CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER TWO
At first Flora thought she’d misunderstood him, because seriously, marriage? To her ? Was he insane?
Then, when the intense laser beam of his focus didn’t relent, the lines of his perfect face unyielding, she understood that, yes, he was serious. And, no, he likely wasn’t insane.
The idea was so preposterous, though, she almost laughed. So near to almost, in fact, she could feel her mouth begin to curl into a smile without her express permission. Which was not acceptable. She had to be on her guard with him.
She’d managed to get away with the photos only because he treated her as an extension of himself, and so didn’t pay much attention to her specifically. Which was exactly what she wanted.
What she did not want was him looking at her the way he was doing so now, as if he was a scientist and she an interesting specimen he was examining through a microscope.
He couldn’t be interested in her. He couldn’t be curious about her. Because, if he looked too closely, he might find out who she really was and she couldn’t allow that to happen. She had to be as unexceptional and boring as possible.
Forcing her shock aside, Flora tried to maintain her usual calm manner. ‘I don’t understand. How is marrying me a solution?’
Apollo came back to his desk and stood behind it, suddenly seeming much too tall and much too powerful for her comfort. She hated how sometimes her awareness would zero in on him, noting all the things about him that she liked. It was all physical—her body was inexplicably drawn to his in a way that she couldn’t seem to shake off.
Even now, at the point of achieving the first step in her revenge plans, she couldn’t help but notice the breadth of his wide shoulders and chest. The light coming in through the windows behind him and turning his black hair glossy, shadowing the hard planes and angles of his face. The deep jungle green of his eyes, glittering like dark emeralds.
He was the most physically perfect man she’d ever met, and if he was any other man she’d be dazzled. But he wasn’t any other man, he was the man who’d destroyed her family, and the only thing that should dazzle her was her own genius at managing to stay hidden from him all this time.
‘As I mentioned,’ he said, ‘denial will only make the situation worse, as will ignoring the issue. Admitting that we’re having an affair is our only option.’
Which was not what Flora had been expecting. At all. His anger was right on target, but she’d thought the damage control would be denial. He hated a lie, and she’d counted on his outrage at being accused of something he hadn’t done to dig in and, yes, that would make things worse. She wanted it to be worse.
The last thing she’d anticipated was him deciding to embrace the lie.
‘W-what?’ she said, unable to help the slight stutter.
His gaze pinned her to the spot, sharp needles of green glass holding her in place. ‘We admit that we’ve been seeing each other. We won’t call it an affair, though, as that implies something casual and sordid, so we’ll have to go with calling it a grand passion instead. One that we tried to resist and failed, and then I ended up asking you to marry me and, naturally, you said yes.’
Flora blinked as her brain tried to get a handle on what he was saying. Not an affair, but a grand passion that ended in a marriage proposal?
The calm, which came with feeling totally in control of the situation she’d engineered, began to dissipate, and that could not happen.
She was going to have to recalibrate her entire plan.
‘I see,’ she managed.
‘You have doubts?’ His deep voice carried the familiar tone of faint impatience, which he used whenever someone questioned him. ‘This will mitigate the damage of the photos, and perhaps even garner some public sympathy, especially if it looks like we’re desperately in love with each other. It will also allow Violet an opportunity to be magnanimous and noble in allowing us our happiness.’
He wasn’t wrong—even she could see that. It would allow everyone some dignity, a dignity that she’d been counting on him not having.
You should have expected him to come up with the perfect solution. He’s far too smart not to.
Yes, she should have, damn him. Her intentions had been to set him on the back foot, not herself.
Flora tried to moisten her suddenly dry mouth. ‘We’re not in love with each other, though,’ she said, the statement more to buy herself some time to think than any kind of protest.
His black brows twitched. ‘No, of course we aren’t. This isn’t about reality, Flora. It’s about optics.’ Alarmingly, he rounded the desk and headed straight for her, and it was all she could do not to take a step back. Getting close to him was always an issue since it was difficult to disguise her physical reaction to his nearness, just as it was difficult to think clearly. Yet she couldn’t give ground. He would note it and wonder why, and he was already asking too many questions as it was. Allowing him to ask more would be a mistake.
He was a man who took charge of any given situation, and if she wasn’t careful he was going to take charge of this too.
She couldn’t let that happen. She had to act before he did.
Flora held her ground as he came to a stop just in front of her, tilting her head back so she could meet his intent green gaze. ‘Of course, sir,’ she said with a calm she didn’t feel. ‘Optics are important.’
‘Indeed,’ he said. ‘In which case we will need to be seen in public together. You will also need a ring. The wedding will have to be a circus, there’s no escaping that, but if it’s big enough people will soon forget about those photos.’
