She stared, unblinking. Her nostrils flared. "You're..." disgusting.It was addictive to play her own game with her, so compelling to watch the different expressions pass through her eyes. At that moment, there were no lies she could tell him. At that moment, the connection between them was as explosive and destructive as the wildfire that had wrecked through the surrounding acreage a few years ago.A fire that was going to need feeding soon if he didn’t want it to consume him, as it had already begun to...if he didn’t want to lose all sense of right and wrong.And what was wrong with wanting his own wife in his bed? Maybe if he gave in to the fire, he could function normally again."You wanted to know," he goaded her."No, I didn’t. I was just trying to make a point. ""You sounded like a nagging, jealous wife. Just what I wanted my marriage to be. "All color fled from her face, leaving her gaze stricken. Tears pooled in her eyes. And the sight of those big brown eyes brimming with
Kassandra would have had her meeting with the retail buyer this afternoon.The small nugget jolted through Darian’s subconscious like he had set up a reminder chip in his brain to go off every hour. All through his day, through numerous meetings, he found himself thinking of her, of how nervous she had been last night, of how he had seen her work long hours, only remembering to eat because Rosa threatened her.In the last two weeks, he had found that he couldn’t fault her dedication or hard work. And the night before last, learning that she had once again skipped her dinner, he had gone into her workroom.He had found himself on her doorstep, stunned into silence as Kassandra commanded Anna to turn around slowly. Anna was almost as tall as him, so he was the perfect model to showcase a knee-length sheath dress in red silk.Simple yet chic, it touched Anna with a sophistication she hadn’t possessed before.Suddenly, he was extremely glad that Romanos had pushed him and Kal to start the
Kassandra smoothed down the fabric of the beige, supremely boring satin silk she was wearing and suppressed another sigh. The dress, picked by the stylist and coming with a hefty designer tag, wasn’t ugly per se.But the classic-fitting bodice and the flaring skirt were not all her style. With her hair pulled back from her face and the cashmere wrap, she felt thoroughly unlike herself. The heavy diamond choker lay against her throat like a dead, cold weight that could siphon off every bit of warmth from her skin.Blinking, she looked at Darian, sitting on the other side of the wide cabin, his arrogant head bent over his laptop.She unbuckled the seatbelt and paced the length of the long cabin, all the way to the rear and back.Her back ached from all the work she had done in the past few weeks, once she had received the delivery of all the raw materials she had ordered.In the evenings, she had had meetings every day of the week, some arranged by her, some by the man who, it seemed, w
She fought the urge to burrow into herself like a turtle, and said, "I look like your version of me.""My version of..." He looked stunned. "Explain.""In this dress and jewelry, I am Kassandra Timandros, the demure and dutiful wife of respected billionaire Darian Timandros. There’s nothing of me in this. It is all you."He froze and it seemed air and sound, the very matter around them froze along with him. "I do not understand.""That stylist you hired, she—" she forced a breath, "—this is what she gave me."Frowning, he ran his gaze over the straps and over the tight ruffles of the bodice.Her skin warmed up as if she was a flower and he was the very sun she craved. Kassandra tightened her fists to stop from covering herself.He cleared his throat, his nostrils flaring. "I agree that it is not your usual...style."She nodded, wondering why she couldn’t have just shut her mouth. Why some stupid, irrational, brazen part of her always insisted on putting herself in his line of fire. Wh
"I don’t believe you."Trembling with panic, Kassandra locked her hands by her sides, the urge to pound at him rising again.I’m not lying about this. Kal, and you are welcome to it. Now, if you could please tell your pilot to turn around and head back to your estate—"He didn’t even blink. "I won’t. "Maybe I forgot to mention it, but this is one of the conditions you have to meet for your freedom, Kassandra."Her throat felt like it was made of glass. "You can’t do this."Rising from his seat, Darian planted himself in her way. He frowned, taking in the trembling of her shoulders and the real flare of panic in her eyes. "Kassandra, what’s going on?"Her chin tilted up, her gaze slowly focusing on him again. Her jaw gritting, she squared her shoulders. "I don’t want anything to do with Romanos or his legacy. He...rejected my mom without looking back just because she fell in love with my dad. He didn’t even come when she died; he never accepted my dad."He was heartbroken that he had d
Crippled by Rhode’s loss, stunned by Darian’s decision, she had refused to even look at Romanos. If she didn’t love him, if she didn’t hug him as her arms sometimes ached to, if she didn’t pin all her love on her kind grandfather, who told her thrilling tales about a mother she had never known, she wouldn’t have to live through another loss.If she didn’t love him, there would be no pain when he was gone. Even when Romanos had recovered from his heart attack, she had refused to see him.Darian was right. She had truly become selfish. A coward who cared about nothing but protecting herself from pain.Something broke her reverie and she turned around.She stood slightly behind him. For support, she knew, her grandfather stood under the archway, his brown eyes hungrily studying her. "Come close so I can see you." His voice, soft and coarse, reverberated in the stillness. She took a few steps back, tugging as though by invisible cords. Her heart thudded in her chest."You look so much mor
She looked down into her drink, and he had a feeling she wanted to hide from him. That she didn’t want him to see her like this at all."I’m telling you to leave me alone, Darian." She confirmed his suspicions. "I’m telling you that I feel as reckless and deranged as you have always called me. I’m telling you to not dissect my actions today and pronounce judgment. "Even as her tone rose, she still didn’t meet his eyes.Had he made it so hard for her to show him anything but that selfish facade? Was he truly such an unfeeling monster then?Had he always been like that?He had worked so hard at his grandfather’s small farm, trying to pitch in for his father’s negligence, afraid that they would throw Rhode and him out on the streets.He remembered a strange calm the night his grandmother had said his mother wasn’t coming back; he remembered not shedding even a tear when he had found out that his father was dead. All he had thought of even that day was how he would shield Rhode from it.
She couldn’t let him touch her, she couldn’t let him kiss her.If she let him touch her tonight, if she let him hold her tonight, something inside her would break. She would pour out the whole wretched truth; she would blurt out how lonely she had been.If she let him see the real her, she would have no shield, no armor against him. And even in the fragility of her emotions, Kassandra knew she couldn’t let Darian go."Why are you acting like this?"Her arms ached with the effort it took to hold herself so stiffly in the circle of his body; every inch of her hurt to stay unaffected in the warmth of his rough embrace."Like a man acts with his wife?"She fought back stupidly hot tears, knowing that she didn’t have a chance against that claim.When she pushed against his wrists again, he grabbed her hands this time. He laced her fingers through his and pulled her forward. Her hip touched his rock-hard thigh, and she bit down on her lip.Giving up her struggle, she leaned her forehead aga