Susan Stephens
BOUGHT:
ONE ISLAND, ONE BRIDE

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG

STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID

PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

For Jenny, and The Team.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

THE only time he relaxed was when he was here on the island of Lefkis, but today was different…

Alexander Kosta, saviour of the island? The mayor speaking to the crowd was calling him that. It was better that than the truth, Alexander supposed. A ruthless tycoon who had identified an opportunity didn’t have quite the same ring to it.

His gaze strayed beyond the canvas-draped pavilion to the clear blue ocean beyond the harbour. He noted how the sea turned broody and emerald in the distance, and how the sugared-almond-coloured houses clustered round the perfect horseshoe bay had turned more vivid in the late-afternoon sunshine. The island of Lefkis was beautiful and unspoiled, and when it was put up for sale he had been ready.

He noticed everything, and today a young woman had distracted him. Standing in the prow of an old fishing boat, the only flaw in an otherwise picture-perfect panorama, she was glaring at him. He had given instructions for the harbour to be cleared of craft with shallow draft to make way for the super-yachts, but she was still there.

Ellie Foster, or Ellie Mendoras, as she called herself to honour her dead Greek father, had been chosen by the islanders to voice their objections to his vision of progress for Lefkis. But she didn’t know the history behind his purchase, and she clearly didn’t know what she was up against.

Perhaps he should be glad she had remained on her boat. The crowd was quiet, but if she joined them that would change. Charm was his weapon of choice in a situation like this, and he knew the dissenters would come round. The wealth he could bring to their island was irresistible.

He looked at the girl again. Her very presence was an insult. Dressed drably in what appeared to be a boiler suit, she couldn’t have drawn a sharper contrast to the glamour girls surrounding him. And could her scowl possibly deepen?

Everyone else was smiling at him…Everyone smiled at him all the time, now he came to think about it. Why wouldn’t they? The charisma of massive wealth worked its magic everywhere he went. Alexander Kosta was the success story everyone wanted a piece of. Born in a shack, he had learned at an early age that the only certainty in life was the food he put on the table, and the only love he could count on was the love that could be bought.

He could buy anything he wanted now, including an island. He had added Lefkis to his property portfolio as he might have added a vase he coveted from the estate of a man who in life had been both his greatest enemy and the greatest spur to his ambition. He envisaged a mini-Dubai springing up where once there had been bare rock and poverty. It was a wonder the island had survived beneath the heel of his predecessor, Demetrios Lindos.

The girl should thank him, Alexander thought, glancing at Ellie. The power-boat race was just the start of the improvements he intended to make. There would be hotels, luxury spas, shopping malls…Everyone would benefit, including the troublemaker on her old fishing boat.

Hearing a few locals murmur against his scheme, Alexander firmed his jaw. If they couldn’t see what he was trying to do—if she stopped them seeing what he was trying to do…

She was preparing to disembark. Although she was too far away for him to see her features clearly, the tilt of her chin told a story of its own. Did she really intend to confront him? She had some nerve. The world measured him by what he owned and what he could buy, and everyone listened when he spoke. She should be down on her knees rejoicing that he had arrived in time to save her tinpot island.

Alexander watched Ellie stride determinedly towards him down the quay. Her God-given certainty that she was on the side of the angels got right under his skin.

As if reading his mind, the crowd turned to look in the same direction. He could feel the tension rising as though everyone sensed a storm brewing. They settled again, reluctantly, and stared at him. They weren’t sure what to do. They’d had a taste of his generosity in the free food and entertainment he’d provided, and wanted more. In spite of the girl’s determination to disrupt the proceedings he judged them more than ready to listen to his plan.

She was nothing to him; a nobody. He shut her out. The crowd was warming to him. Sunlight bathed the scene, enhancing the colours of the bunting fluttering over his head. The wind had dropped, turning the ocean into a limpid lake. This was his island. This peaceful and lovely scene belonged to him now. Ellie Mendoras had made her first big mistake, because if she was looking for trouble, she’d found it.

Money-making was Alexander Kosta’s greatest skill in life. His only skill in life, Ellie told herself contemptuously as she marched down the quay. In spite of everything he had achieved, he wasn’t satisfied. He was still hungry for conquests, still searching for the next challenge; the next acquisition.

Well, he could keep his greedy hands off Lefkis. She had vowed to uproot and dislodge him before the tentacles of his empire had the chance to squeeze the life out of the island she loved.

But even as Ellie narrowed her eyes and dreamed of bringing the Greek tycoon to his knees, her heart rebelled and thundered a warning. She wasn’t brave. She had never put her head above the parapet before. She lived quietly on the island she loved, surrounded by the gentle people who had helped her heal after a terrible experience back in England had nearly destroyed her.

Which was precisely why she had to help those people now, Ellie determined, quickening her step. Maybe the islanders had mistaken her for her father, Iannis Mendoras, a true hero, but she wouldn’t let them down. Walking in the footsteps of a giant was impossible, but she wouldn’t disgrace her father’s name.

Alexander Kosta had drawn quite a crowd. The market square was packed, with visitors and with locals. She could see him clearly now.

And he took her breath away, Ellie admitted reluctantly. Her heart was throbbing at a ridiculous pace—and it wasn’t just Alexander’s good looks that had thrown her, but the power he exuded. She told herself that no one could have been prepared for that.

Ellie shied away from men after her experience back in England, and this Alexander Kosta was brazenly male. But now the locals were clustering at her elbows, urging her on. They depended on her and she couldn’t turn her back on them now…

Alexander’s face hardened as he finished his speech and the women, or birds of paradise, as he thought of them, clustered around him. The girls’ silk dresses fluttered in the breeze, raising a haze of exotic scent. His fabulous yacht, the Olympus, had brought out every woman of marriageable age irrespective of the fact that she might already be attached to some dupe who had been taken in by her porcelain smile and artificially inflated chest. He took a perverse pleasure in the games the birds of paradise played, but most of all he liked to see them falter when they realised how deeply he despised them.

As the crowd erupted into applause he shrugged the women off. He didn’t want their air kisses. He was more interested in glancing in triumph at the cliff-top where Demetrios Lindos’s grand old house was being demolished stone by stone. He would rebuild the house where his young wife had sold her body to an old man, but before he did that he would raze it to the ground and stand amongst the ashes.

He was forced to pause as Ellie Mendoras joined the crowd and the voices of protest rose against him again. He understood the reason for it, though that didn’t excuse her. Demetrios Lindos had been a harsh tyrant who had kept the island poor, and some of the locals feared he might be worse. It was that fear talking now. But it wouldn’t weaken his resolve; the improvements he intended to bring to the island would be made.

Alexander glanced at the old fishing boat. It jarred on him more than the discontent in the crowd. She had inherited the boat from her Greek father, and according to his sources had painstakingly converted it to accommodate tourists on her watered-down lecture tours. She could conduct those tours perfectly well from the new berth he had offered her. She wouldn’t be allowed to take up one of the precious deep-water berths when they were all spoken for.

