Aris: A Sexy Romance Novel (Thief of Hearts Series Book 1) (4 page)

“You’re in a private limo!  You can’t even admit the truth to yourselves?”  Saoirse started grinding her teeth.

“I have been a great many things in my life Saoirse MacLear, but I swear to you, I have never been a terrorist.”  Aris tried to hold her chin to look at him but she pulled her head away as he reached for her.

“I sat in questioning sessions with the Feds for a week.  All I heard about was your terrorist group.  All I heard about was the bombings you had done.  The people you’d killed.  The pic...”  Saoirse clenched her jaws as she fought down the tears welling up inside her.

“Saoirse, please look at me.”  Aris tried to touch her but she pulled away.  Aris sighed turning his attention toward Denise.  “I don’t know what the police showed Saoirse, or what they said, but we are not terrorists.  She was there the day we robbed the bank.  No one was hurt.  A pregnant lady was frightened and inconvenienced, but we’ve never killed anyone over anything.”

“And the dead guy in the vault?  Just what did he qualify as?”

Noah lost his temper.  He leaned forward at Saoirse, his nostrils flared, with hate in his eyes.

“LEO was one of ours!  He died trying to open a booby trapped safety deposit box that
Misha’s
people wanted.  We didn’t even know what was in that box nor who had been promised what.  We went to rob a bank for cash.  Do you know what happens when you take cash from a bank?  The government prints more!  If I had had any idea then that Misha’s people were terrorists, or that he would double cross us the way he did, I would have gladly put a bullet in his head to spare Leo’s life.”

Aris put his hand on Noah’s shoulder.  “Easy my friend.  The memories hurt still but there is nothing to be done.”  he turned to look at Saoirse,  “So, the police assumed that because Misha was a terrorist that the rest of us had to be too, even though we left him there for them to capture.”  Aris took a deep breath, “Well, people know it’s foolish to jump to conclusions.  I had assumed they would figure out we had left him behind on purpose, but apparently Misha had a good story for that.  I will not pretend that I am not a criminal.  I have robbed banks, stolen art, acquired things for unscrupulous people to accomplish what I wanted to do, but I swear to you, I have never hurt an innocent, nor have I ever knowingly made it possible for someone else to hurt innocent people either.  I have no way to prove that to you.  I only hope that you will learn to see it for yourself.”

Denise thought she detected hurt in Aris’s eyes,  “So what do you need with us?”

Aris smiled at Denise, “I have thought about Saoirse every day of my life for the last seven years.  I told myself the day I walked away from that helicopter that under different circumstances I would not have left her behind.  After seven years, I finally have time on my hands.  I wanted to see her.”

Noah spoke up while Aris stared at Saoirse,  “We did have an attorney that looked at contracts for our various American dealings.  Unfortunately, he went on a holiday to Hong Kong, met a woman, who somehow, forgot to mention to him that she was married.  When her husband came back from his business trip, our attorney fled.  There are dealings that we need to make sure are appropriately represented, but not nearly enough to make three weeks worth of work.  More like two or three days probably.”

“So...”  Denise shook her head still confused.

Noah hmphed, amazed that an intelligent woman like herself hadn’t put it together yet.  “Ms. Denise, the islands are warm, the people are kind, we have every amenity that you could want or need, could you not do with a paid vacation?”

Denise smiled at him,  “Yes, we could.  Especially paid!”

Saoirse finally broke her silence, addressing Noah, “If this is a paid vacation then why can’t we say no?”

Aris took her hand in his.  She pulled at it but not hard enough to compel him to let go. 

“I have waited seven years for different circumstances.”  Aris kissed her hand as he held it between his.  His hands were warm and soft as they enveloped hers,  “Give me twenty-one days.  Open your mind and your heart.  Judge me for who I am, not who you’ve been told I am.  If after that, you can’t stand the sight of me; then I promise you, you will never see me again.  Will you give me that much?”

“Never again?” she couldn’t look at him.

“Never again.”  Aris promised her.

“Fine.  We leave first thing in the morning.” she pulled her hand out of his, crossing her arms.

The limo dropped Denise off at her apartment before going on to Saoirse’s.  Aris clutched her shoulders.  “You don’t have to pack anything.  Everything you need is already waiting for you.”

“And I suppose it’s all in emerald green?” she was looking at the steps of her apartment rather than face Aris.

Aris laughed at her, “No, my love.  It’s not all in emerald green.” 

He pulled her to him, kissing her cheek as he let go of her.  It wasn’t what he wanted to be doing with her at the moment, but he wasn’t going to push his luck.  “I will be here at six.”

“Fine.” she stalked up the stairs to her apartment.

Saoirse slammed her apartment door behind her.  All she could think about were the Feds waiting for her on the tarmac when she got back.  Her career would be destroyed.  On the other hand, if they didn’t know, he promised she’d never see him again.  Her life might just go back to the way it was.   ‘
Which is what?’
her little voice nagged.  Doing the dirty work for a firm that wouldn’t ever make her a partner, even a junior one.  Reading contracts to make sure her clients got every last thin penny out of the deal with enough vague areas they could come back for more in the future.  If he told her the truth, that he wasn’t a terrorist, who was the monster now?

