Blackmailed For Vengeance (18 page)

Later that afternoon they had
swam in the aqua clear water before sitting on the wooden pier
fishing.

Lee had smiled as she had
looked over at him “Don’t you need hooks on the end of these if you
want to catch fish” she had laughed as he had shaken his head

“Now Lee, you really haven’t
understood the philosophy of fishing…. It’s not about catching
fish… in fact if you catch a fish that’s when it gets messy” he had
said, his face serious as he held back the laugh which had escaped
her.

“My mistake, wise one” she
giggled, enjoying seeing the fun playful side of his nature.

They had sat in silence a
little while longer, both enjoying their peaceful surroundings,
before he had turned to her a serious look on his face

“So what are you plans for the
future Lee” he asked, as she had looked ahead before softly
answering him

“Working with the kids at the
orphanage reminded me of what I really wanted to do” she had
said

“I guess that I would like to
open that dance studio that I couldn’t when I was younger”

Lee had looked over at him

“What about you Yanis.. Do you
have everything you ever wanted, or is their something still
missing from your life”

Yanis had looked at her with a
small frown on his face

“There is one thing I miss”, he
said softly

Lee had raised her eyebrow in
surprise “I thought you could buy anything”

“Not children” he had said so
softly that Lee thought that she had imagined it.

He had looked across at her

“Don’t you ever think about
settling down?”

Lee had tried hard to hide the
hurt in her eyes, suddenly feeling the need to not have that talk
with him as she had risen to her feet

“Well you know us gold diggers,
Yanis” she said “When the right deal comes along I’ll think about
it”

As she had started to walk away
he had quickly caught up with her

“What the hell is that supposed
to mean” he had asked her with a controlled anger in his voice

She had looked at him
wearily

“It’s what you think isn’t it
Yanis” she said her eyes looking into his, seeing how he had looked
away, a thoughtful expression on his face. As he had turned back to
her the sound of an engine on the water could suddenly be
heard.

Looking over he had smiled

“Alexis and Diona” he had
smiled looking out to sea as a speed boat had quickly moved into
sight, the driver coming in fast

“Come” he said grabbing her
hand as they made their way to the end of the pier to which the
driver was securing his boat. Yanis had moved over to the tall
handsome man and the two had embraced smiling widely at each other.
As the woman had jumped from the boat Yanis had pulled her into his
arms, spinning with her as he lifted her of her feet as she laughed
happily. Lee had watched as he had dropped a kiss onto her lips,
feeling a strange cold jealousy rip through her.

The three had laughed together,
talking Greek animatedly, before he had pulled her forward
introducing her to the other two

“Lee, I would like you to meet
my good friends Alexis and his sister Diona” he said as Lee had
smiled shyly at them. As they smiled back giving each other a
strange look, Lee had looked closely at Diona, her heart sinking at
just how lovely the woman was. Tall, incredibly beautiful, with
long black hair which fell down her back she had smiled at Lee with
her large blue eyes, which held nothing but warmth.

“It is lovely to meet you” she
had said extending her hand, which Lee had taken with a smile.
Alexis however had pulled her into his arms giving her a peck on
both cheeks

“We heard you were back Yanis”
he had said after releasing Lee with a small wink at her

“and Diona insisted we come
over” he had grinned falling back into Greek as they had laughed
together.

Lee had felt left out, until
Yanis had insisted that they only talk in English, and the others
had apologised quickly reverting back, as they had walked together
to the car. On arriving at the villa, the four had then moved to
sit around the pool, with Yanis once more making good his skills as
a cocktail waiter. Lee had found herself quickly relaxing in the
brother and sisters company laughing and joking easily with them as
she was fed story after story of Yanis’s childhood, as he had
begged them to stop.

