Blackmailed For Vengeance (8 page)

With articles which exhaled her
virtues with many of the people she had talked with or met
describing her as angelic, others as having a heart of gold. One
paper had summarised the sentiments of most with the by-line

“Tycoon with golden touch to
marry Angel with gold heart”

Lee had groaned reading the
papers and looking up at him, she had seen the look on his face

“Care to explain” he asked
quietly, although there was a dangerous tone in his voice.

“Explain what “she asked

“Explain why when I leave
instructions for you to deal with certain charities, you take it
upon yourself to become part of most of their steering groups”

Finally his tone was angry, as
he had glared at her

“I told you that I couldn’t sit
here idly” she bit back at him

“It seemed like something I
could do, but don’t worry” she threw at him “I’m sure that once you
throw me out they will drop me quickly enough”

Yanis had glared at her. He
couldn’t quite understand his anger at her involvement, other that
the fact that things did not seem to be going the way he had
planned. He had intended for her to become a shopaholic becoming
addicted to the good life he could offer, but instead she seemed to
be becoming the golden girl of the press circuit.

Sitting back with one finger
stroking his lips he had looked sternly at her

“From now on you are to limit
all your activity to polite interest only” he said icily

She had looked back at him

“No, I will not sit back and
become some poodle you parade around on your arm” she hissed at
him, her eyes now angry a vivid colour of green.

He had cursed in Greek as he
had flung his napkin to the side, angry at her continuous mutinous
attitude towards him, while finding himself fascinated at the way
her eyes seemed to change colour with her mood

“I warn you Lee” he said his
face dark

“Well tough” she said with
little disregard for his anger. “I am going to do what I can for
these organisations as long as I can” she declared, with a finality
in her voice which had silenced him.

“Fine” he said after a few
seconds “let’s see how long you can keep it up”

For a few moments more they had
both continued to glare at each other, both unwilling to give in to
the other. Lee had found herself breathing hard as she had felt the
excitement that their exchange was having on her, surprising
herself with her own body’s response.

Finally pushing her seat away
from the table she had risen

“I have to go, I want to see
Mrs Green early” she said her whole body still rigid with anger.
However, he had risen with her

“I will drive you” he said with
a steely edge to his tone and seeing the way she had opened her
mouth to argue he had added “and I will join you to introduce
myself to Mrs Green, because otherwise Lee, you will not be
visiting that lady again”

Lee had closed her mouth
sullenly walking out of the room, her fists clenched by her
side.

In the car she had not spoken
to Yanis, who seemed to be gloating at having won that round with
her. As they approached the home of her friend, she had become
nervous

“She is an old lady,
Yanis…don’t upset her”

He had frowned

“Why must you always assume
that I am out to embarrass you Lee” he asked tightly

“Did I not behave well enough
with your brother?”

Lee has closed her mouth, fully
aware of how charming he had been towards Peter, which had
surprised her, as she had mainly seen the arrogant side of his
nature up to that point

As they parked outside one of
the old sandstone flats, the same ones which he had already visited
the night he first met Lee, she had led him into the building
starting to nervously wring her hands as she had knocked on the
lower flat, her eyes darting to Yanis

“This might be a shock to her”
she said biting her lip “Please she is the closest thing that I
have to family other than Peter” she looked at him her eyes
pleading and full of concern

“You know something,
cara
,” he said his voice sensual “It is not me that will
give this away. You are supposed to be the happy newly engaged
woman…if you want to pull this off, then perhaps we need to fix
something”

As she opened her mouth to ask
what he had pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his hands
cupping her face. Lee had been shocked by the intensity of his kiss
and even more shocked at the way she had responded just as
passionately the instant his lips had touched hers. Just as quickly
he released her causing her to fall against him, as the door had
opened.

“Lee” the small white haired
old lady exclaimed seeing her standing at the doorstep, taking in
the way the young woman held on to the handsome man before her, her
eyes bright and cheeks flushed. Yanis had smiled at the woman, a
frail looking lady in her seventies, who moved slowly. However, her
bright sparkling eyes had taken in the whole scene in front of her,
and with a wide smile she had beckoned both of them in.

“Now, I hope” she said as she
turned to shuffle slowly back into the living room “That you are
Yanis”

He had laughed confirming that
he was indeed.

As they moved into the living
room, he had sat in the old but comfortable couch, as she had taken
the arm chair closest. Beside her lay a newspaper, opened to the
page in which the headlines screamed of the engagement of the
two.

“Mrs Green” Lee had said
softly, “I would like you to meet Yanis Demitri”

The older woman had smiled at
him

“It is lovely to meet you” she
said in a sing song voice “and so nice that you wanted to bring
your fiancée to meet me” she said sincerely as she looked at
Lee.

“I imagine that you are a very
busy man” she continued looking at Yanis “So it is all the more
appreciated”

Yanis gave her one of his
dazzling smiles

“I wanted very much to meet
with you Mrs Green” he said “Lee speaks of you very often”

The older woman had looked
pleased

“Lee is an angel” she said
laughing gently “so strange for the press to get something right
for a change” she chuckled

Lee who had been hovering
nervously finally moved towards the kitchen

“Will I put the kettle on then”
she managed as the other two had nodded before she had disappeared
from the room

Finally alone Mrs Green had
looked at Yanis with piercing eyes.