She changed into comfortable clothes before she slammed drawers and closet doors for the better part of the night.  By 4:30, the only thing in her suitcase was her panties and a couple of bras.  Gathering up the items strewn all over the bedroom, she pushed them into the case.  She showered quickly not bothering to dry her hair.  He said they could sleep on the plane, she was going to. 

As she presumed, the limo arrived at precisely six.  She handed her suitcase to him as she got in the limo.  Aris could see she hadn’t slept yet but said nothing to goad or challenge her this morning.  Denise was already in the limo waiting.

“Seers, you didn’t sleep at all!”  Denise was dressed for vacation in a t-shirt and shorts with tennis shoes. 

She rolled her eyes.  “Morning, Nise.  Hello, Noah.” her tone on Noah’s name was not exactly friendly. 

She plopped down in the seat as Aris took his.  By 7:30 they were in the air. 

Chapter 4

The jet had all the comforts of an expensive apartment including a couch and oversized chairs.  Umpteen hours in flight might not be so obnoxious after all.  Once they were airborne, Denise suggested Saoirse sleep, which was what she had intended to do anyway.  Aris offer
ed her his hand.  She ignored it standing up on her own.  He lead her toward the back of the cabin into a bedroom complete with full sized bed and shower.  She sat down on the bed.  Aris reached over her pulling the shades on the portal windows. 

“There are night gowns in the bottom drawer on the far left, if you want one.” he shut the door behind him.

She stripped down to her t-shirt and panties before crawling between the sheets.  The blankets were heavy and the pillows were thick.  The white noise of the engines masked any sounds from the other compartment.  She was out within minutes.  At some point during her sleep she thought she heard someone come in.  A warm hand, she supposed Aris’s, pulled the blankets up over her shoulder before leaving again.  She woke several hours later having slept fairly well but her mood was no better.  Aris opened the door looking in at her.

“Hungry?”

She shook her head before rolling away from him.  She slept for a few more hours before she rolled out of the bed throwing her clothes on. 

The outer cabin was awash in the bright light of the sun through the portal windows.  She squinted wondering if her mood was going to crash again. 

“Hey Seers!”  Denise was sitting at one of the tables playing some sort of game with Noah that she had never seen before.

“Hey.” she plopped down in one of the chairs. 

“You hungry?  Noah made this turkey and avocado sandwich thing that was really good.  You should eat something.”

“No, thanks.  Where’s my laptop bag?”

“It’s in the corner by the other table.”  Aris appeared at her side offering her a delicately painted cup on a small matching saucer,  “Oh c’mon.  I make fabulous coffee!  You’ll never want to go back to Starbuck’s again.” he smiled at her disdainful grimace.  She took the cup without saying anything, watching Denise having a riot with Noah.

Saoirse sat down at the other table with her laptop looking at copies of contracts she had loaded with a few that she had yet to finish writing.  Her laptop had run down about an hour of its battery when Aris approached the table.  He set another delicate dish in front of her, taking a sip from the demitasse she had left on the other table.  The coffee was probably cold by now but it didn’t seem to bother him.  

“You can’t spend twenty-one days not eating anything and working on other people’s contracts.”  he sat down opposite her,  “Can you?” he took another sip of the coffee watching her type.  “Raw, unsalted cashews.  They’re your favorites.” 

“You spent two hours with me with seven years ago, not all of that time actually with me, but you think you know what my favorite anything is?”  Saoirse arched an eyebrow wrinkling her mouth as she made it clear she didn’t believe he could know anything about her.

“Psychic.” he smiled at her but her expression didn’t change,  “Tell me I’m wrong.  Tell me you don’t like cashews.  I’ll bring you something else.”  Aris shrugged his shoulders looking at her over the demitasse as he took another sip.

“Psychic.  Then you would have known I don’t like emerald green.”

“No, you wear emerald green quite a bit.  Two of your power suits are emerald green.”  Aris laughed, “You don’t like the fact the dress was from me.” 

Saoirse was mad.  She didn’t like the fact that he was right.  She liked it even less that he knew he was right.  But how did he know? 

“Seriously, my love...”

“Oh please!”  she rolled her eyes.

“You’re right.  Raw, unsalted cashews was just a good guess.  They’re a common preference among women like, smoke and stout caramel, or dark chocolate with bacon pieces, or havarti with dill.  Lots of women love ham sandwiches with fig paste or crave macaroni and cheese with gruyere and gouda if you catch them at the wrong time of the month.  Of course, there is always that preference for brownies with cream cheese frosting.  Parlor tricks, right?”  Aris smiled at her anyway,  “But the fact remains, you haven’t eaten in at least the last ten hours.  You ate hardly anything at dinner last night.  I didn’t expect to have to spend twenty-one days attending your hunger strike.”  Aris looked straight at her. 

