbone. "Do you want to disarm the virus? I can tell you how."

"Is that my only prize?"

The color deepened, but she still stood tall and proud. "I have nothing else to offer."

"Actually, you do."

She stiffened, and he knew that innocent though she was, she'd guessed the nature of his request. A request he had just thought of, and yet now wanted with a deep and abiding certainty.

"I will help you escape from this godforsaken island," he told her softly, "and in exchange--" He paused, watched her pupils flare, her lips part even as her eyes glittered determination. She really was magnificent.

"In exchange?" she repeated, her voice rising in challenge.

"You marry me."

CHAPTER FOUR

Ariana jerked back in shock. That initial dousing of surprise was followed by a tidal wave of disappointment. She had thought, naively she knew now, that Theo Atrikes was a man unlike her father or her fiancé, and yet with one sentence he'd proved himself exactly, excruciatingly the same.

"Never," she said flatly and he arched an eyebrow, clearly amused.

"Never say never."

"I will marry no man." She kept her gaze on his face, irritated that even now she had to work hard not to let it wander to the muscled, golden expanse of his bare chest.

"You don't even want to hear my terms?"

"I don't want
terms
," she spat. "I want freedom. Do you think I'd really exchange one prison for another? That's what I've been doing for my entire life." Her voice trembled and humiliated as well as annoyed, she turned away from him, her hair falling to hide her face.

"I do not deal in prisons," Theo said softly, and she stiffened when she felt the whisper of his fingers against her face. Gently he tucked her hair behind her ear, his thumb resting on her jawbone, the touch seeming to carry its own spark that lit its way to her soul.

"Don't," she whispered.

He smiled and she knew he recognized the power he had over her. Considering their situation, the fact that she was actually attracted to him was incredibly galling.

"What is it you wish me not to do?" he asked, and she didn't answer. She wasn't about to admit how much that tiny touch had affected her.

She jerked her head back and he dropped his hand, still smiling faintly. "Why do you wish to marry me?" she returned and his smile deepened, revealing a surprising dimple in the hard plane of his cheek.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You don't even know me."

"Perhaps you need to hear my terms."

She didn't want to ask about his terms, to admit that she might consider such a ridiculous suggestion. Marriage...! It was impossible. Yet staying on this island and marrying Dion Paranoussis was impossible as well. She was trapped, Ariana thought, and she knew that Theo Atrikes knew it too. Caught as surely as Odysseus between Scylla and Charybdis.

What choice did she really have?

"Fine," she said, and met his gaze directly. His eyes, she saw now, were a deep, dark green, the color of a forest. "What are your terms?"

"I allow you to escape. We wed as soon as possible. We can have a prenuptial agreement drawn up that will safeguard both our interests."

"Both our interests?" Ariana repeated, suspicion sharpening her voice. She didn't like the way he spoke,
allowing
her to escape. As if everything were under his authority, in his control.

"You asked me earlier if I had money. I told you that I do, and I intend to keep it."

She swallowed dryly. "And what about my interests?"

"On the eventual annulment of our marriage, you will receive a generous settlement. Enough to see yourself and your mother taken care of."

Her mother. How had he known she intended to go back for her mother, when she was established? Belatedly she realized what he had said. Annulment, not divorce. "So this marriage won't be--"

"Consummated?" Theo's mouth curved in a knowing smile. "Only if you want it to be."

"I don't," she retorted even as a treacherous warmth stole through her, her mind already dancing with images of candlelight gleaming on golden skin. "That is," she amended quickly, "I wouldn't, if there was any chance I would agree--"

"Sweetheart," he cut her off, his voice like silk. "Is there any chance you
won't
agree?"

She inhaled sharply, hating that he was right. No matter how she might attempt to act otherwise, she really had no choice. "I don't understand why you wish to marry me."

"I have my reasons."

"I wish to know them."

He cocked his head to one side, his gaze sweeping over her in lazy assessment. "It's practical."

"Practical? It seems like the least practical--"

"If we marry, your father cannot make some absurd case that I've taken you from here by force."

"Self-protection?"