“You are a very lucky man Mr
Demitri” she said her voice firm “Lee is a very special girl and I
would hate to see her getting hurt”

Yanis had looked back at the
woman “Well I hope very much not to be the one to hurt her” he
finally managed an uneasy feeling filling him at the insincerity of
his words

“You have known each other for
a while” he asked, suddenly wanting to change the direction of the
conversation

The woman had smiled “Yes,
almost 3 years, I had fallen outside and Lee came to help me. Since
then that girl has looked in on me nearly every day. Makes sure
that I have all my shopping and dinner” the woman had smiled softly
“She has kept me going, I look forward to her visits”

Then she had looked back at
Yanis

“But now she has somebody else,
and I have to say that I don’t blame her in the least. You are a
very handsome man Mr Demitri” she said appreciatively

Yanis had laughed out loud

“Lee did say that you spoke
your mind Mrs Green” he chuckled as she had laughed back with
him.

“At my age young man she said
you are allowed to”

He had nodded back

“Look after her Mr Demitri” she
said suddenly very serious “If there was ever anybody who deserved
good things it’s Lee, although I can see from the way you two look
at each other…” her eyes seemed to move to a far away place as she
looked over at a picture on the fireplace

“My husband” she pointed to the
picture. Yanis had looked over at the smiling man wearing an army
uniform

“We met during the war, fell in
love and got married as soon as we could” she had sighed softly

“but he was killed during the
last year of the war, and I never met anybody else who could match
up to him…now that’s the kind of love that lasts Mr Demitri” she
said her shrewd eyes passing on the message she knew he
understood

At that point Lee had
reappeared carrying a tray with tea, biscuits and a large
sandwich.

“OK, Mrs Green” she said softly
“I’ve put your dinner on a plate, so it just needs to go in the
microwave for a few minutes….and I thought you might want a
sandwich soon, so just to save you having to make it”

Yanis had watched Lee, with a
small frown on his face. Once more her actions showed a different
person than the one he knew her to be.

“Lee, stop fretting” the older
woman giggled, looking at Yanis

“A lovely girl, but what a
worrier” she smiled her eyes full of devotion for the younger woman
before her.

They had all sat for an hour
drinking tea, while Mrs Green had told stories of her engagement to
her husband and they had had to be vague, as she had tried to find
out the details of the wedding

“We have to work out dates and
things still” Lee had said her eyes lowered to hide her discomfort
at lying “the engagement was a spur of the moment thing” she had
said looking over at Yanis, who’s lips had curled in an involuntary
smile at her slant on his blackmail.

As they left Mrs Green had
given Yanis a small kiss on the cheek and hugged Lee, wishing them
all the best and they had moved back into the car.

Lee had given an involuntary
sigh of relief as Yanis had quickly looked over at her his face
thoughtful. As he started to drive the car he had looked over at
her once more

“Lunch?”

Lee had looked at the time,
suddenly realising that she was hungry and nodded

He had taken them to an
expensive restaurant, where they had instantly been seated at the
nicest table in the room.

“Your Mrs Green is a lovely
lady” he had said as the waiter had left with their orders

“Yes she is” Lee had said
gently “Thank you for being so…” Lee had searched for the right
word “gracious”

Yanis had laughed, his eyes
twinkling at her

“Now that must have hurt you”
he said with the laughter in his voice, as she had involuntarily
laughed back with him, nodding.

They had both relaxed, and
laughed together, as they had eaten their lunch. Lee had been
surprised, just as the previous time they had spent alone together,
to realise just how much she was enjoying being with him. However,
her mind had still gone back to the kiss, each time the memory
causing her to shiver a little with pleasure

As they had finished their
coffee, his mobile phone had rung and he had become very business
like as he held a conversation with an unknown man in what sounded
like French. Lee could only speak a spattering learnt from school,
and was impressed with his apparent fluency. Whatever was being
discussed was annoying Yanis, as he had frowned his mouth tight as
he bit out short commands. When he had finished the call, he had
looked over at her with an apologetic look

“I’m sorry Lee, I have to go
away for a while” he said frowning down at his cup, as though he
had just had plans ruined

“That’s OK” she smiled back
“I’m sure I’ll survive” adding with a wicked note in her voice

“So long as I have my mansion,
chauffeur and unlimited credit cards”

He had grinned back at her

“Yes… about that, don’t you
think you should spend something on those credit cards” he
asked

Lee had sighed “so many shops,
so little time” she giggled

He had looked at her with a
strange expression on his face

“Will you be OK…with the press
I mean?”

Lee was surprised at his
concern, and had smiled warmly back at him

Yanis had once more admired the
way that smile could light up her whole face, cursing the problem
in France. Given the way she had kissed him back at her friend’s
house, he had planned that night to make sure that there would be
no disturbances when he next took her in his arms. He had felt the
stirring within him at the way she was making his body yearn to
hold her. Again wondering why she moved him so much, with an almost
raw desire to possess her.

With a sigh, he had pushed back
his chair

“I have to go now, my plane is
waiting for me and your car should be outside, I’ll walk you out”
he said softly

Lee had allowed him to walk her
out, his hand resting gently on the base of her back, as they
talked. Standing on the street he had taken her two hands in his as
he looked down at her face

“I hope to be gone only a few
days…but from past experience, it may be longer” he said gently,
before in an almost automatic movement he had dropped his head to
kiss her lips gently. Lee had found herself standing on her tip
toes to take the kiss as though it was the most natural thing in
the world for them to do. With a quick step back, he had opened the
door for her before helping her in and waving goodbye.

Safe in the car, Lee had sat in
stunned surprise at the way she had behaved, more surprised at the
pleasure that the simple action of kissing him good bye had brought
to her. She had found herself sitting with a gentle smile on her
face as she thought back to the morning, both at Mrs Greens house
and then at lunch. With a small gasp of shock, she realised that
she had enjoyed the time with Yanis especially the kisses one such
a surprise and the other anticipated. With a shock realisation she
finally admitted to herself that she had wanted to feel his lips on
hers, and more importantly she wanted so much more.

As they drove along she had
moved to give new instructions to the driver, suddenly remembering
that she had a meeting with the orphanage that afternoon.