Spellbound in His Arms (3 page)

Elizabeth
hated him with all her
heart for being so cruel to her adorable son just because he happened to be special
in his own way. But he was cruel to everybody. He treated his son Eric like
trash and he ruined the life of his wife Anastasia with his infidelities and
his violent temper. Not being able to handle the physical and psychological
abuse of her husband, as well as the shame and misery of her life, Anastasia
had committed suicide at the age of thirty-five, when Eric was only ten years
old.

This was going to be another long night
Elizabeth
realized and let out a deep breath, feeling desperate and helpless. Deep in her
heart, she was sure about what she
should
do, but she was absolutely
terrified, even by the thought.

She stood up and gathered the papers from the top of her
desk and placed them in a folder. Then she took the folder to the back of the
room where a state-of-the-art, in-wall safe was hidden behind a mahogany
bookcase. Among the extensive collection of books, Elizabeth picked the correct
one and tugged on its cover. Taking a step back, she watched the bookcase turn
sideways, revealing the safe. The key to the safe hung from a gold chain on her
neck along with a gold heart—a gift from Manos. She entered the combination on
the touch screen monitor, which ironically was the date she met Manos for the
first time—just another one of his ways to torture her. She placed the small
key hanging from her chain in the lock and turned it. The door of the safe
opened smoothly, revealing stacks of money and piles of folders. She placed the
folder she was holding on top of the others and stood back for a moment looking
at the contents of the safe. She knew there was sufficient evidence in there to
send Manos to prison for a life-time.

If only….

She turned to look at the phone.
No, she couldn’t do
it.

At least, not yet.

Philip Manos watched
Elizabeth
through the
hidden camera. He suspected she wanted to turn him in.
But he knew she didn’t have the courage to go through with this.

A very peculiar and secretive man like him, one with so
many enemies, had to be very careful. And so he had installed secret cameras
throughout the building in order to monitor everything going on. Of course, he
was the only one who knew about this. He didn’t trust anybody—not even his son,
Eric.

He also had another secret safe in his office. Actually,
it was a secret room with a solid steel door, which could only be opened by a
combination and his fingerprint recognition. The steel door hid behind an
enormous aquarium, with thick glass on all sides, except the back one, which
was a mirror. Pushing a button hidden beneath the bottom left drawer of his
mahogany desk, the heavy aquarium rotated on its steel axis, revealing the door
to the safe.

In there, along with the cash and the bonds he had for
emergency purposes, he kept the monitors connected to the hidden cameras, as
well as the surveillance tapes from everything important going on in his company.
He also taped the dealings taking place in his office, so he would be able to
blackmail anybody he needed to at any given time.

His little black diary was also kept in there. Everybody
he’d ever known or had dealings with was logged in that little diary, along
with embarrassing or incriminating details of their personal lives. That little
diary was a powerful weapon, which could destroy the lives of very important
men—businessmen, politicians, country officials and an endless number of
gentlemen
of the underworld.

Manos was an artist in manipulating people’s lives and
turning everything to his advantage. He had no conscience and no remorse. He
cared about no one, but himself—a ruthless, cold-hearted bastard, as most of
his employees and
associates
would
call him…and he had all of
them on tape.

***

Michael watched the nurse leave Jackie’s room and close
the door softly behind her. As she turned to leave, she almost ran right into
Michael, who was leaning against the wall.

“Did she wake up?” he asked.

“Just for a brief moment, sir.” The nurse gave him a
polite smile. “I spoke to her, but I’m not sure she understood me. Does she
speak Greek?”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, looking towards Jackie’s
room.

“You should see a doctor,” the nurse urged him, looking
at the scratches on Michael’s face and arms and his bloodstained clothes.

“I’m fine.” Michael moved on, not giving the nurse a
chance to say another word.

Jackie had him very puzzled. He wanted to find out who
she really was and what she was doing on the island. She’d probably told him
the truth about being a relative of the owner. At least that much would be easy
to verify. On the other hand, he was sure she was hiding something. Otherwise,
why would she break into the mansion in the middle of the night?

