Chapter Four #2
‘Well, you should seriously consider it. It’s stunning,’ she breathed. And, when his gaze pivoted to her, Vayle wasn’t even self-conscious about her blatant appreciation of the property. She shrugged and carried on. ‘But I don’t need to tell you that.’
‘No, you don’t. But I’m still interested in hearing your theories on how to best position this in a hospitality market,’ he said.
‘There’s no such thing as free advice, Mr Petralis,’ she half-joked.
She’d spent the night tossing and turning, swinging between guilt about wondering if Agnes was avoiding her because she bore some culpability, the way her son had accused, and reminding herself of the older woman’s unfailing kindness to her over the years.
Then, pushing away the unsettling sensation that thought brought, she’d attempted to plot how best to utilise the time she’d bought for herself.
Why, given a second opportunity, she hadn’t addressed that thinly veiled warning from Nelios about using her words against her.
Hell, it was almost as if she wanted him to push her, just to see how far she would let him go…
Which was absurd. Right?
His face remained stoical. ‘You’re still convinced you can change my mind about your hotel’s fate?’ His voice held a little more bite, altering the atmosphere from taut to downright edgy.
Vayle’s belly clenched but she fought to hang onto her composure. ‘Maybe this should be less of a professional discourse and more of a personal, human one?’
He approached her slowly. Vayle told herself she remained where she was, and didn’t obey her instinct to step back, because firstly it would show weakness—and she wasn’t afraid of him, despite the wild fluttering in her belly and at her throat—and secondly because Nelios would respect her more if she met him on equal footing.
And, yes, she needed him to respect her. She’d withstood too much from her father and come out on the other side to allow her opinions and needs to be cast aside.
‘Personal?’ he echoed, his eyes now set to narrow-eyed sizzling as they trailed her from head to toe and back again. ‘Is this where the “I’ll do anything” is finally unleashed?’ he enquired softly. Lethally.
‘What…unleashed…? What are you talking about?’
Head tilted, his focus never once waned or altered. After another tense moment his mouth twisted and he stepped back. Did she think he intended to ease up on his imposing demands? Not by a long shot. ‘You were saying about this place?’
She stared at him for a moment longer before forcing her brain to track with the abrupt change of subject and the peculiar, hollow sensation it’d left behind, almost as if a building anticipation had been dashed.
Because it occurred to her now that she’d never quite taken back that ill-advised statement.
Never stated categorically that she’d changed her mind and that, no, she wouldn’t actually offer to ‘do anything’.
So do it now. She inwardly shook her head. Doing it now would be ineffectual—bolting the door after the horse had fled. But when…if…it came back up, then she would make her feelings clear on the subject.
Realising he was still waiting for her response, she cleared her throat.
‘There’s a darling little village in France, barely two thousand acres, that people rent whole for various gatherings.
This could be an uber-exclusive version of that.
Throw in an excellent ground team, with prime activities and marketing to the super-elite where they’re guaranteed they’ll have the whole place to themselves, and not have to encounter another snooty billionaire, and you’ll have them falling over themselves to jump onto your waiting list. You could be booked out for years. ’
The edge had receded from his eyes by the time Vayle was finished, and he almost looked…impressed. Contemplative.
She couldn’t stop the little fizz of pride that welled up inside her. At the very least, she could take heart in having distracted him from ‘I’ll do anything’ that still dredged unfathomable feelings inside her.
‘Interesting,’ he muttered after a minute.
She raised her brows. ‘Just…interesting? I challenge you to top that.’
One corner of his sensual lips quirked. ‘I will not rise to the bait, alas. I pay eye-watering sums to far better marketing experts to provide me with innovative ideas.’
The fizz threatened to sputter out but she lifted her chin. ‘Go ahead, then. I’ll wait with bated breath to see what they come up with.’
