The Greek's Stolen Bride (5 page)

The minutes passed with torturous slowness, until finally at five minutes to ten Ariana made her way inside to the cool stillness of the marble foyer. In the distance she heard the insistent beep of the timer her father had set and then his smug, self-satisfied chuckle. Atrikes had failed. Disappointment flashed through her. Had he really been so arrogant to think he wouldn't fail? And now that he had, would he renege on their bargain? She had no answers.

"You are not the first, as you know," she heard her father say as he walked towards the foyer. "And you will not be the last."

"I tried all my tricks," Theo replied with a laugh. He sounded so incredibly relaxed. "You are a clever man, Leotokos."

They came into the foyer, Theo looking as relaxed as he had sounded, her father smiling smugly although his eyes were cold and hard.

"I hope," Miles said, "you do not experience any adverse consequences with the news of your failure."

"I have more faith in my clients than you do, I think."

Miles's smile widened. "Indeed you do."

Who would her father call, Ariana wondered numbly. Who did he know to ruin a man like Theo Atrikes, a man who seemed powerful and rich and utterly unafraid? Yet she did not doubt that her father could ruin him.
Would
ruin him.

Theo turned to smile at her. "Ah, Miss Leotokos. You have heard of my failure, I trust?"

"I have," she said tightly.

"It's a clever little puzzle, and one I cannot solve, to my own shame. I told you I liked challenges, so I suppose I shall have to find another."

"Indeed."

"Would you do the kindness of escorting me to your father's boat?" Theo asked, the question slipping out so innocently, so innocuously that Ariana had to blink at its smoothness. He turned to her father. "Can you spare your daughter for a moment, Miles?"

Miles frowned, and Ariana lowered her gaze. "I do not think--she began, demurely, knowing her father would resist if she seemed eager.

"No, go ahead, go ahead." He turned to Theo. "We will meet again one day, perhaps."

"Perhaps," Theo agreed amicably, and stretched out one hand for her father to shake. "It was entertaining, at any rate, Miles. Thank you for your hospitality."

"My pleasure." Miles's lips stretched in a sly grin and Ariana looked away. She could not stomach any more of the charade.

"Shall we?" Theo asked, and she looked up into his jade-green eyes, lit with amusement. How could he find any of this
funny?

She nodded, tried to slow the steady drumming of her heart as Theo led her out of the villa. Freedom was so tantalizingly close, and yet still so unbearably far away. She squinted, saw Aries sitting in the yacht that bobbed by the dock, its engine idling. How was Theo going to to deal with him? How was any of this going to
work
?

"Relax," Theo murmured. "You look terrified."

"What are you going to do about Aries?"

"Aries, is it? Don't worry."

Ariana listened to the crunch of gravel under their feet, her whole body vibrating with tension. Did Theo have a plan at all? It certainly didn't seem so.

The boat loomed closer, and Ariana watched as Aries straightened. Tattoos riddled his powerful biceps and his face bore a wicked scar down one cheek. He was not, she thought with a lurch of panic, a man to be trifled with.

"Hey there," Theo greeted him, all affability as he strolled towards the boat. "You're Aries, yes?" Aries jerked his head in an unfriendly nod. "Mr. Leotokos wanted to see you up at the house. I can wait here, no problem." Theo smiled, looking so friendly and relaxed, Ariana almost believed him. But Aries didn't.

"Mr. Leotokos texts me if he needs me," he said, patting the bulge of a phone in the pocket of his black jeans. "I received nothing."

"No?" Theo raised his eyebrows, shrugged. "I don't know, then. I'm just repeating the message."

Aries looked undecided, but then he shrugged himself and turning the engine off and pocketing the key, he stepped off the boat. Ariana stood on the dock, her whole body stiff with tension--terror--as Aries glanced at her.

"Miss Leotokos, you should return to the house." He spoke with authority; all of the servants had been given the liberty to boss her around.

Ariana didn't answer. If she agreed, her slim chance of freedom disappeared. If she disagreed, Aries would suspect something. Maybe even forcibly take her back to the house--

She wet her lips, her mind spinning and blank. "I--"

"Actually," Theo broke in, his tone still conversational and light, "she'll stay here."

Aries's gaze narrowed and he reached for his phone. In a movement so quick Ariana almost missed it Theo made a chopping motion aimed at Aries' neck and the man fell at her feet like a stone.

She gasped, the sound tearing from her lungs. "What did you--"

"You'd better get in the boat," Theo said calmly, and numbly Ariana watched as he reached for Aries's phone and keys. He tossed the phone into the water and jumped into the boat, holding a hand out to her.

"Coming?"

"Why did you do that?" she demanded as she half-stumbled into the boat. She glanced back at Aries who still lay crumpled on the ground. "Did you--did you kill him?"

"Rendered him unconscious only," Theo replied. He slid the key into the ignition and the boat thrummed to life. "You'd better sit down."

Ariana practically collapsed into the seat across from Theo. The wind ruffled her hair and sent it streaming behind in a long, dark ribbon as he maneuvered the boat away from the dock. Within seconds they were cruising through the wind-ruffled waves, her eyes stinging from the salty breeze.

Free
. She was free.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said, shaking her head, but with the roar of the engine and the waves and the wind Theo couldn't hear it. She said it again, louder, and then she shouted it.

He shrugged. "You wanted off the island, didn't you?"

"Yes, but not like that."

"Then how?"

"You realize my father will report his boat missing? He'll have the Hellenic Police Air Force mobilized in minutes. We'll never get away--" She stopped, shaking her head, desolation sweeping through her. Theo didn't seem to understand her father's power, or the need for secrecy. How could she have trusted him?