He would crush her rebellion before it spread like an infection, Alexander determined, watching Ellie. Some might think this too small a problem for him to be concerned with, and that trouble was something a man like Alexander Kosta encountered on a world stage, but experience had taught him that a small problem like this spat with a local girl could grow out of all proportion if he ignored it.

She had reached the back of the crowd, from where her eyes blazed defiance at him. Ellie Mendoras, environmental warrior, versus Alexander Kosta? His lips quirked in amusement. Confrontation turned him on. As far as Ellie Mendoras was concerned the situation between them was black and white; he was the enemy, while she was the true saviour of her people. For him the situation held a far more interesting range of possibilities.

As she drew closer his hackles rose. He had declared today a holiday and most people had taken the trouble to dress up. Ellie Mendoras was still in her work clothes, and, apart from sun-bleached auburn hair hanging almost to her waist, she might have been taken for a boy. All that prevented her from appearing completely sexless was the beguiling fire in her eyes, and that was all directed at him.

He watched as she tried and failed to fight her way through the crowd. There was a group of his hard-core supporters at the front. Her face had set in a tight mask of disapproval. Her army had deserted her. Most people were intrigued by his vision of the future. Why couldn’t she get it through her head that his way was the only possibility of bringing wealth to Lefkis?

Flexing his muscular frame with impatience, Alexander ordered himself to forget Ellie Mendoras. For a man who had risked much to achieve more, a girl like that shouldn’t even register on his radar. Firing one last glance at the small, determined figure straining to see over the shoulders of the crowd, he shut her out completely.

Frustration had tightened a band of steel around her chest. There were so many visitors standing at the front, none of whom, judging by their expensive clothes, had anything to lose by sucking up to Alexander Kosta. The locals were in danger of being ignored if she didn’t make her move soon. She had to find a way to reach the stage and snatch the microphone out of Alexander Kosta’s hand. She had to make sure the locals’ cause was voiced.

Adrenalin was racing, prompting her to act, but the podium was guarded by security staff…

She had to wait. She had to move slowly closer and remember what was at stake. The glamorous folk she was standing with now had no interest in local culture. Their goal was to line their pockets at the locals’ expense. They would suck the island dry and then move on to the next novelty destination. She had to make them see sense. She had to make the man behind this monstrous plan see sense…

Ellie paused to compose herself when she reached the side of the platform. Alexander Kosta, a man in his mid-thirties, was commanding the stage. His charisma alone could hold an audience in awe. What chance did she stand against him?

Whispers from unseen faces urged her forward. That was all she needed to hear. The locals needed her. They were frightened of Alexander Kosta, and were begging her to speak for them.

She was frightened too, Ellie admitted to herself. Beneath his easy smile and handsome face she sensed the ice in Alexander Kosta. This was not a man to cross. This was not a man to take on. He might have been granted the blazing good looks of a film star, but he was not play-acting. She guessed the lightweight linen suit had been precision-tailored to fit his muscular frame, and beneath the open buttons at the neck of his crisp white shirt she could see a lot more than she cared to of the hard, tanned body underneath.

She flinched as he caught her staring. The fact that he had noticed her at all should have acted as a warning, and, to make it worse, her pulse was roaring. She was thankful when he turned his head away as if to say she was of no consequence to him.

But then Ellie realised to her astonishment that she wanted Alexander Kosta to look at her; she wanted him to notice her. It was hard to break the fascination with his piercing sea-green gaze and black, stubble-shaded jaw. His sensual lips and cold expression were so at odds with each other, and there was an erotic haze around him that both frightened and intrigued her. But she had to act, since no one else was prepared to. His intention to bring power-boat racing to the seas of Lefkis was moving forward like a juggernaut that no one could stop. The crowd was hypnotised by his almost mythical status, but a change of thinking could be brought about by a single voice, and today that voice would be heard.

‘Go on, Ellie…’

Murmurs were rising all around her, and she was on the point of making her move when the audience applauded and Kosta smiled. As he raked a hand through his hair he seemed almost boyish…But she knew he was a ruthless tycoon—she couldn’t be fooled.

Launching herself forward, she mounted the stage. As she tore across the platform Alexander Kosta started moving towards her. The reflexes of his trained men were no match for his speed…

She froze halfway. And then there was chaos. Women screamed and milled about, while Kosta’s bodyguards were caught up in the mêlée.

‘Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare touch me!’ Ellie shouted, backing away. The look in Alexander’s eyes terrified her. She was panicked by his overwhelming maleness.

‘Not so brave now, are you?’ he observed with satisfaction.

‘What good are your bodyguards to you?’ she scoffed, rallying to make her stand.

‘What do you want?’ he demanded harshly.

‘Nothing more than a fair hearing—’

‘And is this how you go about it?’

‘How else am I supposed to make you listen?’ Ellie was aware her voice was rising. ‘Will you hear me out?’

‘Now?’

She stood her ground. ‘I can think of no better time.’

‘What do you think you have achieved by this?’ He threw an angry glance over his shoulder, and then turned back to her.

What had happened to all the things she had planned to say? She should be railing at him, but instead awareness was shimmering through her. Her senses were heightened from fear, and from exertion, Ellie reasoned, and because of that adrenalin was racing through her system. And if Alexander Kosta would just look away for a single moment she would compose herself…

But he didn’t look away.

‘Explain yourself,’ he ordered coldly.

‘I’m speaking for the people of Lefkis—’

‘Your people?’

The sneer in his voice was all it took to trip the detonator in her mind. ‘You care nothing for them,’ she declared passionately, when she had vowed to be cool and reasoned. ‘You’re just like all the other oligarchs who visit Lefkis in their white water-borne caravans—’

‘For someone who wasn’t even born on the island, you have a lot to say for yourself,’ Alexander Kosta observed coolly.

‘My father was born here. He was—’

‘A fisherman? Yes, I know. And your mother was an English woman who deserted him.’

‘It wasn’t like that…’ Ellie knew she was losing control when it was imperative to remain clear-headed. But when Kosta dared to criticise her family—‘My mother made a choice, and I respect that—’

‘Respect?’ One brow shot up.

‘My English mother taught me respect,’ Ellie returned coldly, ‘which is why I honour my Greek father’s name—’

‘And why the locals have asked you to speak for them? From what I know, your mother chose safe suburbia over her Greek lover, and you didn’t so much as set foot on this island until she died—’

The callous way in which he was talking about the parents she loved fuelled Ellie’s anger. ‘When I came here I fell in love with the island and its people.’ One part of her brain simply refused to accept that she had also been running as fast as she could from an elderly friend of her mother’s who had attacked her when her guard was down.

He had to court this woman. He couldn’t cast her aside, though he sincerely wished he could. The locals trusted her; loved her, even. She was the key to unlock this island and make his vision of progress run smoothly. When her father had been lost at sea the locals had adopted her. On that day Ellie Mendoras hadn’t become the orphan she had expected to be, but the cherished daughter of a family in mourning; a family that encompassed every living soul on Lefkis. The hold she had over them was his last remaining sticking point. ‘You don’t belong here!’ he exploded, uncharacteristically losing his cool even after reasoning things through. ‘You’re not even Greek.’

‘My heart belongs here!’ she roared back at him.

