Blackmailed For Vengeance (20 page)

“I couldn’t break a promise I
made to you” she said a small tear falling down her own cheek

Jim had nodded

“Thank you Lee” he said with
such love and warmth in his voice, before the two of them had
looked over at Yanis who stood in stunned silence listening to the
exchanges. Giving Jim a small kiss on the forehead Lee had risen to
make room for Yanis who Jim had beckoned over.

“I’ll let you two talk” she
said before looking deeply into Yanis’s eyes had said so sadly

“Goodbye Yanis” and left the
room.

As he made to stand up and
follow her, Jim had placed a hand over his arm to stop him

“Please I need to tell you
something”

Jim could see the way his
friend was torn with his desire to follow Lee and his need to stay
with him before he had finally sat back down turning to look at
Jim

“What’s going on Jim” he asked,
his face confused and more than a little ashen

Taking a deep breath Jim had
blurted out “Yanis I’m gay” waiting for a response from his friend
his face tense as Yanis had looked back at him dumbfounded

“I met somebody special, but I
just couldn’t come out and tell everybody. I planned to just give
him up and push down my feelings but I couldn’t do it Yanis..I just
couldn’t do it” he paused for a second seeing the look of surprise
on the other mans face

“Lee told me that I should be
true to myself or I would lose the love of my life – she just told
me to be honest and that anybody who really cared about me would
understand”

His voice trailed off as he
looked at Yanis with apprehension.

His face was white and sombre
as though he had just discovered something completely unpleasant.
In a voice as calm as he could make it, he slowly said

“Are you telling me Jim that
she was keeping your secret – that you weren’t in love with
her”

“Yes” he replied

Much to his surprise Yanis had
stared at the floor for a second, his face a myriad of emotions
before he leapt from the bed and started to walk quickly out of the
ward breaking into a run as he tried to catch up with Lee. As he
reached the exit on seeing her about to get into a taxi he had
called her name. For a second she had hesitated looking at him
sadly before getting into the car.

As it drove away he had run his
fingers through his hair watching as it joined the many other black
hacks on the main street before becoming lost among the multitude
of other taxis and cars. Slowly he turned back towards the
hospital, to mend some fences with his friend and to admit to him
what he had done to Lee.

Two weeks later Lee stood
before a full length mirror pulling on the electric blue cocktail
dress, which she had picked up from Claire the previous week.
Claire had been surprised to see Lee, but had handed over the
garment which they were storing for the orphanage benefit the
following week. Although the gown had been paid for at the time she
had ordered it Lee had felt guilty about keeping such an expensive
garment, especially as she could pay for it herself. However,
Claire had refused to take her money and return Yanis’s money to
him. Claire had shown concern for her seeing how pale she was.

“Yanis was in touch” she had
told her softly

“He wanted me to let him know
if you came in”

Lee had looked at her
pleadingly

“Please Claire, don’t tell him”
she had said, seeing how the other woman had looked at her before
deciding. With a nod she had given Lee a hug, promising to keep it
to herself, giving Lee her private number if she needed somebody to
talk to. Lee had been touched by the other woman’s kindness
thanking her as she left

On the day of the event itself,
she had spent the afternoon in the salon having her hair placed
onto her head and her make-up professionally done. She had smiled
at the irony of her little treat to herself, one which was designed
to try to make her feel better as she tried to deal with all the
changes in her life, knowing how she had refused such luxuries when
she had money being thrown at her. Looking into the mirror she had
looked sadly at her reflection. Once more her mind full of images
of Yanis which tugged at her heart strings so painfully

For two weeks she had stayed at
her friend Nicola’s house, hiding from the members of the press who
had very quickly realised that her engagement to one of the richest
and most powerful men in Britain was over and who were determined
to find out what had brought an end to the golden couple.

Many had left messages with
different friends of hers offering her obscene amounts of money for
her story. She however, had kept quiet and out of sight. She had
also ignored Yanis’s attempts to find her, as he too had phoned
around and had an investigator searching for her.

When she had talked to Jim, on
the phone she had been happy to find out that he was going to
America the following week to recuperate with his family. He had
told her that Yanis had told him the whole story, admitting what he
had done to her, as well as giving him his blessing to love anybody
who made him happy.

“He is looking for you Lee” he
said

“Won’t you talk to him?”

Lee had held back the tears and
said only that Jim should remind Yanis of the contract he had made
her sign and to stick to it as she had. Jim had sighed sadly

“I hope you know what you are
doing Lee” he said sadly

“Maybe you two were meant to be
together”

On the phone Lee had closed her
eyes with pain

“No Jim, to Yanis I’m just a
body in a bed” she said before ending the call.

A few days later she had bit
her lip wondering wither to go to the orphanage benefit or not. She
had not made her meetings or dance sessions with the children for
fear of bumping into him, and it had caused her distress to let
them down that way. She had sent them videos of moves to practice,
telling them that she was not well, which in many ways was the
truth, but deep down she knew that she would need to return
soon.

She had cancelled all the other
events which she had been invited to, worried about meeting Yanis
or the members of the paparazzi at one of them, but somehow she had
been unable to decide on the orphanage event and she had carried on
making plans to attend. She had waited a couple of days before the
actual event before phoning the organising committee to find out if
Yanis had confirmed that he would be attending or not.

However, her heart had leapt on
learning that he had already contacted them with his apologies and
that he would not be in the country. With an intense feeling of
relief she had then confirmed her own attendance, checking on the
internet to find if he really was out of the country as he had
said. With a small lump in her throat, she had read the reports
from Paris following him around the city reporting on his refusal
to discuss his relationship with Lee. With confirmation that he
really was out of the country she had carried on planning to
attend

With a final look in the
mirror, not really seeing how beautiful she looked, she had wished
Nicole a goodnight before leaving the flat.