"I think you're overreacting just a little," he shouted back at her. He stood confidently at the wheel of the boat, the wind ruffling his hair, his eyes narrowed against the sun's glare. The wind also pressed his polo shirt and khakis close to his body, outlining every sleek, sculpted muscle. Ariana yanked her gaze upwards. She had no business looking--gaping, really--at his body, especially at a moment like this. "Given your history," he added, "it's understandable."

"You obviously don't know my father."

"And you, Ariana, don't know me." He flashed her a quick, knowing smile. "Fortunately, we can remedy that situation."

Ariana just shook her head, knowing there was no point in arguing with him. Piraeus was at least five hours away by speedboat. There was absolutely no way they could evade the police for that long.

The police would come, she acknowledged bleakly, by helicopter or by boat, it didn't matter which, and force them to stop. They'd arrest Theo and return her to her father. It seemed horribly, unbearably inevitable.

They rode in silence for awhile, and Ariana could not keep herself from scanning the skies and seas, looking for an ominous black speck that would turn into an enemy. The law.

All they saw were a few pleasure boats bobbing along the water, and then a rocky landscape bloomed on the horizon. Another island.

Ariana watched as Theo headed straight towards it. "Where are you going?"

"Naxos."

"Naxos?" Her voice rose in a shriek. It was the island nearest to her father's. "My father will have informed the police there first. They'll be waiting--"

"Probably," Theo agreed, and she clenched her hands into helpless fists.

"Are you amusing yourself at my expense?" she demanded, her voice hoarse now from shouting. "Is this all so very funny to you, Atrikes, when my life, my
soul
is at stake?"

Abruptly he cut the engine, turned to stare at her with dark, serious eyes. "It's not funny at all, Ariana. But you seemed panicked enough for both of us."

"Don't you realize--"

"Trust me, I realize just what your father is capable of," he cut her off, his voice thrumming with something that sounded almost like anger. "More perhaps even than you do. But as I have said before, you don't know what I'm capable of, and I assure you, this situation is under control."

Ariana thought of how quickly and brutally he'd dealt with Aries, and swallowed. "All right," she whispered and he smiled, reaching over to smooth a strand of windswept hair away from her face. Even that simple touch, brief as it was, dusted her with sparks.

"Thank you," he said quietly, "for trusting me."

And Ariana realized he was right. She
did
trust him. Whether or not her trust was misplaced, she did not yet know.

CHAPTER SIX

Theo started the boat once more, scanning the flat horizon for signs of another boat. He knew Ariana had been looking for a police helicopter or speedboat, nibbling her lip till it bled as she scanned the sea and sky. Theo had kept an eye out too, for he knew it wouldn't have taken Leotokos too long to find Aries crumpled on the dock, and he possessed the power to see a force quickly mobilized in search of his daughter.

He wouldn't find her.

Theo cut back on the engine as he navigated closer to Naxos, avoiding the bustling harbor to come around the other, more secluded side of the island. He heard Ariana draw a sharp breath as he cut the engine back even more and approached a tiny cove surrounded by jagged rocks.

"Where--"

She stopped as Theo carefully guided the boat through two wicked-looking boulders and then towards a hidden strip of sand. He turned to Ariana with a smile.

"Welcome to my home."

"Your
home?
"

"I have a villa on Naxos."

She stared at him for a long, silent moment, and then she reached out and slapped his face, the sharp crack of her palm echoing through the sheltered cove.

Theo stared at her in surprise and a little anger. "What the hell was that for?"

"You didn't think," she demanded, her voice shaking, "that you could tell me you had a home here? You had a
plan
? Did it amuse you to see me so terrified? Do you get off on women's fear, Atrikes?"

"No, of course not," he snapped. Remorse, an unfamiliar emotion, bit him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She sat back, her arms folded, eyes narrowed, her chest heaving, which he tried not to stare at. Even in the modest sundress she looked gorgeous, vibrant.
Sexy
. "Are you really going to try to tell me that it didn't even cross your mind to inform me you had a place here?"

He considered her question. Why hadn't he told her? He supposed he had, without even realizing it, wanted to surprise her. Impress her even, somehow, by his sophisticated daring-do. He felt like even more of a heel. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"Two apologies in the course of a minute. That must be record."

"It probably is."

Her lips twitched. "You have a handprint on your cheek."

He touched his still-stinging cheek. "It hurts like hell, too."

"Poor baby," she shot back, and shaking off his outstretched hand, she climbed out of the boat and leaped nimbly onto the sand.

Theo watched her for a moment, admiring her straight, lithe figure, the wind blowing the dress to highlight the lush curves of breast and hip. He admired her courage too, and her spunk. She'd actually slapped him! He'd never been slapped by a woman before. His anger melted into amusement and admiration, and after securing the boat he leapt onto the sand. "Let me show you the house," he said and led her towards the rocky path that led up through the hills to the villa perched above.

"What are you going to do with the boat?"

"Return it to your father. I'm not a thief."

She stopped mid-stride. "How? He'll arrest you--"

"He's not the police," Theo cut her off. He was starting to get annoyed by how much she doubted him. All right, perhaps he could have been a bit more forthcoming, but did she actually think he was an idiot? "I'll do it during the night."

"Don't you think he'll be on the--"

"Ariana, stop. I can't have you second-guessing my every move."

"Then maybe you should give me more information--"

"I just did, and you still doubt me."

She pressed her lips together, the wind blowing her hair into tangles around her face. "You don't know my father."

"And I already told you, I did."