She roared at him? Was Alexander Kosta losing his fabled self-control? It was time to put things back on an even keel. ‘Lefkis belongs to me now,’ he reminded her, with a closing gesture of his hands.

‘You don’t frighten me!’

Didn’t she know when to be quiet? ‘Really?’ he said with menace. ‘Then perhaps I should.’

A shiver tracked down Ellie’s spine as she gazed up at Alexander. She’d had no idea they would engage in a fight like this. She had imagined his bodyguards would cart her off, once she’d had her say, which would be long past by now. But there was a passion between them, the air simmered with tension. Ellie stood her guard, held her head high; she knew Kosta didn’t so much as pay lip-service to the meek and mild. His goal was clear, and he was determined to drive it through.

But so was she. ‘We survived the rule of Demetrios Lindos, and we will defeat you—’

‘Brave words, Ellie Mendoras, but where is your army now?’ He glanced around. The audience was waiting patiently for him to return. ‘It looks to me like these people don’t want to be stuck in the past with you and Demetrios Lindos, after all.’

Ellie flushed red. Where the past was concerned Kosta was right—a part of her would always be locked there.

‘Why do you stay on the island?’ he probed. ‘What is it to you?’

My sanctuary, Ellie thought immediately, but no way would she tell him that. She sought safety in the facts instead. ‘Lefkis was my father’s home, and now it is mine—’

‘Then if you wish to remain here, you had better learn to accept change like everyone else.’

That was a threat, Ellie realised, but she had gone too far to crawl back. ‘Change prescribed by you?’

‘That’s right, Ms Mendoras.’

Of course. The man who had bought the island could do anything he wanted to. And she had felt so safe here at one time, Ellie thought wistfully, but now there were so many strangers on the island; people she didn’t know, men she didn’t know—

‘I don’t have time for this,’ he said.

She jerked away.

‘I have no intention of touching you, Ms Mendoras.’

Why was she so frightened of him? Alexander asked himself. It was then he noticed the scar. Round and ugly on her cheek, it looked as though someone had tried to put their brand on her. And when she saw him staring at it she brought her hair down, using her fingers like a comb to cover it.

He switched his attention. He had no intention of making any of this personal. ‘See to the ladies,’ he commanded to the bodyguard who had approached. He threw a contemptuous glance at the squawking females, some of whom were still milling about the stage.

Ellie tried to moisten her lips with a tongue turned suddenly dry. She was surrounded by powerful men, but Alexander Kosta had no need of bodyguards when he could hold her in place with nothing more than a stare. She watched the women on the platform being ushered down the steps like so many sheep. Panic had made them shrill and their bird-like voices grated on her. Shouldn’t they also reassure her? Ellie reasoned. Alexander Kosta would hardly be interested in molesting her when he’d brought his harem.

Ellie had to stop herself tracing the scar on her cheek. She had no doubt Kosta had not only noticed, but had also calculated how she got it. She felt vulnerable. She didn’t want him to know anything about her. She had to be strong and not allow herself to be distracted.

But that scar was a mark of her past…The worst of it was, she had trusted and admired the old man who had attacked her. He had been a friend of her late mother’s, and had been kind to her. He had been one of the first to offer friendship when her mother died. She just hadn’t realised how many strings were attached to that friendship. He was the reason she had fled to Lefkis and, though he was nothing like Alexander Kosta, he had left her with a fear of men that had never faded.

‘So, Ms Mendoras…’

Ellie looked at Alexander.

‘What am I going to do with you?’

Everything had quietened on stage and they were alone on the platform. The physicality of the man facing her, his sheer brute strength…‘How do you know so much about me?’

As his sensual lips curved in a confident smile she noticed that his eyes remained cold.

‘I make it my business to know everything that happens on this island.’

‘Then you must know my determination—’

‘To speak? Yes, I do,’ he said as if this was obvious. ‘But not here and not today.’ And when she started again he added firmly, ‘This is not the appropriate forum for a heated discussion, Ms Mendoras—’

‘So you say—’

‘Yes, I do say.’

To her amazement he flicked out a business card. ‘I think you’ll find there are better ways of getting your point across.’ His voice turned faintly mocking. ‘For example, you could make an appointment with my secretary…’

She had massively underestimated him. She had pictured herself in the middle of an impassioned protest that included all the locals. But where were they? Had Kosta won them over with little more than a fairground for the children, and an endless supply of good food and wine…?

As a member of his security team approached them Ellie guessed this was the moment when she would be bundled unceremoniously off the stage.

The man glanced at her as he whispered something to his master, and Kosta smiled and shook his head. Then he added some remark in Greek she couldn’t catch. ‘This isn’t funny, Kirie Kosta—’

‘Am I laughing, Ms Mendoras?’ he snapped icily. ‘May I remind you that I have a speech to complete when I have finished with you?’

The crowd had waited a long time for him to return, and still they were quiet. They were satisfied he had everything in hand and had forgotten her, Ellie realised.

‘Shall I ask my PA to expect your call?’ Kosta prompted.

‘You’d meet with me?’

‘It’s that simple, Ms Mendoras.’

His husky tone strummed an unwelcome chord inside her, which Ellie tried very hard to ignore.

‘There’s really no need for all this drama…’

Ellie squeezed her eyes shut briefly in defeat. But wasn’t this everything she wanted? Alexander Kosta offering to meet with her? The faint spice of his cologne invaded her nostrils, reminding her how closely they were standing.

‘Take my offer,’ he said coldly, ‘or leave it. I really don’t care.’

Ellie’s gaze rested on the business card. ‘I’m not agreeing to anything until you allow me speak to the crowd—’

‘Why would they want to listen to you? What could you possibly offer them?’

He was right, Ellie realised with frustration. ‘If no one cares about Lefkis, as you suggest, what is the point in my making an appointment to see you?’

‘Because you care?’ he challenged. ‘Now, are we finished, Ms Mendoras?’

Ellie’s anger grew as she remembered the eviction notice that had been served on her that morning. All the other fishermen had left the deep-water harbour, but she had stayed on because they had asked her to make this protest. She could see how naïve she’d been now. ‘Yes, we’re finished. I have wasted enough time on a man who doesn’t care about this island or its people—’

‘You make a lot of assumptions about me. And if you won’t stop this nonsense now I think we’d better talk sooner rather than later.’

Ellie’s throat constricted with panic as Alexander beckoned to one of his men. Her flesh crawled at the thought of some man she didn’t know touching her.

‘Escort this young lady to the Olympus. I’ll deal with her when I’ve finished here. Ms Mendoras will be my guest,’ he added, as an afterthought.

The man’s attitude towards her changed immediately. His boss’s message to treat her with respect had been received.

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Ellie said stubbornly.

She was looking at his yacht and he could see the fear in her eyes. Good. Girls like Ellie Mendoras should be taught a lesson. A yacht the size of the Olympus wasn’t just another boat in the harbour, it was another country, subject to its own rules and boundaries, all of which were decided by him. She knew that once on board she would be cut off from the outside world.

‘I prefer neutral ground,’ she insisted.

‘I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter.’ He nodded to his man.

He felt his senses stir. The chase excited him. He would close her down and end the protest very soon.

