Paying Her Debt (7 page)

It was odd beyond belief, and she couldn’t quite work it out, but
from the moment Iannou had stepped into her apartment, a strange sort of relief
filled had her. Yes, he was angry about the wallet, clearly she could see that.
 And yes, he’d ordered her to his suite, leaving her no choice but to comply.
But she didn’t feel coerced. If anything she felt a strange sort of
understanding of his demand. She owed him for the contents of his wallet—it was
as simple as that—and had no choice for the moment but to go along with
whatever plan he had in mind.
 
She wondered if perhaps he’d offer her a
job, or expect some help in catching the thief. Or if he just wanted to keep an
eye on her before demanding his money back.

More than that and Andy would admit it to no one but herself,
excitement was sparking through her. She’d get to spend some time around him,
fall a little deeper into those brown eyes, and come up with all sorts of
fantasies. Stuff like this did not happen to her very often, and surely she
could take the good from the bad? Iannou would never know that she was lusting
after him. So what harm would it do?

Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, Andy pulled the quilt
a little higher. Iannou had moved her to his suite with an efficiency which
left her shocked. Somehow, though Andy didn’t know how, a maid appeared within
moments of her arrival to tuck her in and place her few things in the walk in
closet. She sighed. How could it be little more than an hour since he’d kicked
her door open? Didn’t life altering events take longer to unfold? Because Andy
knew with a deep certainty that whatever was happening was going to mean
something to her life, good or bad she didn’t know, but there is was all the
same.

For maybe the tenth time, Andy replayed the moment they’d left
her apartment building, him hovering over her like some sort of avenging Greek
God. She hadn’t even through about how he’d planned to get her to his hotel
until he’d tried to bundle her into his car.

“Careful now, we’ll take this slowly.”

She’d stopped, shocked, when he’d opened his car door, gesturing
for her to get inside. “I can’t ride in your car,” she whispered. Panic slithered
her along her spine. The very idea of being closed into it was enough to have
her running for the hills—despite the fact she doubted she’d physically be able
to even run. 

He growled. “You wince every time you take a step. You need my
help whether you like it or not. Enough nonsense, get in.”

Andy had backed away. “I can’t get in a car, I’m sorry.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

Shame at her weakness burned through her, but Andy knew she couldn’t
get into it. She’d tried, over and over again, ever since she’d left the
hospital. Panic attacks, they called it, like those words were enough to
explain the debilitating terror she felt as soon as the doors shut. She had no
choice but to explain. “I don’t drive in cars since my accident. I can’t,
there’s just no way.”

“Accident?” he’d prompted.

“I was in a car wreck a year ago.”

“How on earth do you get around then?” he’d asked, gesturing in
what looked like annoyance. “How do you expect us to get to my hotel?”

Mutely Andy had pointed to the bus stop, and almost comically his
face had fallen in disbelief. “You want us to get the bus?”

“It’s that or walk.”

They’d waited five minutes for the bus, and Andy hadn’t been able
to disguise her own disbelief at his agreement. He paid their fares and settled
her in one of the front seats, her bag on his lap. Andy was caught in a
whirlwind of confusion and shock—unable to understand what was going through
Iannou’s mind.

“What do you want from me?” she asked again.

He’d pinned her with those wonderfully deep brown eyes and
smiled. “You need to get better. That comes before anything else.”

“And then?”

“And then we will see.”

“The money I can’t pay it back all at once….”

He shook his head. “Is nothing you need to think about right now,
Gataki
.”

The rest of the journey had been undertaken in silence, though
for some reason Andy had been unable to stop herself sneaking little glances in
his direction. Despite what must be an odd experience for him—because how often
would Iannou use public transport—he hadn’t looked in the least uncomfortable.

Once again, her over-frazzled brain had shaken at the sheer
attractiveness of him. The man was beautiful. No other word could describe him
properly, and bruises or no, Andy’s body reacted to that beauty in a way she
did quite understand. She’d wondered if perhaps it was simply down to an
extreme lack of sex. It had been what? Well over a year since she’d felt a man
inside of her. Even before Pete had done a bunk their relationship had cooled
beyond even the prosaic sex they’d always had. She hadn’t understood why back
then. Obviously she did now.