The night had gone well,
although Lee found that the paparazzi had quickly discovered her
attendance. She had found herself being photographed as she entered
the luxurious hotel, and had sighed knowing that she would have to
be careful when she left, not wanting them to find out where she
was staying.

Lee had planned to move up to
Scotland the following week, given recent news which had rocked her
to her very core. She felt that moving completely away would be the
best solution and would allow her to make the new start she so
desperately needed. However, Lee was still struggling to cope with
her broken heart, each night struggling to sleep as the moment her
eyes close she was bombarded with images of Yanis which would tug
so painfully at her heart causing tears to fill her eyes.

That night Lee had talked to
many charity agencies creating links and possible future
partnerships. She had danced with many powerful men, none of whom
had even come close to the man she had walked away from, and she
had smiled at them hiding the sadness in her heart. Keeping each at
arms length, Lee had found many had tried to ask her for lunch
dates, many pushing for even more, however, Lee had politely but
firmly refused each and every advance. After just such a dance she
had turned wearily away to move back to her seat, suddenly wishing
that she could run away and escape the many questions which she had
needed to ignore all evening, only to find herself rooted to the
spot at seeing the tall handsome man standing before her.

Lee had stood frozen feeling so
many emotions galloping through her at his sudden appearance, as
she had just stared in disbelief, her mind not fully believing that
Yanis was there in front of her. Standing in total shock her eyes
had looked all around in panic for a way out, but before she could
recover he had moved forward with a determined expression on his
face, pulling her into his arms and onto the dance floor as the
next song had begun, only then having her senses come back to her.
Still looking wildly around her for an escape she had cried out in
pain

“Get away from me Yanis… You
can’t do this” her voice husky with emotion. He however, held her
tightly, his hand firm against the base of her back, as he swayed
with her on the dance floor. Looking down on her his face sombre he
had said gently

“You left me little choice Lee,
You wouldn’t answer any of the calls I left with everybody, not
even those I left with Peter”

“What are you doing here” she
whispered huskily in confusion

“They told me you were out of
the country; I checked you were in Paris”

Yanis’s face was grim as he
looked at her

“I’ve been trying to find you
for weeks Lee, not even the damn paparazzi could find you …..so in
the end I had to resort to a little subterfuge. You had quit your
job and cancelled all of your other appointments so this was the
only avenue left to me. I stayed out of the country until an hour
ago only coming back at the very last moment.. I couldn’t take the
chance you wouldn’t come”

“Why, Yanis” she said miserably
“Just leave me alone, we have nothing more to say to each other,
please just go away”

“I disagree Lee, we have a lot
to talk about” he said gently, holding her tightly against him as
she had closed her eyes to once more, even for that fleeting time
feel herself in his arms. Miserably, she had felt her tears start
to rise at the way her whole body yearned for him while knowing
that she had to get away. After a few seconds she had become aware
that he was slowly moving her towards the exit. Realising his
intentions she had tried to move away from him as he had held her
even tighter against him as she moaned gently feeling his hard body
against her, causing all the old sensations to rise up within
her.

Looking pleadingly into his
face she had whispered

“Please don’t do this
Yanis”

She watched his jaw clench
tightly as he released her, before grabbing her hand to drag her
out of the door. However, she had held back struggling with him,
until with an exasperated sigh he had pulled her back into his arms
kissing her. She had heard the flashing cameras, not seeing the
flashes themselves, as the moment his lips had met hers, she had
been lost, her head dizzy with the sensations he rose within her.
Automatically her arms had wrapped around his neck, as she moved to
the once place in the world she most longed to be, in his arms. As
he released her, his eyes had been dark and full of such passion,
before he had once more become determined and with a small moan he
had grabbed her hand leading her out of the room as she had let
him, walking with him in an almost trance like state.

It was only as they reached the
lift and after he had punched in a floor number that she had once
more come too.

“What are you doing… you can’t
kidnap me” she cried in frustration

“Technically there is a whole
room of people who will confirm that you left the room with me
willingly” he said not meeting her eyes as he watched the floors
slip away

She had stared at him with a
panic welling up within her, as she wrung her hands by her side her
face full of so many different emotions as she searched for
something else to throw at him

“You promised that you would
leave me alone… you signed a contract” she threw at him as the
doors to the lift opened. As he grabbed her hand once again,
pulling her forward to one of the rooms he had bit out

“So sue me” before opening one
of the many doors on the landing, which had opened up into a large
suite.

Finally they were alone, the
two of them facing each other. Lee had tried to ignore his long
lean muscular body so close to her that she only needed to take a
step forward to feel his hardness fully against her. Swallowing
hard she looked down at her feet, her arms wrapped around herself
protectively, not willing to look up at him

“I can’t do this Yanis” she
said her voice low “Please just let me go back to the party”

He however, had taken a half
step closer to her to raise her chin with his finger so that he
could look into her eyes. As she finally saw his face, she had
gasped in shock, seeing just how drawn and tired he looked, his
wonderful eyes lack lustre.

“I just want to talk to you
Lee” he said gently

Lifting her finger to softly
touch his cheek she had whispered

“You look so tired Yanis”

He had given her a small sad
smile “So do you
Cara
”

Lee had shaken herself pulling
away from him, and he was reminded for a moment of another man who
had stood before her, who had done her wrong, and the memory had
shaken him, knowing how she had refused to forgive him