‘I couldn’t…be alone with you,’ she said hesitantly.

The protest was over that easily? Surely not! ‘I’m sure I can answer your concerns.’ He gave a curt nod, telling his man to keep an eye on her.

A rousing cheer greeted him as he returned to the stage. He had to wait for the crowd to quieten down before he could speak. When they did he asked them to be patient a little longer, and, leaning from the stage, he identified a local woman who he knew commanded respect, and asked her to join him.

Ellie couldn’t hide her surprise when Alexander came back with Kiria Theodopulos. The old lady was one of the elders of the island, and highly respected. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked him suspiciously.

‘Since you feel the need for a chaperon, I have invited Kiria Theodopulos to join us on my yacht.’

Ellie shivered inwardly. Alexander Kosta was blocking her every move, but she couldn’t waste this opportunity to put the locals’ case for purely selfish reasons. ‘All right,’ she agreed, ‘I’ll do it.’

CHAPTER TWO

‘YOU are well-meaning, but misguided, Ms Mendoras.’

‘And you are an arrogant plutocrat who presumes he knows what’s best for everyone…’

OK, this was not going exactly to plan. The atmosphere between them was deteriorating rapidly. It seemed they couldn’t inhabit the same space without passions being roused.

Ellie and Alexander were confronting each other in Alexander’s study on board the Olympus. She was standing stiff and angry on one side of his desk, while Alexander lounged comfortably in a padded leather chair on the other.

As far as he was concerned he alone knew what was best for the island, Ellie fumed. He wasn’t prepared to listen to anyone else’s point of view, least of all hers. Just as she had imagined, the Olympus was more than a floating home; the yacht was Alexander Kosta’s kingdom—a kingdom he ruled without a council.

‘Why don’t you sit down and relax, Ms Mendoras?’

He pointed to the comfortable chair one of his lackeys had drawn up for her.

‘I’m here to make a point, not to make myself comfortable.’

‘Please yourself.’ He shrugged.

Ellie was deeply conscious that, sitting silently some distance away from them, Kiria Theodopulos was a party to everything. The old lady was both her rock and her sticking point. She felt safe, but she couldn’t say half the things she would have liked to. Respect for the old lady’s traditional values meant she had to keep a curb on her tongue. ‘Mr Kosta—’

‘Ms Mendoras? Or may I call you Ellie?’

As Kiria Theodopulos gave an almost imperceptible nod Ellie knew she didn’t have much alternative.

‘Good,’ he said smoothly, ‘and in that case I have no objection to you calling me Alexander…’

‘You’re too kind.’ She could think of plenty more things she’d like to call him, but for now Alexander would have to do.

‘So, tell me what’s on your mind,’ he prompted.

In truth? Very little right now. Ellie’s mind had emptied faster than a sieve. Calling Alexander Kosta by his first name was far too intimate for her liking. But she could handle it, Ellie reassured herself. ‘You can’t expect to throw Lefkis open to all comers, Alexander, and have no consequences…’

He took his time to answer her and rubbed one firm thumb pad across the stubble on his chin before he did.

‘You seem to know a lot about my future plans for the island, Ellie.’

His expression suggested quite the contrary; that she knew nothing.

‘Do you really care for this island, or was your protest today prompted by self-interest?’

‘What?’ Ellie couldn’t believe her ears.

‘It just seems to me to be too much of a coincidence that on the day you learn you are about to lose your berth in the deep-water harbour you launch a campaign against me…’

Kiria Theodopulos stiffened as if she would have liked to intervene. ‘Of course I care about my berth,’ Ellie said quickly, wanting to save the old lady further hurt. ‘It was my father’s, and his father’s before him.’ Her eyes turned to emerald ice as she held Alexander’s gaze, daring him to contradict her.

‘Well, I just can’t understand your concerns. What is wrong with your new berth on the other side of the island?’

‘Exactly my point!’ Ellie blazed. ‘It’s on the other side of the island. Why is that, Alexander? Is the fishing fleet too unsightly for your new visitors? Will everyone who fails to live up to your exacting standards be replaced or relocated where they can’t be seen? What will you do if your wealthy friends complain about the lack of local colour? Will you have us bussed in?’

Kiria Theodopulos nodded.

‘I’ll be sure to give some consideration to what you’ve said,’ Kosta said.

And that’s likely! Ellie thought grimly. How could she expect a man like Alexander Kosta to understand that the very thing that made Lefkis unique was about to be diluted by him, until the culture of the island, as well as the delicate balance of life in the sea, no longer existed? ‘You can’t go ahead without consultation—’

‘I can do what I like, since I own the island,’ he pointed out. ‘I have made the necessary investigations, and I have concluded that the deep-water harbour can’t be wasted. The revenue from visiting yachts alone—’

‘Profit. It all boils down to money with you—’

‘If only I had the luxury of being an idealist—’

‘But you do,’ Ellie protested. ‘Can’t you see? You could have it all—’

‘I think you’ll find that my way, the calm and reasoned way, will work better,’ Alexander insisted, not missing the opportunity to point out that she was losing control. ‘The influx of visitors means every one of those deep-water berths will be required. You should be pleased, Ellie. The shallow harbour I have reserved for you and for the other fishing boats will be ideal for your purpose.’

‘Say you!’

‘I have decided this,’ Alexander confirmed steadily, holding Ellie’s impassioned gaze.

‘Don’t you care that the fishing fleet has considered this harbour to be its home for centuries?’

‘That’s not strictly true…’

There was triumph, and humour too, on Alexander’s face, and even Kiria Theodopulos flinched a little at that last point. Ellie wasn’t totally sure of her facts; she had only lived on Lefkis for the past eight years, and now, maddeningly, her eyes had filled with tears. The truth was she loved her simple life on the island and she couldn’t bear to see anything change. It hadn’t taken much for a few hotheads amongst the locals to provoke her into action. ‘You can’t sweep generations of tradition away and expect Lefkis to retain its charm,’ she pointed out more calmly, thankful for an agreeing tilt of Kiria Theodopulos’s head.

‘When I require your advice, Ellie, I’ll be sure to ask for it—’

‘Why bother when you’d only ignore it?’

‘Anticipating my actions again, Ellie?’

‘Someone should stand up to you—’

‘And that person’s you?’

‘Why not me?’ Ellie said, firming her jaw as Alexander rose out of his chair.

‘Ellie Mendoras? A one-woman army?’

‘If I must be.’ It was a pity her voice quavered at that point, and an even bigger pity she had to crane her neck in order to hold his gaze.

He moved so fast she gasped out loud as he came towards her.

‘Tea?’ he said, reaching past her to ring a bell.

He asked Kiria Theodopulos the same question and, having received a positive response, flashed Ellie a triumphant glance. Oh, yes, everything appeared to be going Alexander Kosta’s way.

Was she strong enough to stand up to him? Ellie wondered as Alexander took up position in front of one of the picture windows. Only time would tell. So far he seemed totally unconcerned by everything that had happened.

He might have been fresh from the shower. Effortlessly elegant and perfectly groomed, he had made her feel doubly drab. A fact that shouldn’t concern her at all, but for some reason did.