And what about the other guy?
He was determined to find out who he was and what he was looking
for.

A million thoughts whirled around in his mind, driving
him crazy. So many questions and no answers whatsoever so far.

He had called his partner, Tony Mavrikis, earlier to
have him run a check on Jackie. He wanted to find out everything he could about
her and how she was related to Constantinos Demiris.

How come I’ve never heard of her before?
I should’ve known about her, if she is a relative of the Demiris
family.
He was surprised by the disappointment he felt at this last
thought.

This entire case unnerved him. He needed to get some
answers and he needed to get them fast.

Buried feelings of anger and vengeance washed over him
as he thought back to the time he discovered who his real father was and what
he had done to his mother.

And now, years later, ghosts of the past were tearing
this family apart for one more time.

He needed to find out who was behind all these
deaths—even though deep down inside he was sure it was his real father—and a good
place to start were the documents hidden in the mansion’s safe. And this was precisely
what he was doing, when Jackie showed up.

And where does Jackie fit into all these?
No matter how stunning she was, he wasn’t going to let her get away
with anything. There was a reason why she’d broken into the mansion in the
middle of the night and he intended to find out exactly what that reason was.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. This
was a dangerous situation he was dealing with where peoples’ lives were at
stake. He couldn’t overlook the fact that she was an intruder, no matter how
vulnerable and adorable she looked. Thinking of her intriguing eyes staring
into his, he was left speechless by the feeling of pure desire which shot right
through his body like a hot wave. The mere thought of her flawless face and
tempting body left him craving to be close to her, holding her…caressing her….

“You need some help, detective?” The nurse seemed to be
worried about him. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

“I’m fine,” he repeated, more abruptly than he intended
and waved his arm in a dismissing motion. She’d interrupted his train of
thought. Who was he kidding? He was upset, because she interrupted his
fantasizing about holding Jackie in his arms.

He stepped right outside Jackie’s door and stood there
for a moment, hesitating, battling between his eagerness to get some answers
and his worry about her condition.

He was sure now that Jackie had told him the truth about
entering the mansion through the front door. After all, he had done the exact
same thing. Of course, he had keys to the mansion, but he didn’t have to use
them since the front door had been unlocked, probably by the mysterious
intruder who had broken the window. However, he was still wondering what Jackie
was doing out there.

There were so many missing pieces to this puzzle, and
that drove him crazy. Not to mention that he was terrified of what could have
happened to Jackie if he hadn’t been there. What if he hadn’t been in the
mansion and the intruder had gotten hold of Jackie? What would have happened to
her in the middle of the night far away from any living soul? He broke out in a
cold sweat at the thought.
And then, what if he hadn’t been there
at
the edge of the cliff to pull her out of the car?
That
possibility he
didn’t even want to think about.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and watched the
nurse enter Jackie’s room again. He needed to concentrate on the case. He
couldn’t, however, get Jackie out of his mind. The thought of her haunted him,
overwriting any attempt for rational thinking and making him want nothing else
than to sweep her into his arms and keep her there forever.

I need to get hold of myself!

There were so many unanswered questions and so many
things he still didn’t know about this case. But he intended to find out. He
hadn’t come all the way from Athens to go back empty handed.

Constantinos Demiris and Dimitris Apostolou—the man who
raised Michael and loved him like a real father—drowned trapped inside Constantinos’
sailboat during a bad storm. But, witnesses from another ship close by talked
about an explosion right before the storm got real bad.

Michael was now sure their deaths were no accident, and
he was determined to find out what had really happened to them. He owed them
that much.

***

Jackie woke up and looked around surprised and
disoriented. A voice echoed through her mind, calling her name. Tortured by a
pounding headache, she reached up and touched bandages wrapped around her head.

What in God’s name has happened to me? Where am I?

She felt someone touch her hand and turned startled
towards a nurse in a starched white uniform bending over her.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” Jackie whispered.

“You’re at the General Hospital of Corfu” the nurse
replied softly in English.