“Please you are killing me
here” he had cried, his eyes laughing into hers

After an hour food had suddenly
appeared, and they had moved to the table under one of the many
open balconies which covered the ground floor of the villa. She had
enjoyed the evening finding herself looking over at Yanis often,
confused at the completely different person he seemed to be on the
island. At home he was controlling, serious and very much the
business man, whereas here he was relaxed and playful, showing a
side of his nature she had only glimpsed previously.

Finally Alexis had stood

“Well Yanis, we must go,
hopefully it will not be so long till we see you again” he had said
with a small laugh, before taking Lees hand and kissing her fingers
gently

“I hope also to see you again
Lee” he had said with warmth in his eyes which make her smile
back.

Yanis nodded “It has been too
long Alexis…far too long” he had said a thoughtful note to his
voice

“I will get Maria to drive you
back to the pier….I don’t think any of us should attempt it” he had
smiled as he moved into the house. Diona had followed him

“I will come with you Yanis”
she said softly, as the two had moved off together. After several
minutes in which they had still not returned Lee had excused
herself and moved into the house to find them. Hearing a sound from
one of the other balconies she had moved over to investigate. As
she had stood in the shadows of the door, hidden from those outside
she had felt her whole world collapse around her. Standing in the
balcony Yanis held Diona, his arms wrapped around her as hers were
to him, as they embraced each other.

Lee had held back the sob which
came rushing to her mouth as her heart fell to the floor shattered
into a thousand pieces. Quickly she had turned away brushing away
the tears which came to her eyes with shaky hands. Standing still
to calm herself she had stood silently with her whole world in
tatters. Hearing them break apart, she had moved quickly back out
to meet with Alexis, forcing a smile on her face which hid the
complete heartache she felt inside. As the two had rejoined them
Lee noticed how each had smiled at the other with happiness, her
heart sinking even lower than she could ever have thought possible.
At that point the car had arrived and the two had noisily jumped in
waving good bye before disappearing out of sight.

Yanis had moved up behind her,
his arms moving to hold her against him as his cheek had nuzzled
against her ear.

“Bed,
Cara
” he whispered
sensually

Lee closed her eyes with pain,
seeing him holding the other woman.

“Yes..I feel really tired” she
finally managed, as he had turned her around to face him with a
puzzled look on his face

“Are you OK Lee” he asked, his
voice full of concern, as he had taken in how pale she suddenly
looked

“Are you not well”

Grabbing the lifeline he had
thrown her she had smiled painfully at him as she touched her head
with her fingers

“I’m just a little tired” she
managed her voice a little shaky

Pulling her in a little closer,
he had walked with her to their room

“I am sorry, then an early
night it is” he said gently kissing the top of her head

That night as they lay together
in bed, Lee had listened to his deep breathing, as he lay so
peacefully asleep beside her. She stared up at the ceiling watching
the way the shadows moved over it unable to sleep herself. Biting
her lip, she saw Yanis and Diona her mind adding to the scene she
had witnessed. Where they lovers she wondered to herself as her
eyes momentarily closed in pain.

As the sun streamed into the
room, Lee had found that she had only dozed the whole night, her
mind tortured by what she had imagined as her head mocked her for
listening to her heart and allowing herself to fall in love with a
man who was solely interested in teaching her a lesson.

As he had moved beside her
Yanis had seen that she was awake, and raising himself onto his
arm, he had looked down at her frowning slightly at how pale and
drawn she still looked

“Good morning” he whispered
gently, his voice still full of concern “Are you feeling better” he
asked softly

Lee had looked back at him,
surprising him with the look in her eyes, an almost dead look

“I feel fine” she managed, her
voice taut, as the look in her eyes had become tortured

“How long are you going to keep
this up Yanis” she asked, her voice pained and cracked

He had looked at her with
surprise

“Keep up what” he asked his
eyes mirroring his confusion

“Let me go Yanis….. stop this
game, and let me go”

Yanis had sat up quickly, his
back to her his whole body rigid, before he had once more turned to
look down on her. Now his face was once more cold, his expression
one of contempt

“Wow Lee, I really never saw
that coming, why the sudden need to be free of me” he demanded
before he had thrown back the sheets with anger pacing up and down
the room, as she watched him with tears brimming on her lids.