‘May I make one small suggestion?’ he said, indicating that he would whatever she thought.

As they all sat down at the tea table Ellie could only incline her head in agreement and force a smile. But her eyes told Alexander a rather different story.

‘Don’t make threats to me you can’t honour, Ellie.’

He spoke so pleasantly even Kiria Theodopulos smiled.

It was a relief when the steward put the tray of tea in front of them and stopped her relatiating. The man’s whispering presence gave Ellie the chance to look around. She had expected everything on board Alexander’s yacht was of the best, and it was, but everything was restrained to the point of being boring. It was as if in spite of his massive wealth Alexander had no real interest in material objects.

You would look in vain for some sign of frivolity or excess here, Ellie concluded. Everything, including the master of the Olympus, took itself very seriously indeed. The pictures might have been gathered by an expert in classical art, and the colour scheme was muted. There was no relief, from the thick taupe carpet underfoot, to the few ornaments scattered about. They were all in shades of bronze, ivory or pewter-grey. The emphasis on leather and polished wood also added to the sombre atmosphere.

Nothing twinkled.

But that was her style too! In some strange way, Ellie realised, the interior of Alexander’s fabulous yacht mirrored her austere lifestyle on board the simple fishing boat. This was more opulent, obviously, but the environment in which Alexander both lived and worked was contained and controlled to within an inch of its life, just like her own spartan accommodation. It was as if neither of them wanted to draw attention, though for vastly different reasons, of course…

It was quite a shock to recognise these similarities between them. She didn’t enjoy the comparison. Wiping her hands self-consciously on her working clothes, Ellie was forced to admit they were hardly frivolous. The truth was she didn’t possess a single item of clothing, or anything else for that matter, that wasn’t functional.

‘Can I get you anything else?’ Alexander glanced at his wrist-watch as she drained her cup.

The meeting was over, so she had to press for a result. ‘I’m just looking for an assurance that you will take the views of the islanders into consideration before you make any changes that might affect them.’

‘What makes you think that I won’t do that?’

When she didn’t flash back an answer he relaxed. He was over his initial irritation and could see her uses. In fact, Ellie Mendoras had come along at the perfect time. She was the ideal person to win over any remaining dissenters on the island. ‘You have five minutes to tell me where your main concerns lie,’ he said.

Patience didn’t come easily to him, but in this instance it would be worth it. Plus, she was easy on the eye and he was determined to find out everything he could about her. His usual sources had drawn a blank. The locals either knew nothing, or would tell him nothing; the time had come to make his own enquiries.

Everyone had their price, even Ellie Mendoras, Alexander reflected as she talked. She would sail her ramshackle boat to the harbour he had chosen for her, and she would keep her nose out of his business; he was determined on that. So how had this feisty local girl got under his skin? He flashed a glance at Kiria Theodopulos, who had returned to her comfortable seat overlooking the ocean. She was a safeguard, without being an intrusion. Her presence was as much a precaution for him as it was for Ellie. He’d seen too many men in his position trapped by young women who engineered a meeting only to sell their fabricated kiss-and-tell stories some time later. He’d suffered the only deception he intended to at the hands of a woman, and had no intention of repeating that mistake.

Alexander’s gaze returned to Ellie, who was still talking earnestly. He was barely listening to her. Instead he was inwardly celebrating that he had pulled the rug from her feet with such remarkable ease. How had she thought she could confront him, and even shame him in front of a crowd of people, all of whom owed their livelihoods to him? Such naïvety was rare. He put it down to the fact that she had hidden herself away from the world since her father had drowned. Why else had his enquiries about her been met with a wall of silence?

He shifted position restlessly. Naïve or not, she had forgotten the first rule of commerce, which was that he who paid the piper called the tune. He wasn’t going to change his mind about the power-boat races or anything else, including his decision to relocate the fishing fleet…He had been enjoying watching her face growing increasingly animated as she talked, but it was time to wrap this up; she’d had her five minutes. ‘When did you say you intended leaving your mooring?’

‘I didn’t…’ She paled. ‘You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you, Alexander?’

He got up and walked to the window. He’d been sitting down long enough. Ellie Mendoras was out of her depth trying to stand against him. Someone should have warned her that it wasn’t his way to swat mosquitoes when he could afford to drain a swamp and have a road built through it.

‘I think you care more about the celebrities you can attract to Lefkis than the people who actually live here,’ she accused him.

He’d heard enough and rounded on her, eyes blazing. ‘You’re not qualified to make judgements like that. What do you know about how I feel? I beg your pardon, Kiria Theodopulos,’ he was forced to add as his words split the silence. Fortunately, the old lady kept her face carefully averted.

‘I feel sorry for you, Alexander—’

‘Oh, do you?’ He glared back at Ellie. Didn’t she ever give up? ‘Well, you can spare me your pity.’

He spun on his heel, turning his back on her, and then stood motionless, staring out of the window. Her continued defiance made his spine tingle. He was acutely aware of her as a woman. He wanted to take this passion somewhere else. Fast. Have her up against a wall to ease his tension. ‘This meeting’s over,’ he said coldly. Lucky for him that reason took over.

He was on the point of delivering an ultimatum when his glance clashed with the raisin-black stare of Kiria Theodopulos. OK, for her sake and for her sake alone he would offer one more olive branch. ‘Didn’t my agent explain that together with a peppercorn rent for your new mooring you will be well compensated?’

Whatever he had been expecting in response, it wasn’t this. Balling her hands into fists, Ellie came towards him.

‘One stroke of your pen—that’s all it takes for you to change someone’s life, isn’t it? Well, let me tell you something, Alexander; you won’t get away with this—’

‘It’s a perfectly reasonable offer.’ He looked at Kiria Theodopulos for support, only to find that the old lady seemed to have gone conveniently deaf. ‘You’re taking up a berth—’

‘That could be better used by one of your gas-guzzling, planet-wrecking monstrosities?’ Throwing her head back in disgust, Ellie uttered a heartfelt sound of contempt.

As the sunlight caught her auburn hair it blazed like fire. He could picture it spread out on a pillow in all its gleaming abundance…He quickly blanked the thought. ‘I have to think about the economy of this island and the prosperity that an annual influx of wealthy visitors and their boats can bring—’

‘Boats?’ She cut him off. ‘These things aren’t boats.’ She gestured around in a manner worthy of any Greek. ‘They take no skill to sail with their computerised systems, their radar and autopilot! You’re a Greek, Alexander! How could you support these…?’

‘Monstrosities?’ he supplied evenly. ‘Yachts this size are increasingly a fact of life, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

She bit down on her lip. Her eyes filled with tears. For the first time in his life he wanted to back off rather than press on to victory.

He quickly got over it. Allowing her a moment to compose herself, he offered her a fresh, neatly pressed handkerchief. ‘Pull yourself together,’ he said brusquely.

Sniffing loudly and indelicately, she refused it. Tilting her head with pride, she informed him, ‘My father used that berth all his life. The people who live around the harbour knew and loved him, and now they know me…’

And would love her, he realised with a blow to his solar plexus. ‘Time moves on, Ellie, and we must move with it…’

‘Time?’ Her brow was wrinkled as she considered this. ‘So the heritage of this island means nothing to you? You bought Lefkis and now it’s yours to do with as you like?’