He was far too close for comfort, his nearness making her thoughts feel like they were coated in warm honey, slow and thick. The warm, woody scent of his aftershave was the most delicious thing she’d ever smelled, and she had the almost overwhelming urge to lean in and inhale him.
‘We can stay married for six months,’ he went on. ‘Or perhaps a year. Then we’ll get a divorce once all the fuss has died down. No harm done.’
Get it together, fool! You can’t go sniffing him when he’s in the middle of ruining your revenge plans!
‘Well? Are you listening, Flora?’
Flora gritted her teeth and wrestled her recalcitrant awareness back into submission. What had he been talking about again? A ring. A wedding. They can stay married for six months, a year…divorce.
He is taking charge of this, and you’re letting him.
‘Yes, I heard you,’ she said, by now holding on to the calm by the skin of her teeth. ‘A ring and a wedding. Divorce. This will all be just for show, I hope?’
Apollo’s dark brows twitched again. ‘It will be a paper marriage, naturally, but from a legal standpoint it will be absolutely real. I abhor a lie, Flora, you know this.’
‘Yes, I do know that, actually.’ The words escaped without her conscious control, as did the edge of sarcasm.
His gaze narrowed. ‘You don’t seem to be treating this situation with the appropriate amount of concern.’
Damn him. And damn herself for letting him get under her skin so badly. This attraction to him was a problem, and she should have found a solution by now. She’d hoped that ignoring it would make it go away, yet it hadn’t. If anything, it seemed to have got worse.
It was stupid. She’d basically ignored men in her quest to get herself to where she was now, and that had been made easier since she’d never met a man she wanted. Now, though, it seemed some kind of karmic joke that the one man who’d ever affected her was the one man she hated, who she hoped to bring down.
Ugh.
‘I’m very concerned.’ She kept her tone cool. ‘But surely we don’t have to go through with an actual marriage. You can break up with me or something—’
‘No.’ The word was hard and flat, the weight of his authority turning it into an anvil dropped from a great height. ‘It will be a pretence both emotionally and physically, but legally it must be real. I will not have it discovered later that the whole thing is a lie.’
Great. There went the idea of her leaking a pretend marriage to the press.
‘No, of course not,’ she said soothingly.
He frowned down at her. ‘Don’t placate me, Flora, I won’t have it. Just as I won’t have the Constantinides name attached to some sordid headline or nonsense soap opera. These photos, wherever they came from, are likely a setup, and I will not be held to ransom by them.’
Of course he’d already thought this through. And once again, she should have anticipated that he’d move quickly and decisively. He’d never been a man to sit around wringing his hands when faced with a seemingly insoluble problem, after all. He made decisions and took action.
God, why couldn’t he have been more of a wet blanket?
‘I’m not placating you, sir,’ she said, adjusting her tone a touch. ‘I actually agree with you. Denial would look bad, and it would likely only encourage more gossip. Perhaps, though, an actual wedding would be overkill?’
Apollo’s gaze became intent in a way she wasn’t expecting. ‘Why? What does it matter to you whether the marriage is real or not?’
Her heart thudded, suddenly loud in her ears, and for no reason that she could see. He did this sometimes, turn his attention onto her like a predator spotting prey, and it always made her breath catch and her adrenaline spike.
She’d been so careful the whole year she’d been working for him, always appearing calm and cool and in control. Never questioning him. Never talking about herself. Never doing anything that would draw his attention. She’d been so pleased with herself at the way she’d managed to keep hold of all her secrets, that perhaps she’d become complacent.
‘It doesn’t matter to me,’ she said carefully. ‘But… Well. I might be seeing someone, or have a partner.’
He didn’t even blink. ‘And are you? Seeing someone, I mean.’
‘No, but…’
‘But what?’
‘What about the expense? A real wedding is a waste of money.’
‘I don’t care about the expense.’ He frowned down at her. ‘I’m trying to protect you as well, Flora. You do see that, don’t you? I’m your boss, don’t forget. Which makes the optics on this whole situation look even worse, especially since Helios is supposed to be a world leader when it comes to employee relations. Then there’s the Constantinides name to consider, and I will not put that reputation in jeopardy. Which means this has to be as real as it humanly can be.’ He folded his arms across his broad chest. ‘It will be better for both of us if it looks like a passionate public love affair and ends with a fairy-tale wedding. That will make the public forget there were even photos of us in the first place.’
Oh, he was clever. She really, really should have known he’d find some way to spin this, even that bit about protecting her. He was wasted as a CEO. He should have gone into politics instead, since he had the power to make even the devil himself look good.
Perhaps the photos were a stupid idea. You should have just gone with the insider trading stuff.
