Blackmailed For Vengeance (9 page)

It had been strange having the
house to herself for the first few days, although Marias presence
was comforting, however, Yanis’s phone calls at the evening had
become a regular thing, as he would ask how Jim was doing, although
she could only report that there was no change in his
condition.

After the second day he had
taken her email address and began to send her instructions that she
had to follow, with regards to who to talk to and when to meet with
them. His tone had annoyed Lee to the extent that she had asked him
what his last slave had died from. His response had been a series
of cartoons which had made her laugh and she had returned her own
versions of the cartoons. Soon they were emailing each other with
links to cartoons, news clippings and video clips which made each
other laugh.

For 6 days he was away, and Lee
was only just starting to get into a routine. She had become
friendly with the boutique owner, Claire, who would send her
suitable dresses and outfits for different events and meetings she
was required to attend without her having to actually go to the
boutique, a situation which suited both to perfection.

She had become particularly
involved with the orphanage, having managed to talk the committee
into a charity event to raise funds for the orphanage, something
which had not previously been allowed to happen. She had quickly
become friendly with the children offering to teach them how to
perform dance routines which she hoped they could perform at the
charity event later that month. To achieve this she had tried to
organise to meet up with them at least every second day to
practice, prior to her visits with Jim.

On the Friday 7 days after his
departure Lee had once again found herself with the children in the
orphanage, something she greatly looked forward to. She had heard
from Yanis the previous evening in which he had told her that he
would still be there the next day, and Lee had sighed at the
thought of having to attend the annual charity gala the next night
alone. She had not yet had to make a personal appearance at a large
event herself, and had not been looking forward to it, worried that
she would be lost and out of place.

However, she had put this all
aside as she happily worked with the children on their dance
routine.

Approaching the orphanage,
Yanis Demitri, had frowned. His early arrival back home that
evening had been unexpected he knew, but when Lee had not been at
the house he had been disappointed. When he had found out from his
driver where she was, he had frowned even more, telling him that he
was no longer required for the evening and that he would pick her
up himself.

As he entered the building he
had been approached by a tall good looking woman

“Yanis, how lovely to see
you”

The smiling woman said moving
forward to receive a warm hug from the tall man before her

“Rachel, you look as lovely as
ever”

He replied, flashing her a
genuine smile. Rachel Hunt the orphanage administrator gave him a
playful punch

“Charmer” she said although she
had flushed a little

“Is Lee still here” he
asked

Rachel’s smile deepened

“Yes, the meeting finished
about an hour ago, Yanis what a girl, congratulations you are a
lucky man”

She said suddenly remembering
their engagement

“She actually managed to talk
Mrs Jones into agreeing to a fund raising concert… Mrs Jones…I
never thought I would see the day…and she did it so well that the
woman left here feeling that it had all been her idea..I’ve never
met anybody so charming..accept of course you” she said with a
little laugh

Yanis frowned slightly, not
really sure why

“If the meeting is over..why is
she still here” he asked in confusion

“Oh didn’t she tell you” Rachel
said in surprise

“After the meetings, and every
other night she spends some time with the kids..she’s teaching a
group of them how to dance…even the boys…something called street
dancing..they love it”

Yanis tried to hide the cold
look in his eyes as he asked where they were. Rachel directed him
to the main living room and he moved to where he knew it to be. As
he reached the room he had stood within the dark connecting door
where nobody could see him to watch the scene before him.

Lee stood sideways on to him
facing the group. She wore leggings and a tea-shirt which hugged
her perfect figure as she directed the eight boys and girls ranging
in ages from 6 – 12, as music played which he briefly recognised as
being in the charts.

The children where
concentrating on a move in which they stepped to the side before
twisting their bodies and then their head from side to side. Lee
had given encouragement to each and everyone of the children by
name, smiling that large warm smile which lit up her whole face
before they had stopped and she demonstrated the move one more
time.

Yanis watched her, admiring her
graceful actions as she made the complex step seem

easy. Looking at the faces of
the children he could see the concentration along with how much
they enjoyed the activity and he had frowned at the way she seemed
to have so quickly gained their trust.

Just at that moment one of the
children caught sight of him and screamed with delight

“Yanis, Yanis”

Before running and launching
herself into his arms.

Lee had spun around in shocked
surprise to see him there her eyes wide as he moved forward
carrying the small six year old girl in his arms. He was laughing
down at the small child his smile so warm and happy that it hurt
Lee to see it. She could feel her heart beating faster in her chest
as she tried not to show the effect his unexpected presence was
having on her.

As he reached her he had looked
down at her with a strange expression in his eyes

“So what’s going on here” he
asked the assembled group, who all began chattering at once,
telling how they were learning to street dance, while many broke
into spontaneous demonstration, making both adults laugh at the
same time. Looking shyly at him Lee had managed

“They are actually really very
good”

Jumping down from his arms the
small girl had declared in a loud voice

“Are you getting married to
Lee?”

Lee dropped her eyes to the
ground her feet fidgeting slightly as Yanis had looked over at
her

“Yes, Shelley I am, Why?”

“Because you didn’t kiss her”
she said her face serious

“If you’re getting married why
aren’t you kissing her?”

Before Lee could say anything
she had felt herself being grabbed by the waist and pulled
forward

“You heard the child” he said
sensually as he had kissed her on the lips, his finger moving down
her spine causing her to jump forward against him as he had
deepened the kiss, her mouth opening instinctively.