‘That’s right,’ he said, relieved that she was starting to see sense.

‘Then I dread the consequences,’ she told him gravely.

‘I think you’d better explain yourself,’ he threatened.

‘If Lefkis is the latest toy in your toy box, what happens when you tire of the island, Alexander? Will you just toss it out of the playpen?’

‘I’m not going to dignify that comment with a reply.’

Her response was to jut out her chin in a way that, had she been a man, would have invited him to take a swing at it. But the issues at stake were too serious to allow this meeting to deteriorate into a game of tit for tat.

‘This would never have happened in my father’s time,’ she said, shaking her head as if he was in the wrong.

It was time for a few home truths. ‘In your father’s time there was no clinic on the island. There was no hospital, no secondary school and people died from influenza before a doctor could arrive by sea from another island. In your father’s time Lefkis was a poverty-stricken pile of rocks where people scratched a living the best way they could—’

‘But they stayed,’ she argued passionately. ‘And why do you think that was, Alexander?’

Before he could tell her they had nowhere else to go, she gave him her version of events.

‘They stayed on because Lefkis was their home, their community, their family. They stayed on because they love the island as I do. Are the fiestas a recent custom? No. They’ve been held on Lefkis for hundreds of years. Do the tourists crowd in to witness some stage show contrived to strip them of their money before they leave? Are these people actors, or shallow charlatans?’ As she pointed to Kiria Theodopulos, her mouth worked with emotion. ‘Is that what you believe, Alexander?’ Her eyes blazed into his. ‘Because if you do, you’ll never be worthy to call yourself a son of Lefkis, even if you do own the island—’

‘Have you finished?’ he said coldly. ‘Good; then let me explain something. My success is founded on the solid rock of self-belief. That and sound judgement. This island is going to change. I will bring power-boat racing. I will clear the deep-water harbour in order to accommodate the bigger vessels. And I will not risk the future prosperity of Lefkis in order to humour you and a few local hotheads!’ Or to placate Kiria Theodopulos, whom he noticed now had reached up to clasp Ellie’s hand.

The silence in the room climbed to a new level as they stared at each other. He had let loose more emotion in these last few minutes than he had in years. And emotion had always been his enemy.

CHAPTER THREE

HE RANG a bell discreetly with his foot. It brought the steward hurrying back. ‘You may take the tea tray away now,’ he told him. ‘We’re finished here.’

‘I’m not finished,’ Ellie asserted, glancing at the steward’s retreating back.

‘I am,’ he told her coldly. Striding past her, he opened the door. ‘Accept what you have been told, or you’ll hear from my agent again. I’d like to keep this friendly, but…’

She got the message. He didn’t need to say anything more. Realisation dawned swiftly behind her eyes. This wasn’t just a question of a berth for her fishing boat, or a power-boat race or anything else that might concern her—it had come down to a decision as to whether or not she would be allowed to remain living on the island.

Instead of crumbling into misery she stared at him with an expression of undiluted fury in her eyes. Then, stalking stiff-legged across the room, she came to join him at the door.

He stood back to allow her to pass. As he did so he caught a whiff of her scent: soap, sea and engine oil. It was something he would never forget. Surprisingly, he found it quite a winning combination. Wisely he kept his wandering thoughts to himself and confined himself to a curt nod of dismissal.

‘Goodbye, Kirie Kosta,’ Ellie intoned with matching formality.

She met his gaze fearlessly. Her mouth was compressed in an angry line and her eyes were still blazing fire at him. She stood in front of him long enough for him to notice that her curly hair was sun-streaked to the point of being blonde at the temples, and however hard she tried to flatten those lips they still curved in a perfect Cupid’s bow.

‘Kiria Theodopulos?’ she said, looking past him into the room.

He had forgotten the old lady was even there, and yet he noticed everything about Ellie. There was a smudge of oil on her cheek that drew his attention back to the ugly scar…As she brought her hand up to cover it he wondered at the shame she was feeling—the shame that showed in her eyes. It puzzled him. It even softened him, just a little. ‘Make an appointment if you want to see me again,’ he said gruffly as the two women walked past him.

‘When can I see you?’ Ellie demanded like a shot.

‘My PA keeps my diary.’ He refused to be pressured by a child. She looked so young standing beside Kiria Theodopulos…and, of course, good Greek manners dictated that he should escort the old lady back to the shore. This wasn’t over yet. He offered his arm to Kiria Theodopulos, and when she took it Ellie had no option but to follow on behind.

When they reached the shore something made him throw Ellie a lifeline. ‘I’m holding a meeting tomorrow. You should attend. It’s on neutral territory,’ he added with some irony.

‘Where?’ She looked at him with interest.

‘In the council building.’

‘I know it.’

Her remorseless enthusiasm for her cause niggled at him. ‘It’s at eleven. Miss it and you won’t get a second chance.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, as if he had offered her something graciously.

Maybe he should have added that she would get a hearing by people on his payroll, but why not let her find that out for herself? It might have more impact that way; show her she was defending a lost cause. ‘Do you have a problem?’ he said, realising she was still standing there, looking thoughtful.

‘My wardrobe is somewhat limited.’

The elders of Lefkis were a formal group who wouldn’t take kindly to someone turning up in a boiler suit—even if that someone was Ellie. ‘I have a secretary who might be prepared to lend you something to wear,’ he offered.

‘I can afford my own clothes, thank you, Kirie Kosta,’ she said, tilting that chin of hers again.

‘Alexander,’ he reminded her. ‘And don’t be late.’

‘I’ll be there,’ she assured him with suppressed excitement.

This was just the opportunity she had been waiting for—what a shame, he thought; it really wouldn’t do her any good. ‘Ellie…’

‘Yes?’

He had been about to offer her an advance on the compensation she would receive for quitting her berth to give her funds to buy some formal clothes, but why should he? Why not let her climb out of the hole she’d dug herself? ‘Forget it,’ he said.

‘You will let me speak tomorrow?’ she said suspiciously.

‘You’ll never know if you don’t turn up, will you?’

Her eyes were round and wounded. He moved in for the kill. ‘If you’d troubled to read the papers my agent served on you, you would know the compensation I’m paying is enough for you to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes and the best boat on the market—’

‘I already own the best boat on the market. And as for money, contrary to what you believe, it counts for nothing here—’

‘Oh, really? So the economy of this island works on a different system from the rest of the world? Get real, Ellie. Come to the meeting, or call it a day. It’s the only offer on the table—’

‘And if I don’t like the outcome?’

He gave her a look.

‘I have no right of appeal, is that right?’

She understood now.

No right of appeal? Ellie fumed. So, Lefkis was about to become a dictatorship under the heel of Alexander Kosta. Having survived the rule of one tyrant, it was going to suffer another. Her mind was in ferment as she walked briskly down the quay. Maybe she had been too long on an island surrounded by people she could trust and had lost her sense of what was and what wasn’t acceptable behaviour, but Alexander Kosta had really gone too far.

And she was going to take him on single-handedly?