For some reason that made his gaze drop to her mouth and made that same mouth tingle so wildly, her breath caught. And, between those two crazy reactions, they were frozen in a charged bubble of intense awareness when Andreas entered. They were still caught in it when he started to speak.
While her head buzzed with whatever the hell was happening to her, Nelios responded to his right-hand man without taking his eyes off her. It took a minute to realise that Andreas had left, and that Nelios was addressing her once again. ‘Sorry, what?’
‘I said this is also the venue for the pre-launch party for Nelios XV this evening. I’m hosting various ministers and industry people before the hotel officially opens next month. You will be added to the guest list.’
Surprise rifled through her. ‘You want me to attend your party?’
He shrugged. ‘Or you can stay in your bedroom and let the hours whittle away. Your choice.’
She shrugged. ‘But… I don’t have anything to wear.’ She cringed at the feeble response. ‘And I won’t know anyone there.’
His gaze trailed over her once more, this time leaving incendiary fireworks where it touched her skin. ‘That problem will be taken care of. And you’ll be there as my guest. That’s all that should matter.’
‘I…okay.’
Something glinted in his eyes before they were veiled and he turned away. ‘Find Andreas or Capaldi. They’ll let you know if you can make yourself useful or where you can remain out of the way if not.’
She went looking for Capaldi because he was the less threatening of the two.
So, of course, she immediately found Andreas surrounded by his staff as he fired off instructions.
He stopped speaking and fixed her with a censorious stare when she approached.
Firming her spine, she relayed Nelios’s message.
Flint-grey eyes stared her down for a full minute before he called over a minion and conducted a low conversation.
Then, relieving the woman of her tablet, he jerked his head for Vayle to follow to a dank office in the basement that looked like something out of the 1950s and held a desk, phone, a pad and pen.
He slapped down the tablet. ‘These are the list of vendors we need to triple-check the supply status for the party. Call, confirm and bring me a list when you’re done. And I wouldn’t think of sabotaging it, if I were you.’ With that statement coldly delivered, he started to walk away.
‘I have a fair idea why you think you hate me. But can I ask that you at least give me the benefit of the doubt? I’ll be out of your hair soon enough, but do you truly begrudge me fighting for my heritage and my family?’
He reversed direction and stopped six feet away.
His whole body vibrated with the strength of his feeling.
‘No child should be blamed for the circumstances of their birth. But the adults they grow up to be? Hell, yes, I’ll hold them to the highest moral standard.
You associating with Agnes Adamis even after learning what she and Apostolis did to Nelios is not painting yourself in glory.
Especially since you’re requesting the benefit of the doubt but are refusing to accommodate the possibility that the person with first-hand knowledge of what happened is giving you their first-hand experience. ’
We share a dislike for wilful blindness. Nelios’s words from last night made sense now.
‘Do your work, Miss Lancaster,’ he stated coldly, then left.
A little shakier than she wanted to admit, it took several minutes of wondering what the history between the two men was, and getting herself under control, before she was composed enough to pick up the phone.
And it took a further ten minutes to discover Andreas had given her ‘busy’ work, after several vendors expressed mild exasperation that they were being contacted for the umpteenth time.
She ploughed through the list regardless, sometimes relying on sketchy Spanish to get her through a conversation.
Three long hours later, she left the basement to deliver a list that Andreas promptly passed off to another minion before telling Vayle she was free to go.
Then she was shown into another overwhelmingly beautiful room overlooking acres of manicured garden. She stood at the window for a long minute before a ping from her phone had her dashing across the room.
It was another text from Agnes.
Happy to hear you’re safe. But I still worry. Do what you need to do, then come home, agapite. Whatever happens, we’ll survive. And while I know my Nelios will have his version of things, please, don’t judge me too harshly. For good or ill, I had my reasons.
Just as before, the message triggered mixed emotions. And, just as before, when Vayle called back it went straight to voicemail. She wanted to respect that some issues were too important to discuss over the phone, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Nelios’s bitterness might have fertile roots.
But until she knew the full truth…