Chapter 1
1
S even years later….
Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Aurelia forced herself to appear calm as she maneuvered her way through the crowded grand ballroom. Tonight was the 5th annual Giannopoulos fundraiser dinner, benefiting a long list of charities. If you wanted a seat at the dinner, the fee was $5,000 a plate. The ballroom was full of patrons, but not because they were particularly charitable. No. The real prize they’d come for was the opportunity to get five minutes in front of Michalis Giannopoulos.
Her skin prickled. She’d had her five minutes with Michalis nearly seven years ago and was still paying for it. All the rumors were true. He wasn’t just a ruthless businessman with a billion dollar investment portfolio. No. He was head of the Giannopoulos crime family. She ought to know; she was technically his wife, even if it was only on paper. She didn’t even have a ring.
The sound of laughter and clinking glasses pulled Aurelia’s attention toward a group of women chatting near the champagne fountain. They were beautiful, sophisticated, and their gowns probably cost more than Aurelia made in a year. Her own dress, a black strapless sheath, hugged her curves. She’d bought it at the thrift store. Since she couldn’t afford the expense of getting her hair professionally styled, she’d saved herself the headache and left it down, the thick waves brushing her lower back.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been to one of these posh events. She’d loved them once, a lifetime ago, before her mother married the head of the Giannopoulos family––before she knew who and what they were––cold blooded killers. Greek mafia.
She paused, took a sip of champagne for liquid courage, and resumed her search. Breathe. Breathe. Her grip on her sequined black clutch tightened in frustration as the minutes ticked by. She’d expected Michalis to be there. Where was he?
From over her shoulder, a man’s deeply accented baritone breathed fire along nerves already strung too tight. “Welcome home, agápe mou .”
Aurelia whipped around so fast, champagne sloshed over the side of her glass. Michalis was so close, the tips of her breasts grazed against his chest as she turned, flustering her even more than she already was.
“Don’t call me that. I’m not your love or your darling.” She took a step back, unable to stop herself from drinking in the sight of him; in that tuxedo he could put all the male models she’d seen on trendy men’s fashion magazines to shame. He was tall and lean, with dark hair, a slight olive cast to his complexion, and electric blue eyes that could freeze a grown man in his tracks as easily as they drew women to his bed. The past seven years had, if anything, made him dangerously more attractive.
He took the champagne flute from her numb fingers and stepped even closer, eliminating the distance between them; close enough for her to be enveloped by his presence, teased by the faint scent of his cologne. Musky sandalwood, with hints of amber and vanilla. And him. . It isn’t enough he has to look like a Greek god, he as to smell like one, too?
Tilting his head down, he spoke softly in her ear, “Perhaps not , but you are mine, are you not?”
Stepping back and slightly to the side to give herself a little breathing room, she fumbled at the latch on her clutch. This was it. The reason she’d come all this way. With trembling fingers, she took out the papers she’d folded and refolded a hundred times. Forcing herself to look him in the eye, she pushed the papers at him. “No. I’ve filed for an annulment. It’s been almost seven years. We... We never..you have to let me go.”
“This is not the place to discuss it.” Michalis shoved the papers into the inner pocket of his jacket then grabbed her wrist and began walking toward the exit, his eyes narrowed to angry blue slits. She was average in height, but next to his six-foot-three frame, she was hard pressed to keep up as he practically dragged her to the exit, not to mention the six inch heels she was wearing. They could probably make a toad look sexy, but they were hard as hell to run in.
“Slow down!” she gasped.
Barely slowing, he growled, “How did you get through security?”
“Uh, the same way everyone else did,” she retorted sarcastically. “With a ticket.”
Michalis stopped abruptly.
Aurelia, not expecting the sudden move, barreled straight into him. It was like slamming into a brick wall. Knocked off balance, she scrambled for purchase, reflexively reaching out for something to keep her from falling. That something turned out to be him.
His arms whipped out, catching her before she could fall. Not one to miss an opportunity, he pulled her close again; his lips, feather light, grazed the nape of her neck.
She closed her eyes for a long second, her body tingling at the small contact. She should be pushing him away, not melting into him. Internal lecture over, she stiffened against him. He was the enemy, not a long lost lover.
Without releasing her, he bent his head closer to murmur intimately in her ear, “You do not have a ticket. I would have noticed if my missing wife suddenly appeared on my guest list. Try again.”