Maybe she just needed to get laid?

She sighed. She didn’t doubt Iannou would be amazing in bed. He
had that vibe to him, maybe because of the whole Greek thing. Andy couldn’t
imagine him refusing to try anything and despite the complete weirdness of the
situation, she felt her nipples harden.

Of course he didn’t want her like that. He’d fired her for crike’s
sake, had ordered her to his hotel because she owed him. Sure, she was in Iannou’s
suite, sinking deeper and deeper into the plush comfort of the bed like some
sort of damsel in fucking distress, trying to work out exactly what he wanted—
but the only thing she was certain of was that it wasn’t to bend her over and
fuck her senseless.
Even though you know you want him to….

But what could it be and why did Andy get the feeling she was in
for a surprise?

Chapter
Eleven

“You have sleeping beauty in the bedroom?”

Were the situation any different Alex might have laughed. The
shocked expression on George’s face was priceless, and Alex smiled slightly at
his friend. “It seemed the most sensible thing to do, and please, stop calling
her that.”

“How do you work that out that this is the most rational course
to take, Alex?” George asked. The disbelief was evident in his voice. “I’m all
ears.”

Shrugging, Alex removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie.
“She wouldn’t go back to the hospital. Refused point blank and I couldn’t leave
her there. Honestly,
Vre
, you should have seen the awfulness of her
apartment. Well, it was just the one room so far as I could tell, and a
bathroom.”

“Yes, but….”

“And who was there to take care of her? She’s all beaten up and
fragile. I doubt she could have looked after herself. Probably would have gone
off to work again were I not there to stop her.” Alex wasn’t quite sure why he
felt the need to explain himself to his friend, but the words tumbled from his
lips, and he felt like he had to defend his decision.

“Alex,” George began, drawing in a deep breath. “You know I don’t
say this very often. In fact I may never have said it before, but what the hell
is going through your mind?”

Alex shifted uncomfortably. “What do you mean?”

George grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table and tossed it
hand to hand, as if steeling himself. “You met this girl yesterday. During
which I might add you fired her, and now a day later you’re scooping her up from
her shitty apartment and bringing her here? You don’t even know her. You said
you don’t want her so what gives?”

Alex frowned, unsure how to explain to his friend something he
didn’t even understand himself. “It’s difficult to explain.”

“Why not just give her her job back if you’re feeling so guilty
about it?” George asked. “Hire someone to look after her in her apartment, a
nurse or something? Pay her medical bills? Any of that I can understand, but to
bring her here…
Dios Mio,
Alex”

Alex understood what his friend was getting at. Though far from a
saint over the years, Alex had never installed a woman in his home. And the
hotel suite, for all intents and purposes, was his home for the next few weeks
until the old house was put to rights. Sure, he’d had numerous affairs,
countless lovers, but he’d yet to meet the one woman he’d settle down with.
Something his
Yiayia
had grumbled about with her dying breath.

Thoughts of his grandmother reminded him of the lost wallet, and
he clenched his fists, the anger surging through him again. “I don’t know
what’s going on, George, honestly I don’t, but the only thing I can do is run
with it. I need her here where I can keep an eye on her. That’s all I’m sure of
right now. I couldn’t leave her in that apartment. I just couldn’t.”

George dropped the apple on the table and smiled. “Well—”

“After all, it’s my fault she was attacked.”

“How do you work that out?”

Alex scowled. The thoughts that had plagued him on the bloody bus
forming now. “I think she walked home because she was worried about money,
worried about having enough to pay her bus fare, now that she’d lost her job
with us. You were right to think she had money issues. That apartment was
beyond awful. A nasty tenement block, with the sort of stairwells I wouldn’t
let my worst enemy venture into at night. God knows how she’s managed to keep
herself safe for this long.”