Yes, if she had to; what other option did she have?

Ellie glanced up as she reached her berth. She had been distracted by the braying laughter coming from the towering white yacht moored up next to her boat. The occupants of the super-yacht would be well into their champagne by now, which meant she had another sleepless night to look forward to.

And how would Alexander sleep? Ellie wondered, gazing back at the Olympus. The last thing she wanted to think about was Alexander stretched out on his palatial bed, but…

Perhaps he never slept. Perhaps he just stood by the window, staring out at his well-packed marina, gloating over the revenue the super-yachts would bring him.

Taking hold of the familiar rope that said she was home, Ellie ground her teeth in anger as she padded lightly up the gangway. She was wasting her time imagining Alexander might one day change and use all that power he wielded for good. But she’d have another go, tomorrow at the meeting. And as for wondering if that stern face of his ever cracked a smile…

Perhaps he didn’t have any teeth…She laughed to herself.

Buoyed up by that thought, Ellie strode purposefully across the deck. Closing the hatch door behind her as she climbed down the companionway, she bolted it securely. Alexander wasn’t the only one in Lefkis who kept his life locked up tight.

Turning on the low-voltage lights that made everything so cosy, Ellie started making plans for the meeting. She suspected Alexander was only humouring her, with his decision about the race and the harbour already made, but still, she had to try to shake people out of their apathy. If she didn’t succeed Alexander’s stranglehold on the island would be complete.

Reaching inside her neatly stowed fridge, she got out a carton of milk and poured a glass. Moving back across the cabin to the porthole, she peered out. She could see the Olympus, where no doubt right now Alexander was busy ticking off another tame local willing to rubber-stamp his ideas. Big mistake. She tipped her glass in an ironic salute.

But there was nowhere else she would rather be, so she had to tread carefully and at least appear to play by his rules. The neighbouring islands were just as beautiful as Lefkis, but they didn’t exert the same hold over her. Not that she wanted to become part of some ritzy set-up, which seemed to be Alexander’s plan for Lefkis.

Ellie pulled back from the window. The thought of more conflict with Alexander had made her heart thunder uncontrollably. She’d seen the lights of the Olympus reflected in the water. Could Alexander see her staring at him?

Ridiculous! Of course he couldn’t…

Rinsing out her glass, she put it away, then, going to the small tin where she kept her cash, she counted it out. There was enough ‘just in case’ money to buy a cheap two-piece at the market, and maybe a pair of proper shoes as well…

She was on time, which he might have expected, but what on earth was she wearing? Alexander’s discerning gaze swept over Ellie’s market-stall outfit. The jacket, in an alarming shade of sludge-green, was far too small for her. Under that was a hideous pink nylon lace top. He couldn’t remember ever seeing anything quite so horrendous. But on the plus side he hadn’t seen her breasts before, and now he could see them clearly beneath the close-fitting top. They were large and pert. Very nice…

He dragged his gaze away to consider a skirt so big it had swung around her hips, leaving the slit that was supposed to be at the back at the side. She looked a mess. Not that the elderly man currently showing her to her seat seemed to notice…

He had arranged for her to sit on the front row, right under his gaze and where he could keep an eye on her. Why was the usher taking so long to settle her? What did they find to talk and laugh about? She looked relaxed. Too relaxed.

One thing puzzled him. It was clear she knew the elderly usher, but he was holding on to her arm in his enthusiasm when she’d panicked at the thought of his bodyguards touching her. It was another piece of the puzzle like the scar on her cheek…

Alexander frowned as he organised the papers in front of him. He had no time to waste on Ellie Mendoras today. She’d have her chance to speak and that would be an end of it.

‘Ms Mendoras, sit down. It isn’t your turn to speak yet.’ He couldn’t believe she was causing trouble again. She should realise that everyone here was in his camp. Maybe she did, but that hadn’t stopped her protesting. ‘Ms Mendoras!’ His voice cracked out like a blow with a gavel.

‘Mr Kosta,’ she rapped back at him to a murmur of general surprise. ‘This audience is largely composed of visitors to the island, all of whom have a vested interest in being here. I speak for the locals—’

‘I think I know that—’

‘Profit is the only goal of the newcomers you have introduced to the island,’ she went on, ignoring him. ‘These races of yours—’

‘Will take place. Now sit down, Ms Mendoras, before I have you removed from the chamber—’

‘Am I the only person here who cares about this island?’ she demanded, ignoring him as she gazed passionately around the packed council chamber.

She was certainly the only person present holding their shoes in their hand. ‘I’m warning you,’ he tried for one last time, ‘sit down now, or I’ll have you ejected.’

Her look suggested, you and whose army? And as he held her fiery gaze he wanted to be the one to cart her out, but he wouldn’t deposit her on the pavement—he would keep walking until they reached his bed. ‘I’ll tell you when it’s your turn to speak.’

‘You will?’ she panted tensely.

‘Yes, I will,’ he confirmed briskly. ‘Now, can we get on?’

Reluctantly, she sat down.

Ellie twisted the fabric of her skirt as she waited for her turn. So far she hadn’t heard anything to reassure her. What was worse, Alexander wouldn’t stop staring at her. Shouldn’t he be paying attention to whomever was talking at the time?

Ellie dipped her head to avoid Alexander’s gaze, but when she looked up again he was still staring at her. She firmed her jaw. She had every right to be here, and to be heard. And hadn’t she, in fact, come at his personal invitation? Who was going to stand up against him if she didn’t? She had to save Lefkis from Alexander.

And save Alexander from himself?

A rush of awareness pulsed through her at the thought. She was prepared to hold her hands up right now on that one; Alexander would have to save himself.

No one had listened to a word she’d said. Her audience had grown restless and impatient. No one wanted to hear about conservation issues or anything else that might skim the cream off their profit. He almost felt sorry for her as she stood up to go. She knew she had failed. She knew he had seen her fail. She had played her hand and had received muted applause for her trouble. Even if anyone had agreed with her everyone was frightened of offending him.

He caught up with her outside. ‘Hey…’

‘What do you want?’ She turned defensively, still prepared to do battle.

He looked at the angle of her chin and the rigidity of her shoulders. She was hurt. Hurt that no one had listened to her, not even the elders she cared so much about. Everything had worked out in his favour. He could have told her that was what would happen and saved her the trouble of coming. ‘I just wanted to make sure that this little protest of yours is over—’

‘Over?’ she cut across him acidly.

‘Don’t be silly, Ellie!’ he exclaimed with frustration, seeing the fight in her eyes. ‘Progress is essential, even on a small island like Lefkis. Without it everything comes to a standstill. You don’t want that, do you?’

‘I don’t want you…undiluted you, deciding what the rest of us should have to accept in our daily lives. I don’t want Lefkis becoming a place where people who aren’t rich or famous aren’t welcome. I don’t want the island I know and love becoming a satellite of your ivory tower—a multi-million-pound playground for you to dip into whenever you’re feeling bored.’ She marched on, refusing to turn and look at him.