He was right, she was already breaking her word.  She wasn’t honestly giving him a chance.  Saoirse felt Denise’s eyes on her too, even though she was still playing the game with Noah.  She licked her lips considering what she had to do and what she should do. 

“Fine.  I’ll eat something.” she went back to typing on her contracts.  Aris got up from the seat.

“Do you have a preference?”

“Does it matter?” she fired back without looking up from her contract.

“Yes.” there was something in his tone of voice that made her stop.

“I don’t have any preference.”  her voice was nicer, but she didn’t look up from her laptop.

Aris returned with a bowl of Hungarian mushroom soup with wild rice and bits of pot roast in it.  He set it down beside her laptop.  He set a bottle of water down beside that. 

“You need some water, we’ve been in the air quite a while.”

She nodded her head but didn’t stop typing.  Aris walked around to her side of the laptop looking over her shoulder.  She found it difficult to concentrate with him standing there.  Her skin tingled in ways she didn’t want it to.  When she reached the end of the clause she had been typing, he put his hand on the laptop cover slowly closing it so she had time to remove her fingers from the keyboard.

“I wasn’t done with that.”

“Maybe not.  You can finish it later.  You said you’d eat.”  Aris pushed the bowl of soup in front of her as he moved back around to the other side of the table pulling her laptop into his lap.

“I can do both.  It’s not that tough.” she was trying not to be rude.

“That’s why you get heart burn.  If you take your time and only eat, you won’t get heart burn any more.”

She folded her arms across her chest, “I thought you said you were a thief.”

“I did.” 

“So where’d the medical advice come from?”

“It’s not medical advice.  It’s life.  Eat.” Aris pushed the bowl toward her.

“And if I don’t like mushrooms?”

“I brought you comfort food.  I would have brought you the mac and cheese, but on a flight this long you’d be uncomfortable by the time we land.”

“She’s cranky now.” Denise let slip.

“Alright over there, we heard that.” Aris smiled at Denise.

“Yeah, Noah you shouldn’t be saying that sort of stuff.”  Denise turned bright red from holding her laughter as Noah made a face at her.

“How corrupt is my paralegal going to be by the time I get her back?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve never been referred to as a corrupting influence before.”  Aris turned on the charm. 

The car was waiting on the tarmac when they landed.  The road heading out went through the village where people were starting to close their shops.  Some of them waved as the car drove by.  The village was plain with lots of colors but it didn’t look run down or poor.  There were children here and there sitting on shop steps eating or playing. 

The road continued winding out of the village, then along the shore line, before it climbed the hillside entering what looked like any regular suburban neighborhood.  There were children playing in yards with women talking to each other.  Some of them smiled or waved.  One of them called out Noah’s name. 

The road started up hill again until it stopped at a cul de sac with four houses.  Noah parked the car in the middle of the cul de sac.  There were lights on in a couple of the houses but the others were dark.  Aris carried Saoirse’s bag to a path on the far left that wound away to somewhere.  She followed him not sure of where they were going.  Noah took Denise’s bag, following Aris as well.  Aris offered his hand to Saoirse.  She hesitated, but since she couldn’t really tell where she was going, she felt forced to take it.

The house itself was surrounded by palm trees not far from the shore of a small sheltered bay.  The water lapped against the shore carried in by a cool breeze.  A lone boat rocked peacefully out in the bay.  The house wasn’t fancy but it was enormous.  There were windows everywhere with some sets of windows having balconies.  There was an outdoor room on the side of the house they approached.  Saoirse looked around realizing that there were two other outdoor rooms off the back of the house from this part.  She could see a kitchen off to the left, with a courtyard beyond, that the rest of the house opened on to as well.

“Mata?”  Aris called out, still holding Seer’s hand as he lead her through the house. 

Noah was coming in with Denise,  “Is she not here?” 

Aris shrugged, “The lights are on.  She normally doesn’t do that if she’s leaving.  Mata?” he called out again.  There were a couple of small lamps on in the other outdoor room.  In one of the overstuffed cane chairs were two small feet barely touching the floor.  “Mata?”  Aris approached the chair kneeling down.

The old woman in the chair was tiny.  She might have been five feet tall at the most. Her gray hair was pulled back in a plait that Saoirse had never seen before.  Her hands were crossed in her lap, her chin resting on her chest.  Aris took one of her hands in his, rubbing it gently,  “Mata.  Mata.  Wake up.  We’re home.” 

The old woman started awake, “Oh!  Aris.”  she put her hands to his face,  “You’re home.” she smiled.  “Noah.” she stretched her hand out to him.  He came to her, taking her hand saying something in a language that she and Noah understood.  The little woman smiled.  She looked up at Saoirse stretching out her hand to her.  “Hello Saoirse.” 

Saoirse was not sure how the woman knew her from Denise, but didn’t question it.