Spellbound in His Arms (5 page)

Uneasily, she walked over to the round table in the
center of the foyer, where she had left her purse and took out her cell phone.
She gazed at the screen and gasped—No service available.
Oh, that’s not
good…not good at all
. She pressed her lips tightly in sheer anxiety.

All of a sudden, she started having second thoughts.
Stephanos was right about this being the last place Michael would look for her.
Actually, this was the last place
anyone
would look for her. What if
something happened to her? If she didn’t check in, it might be days before
Stephanos got worried.

Well, nothing could change the fact she was here now.
And even if she wanted to leave, she couldn’t possibly drive in this awful
weather. Her only option was to get to work to keep her mind occupied.

She walked to the kitchen and decided to make herself a
sandwich. Somehow it seemed that doing something so normal and ordinary was all
she needed to relax and stop the crazy thoughts from whirling around in her
mind. Not to mention that it was hours ago, since she last had something to
eat.

She took her sandwich and a glass of water and entered
the study in the back of the house. She knew exactly what she needed to do.

Walking inside the room, Jackie took a careful look
around the beautifully furnished study. The French doors leading to the veranda
were locked—she had checked them earlier—and the heavy curtains were drawn
shut, giving her privacy from anyone who might be spying on the house. On both
sides of the French doors, there were two arch shaped, stained glass windows in
a beautiful flower designed pattern.

The study was furnished with a burgundy leather sofa, as
well as an oval-shaped cherry wood table in front of it and two cream color
armchairs on the other side facing the sofa.
A
n
enormous cherry desk was placed next to one of the stained glass windows, with
a burgundy leather armchair behind it and two smaller ones in front of it.

The walls were covered with cherry bookcases filled with
endless rows of books and beautiful silver, bronze, and porcelain artifacts.
Between two of the bookcases, there was a showcase table made of cherry wood
and glass, with a miniature of the mansion and the estate surrounding it
sitting on the table. A portrait of an elegant old man dressed in a ship
captain’s uniform was hanging on the wall behind the table.

Between the sofa and the armchairs, an enormous, white
marble fireplace dominated the room with two bronze hounds standing guard on
each side. An impressive painting of a beautiful teenage girl riding a black
stallion was hanging above it. She had shining black hair pulled back in a
ponytail, amazing blue eyes, and a breathtaking smile.

Jackie noticed that the woods in the background seemed
very similar to those surrounding the mansion.
The painting was probably done
here, and the girl was a member of the Demiris family.
She placed the plate
with her sandwich and the glass of water on the desk and stood there for a
couple of minutes, totally enchanted by the beauty of the girl who seemed
vaguely familiar. She looked at the painting troubled.
Who is she and where
is she now?
Was the girl still alive or yet another victim of this family
curse
,
or whatever it was, that haunted the heirs of Greek tycoon, Andreas Demiris?

The deafening sound of thunder brought her back to
reality, and she realized she had to get on with what she had come here for.

Following Stephanos’ instructions, she walked over to
the fireplace and turned the head of the hound on the right clockwise. Stepping
back, she watched in amazement as the entire fireplace moved back inside the
wall, revealing a small entrance to the left.

She stepped inside and felt the left wall until she
found a light switch and turned it on. Then she carefully descended the narrow
steps, leading underneath the house. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a
narrow corridor to the right, which led to a steel door.

Jackie noticed the touch screen monitor to the right of
the door, and she punched in the first combination of numbers. She waited
breathlessly until she heard a soft buzzing noise and then she punched in the
second combination. To her relief, the steel door opened and bright lights
immediately came on, leaving Jackie breathless at the sight of the enormous
secret room hidden beneath the mansion.

She stepped inside and let her eyes wander around the
impressive and elegant room with its protective steel walls covered with carved
stones probably to prevent it from looking like a vault.

A mahogany showcase with four rows of shelves covered
the wall opposite to the door. Black velvet display stands placed on the
glassed-in shelves were filled with the most exquisite pieces of jewelry Jackie
had ever seen…necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings of sparkling diamonds,
scarlet rubies, dazzling emeralds and breathtaking sapphires, dominating the
surroundings with their brilliance. Jackie was mesmerized by this impeccable
beauty. Everything else seemed to fade away.

She took a few steps forward on the thick cream color
carpet and absentmindedly sunk down on one of the two, semicircular sofas
placed in the middle of the room facing each other. Her eyes rested on an exquisite
crystal vase with gold designs, placed on a round mahogany table in the middle
of the circle formed by the two sofas.

This was almost unreal, far beyond her expectations.
Jackie was sure that not even Stephanos knew exactly what was hidden in the
secret room underneath the old mansion. He was precise, as always, giving her instructions
how to get there and get in, but he had mentioned nothing about the contents of
the room, except that she would find in the room what she was looking for.

Sitting on the sofa, she faced the wall on the left of
the door. A mahogany desk with a computer on it and a black leather armchair in
front of it was placed facing the wall. Above the desk, eight, wall-mounted,
flat-screen monitors were placed in two rows. Even though the computer screen
and the monitors on the wall were black, Jackie could hear a soft humming noise
and could see that the computer was operating. She guessed it was probably a
security system monitoring the mansion and its surroundings.

Suddenly, she shifted uncomfortably, realizing that her entering
the secret room had probably been recorded. What if the security system was
connected with a security company or even worse, the police? What if someone
was actually watching her right now?

Well, there was nothing she could do about it now. She
might as well go ahead with her assignment and get out of there as quickly as
possible.