‘And if we follow your plan,’ he said, keeping in step with her, ‘a slow-down in the economy here will be followed by steady decline. The young people, the lifeblood of the island, will be forced to emigrate in search of jobs, leaving the old people to fend for themselves. Is that what you want, Ellie? Ellie! Stop walking away from me!’ Gripping her shoulders, he turned her to face him. Her eyes blazed in passionate fury. ‘I won’t allow that to happen. I have to provide full employment…’ But as he spoke he realised he was no longer interested in words. He was consumed by her—her passion, her fight, her attempt to show her disinterest in him.

Under his dark scrutiny her gaze wavered. He steered her into the shadows, away from all the curious eyes. His gaze dropped to her lips. The chemistry between them was electric; irresistible…

Kissing Ellie was like finding harbour after an endless voyage. It was more sex and lust than a week in bed with any normal woman. She resisted him to begin with; he’d expected that. But then her hands went round his neck, and she dragged him close. The kiss was hot, angry—driven by their need and frustration. Her abandon startled him; delighted him. But it was also his cue to back right off. He couldn’t afford to lose control.

Turning his face away from her, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He was almost desperate to eradicate the taste of her. He doubted he’d ever succeed. She’d tasted fresh and young and eager and innocent. And he wanted her.

‘Is that supposed to keep me quiet?’ she asked him with contempt in her voice.

He looked at her; she was shaking, but not from fear.

‘This is going nowhere—’

‘You think I’d want it to?’ she asked incredulously, while her body told him something else.

He watched her stalk away with a heady mix of lust and relief. That was Ellie Mendoras over and done with. His attention was needed elsewhere. Business called and, in his world, business always came first.

What had she done? Ellie touched her lips again, tentatively, and then went to look at them in the mirror. She traced them cautiously with her fingertip. They were still swollen and very pink, and the delicate skin around them was still a little sore where Alexander’s beard had abraded her.

And even now, so long after The Kiss, she was still trembling, her heart was still racing and she was still aroused. What frightened her even more than her inexplicable lapse of good sense was the way Alexander had quite suddenly switched off. One minute he had been kissing her in the most bone-melting way, and the next standing aloof, staring at her coldly as if nothing at all had happened. OK, so her behaviour could be comfortably classified as insane, but his emotional detachment was chilling. What had happened to him? Could money do that to you?

Ellie turned from the mirror knowing she had too much work ahead of her to dwell on how stupid she’d been. She had put herself at risk when she of all people knew better, and had allowed Alexander to think she was easy. It was time to get her life back on track.

He saw her first. He guessed she was stocking up on provisions for that day’s trip. He had to question the thump in his guts when he first caught sight of her. He tipped his sunglasses down his nose, then settled them straight again before getting on with the job of policing the moorings. He was checking up on the new safety provisions he’d put in place for the crowded harbour…

Was he? Was he really? Didn’t he have scores of people who could do that for him?

He brushed all thoughts of what had happened between them aside as he strolled up to her. He blocked out the way she’d felt, the way she’d tasted, the way she’d made him feel. He replaced all those thoughts with anger, mostly directed at himself. ‘I thought you would have gone by now.’

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Alexander.’

He glanced pointedly in the direction of her boat.

‘My time isn’t up.’

She held his gaze to repeat her assertion that he didn’t frighten her. Interesting that she was trembling.

‘I’d love to stay and talk, Alexander,’ she lied, ‘but as you can see I’ve got a trip to prepare for. My last trip from this harbour.’

Having got this last dig in, she moved away.

‘Fully booked, I hope?’

‘Yes…’

She didn’t look round, but the tension was still there in her shoulders, even though he knew her chin would be tipped at a defiant angle. He guessed she’d walk up and down with a sandwich board on her back if that was what it took to drum up business from her new mooring. ‘If your tours are so popular you shouldn’t have any problem persuading your clientele to follow you across the island—’

‘Let’s hope you’re right,’ she called back to him.

If looks could kill he was a dead man. She was playing him at his own game, acting as if they’d never met, never touched, never kissed, and all that with a world of passion driving them. ‘I thought you had more confidence than that—’

‘I’ve got all the confidence I need, Alexander,’ she assured him, tossing her hair in defiance as she walked away.

He wasn’t finished yet; no one walked away from him. ‘I’m having a dinner party on board the Olympus tonight—’

‘Enjoy…’

‘Why don’t you come along?’ Better to keep her where he knew what she was doing than allow her to spread her dissent through those he had already converted to his way.

She hesitated; then turned around. Her brow was puckered as if in thought. ‘Well, that’s a real shame, Alexander. I won’t be able to make it tonight. You see, my tour won’t return in time…’

His lips tightened. The last thing he had expected was to be turned down flat. ‘This event will last well into the night,’ he said, walking up to her. ‘Please yourself, Ellie.’ Their faces were dangerously close. He shrugged and drew back as she stared up at him. If she wanted a fight she’d picked the right person.

He watched her walk away down the quay—proud, defiant, passionate, and asking to be laid. He could wait. Life was a game of chess. The only problem for Ellie was his life was the only game he cared about.

CHAPTER FOUR

AND anyway, I’ve got nothing to wear, Ellie told herself as she moved about the boat, making the last of her preparations for her tour.

I’m sure you have, her inner voice argued. What’s wrong with what you’re wearing now?

Market-stall clothes? A cheap cotton top and shorts? Every girl knew that was the dream outfit for dinner on board a billionaire’s yacht. Not that she had the slightest intention of attending Alexander’s party, of course. She hadn’t lost her hold on reason altogether.

Turning Alexander’s invitation down flat and seeing surprise flash across those hard green eyes had been worth every moment of her one-off loss of control when he’d kissed her. And a one-off it had to be. Not that she hadn’t replayed The Kiss over and over in her mind, but in those daydreams it had been safe to kiss him, because Alexander had been magically transformed into a pleasant, reasonable man and she, of course, had become Miss Sensible, who knew just where to draw the line.

And now it was time to draw the line under her daydreams altogether, Ellie told herself firmly. With the keenest of her group expected on board any minute she still had some final checks to complete.

Everything looked good. The radio was playing up and there was no time to fix it, but as she wouldn’t be going out of signal range her mobile phone would do. She kept it primed with all the emergency numbers she could possibly need. She had cleaned every inch of the boat, and the ingredients for lunch—pasta with a fresh tomato sauce and cheese along with home-baked bread and crisp green salad—were stowed away in the refrigerator in the galley. Planting her hands on her hips, Ellie surveyed her kingdom. It looked as if she was ready.

The success of her tours had exceeded Ellie’s wildest expectations. It was a wrench to think this would be her last trip from the main harbour, but at least she was going out with a bang—no thanks to Alexander. Ten people had booked, which was the maximum number she could take on board.

Glancing at the notice to quit she had received from his agent soon wiped the smile off her face. Forty-eight hours to arrange everything and say goodbye to the harbour where her father’s boat had been berthed for generations was nothing short of an insult.

Alexander hadn’t wasted a second when he bought the island, Ellie reflected angrily, gripping the rough hessian ropes at the sides of the companionway as she headed back on deck. Fortunately it would take him a little longer than that to turn Lefkis into the billionaire’s playground he envisaged, by which time the locals would have surely have rallied and found the courage they needed to keep him on a leash.

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