“She’s not your responsibility, Alexander,” George stated.

“Who else is there?”

“This isn’t like you. Picking up waifs and strays and though
you’ll hate me for saying it I have a nasty suspicion sleeping beauty might be
playing you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Look, just bear with me here,” George said, hands up. “Someone
has to say it. Alex, you employ me to look out for your best interests, and
I’ve always done that have I not?”

Alex nodded tightly.

“Please do not forget who you are,” George continued. “A
multi-millionaire and one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. I’m
sure Miss Jones was beyond eager to accompany you here. Probably in that room
now calculating exactly what she can get from this little jaunt. She’s already
lost your wallet—or so she says, you’re already several grand down since you
met her.”

“You’re suggesting she’s lying about the theft?”

George shrugged.

“She’s beaten black and blue damn it,” Alex argued. “There’s no
way someone would let that happen to them to steal a few grand.”

“And the ring,” George said. “That’s worth tens of thousands.
People have done much worse for much less.”

“I don’t believe it,” Alex stated. “She was damn near falling
apart when I found her.”

“But she came eagerly enough,
Vre
,” George said.

“I had to threaten her to get her here.” The moment the words
left Alex’s lips he realized just how bad they sounded. George was right. Alex
could have pretty much any woman he wanted, and yet to get the waif under his
roof he’d had to resort to threats and bullying.

“What?”

“She didn’t want to come.”

“What the hell did you say to her?”

“I…” Alex paused, an unfamiliar flush staining his tanned skin.
“I told her she owed me for the lost wallet. That she’d come with me or else.”

“Are you fucking serious,
Vre
?”

“I know it sounds bad.”

“Friend, it doesn’t sound bad. It is bad. What is it about this
girl that’s got you resorting to threats?”

“I—”

“Jesus Christ,” George whispered, a look of comprehension in his
eyes. “You don’t even realize do you?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Uncle Christos and Aunt Anna?”

Alex stiffened at the sound of his parents’ names, knowing
exactly what George was hinting at. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Your father saw your mother once, in the market. A week later
they were married. They hadn’t even spoken.”

Alex waved away the words. His whole body thrummed with tension.
“Those were the old ways. If you’re even trying to suggest that I’m thinking
that way about the waif….” He stopped, unable to find the words to continue.
George’s suggestion was ludicrous, not even worth answering. He might not know
exactly what was going on but it certainly wasn’t anything like that.
It’s
the fucking dream driving you, the dream and the guilt, nothing more than that….

“You want her,” George said, and it was not a question.

There was no point denying it any longer. Alex did want her. The
short ride on the bus had only confirmed that to him what he’d realized in her
awful apartment. But it was more than just lust. Alex felt a strange sort of
protectiveness towards her. It didn’t make any fucking sense. He hardly knew
her! “Yes,” he replied. “And I’m going to have her.”

George grinned. “Well, at least you’ve admitted that much. I
guess I should be getting that wallet back for you. You’re gonna need it.”

“Now hold on a minute,” Alex growled.

But George’s grin widened, and he ambled off to the door. “Go,
see your sleeping beauty,
Vre
. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Chapter
Twelve

Andy awoke the next morning. For once feeling as though she was
fully rested. She stretched beneath the wonderful quilt and almost jumped in
shock. Her back felt fine. The ache almost unnoticeable.
Bloody hell.
Lifting herself up, she winced only slightly from her injuries. She glanced
around the lovely room and smiled. It was wonderful to wake up in such
surrounding, to take those first moments of the morning without any worry.

But, as always in life, the worries didn’t stay at bay for long,
and Andy knew she needed answers. Where was Iannou? Where was the maid? For
once, Andy’s mind felt clear. The terrible weight of exhaustion gone and she
was eager to get up, get dressed, and get things sorted.  

She headed into the bathroom, relived herself, and opened up one
of the toothbrushes. A splash of water on her face later, and she felt almost
normal. The bruises looked awful. There was no getting around that, but it was
amazing how better everything seemed after a good nights sleep.