She turned to look at the wall behind her where there
was a mahogany bookcase with shelves filled with crystal, porcelain, and gold
artifacts. The bottom part of the bookcase had three closed cabinets, where
Jackie was sure she would find what she had come for.

She got up and walked over to the cabinets, opening them
one-by-one and checking their contents. In the first one, she found stacks of
black and blue-velvet jewelry cases. Opening a few of them, Jackie was dazzled
by the exquisite pieces and realized that some of these pieces, if not all of
them, had to be priceless. She softly ran her fingers over the precious stones
and closed her eyes, imagining beautiful women in evening gowns wearing them.

She opened the second cabinet to find it was filled with
piles of stocks and bonds, as well as black velvet cases filled with gold and
silver coins which seemed very old. She swallowed hard. The secret room was
hiding a treasure, Jackie realized, and felt her pulse accelerating and her
hands going damp from sweat. This whole experience had thrown her off balance.
During her entire life, she’d never seen such riches before and probably would
never again. This was a once in a lifetime experience…an amazing, intoxicating
thrill that made her smile.

Finally, in the third cabinet, she found three folders
which she thought probably contained what she was looking for. She felt as if
she was halfway through with her assignment and that lifted her spirits.

She took the folders and walked over to sit on the velvet
sofa, placing them on the table in front of her. She opened each of them,
trying to concentrate on their contents, but all the jewelry and artifacts
around her distracted her attention. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and
taking the folders with her, she walked out of the secret room and up the
stairs to the study.

She placed the folders on the desk and sat in the
armchair. She opened the first one and pulled some documents out. Of course,
they were all in Greek, but thanks to Stephanos, Jackie was fluent in the Greek
language.

She was about to start reading them, when she heard a
loud noise coming from the front of the house. Jumping up surprised, she rushed
to the front of the house, feeling her heart thundering in her chest. The noise
was repeated, loud and clear.

It took Jackie a couple of seconds to realize that it
was the front door.
Someone is knocking on the door
.

She couldn’t believe it. Out there, miles from the
nearest town in the middle of the night someone was pounding on the door. Who could
it be?

Jackie stood still, but whoever it was at the front door
didn’t seem willing to go away.

After a couple more loud bangs, she heard Michael’s
voice loud and clear. “Jackie! Open the damn door!”

Her breath was caught in her throat.
It was him!
What
on earth was he doing out here in the middle of the night in this raging storm?

“I know you’re in there!” His voice was surpassing the
howling of the wind. “Open up or else I’ll break the damn door down!”

And he was capable of doing it. She was sure about that.

After hesitating for a moment, Jackie approached the
door and taking a deep breath, she opened it.

Michael stormed inside the house, almost knocking her
down and slammed the door shut behind him. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked,
grinding his teeth.

“What do you want, Michael? What are you doing here?”
she snapped.

“Why did you leave the hotel without a word?”

“I don’t have to report to you!”

Michael inhaled sharply and his icy gaze drove a chill
up her spine. Jackie stood there shocked, staring at his face distorted with
rage.

For a moment, neither of them uttered a word. They stood
there, staring into each other’s eyes. Jackie felt the blood running hot in her
veins and lowered her eyes to avoid the dangerous, but at the same time,
enchanting look in those blue eyes of his.

“How did you find me?” she asked, trying to catch her
breath and clear her thoughts.
What is wrong with me?
She was furious
all she could think about was how gorgeous he looked in his jeans and the black
leather jacket that was now dripping wet.

“Are you crazy?” he yelled at her and grabbed her by the
arm. “What do you think you’re doing out here all by yourself?”

“How did you find me?” Jackie insisted, and tried to
release her arm from his steel grasp.

“You were under my custody and you ran away!” he accused
her, not being able to control his temper.

“I wasn’t aware that I was under arrest!” she rebutted,
irritated.

“You were caught breaking into this house, remember!” he
pointed out and took a step forward, coming unbearably close…almost leaning
over her, holding her captive with his gaze.

“And you did not arrest me!” she retorted. “Maybe it was
because you couldn’t explain either what exactly
you
were doing out here
in the middle of the night!” she went on, raising her chin stubbornly, looking
at him straight in the eyes.
If only his eyes weren’t so blue and his hair
so gorgeously shining black.

Michael looked at her for a couple of seconds. His gaze
was dangerous, but oh…so seductive….

“Now, you listen to me, Jackie Alexander” he burst out.
“I’m not the type of person you want to play games with.” He placed emphasis on
every word. “You better start talking and you better start talking fast.
Otherwise, I will drag you to a cell, lock you up, and throw away the key,” he concluded,
and there was fire in his eyes.

“You don’t scare me, Detective Apostolou,” Jackie
replied in a firm voice, placing emphasis on the fact that she wasn’t using his
first name any more. “You had no official business being out here the other
night, and we both know it. Otherwise, I would be in a cell right now.
Besides,” she went on, “I have every right to be here! The house belongs to my
uncle, Stephanos Demiris,”—she lied—“and he has authorized me to be here. You
can check with his attorney, Nancy Felini.”

“This house doesn’t belong to Stephanos Demiris!”
Michael said in a low and dangerous tone of voice. “And you know it very well!”
he accused her.

Jackie was left speechless.
What now?
Things were
getting pretty complicated, and this detective seemed to be a lot more than
what she had anticipated. Was he bluffing or did he really know the truth?

“What are you talking about? Of course, the house
belongs to my uncle!” she burst out, trying to sound as convincing as she
could. She knew she had to buy some time in order to figure out how much he
really knew and how she could get rid of him in order to finish the job she had
come for. Time was running out, and there was so much at stake.