The photos, of course, weren’t the whole of her plan. She had a bullet-point list of all the things she was going to do to ensure his total and utter destruction, only one of which involved incriminating photos. Aiming at the monolith of his personal reputation was the first of her targets and the easiest one to undermine—at least that’s what she’d thought when she’d first taken the job as his PA.
She’d considered a seduction initially, but then had discarded the idea, since he seemed to be an entirely passionless man, and she certainly wasn’t experienced enough to generate any kind of response from him, despite the response he managed to generate in her. So, she’d gone with engineered photos instead.
You were far too satisfied, far too soon.
Yes, she had been. And now the damage control she had to undertake was for her own plans, which had suddenly become a whole lot more complicated.
It wasn’t insurmountable, however. She could still salvage things. She had to keep her cool, stay in control and not betray just how badly he’d rattled her.
‘Very well,’ she said with what she thought was admirable calm. ‘Shall I add all this to the draft press release or would you like to do it?’
* * *
Flora gazed back at him, one dark brow arched in polite enquiry, and he found it…irritating. Normally her calm and unflustered manner was the thing he appreciated most about her as a PA, but not today. Especially when he was seething inside that someone had dared think they could try to ruin him, because that’s clearly what was happening.
It wouldn’t work, though. He’d make sure of that. He’d turn around and marry the woman they’d used to try and ruin him, and he’d come out of the whole affair smelling like roses.
Violet wouldn’t mind. He’d entered into a marriage agreement with her initially for the cachet her name would bring to him and to Helios, and also to add a further layer of insulation for the precious crystal that was the Constantinides reputation. His father had shattered it into glittering shards, but Apollo would put it back together, piece by piece, if it was the last thing he did.
It wasn’t purely for his own sake. He had thousands of employees around the globe who would lose their jobs if Helios collapsed, as well as all the charities that benefited from his money. And last, but certainly not least, for the memory of his mother, Elena, who’d believed totally in Stavros, and who’d been left heartbroken after Stavros had gone to jail.
She’d died a few years ago of complications due to pneumonia, and the last words she’d ever spoken to him had been to request that he rebuild the family name. She’d left unsaid the role he’d played in his father’s downfall, yet he’d heard her loud and clear all the same.
This was all your fault…
She was wrong, of course. His father’s scheme had been doomed from the start, and someone would have turned him in eventually. That it had been his son was something neither of his parents had been able to get over, but that had been their problem, not his.
Yes, he’d told the police about his father. Yes, he’d turned Stavros in.
He’d gained immunity from prosecution in return, but that wasn’t why he’d done it. He’d done it because a man had died after hearing the scheme was illegal—a man Apollo himself had brought on board, and turning Stavros in had been the right thing to do. He hadn’t felt guilty about sending his father to jail, not then and not now, not one single shred. Not when his father hadn’t felt guilty about all the people he’d been duping, and all the lives he’d destroyed.
Stavros had sold it to Apollo as some kind of glorified Robin Hood scheme, that what they were doing was merely taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Apollo had loved his father, and working in the family company was all he’d ever wanted to do. However, that love had blinded him to the truth. It hadn’t been an enterprise to invest money in new tech that would allow impoverished communities to access clean water and cheap power. It had been a scheme that allowed Stavros to take all the investors’ money for himself to clear his own debt.
His father had told him, just before they’d locked him away, that all he’d wanted was to make sure the company survived for Apollo and Elena’s sake. He didn’t say anything about how his own financial mismanagement had run Helios into the ground and he had no one to blame for his jail sentence but himself.
Which was why Apollo had decided, early on, that the only way he could mitigate the damage his father had caused was to get Helios back on its feet again, and make it as profitable as he could, so he could then offer his father’s victims some decent compensation.
Luckily, he had a gift when it came to finance and investing, but, even so, it had taken a lot of hard work and determination to earn back the trust Helios had commanded before his father had ruined it, and then more work to get it making money again.
At that stage, though, he’d realised that nothing less than the total and complete rehabilitation of the Constantinides name would do. That not only was compensation for the victims not enough, but spearheading a movement to overhaul company business practices worldwide, especially when it came to protecting staff, was also necessary.
There were ways to be ethical and honest when it came to investing. There were ways to be transparent. There were ways to prioritise people’s wellbeing that didn’t impact the bottom line, and, in fact, you could have both.
He didn’t want anyone else falling for charlatans like his father either, so he’d dedicated one arm of Helios to investigating and exposing Ponzi schemes and other illegal, unethical business practices. He also gave away a significant portion of his wealth. He was what his father wasn’t, a true Robin Hood. Taking from the rich—himself—and giving it to those desperately in need.