Finally he had stopped, looking
coldly down on her

“Like I said Lee, I will end
this when I am good and ready and not before” and with that he had
moved into the shower. When he had finally moved from the bathroom,
he had ignored Lee, pulling clothes on angrily, before leaving the
room and her lying so quietly on the bed.

Lee had pulled herself into the
bathroom her senses immediately bombarded by the smell of his
aftershave as it invaded her very soul, causing her to feel even
more pain. As she stood under the shower, feeling the jets hitting
her body, she had calmed herself, remembering Jim. Jim, who they
were informed, could wake at any time. With all her heart she
prayed that it would be soon.

When she had joined him at the
pool, he had scowled at her

“We are leaving in one hour” he
had said his voice cold “there seems little point of us being here
any more”. Lee had nodded, turning to pack their things, not even
questioning the change of plans in which they should have spent the
rest of the day on the island, as part of her was relieved to be
going.

The journey back was a far
distant cry from the one coming. Lee had sat quietly looking out of
the window with unseeing eyes, lost in her own thoughts. Yanis had
sat looking through business papers, drinking whisky. Occasionally
he had looked over at Lee, frowning with a strange look in his
eyes.

As they once more entered his
London estate she had moved upstairs, by now her head thumping
painfully causing her to jump with every sudden movement. Yanis had
silently let her go up to their room watching her with hooded eyes,
his mouth set firmly. As she had disappeared from sight, he had
moved into the study slamming the door behind him.

Finally in the familiar setting
of their room, Lee had lain down on the bed as the tears had flowed
from her eyes, the sobs racking her, before she had fallen asleep,
her fists clenched beside her. There she lay for three hours,
before something woke her. Lying still with her eyes still closed,
she allowed the sounds of the room to fill her. With relief her
headache from earlier had gone, and slowly she opened her eyes
seeing the room filled with darkness, frowning slightly not sure
what had actually woken her.

As she had raised herself she
jumped slightly to see Yanis sitting on one of the easy chairs
watching her.

“What are you doing” she asked
him softly seeing how he had ran his fingers through his thick
glossy hair causing it to stick up at strange angles.

Slowly he had risen, moving
over to the bed before sitting to look down on her. Lee could smell
whisky from him, but his voice was steady as he held her eyes

“Why” he finally asked

“Why the sudden need to get
away Lee”

Lee had looked at him, for one
moment wanting to tell him to go to hell, before she saw the
tortured look in his eyes. Lying back down on the pillow she had
torn her eyes from his looking up at the ceiling, hers so full of
pain

“I saw you Yanis” she said, her
voice low and broken

“I saw you and Diona on the
balcony… I saw the way you held her….and…”

For a second she paused to
steady her breathing

“And I don’t want to play this
game any more” she had said looking back at him

She saw Yanis’s eyes close for
a second, a look of relief almost crossing them before he had
placed his arms on either side of her looking so intently down into
her eyes

“There is nothing between Diona
and I Lee” he had said softly “I know you might find this hard to
believe, but I only ever get involved with one woman at a time”

Lee had looked at him with
disbelief, as he continued

“And right now you are the one
woman I am involved with”

Lee had looked at him her eyes
full of such sadness

“I saw you Yanis…I saw you”

He had shaken his head

“It’s not what you think” he
said his voice firm and full of a relief she didn’t understand

“I have known Alexis and Diona
since we were all children. She has been in love with her father’s
business partner for years. But her father didn’t approve given the
age difference, despite the fact that his partner felt the same way
about her. He had not looked kindly on the relationship, but now
her father has accepted the way she feels and Sergio has finally
asked her to marry him…. I was hugging her to congratulate her Lee,
Diona is getting married”