Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Cassius
Naomi’s back stiffened the second I stepped into the room. Somehow, it was as if this energy pulsed between us, and the other detected it the moment we were near.
The way her hands shook as she set her cup on the window ledge told me the anger I’d face sat in the range between volatile and volcanic. This also meant she hadn’t read the email sent out earlier by Henna’s assistant, an email I fucking wished hadn’t gone out until later today.
If Naomi had seen the details, she would have known I’d spend the next three years as her direct Lykaios partner for the build-out of Incognito Casino and Resort.
She kept her gaze poised on something outside the windows, and she almost looked as if she modeled for a business magazine.
Her long black hair sat in a sophisticated bun at the nape of her neck, and the tailored dark maroon dress hugged her perfect curves without giving me the urge to kill anyone who looked in her direction.
No, that was a lie. Until she was mine again, this need would drive me whether she wore conservative business attire or a bikini.
I slowly moved closer to her, letting her process her thoughts.
After a few seconds, she asked, “Which is it, Cassius Dimitri or Lykaios?”
“Both. Dimitri is my middle name.”
I’d used my mother’s maiden name for most of my life since that side of my family had accepted me from birth. They barely had money, but they treated me as one of their own. When I’d started making money in the underground poker world, I’d done my damnedest to ensure they were taken care of.
“Well, at least the accent is still real, even if the name isn’t.” The bitterness in her words had me grimacing.
“Psychi mou, I’m still the same person.”
I’d only ever used that endearment with her. I wasn’t even sure she knew what it meant—my soul.
That’s what she had become. Someone who’d started as a fun, let’s-enjoy-each-other-until-this-thing-burns-out to the woman who meant more to me than anything else.
She shook her head, keeping her gaze trained on the Strip. “No, you’re my boss. I work for your organization.”
“I’m not your boss.”
“One of them. You always were.” Her head dropped, and it took all my strength not to pull her into my arms. “Was it a game? Is that why you didn’t tell me?”
I told her the truth. “I knew you’d break it off if I told you.”
“We weren’t in a relationship, remember? There was nothing to break off.”
I heard the lie in her words, but they still felt like a punch to the gut.
“Are you saying you would have kept seeing me if you knew I was the financier of the Mykonos project and not the club manager you thought I was?”
“You’ll never know, will you? Did you have to pretend to work there?”
“I did work there. I own the bars and clubs. I fill in when we’re short-staffed.”
I was positive I’d added to my fuckup because her back grew even more ramrod straight.
“Did everyone know but me?”
“Only a handful of people know. Because of my history with the Lykaioses on the island, I don’t let people know I’m one of them. It’s easier to use my mother’s maiden name.”
“At least there is that.”
I moved in behind her and studied her face in the window’s reflection.
She was so beautiful with her dark eyes, black hair, and golden skin.
She had a way about her that caused people to stop and look.
When she wore makeup, it was as if I’d encountered a goddess meant to worship.
But she was no less alluring barefaced. That’s how I preferred her—natural, relaxed, like a siren who could seduce without trying.
“Stop staring at me,” she ordered, making me smile.
Her breathing had grown unsteady, and goosebumps prickled over her arms. My body reacted, my cock growing hard with an urge to fuck her against the window.
“The only way you would know I’m studying you is if you were looking right back at me.” I shifted closer, letting her feel the hard ridge of my erection. “I know how much you like me in streetwear. Why don’t you turn around and take a peek at my elevated wardrobe?”
We had a chemistry together I’d never experienced with anyone else, an almost explosive charge of energy.
“That’s a bad idea. At this moment, I have the urge to punch you, and that isn’t how I should start my first day on a new project.”
Angry as she was, lust covered her response.
I saw a lot of angry fucking in our future.
“You know damn well that’s not what would happen if you turned around.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Are you sure about that?” I groaned into her ear. “Don’t forget, I know how your body reacts to me.”
“I’m not fucking you ever again.”
I pressed my front into her back, letting her remember the heat of our bodies against each other.
“That’s too bad. Because I’m sure as hell fucking you.” My hands settled on her hips. “I’ve touched every part of you and plan to keep doing it.”
Her breathing grew even more unsteady, and I did not doubt if I slid my fingers between her legs, I’d find her soaked and ready for me.
As if reading my thoughts or on instinct, she braced her feet slightly apart and set her palms against the window.
Fuck me.
I moved closer, keeping my straining cock a hard presence between us.
Her eyes closed for the briefest second before she whispered, “We can’t. I work for you. I’m not complicating my life. I don’t do strings. I don’t do relationships.”
Yeah, those were the rules we’d set from the beginning. The agreement had me believing I’d found the perfect setup for my life. A friend I could fuck and enjoy my time with and not have to worry that they wanted more.
Then, I’d fucking fallen for her.
My grip tightened for a fraction of a second, then I slid a hand around her waist, up her stomach, between her perfect breasts, and to her neck, wrapping it in a possessive hold.
“Cassius,” she whimpered and ground her ass against my cock.
“Naomi, I plan to complicate your life on so many levels you won’t be able to see straight.
” I tilted her head back. “I’m going to bind you in so many strings, and you’ll never want to escape.
And that relationship you say you don’t do.
” My hold on her throat tightened, and I leaned in, grazing her ear with my teeth.
“What the fuck do you think we’ve been in for the last three years?
Do you honestly think it ends just because you learned my last name?
You’re mine, and you’re going to remain mine. ”
Immediately, I knew I’d touched a nerve, and in the next second, she elbowed me in the stomach, shoving me back.
“The hell I am.”
I winced and couldn’t help but smirk. That temper of hers turned me the fuck on.
“It’s the truth, psychi mou. Eventually, you’ll have to accept it.”
“I don’t even know you. You lied to me for three years. We fucked, we ate dinner together, and we fucked some more. That’s it.”
My humor evaporated as a pain speared my heart. “You honestly believe that?”
She remained quiet, staring at me with her dark gaze, so I continued.
“Or is it something you want to make fact? Did you want other men? Did you take other lovers? Did you think of anyone but me? Who did you call when you were lonely? Who did you call when you just needed to talk?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re in Las Vegas, and you’re Cass Lykaios. Cassius Dimitri doesn’t exist, as far as I’m concerned.”
“If that’s how you want to play it. We’ll play it your way.” I walked over to the door of the conference room.
She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not changing my mind.”
“We’ll see. Just remember, you aren’t completely innocent when it comes to our relationship.”
Fire lit her brown eyes. “What did I do?”
“Does your family know anything about me? Was I even something on their radar? In three years, didn’t you think what we had was important enough to tell them?”
“There are expectations of me,” she said defensively, dropping her gaze for a split second. “You have no idea how things work in my world.”
“I know exactly how things work. I’m Greek. My culture is as conservative as yours.”
“It doesn’t matter now. You weren’t who you said you were.”
“Face it, Naomi. We’re both liars. That makes us perfect for each other.”
She folded her arms across her body and scowled. “Think again.”
“We live on the same floor, and with a few clicks of a lock, our apartments connect. We both know you can’t resist me.”
“You’re risking a limp if you try something as stupid as that.”
I opened the door. “I moved to another country to capture the future mother of my children. A little bodily injury is the least of my concerns.”