Asshole. Did he think she was lying? “Perhaps you should invest in some reading glasses. I hear sight is the first thing to go.”
He chuckled. “My little kitten has grown claws.”
She smirked. He’d laughed, but he wasn’t amused. He was angry. Had she not been watching so closely, not seen the slight flare of his nostrils, she would’ve missed it.
“I hardly think thirty-three qualifies as old.” His grip tightened imperceptibly, his heat soaking through her dress. She shivered with awareness––an awareness she’d never had before. Something unfamiliar unfurled inside her. What the hell was the matter with her? She should not be attracted to this man, not when she was about to end their non-existent marriage!
His icy blue gaze locked with hers as they stood there, seven years of questions and recriminations silently passing between them.
Without a word, he turned on his heel and ushered her toward a side exit, his hand gripping her elbow almost painfully.
The closer they got to the exit, the more bodyguards appeared, until they were surrounded by no fewer than ten discretely armed men, all dangerous and loyal to the Giannopoulos family. Together, they moved as a tight-knit, coordinated unit out of the building.
As if on cue, a black stretch limo, waiting under the porte-cochère, pulled forward, stopping directly in front of them. One of the guards opened the back door. Michalis used his superior size and weight to force her into the car. Before closing the door, he leaned into the interior and growled, “My driver will take you home. Do not try to run before I get there, wife. ”
Aurelia’s hands clenched nervously at her side. “Thank you. I live too far away to go home, but I would appreciate a ride to my hotel. There’s no need for you to stop by––I’ll be leaving in the morning. You have officially been served the annulment papers. If you have questions, please call my attorney. You have the option of signing now, or we can go to court; the date and time are listed in the paperwork, along with my attorney’s contact information. Goodbye, Michalis.”
Smiling coldly, Michalis put his hands on the roof of the limo and leaned farther inside. “Do not defy me, Aurelia. Do. Not. Run.”
Aurelia turned her face away, refusing to acknowledge the order, or the frisson of fear that skittered down her spine. She’d accomplished what she was legally required to do––serve him the papers that would set her free.
“I mean it, Aurelia. If you run again, this time I will catch you.”
“I am not running. I’m serious about this, Michalis,” she said, voice trembling with anger. “We are dissolving this farce of a marriage. I want a normal life with a normal man who loves me.”
A mask, devoid of emotion, dropped over Michalis’s face. “Are you seeing someone? You came out of hiding for him? That’s why you came back? You want to marry someone else? Start a family?”
“Yes,” she hissed defiantly, finally turning to face him. “I’m not a child anymore––and before you bring up whatever threats you think are out there—don’t. I’ve been just fine on my own since I left Switzerland,” she lied. He didn’t need to know the truth, didn’t need to know how much she’d struggled, or about the nightmares that still plagued her. She was there to get away from him, not get his help. Period. She could handle her own problems just like she always had.
“You have no idea what’s out there,” he muttered. His hands curled, as though reining in the urge to shake her. “Maybe you’ve been lucky so far, but trust me, you’re not safe on your own. You’re surrounded by enemies.”
Aurelia shook her head, exasperated. “They’re Giannopoulos enemies, not mine. Once I’m no longer connected to you, they’ll have no reason to come after me. And, as we’ve just established, I’m not on my own. In fact, David will be flying in soon. He’ll be waiting for me when I get back to the hotel.”
Michalis’s lip curled in a snarl. “You’re still my wife. Has he been in your bed?”
Realizing she’d gone a step too far, she tried to backtrack. She wanted his cooperation, not his anger. “He is aware of my…situation.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” he growled. “Has he touched you?”
She took a deep breath, her heart about to explode, it was beating so fast. “That’s none of your business. Not anymore. It’s time to let me go.”
Instead of closing her door, as Aurelia expected, with a string of Greek expletives, Michalis climbed in, forcing her to scoot over.
As he pulled the door closed behind him, shutting them in together, the air escaped her lungs in a loud ‘ whoosh ’. Every cell in her body was electrified. She started shaking like a leaf, as if she was facing down a dangerous predator. Fool. That’s exactly what he is, and now he’s got your scent.
She took a shaky breath and tried to relax as the limo pulled away. There was nothing Michalis could do.
She would be free.
It was just a matter of time.