"Did your father put you up to it, Cassia?" See his ticket out of debt? Or did you just do it for the hell of it, to see if you could turn my head yourself? I told you that day that I don't date seventeen-year-olds. His mouth twisted mockingly. "But if you’d come to me as you are now..."He flicked an openly appraising look up and down her body. It should have disgusted her. It should have made her angry. But it didn’t. It made her feel hot and bothered and confused and out of her depth.But he wasn’t finished. ‘To tell the truth, seven years on I’m not much interested in why…’ He shook his head. ‘You changed, Cassia. The girl I knew would never have tried to seduce me and get someone to photograph the evidence.’Her insides stung with acute hurt, and the humiliation rose up again so sharply that she felt sick. to think he would have thought that of her.Cassia bit her lip hard and could feel blood. As if his rejection hadn't been painful enough, he had to reiterate how unwelcome her
The day before the civil marriage was to take place at the office of the mairie on the Place du Panthéon, Cassia was meeting her uncle for lunch near his office on the Champs Elysées. The Arc de Triomphe was a mere shape in the distance as she steeled herself and went into the restaurant.He stood as she approached, and they kissed on both cheeks in a warm greeting. She hadn’t seen him since that night at the Ritz. They’d spoken on the phone when she delivered the news of the wedding, and now she couldn’t put off the inevitable any more. Finally, after she’d prevaricated for as long as possible, he got to the point. Taking her hand across the table, he said gently, "Cassia, darling, you know how important to me you are; you’re like another daughter."‘I know…’ She tried to keep the emotion out of her voice, aching to be able to confide in someone, anyone."Are you telling me the truth about Calix?" He shook his head. "I just find it a little hard to believe that you bumped into him th
He turned to face her, his face stamped with arrogance and a sensuality that even now called to her on some base, carnal level. She hated him. She knew she was telling herself that... and that it felt like she was trying to persuade herself.He reached out a finger and trailed it along her jaw. She clenched it, and he tapped where it bulged out against her smooth skin."Such dramatic language, Cassia." When you set me up all those years ago, when I was considered as close as family, it made me very wary. I’m just warning you about what will happen if you decide to leave your family to their fate. That’s all.’He was so far off the mark from how Cassia felt that her head swam. She would never, ever do something to hurt her family. It seemed as if everything—every conversation they'd ever had—had turned to poisoned ashes.and amounted to nothing. He’d decided to judge her solely based on what he’d perceived her to have done seven years ago.She straightened her shoulders and stuck her ch
Calix strode through the mass of photographers outside Cassia’s office. Unlike with other celebrities, whom they would crush around and intimidate into submission, a space was left around Calix. That elicited a certain amount of respect.As if they knew that with one swipe of his hand or one word, he could do some serious damage. He ignored the barrage of questions and got into the back of his car. The blacked-out windows concealed him from view immediately.He tersely instructed his driver to take the long way back to his office. He needed to think and collect himself. And this was as alien a concept to him as the thought of taking public transportation. But the fact of the matter was that his body still throbbed with a level of arousal he’d never experienced before.What the hell had just happened back there?He ran a hand through his hair and stared unseeingly out of the window. He hadn’t planned on kissing Cassia. But when she’d walked in, so prim and proper in her buttoned-up shir
‘For better or worse…’The words swam over Cassia’s head. She stood in the mairie’s office with Calix by her side. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, ever since she’d come in the door with Rastus and seen Calix standing there. in a steel-gray suit, looking so tall and dark and vibrantly handsome that she’d stumbled on her walk towards him.Members of both their families were seated behind them. The speed with which the last few weeks had flown, the reaction of her body just standing beside this man…was overwhelming. She struggled to fix her gaze on a point in the distance and only belatedly realised that Calix was turning her towards him, having been told he could kiss his wife.His wife…Cassia looked up into his face, helpless now. Bound to him in front of everyone, in front of society. Wordlessly, she tried to communicate with him. Willing the harsh, angular lines on his face to soften... just for a moment so she could reconnect with the person she'd once known. But they did
Calix couldn’t focus on the conversation around him. From all the darker ones, Cassia's shining head stood out like a glowing beacon.He watched her progress as she walked back into the room, the only member of the family who wasn’t entirely Greek on both sides. She’d tied her hair back in a loose, tumbled knot. With an orchid caught in the glossy strands and minimal make-up, Calix thought he’d never seen anyone lovelier.Her outfit was simple, emphasizing her natural elegance, and he had to admit that he hadn't been entirely fair in his criticism of her attire.A knee-length cream silk dress with a gossamer-light golden-colored shawl and high, strappy golden sandals that drew the eye to slim ankles and shapely calves And when she moved, like now to greet one of her family, the silk of the dress moved with her and tightened across her hips. Again, he was blown away by the beauty that had been lying in wait through her younger years. Yet hadn’t she always possessed it? Her eyes had alway
When she was finally able to articulate a word, she bit out, "Are you going to tell me where we’re going?"The thought of a honeymoon, just her and Calix together, was sending waves of panic through Cassia’s tense body.Calix looked at her. Her arms were folded across her chest. Everything about her screamed, Get out! And made him more determined than ever to slake his lust, experience the passion that ignited with just a touch of their mouths.He forced himself to relax, to try and dampen the spark that was ready to be fanned into a burning flame at the slightest provocation…or encouragement, which he figured was unlikely in the near future."Our bags are following, so we’re going straight to the airport."Was he being deliberately obtuse? Cassia emitted a frustrated sigh."And is this a magic mystery tour, or are you going to tell me where we’re going?"She was all too aware of the strained edge in her voice. Calix regarded her coolly from his seat. looking casual and relaxed and at
Cassia woke to a gentle touch and found the stewardess standing over her. Someone had put a blanket over her, too.‘Mrs Petrakis, we’re landing in a few minutes.’For a second she was about to assert that she wasn’t Mrs Petrakis until she remembered that she was. She scrambled up inelegantly, relieved to see that Calix was missing from his seat. She pushed her hands through her tumbled hair and secured it back again. The orchid came out in her hand and she looked at it. What had possessed her to put it in her hair earlier? She threw it down on the table beside her, disgusted with herself that she might have somehow unconsciously done it for him. She wanted to get out of the dress, which clung far too much, and get into jeans…or overalls, or something. Anything else.And who had put the blanket over her? The thought that it might have been him made her insides liquefy. She chided herself for being so silly. It was far more likely to have been the stewardess. She looked up and saw Calix