Lee was only vaguely aware of
the giggles and “ooohhs” which had erupted around them followed by
the chorus of

“Yanis and Lee up a tree
k.i.s.s.i.n.g”

Which had both of them laughing
against the others mouth. Lee had pulled away from him looking at
the children

“OK, I have to go now” she said
to a disappointed chorus

“But next time we’ll do some
more steps…till then practice”

Looking back at Yanis she had
told him she would change and be back in five minutes, before
disappearing out of the room to the cloak room where she had
changed from her dance gear back into her summer dress which
floated around her long legs.

When she returned she saw him
being shown how to do one of the steps she had shown them on a
previous day. The children were enjoying laughing at how badly he
was doing it as well as showing off their own expertise, and they
had all given her a hug as they were leaving.

In the car he had been quiet as
he expertly manoeuvred the large car through the traffic. It was
Lee who eventually could not stand the silence any longer

“I didn’t expect you” she said
softly. “You didn’t say you were coming back today”

He had looked over at her with
a frown on his face

“The meeting finished early so
I came back early” he said with a small shrug “I thought I could
pick you up myself seeing as I was in the neighbourhood and we were
going to the hospital anyway”

Lee had nodded gently

“Thank-you”

Peeking over at his face which
was so dark and serious she had wondered what she had done now to
make him seem so angry. Finally he had spoken

“The kids like you”

She had nodded smiling

“They’re great kids”

“I guess you never thought
about how they’ll feel when you disappear in mid dance”

She could feel the anger in his
voice as she had looked over at him with shock

“You think I would do that” she
said

“My spending time with them has
nothing to do with you”

She could see how his knuckles
had turned white as he had gripped the wheel tightly, his lips
clenched just as tightly. Reaching the hospital and parking the car
in one fluid movement he had pulled off his seat belt before
turning to face her, his expression dark

“If you hurt those kids Lee, by
God I will make you one very sorry girl” he barked at her

“Really” she retorted “Why what
are you going to do Yanis…Marry me”

Her eyes glared back at his
just as angrily. However, his lips twitched before he had laughed
out loud making Lee laugh too and breaking the tension between the
two. Now his eyes were warm as they looked down on her

“Do you have an answer for
everything” he asked the laughter still in his voice”

Lee had giggled back shaking
her head. Together the two had left the car moving into the
hospital to see Jim. However, little had changed and soon they were
heading back home.

They had dinner at home that
evening. Maria had prepared a delicious meal which Lee had insisted
on helping her to carry through to the dining room, before she had
wished them a good night informing them that she would clear up the
following morning.

As they sat together eating
Yanis had looked over at her

“You dance well” he said

Lee had looked at him in
surprise

“Thank you” she replied a small
blush lighting her cheek

“I wanted to teach dancing when
I was younger” she said after a small silence looking shyly over at
him

“Why didn’t you” he asked his
tone interested

Lee looked down sadly at her
plate

“My parents were killed in a
car crash, and although we had a nice home they didn’t have much in
the way of savings so I had to take on the roll of bread winner and
at the same time bring up a brother…so I needed to earn enough
money to keep us both, and unfortunately you can’t do that straight
away teaching dancing”

“I see” he replied suddenly
feeling sorry for the young woman before him

“I’m sorry..that must have been
hard”

Lee gave a nervous half
laugh

“My parents loved each other so
much…maybe it was better they died together…but it hurt my brother
very much. He went of the rails a little…but he got over it” she
added

“He had you” Yanis replied, his
hand covering hers sympathetically. His sudden touch had sent
signals all through Lee’s body as she gritted her teeth to ignore
the need for him her body was crying out for. She gently pulled her
hand from his

“I didn’t like lying to the
children Yanis…I’ve never been good at lying” she said lowering her
eyes to the hands she held clasped before her, her expression
thoughtful and pained

“And you certainly didn’t have
to kiss me” she added

“I kissed you because I wanted
to” he said evenly, as her eyes had lifted to look back at him

“Why? … you despise me for what
you believe I did to Jim and yet you say you wanted to kiss me” she
said incredulously. His dark eyes continued to hold her surprised
hazel ones

“The two are very different” he
said

“Maybe for you” she bit back at
him, “but not for me”

Yanis had laughed softly
“Please Lee, let’s not play these games… they may work for your
other lovers” he said softly “but not for me…sex is sex… and you
and I have a fierce attraction for each other do we not” he asked
raising an eyebrow

Lee had only stared at him with
shock

“It may be that way for you
Yanis, but you and I are not that way involved” she said stiffly “I
would ask if you could fit the names of your lovers onto a sheet of
paper…but the fact of the matter is that you probably wouldn’t
remember half of their names”

He had looked at her with a
cold glint in his eyes

“Always the moral high ground
with you isn’t it Lee, and you, could you remember all your lovers
names” he asked shortly

Lee had glared back at him “Yes
vividly, It is a very short list”

With a disbelieving snort he
had asked

“How many would that be?”

“One” she had replied before
realising what she had said and looking away from him with
embarrassment

He had looked at her
incredulously

“So you expect me to believe
that you have only slept with Jim” he asked his tone mocking

With a sigh and biting her lip
she had shaken her head “No, I have never slept with Jim, but what
is the point of telling you again…you will never believe me” she
said looking sadly at the ring sitting on her finger

For a while silence had fallen
between the two

“I enjoyed your emails” he said
gently breaking the silence and the subject, as he had reached over
to take her hand

Lee had swallowed hard, feeling
the way his fingers had caressed her wrist causing such tempestuous
sensations to fill her. She had pulled her hand away from his
before her body could give away the way she longed for those hands
to hold her closer to him, before pushing her chair from the
table.