He was also not a man who compromised, and he would not compromise on this. Just as he would not compromise on ways to scupper the plans of whoever it was who was trying to ruin him.
He had, however, expected more objections from Flora.
She’d seemed shocked at his initial suggestion—he’d definitely caught a flicker of it in her eyes, which was of note, since she was always unflappable. Then his curiosity had been further engaged when she’d protested the idea of them having a real marriage.
She’d never questioned one of his decisions, not once, and he’d accepted that, because he was of the view that a PA should make everything he did smoother and easier, not more difficult, with lots of questions. He had other people to do that kind of thing and she was not one of them.
He’d never wanted to know her as a person or have her tell him details about her life. He wasn’t interested.
Yet, now, he found himself intrigued by the fact that, out of all the decisions he’d made since she started working for him, she’d been so unusually vocal about this one. He wanted it to be a legal marriage, yes, but only on paper, nothing more, so what was really the issue here?
Did she think he meant it? Did she think that he really felt something for her? Or was it something else?
He took a moment to study her.
She wasn’t beautiful, not typically so, though her face was possessed of a certain…interest. And her PA uniform did accentuate a lush, womanly figure, which wasn’t perhaps fashionable, but now that he was looking it was…well, again, interesting.
But he shouldn’t be looking, not when he was her boss. He liked to lead by example, and whoever had set him up had known that, since they were hitting him where it would do the most damage.
Colour had risen to her cheeks, which was odd. He’d looked at her a thousand times like this and she’d never blushed before, or at least not that he’d noticed. Had it been the mention of a grand passion between them? Had it embarrassed her? Or was she merely uncomfortable being studied?
Why are you even being curious about her? She’s just your PA.
This was true, he’d never been curious about her before. He needed to stop.
‘You can add it to the draft,’ he said after a moment. ‘But first, we’ll need to agree on what story we give to the press about our love affair.’
She nodded calmly. ‘As you said before, we met at work, obviously. And after a few months of working together—perhaps after a few late-night strategy sessions?—we gradually realised our love for one another.’
The whole sentence was delivered in the same dispassionate tone with which she delivered everything she said. Which would not do, not if they were going to act as if they were the love of each other’s lives.
He gave her a severe look. ‘We’re supposed to be talking about irresistible passion, Flora, not giving a PowerPoint presentation.’
Again, there was that flicker in her eyes, and the dark brow she had arched, arched further. ‘Oh? I didn’t realise we had to fully enact our irresistible passion right now.’
Apollo narrowed his gaze at the faint hint of sarcasm in her voice.
He was adept at reading people—it was what his father had taken advantage of, back when Apollo had been younger and still thinking that his father’s idea for an investment scheme was a marvellous opportunity. He’d been the public face of the scheme, had read the files of all the potential investors his father had sent his way, noting any frailties or vulnerabilities. He’d enjoyed showing off his gift to Stavros as much as Stavros had enjoyed using it.
Even these days, even though he knew where it had the potential to lead, he’d found himself using it to his own advantage in the boardroom. Though—and he had to remember this—it was all in service to furthering good in the world rather than duping people. He wasn’t like his father. He wasn’t.
‘This is not a game,’ he said repressively. ‘This is about Helios’s reputation, and the thousands of people we employ. I am this company, and if I fall, so does everyone else.’
If she was chastened by this, she gave no sign, except for a minute tightening of her full lips. ‘Very well. How else would you like me to talk about it then?’
He ignored the question for a moment, caught by that almost imperceptible sign of annoyance. Was she angry with him? Or was it the photos? She hadn’t seemed upset by them, and yet surely she had to be.
‘You don’t seem put out by these photos.’ He met her steady stare, noting another flicker deep in the charcoal depths of her eyes. What was it? Another emotional response? And if so, why was she hiding it?
Her lashes fell, veiling her gaze. They were thick, those lashes, and a deep, sooty black. He couldn’t recall noticing them before, and wasn’t sure why he was noticing them now.
‘I’m startled by them,’ she said evenly. ‘But they’re in the public domain now. There’s nothing I can do about it.’
‘And you really don’t know who sent them to you?’ he asked, noting yet another tightening of her lips. ‘Or do you have any idea who might have?’
Her gaze remained veiled, which he found frustrating. He didn’t like not being able to read people. It made him feel as if something was being hidden from him, and he didn’t like that either. He wasn’t the gullible fool he’d been back at twenty, when he’d thought everything his father said was the God’s honest truth. These days he questioned everything.
Reaching out, he put a finger beneath Flora’s determined chin and tilted her head back. ‘You know something about them, don’t you?’ His fingers closed on her warm skin. ‘Tell me, Flora.’