Jackie looked around, recognizing the sterile
environment of a hospital room. “Why? What happened?” she inquired worriedly, trying
to clear her thoughts.

“You were in a car accident,” the nurse replied. “But
don’t worry” she went on, seeing the shocked expression on Jackie’s face.
“You’re going to be just fine.”

“What’s wrong with me? How long have I been here?”

“Please don’t get upset,” the nurse urged her. “You’re a
very lucky young lady and there’s nothing wrong with you except a cut on your
head. How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts,” Jackie admitted. “And my entire body
feels very stiff.”

“It’s absolutely normal. You’ll feel a lot better soon.”

“But how long have I been here?” Jackie insisted
uneasily.

“Not long. Just overnight. Don’t you remember anything?”

“No,” Jackie replied, even though scattered memories
started coming back to her. Flashbacks from the mansion…the moments of horror
that she experienced in there, trapped in the dark, until she stared into those
amazing blue eyes….

“Hi there. How are you feeling?” The voice deep and
sensuous brought her back to reality.

Turning slowly, she saw
him
standing at the door.
She drew a sharp intake of breath and her eyes widen. His face and arms were
badly scratched and his clothes blood-stained and in terrible condition. “What
happened to you? Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he replied, giving her a reassuring smile.
He moved closer to her bed, as the nurse quietly left the room, closing the
door behind her.

Jackie gazed into his eyes and felt lost, as time seemed
to stop. He reached over and touched her hand, and she felt her skin burning
from his touch. He was so big and masculine…and so close.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out
slowly, trying to calm her senses. She couldn’t believe his mere presence was
enough to throw her off balance.

“What’s wrong?” he asked concerned. “Are you in pain?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m fine.” Even though, deep down
inside, she wasn’t sure about that at all.

What is the matter with me? How can I let myself get
carried away like this?
She had come here for one
reason and one reason only and she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted by
him. She wasn’t about to jeopardize her assignment. He wasn’t to be trusted.
Nobody
was
. Not after everything that had happened during these past few months.

Thinking back, she stiffened. She remembered Stephanos’
face devastated from the pain and sorrow, and Maria…beautiful, twenty-seven
year old Maria lying in a coffin.

She felt Michael squeezing her hand and realized he was
watching her.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured her, probably
misinterpreting her reaction as worrying about her health. “There’s nothing
wrong with you, except that you hit your head on the steering wheel when the
car went off the cliff…but you’ll be fine soon,” Michael said.

“The cliff?” Jackie repeated, taking in a deep breath.
Now, things started to come back to her about the accident. She struggled to
lift her head and a sharp pain shot right through every muscle in her body. “Oh
my God, my head hurts so badly!” She groaned and stopped moving.

“Take it easy,” he urged her. “You need to stay put and
let the doctors take care of you.”

“Is it that bad?” she asked, searching his face. He
looked tired and very worried. His hair was messed up and he needed a shave.

“You did lose a lot of blood,” he admitted and
encouragingly squeezed her hand.

“What about you?” she inquired. “Don’t you need to see a
doctor? You don’t look so good.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” he insisted. “It looks a lot
worse than it actually is” he reassured her, looking down at his ripped and
bloodstained clothes.

“But all that blood…” she went on.

“Well, actually…it’s not mine,” he admitted.

Jackie realized it was
her
blood all over his
clothes and felt a shockwave running up her spine.
I must be in a lot worse
shape than he’s willing to admit.
The thought got her really worried.

What now? How long would she have to stay in the
hospital? And in the meantime, what would happen to Aphrodite?

“When am I going to be able to leave this place?” she
asked him, feeling restless.

“The doctors want to keep you for one more day.”

“But I feel fine,” she lied.

“Well, you know how doctors are. Even though the tests
didn’t show anything to worry about, they still want to make sure everything is
fine before they let you go.”

“But, I can’t stay here!” she insisted.

Michael looked at her cautiously. “It’s just for one
day,” he said. “Is there anybody we need to notify?”