The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Princess (2 page)

‘I’ve a feeling that you are needed to serve champagne in the ballroom. I understand from Prince

Sebastian that a number of the catering staff have been taken ill, and I noticed that many of the

guests have empty glasses.’ He gave her a faint, dismissive smile, as if he expected her to

immediately scuttle off, and turned his attention to his phone.

Kitty gaped at him, overwhelmed by his powerful personality, and taken aback by his

suggestion that she was needed to serve drinks. She was aware of the problem with the caterers

she had booked to work alongside the palace staff, and, having spent the past month planning

every detail of the ball like a military operation, she found it annoying that so many of the

waiters had succumbed to a virulent sickness virus. Anxious to ensure that the evening ran

smoothly she had come to the banqueting room to check over the buffet table, but the head butler

had assured her that everything was under control, and she was sure it was not necessary for her

to take on the role of waitress.

Usually she had little to do with the royal ball, but this year, with Queen Tia mourning the death

of the king, Sebastian had asked her to oversee the arrangements. Seb had enough on his mind,

Kitty thought ruefully. After their father’s unexpected death Sebastian should have immediately

become the new king. But the shocking discovery that the Aristan half of the Stefani diamond,

which was set in the Aristan Crown, was a fake, and that the real diamond was missing, had

thrown the plans for his coronation into disarray. By royal tradition Sebastian could not be

crowned if he did not have the jewel, and until it was found he could only assume the title of

Prince Regent.

Lost in her thoughts, Kitty suddenly realised that Nikos Angelaki was watching her with

unconcealed impatience. He moved away and began to punch numbers into his phone. ‘My client

is expecting my call,’ he said as he walked towards the door leading to the sitting room. ‘And

you had better get back to work.’ He paused, and looked back at her. ‘Actually, you could bring

me some champagne—and while you’re about it something from the buffet. The
dolmathakia

looks good, and perhaps some bread and olives.’

He was a guest, Kitty reminded herself, and her duty as hostess of the ball was to ensure that the

guests enjoyed the evening. But his haughty tone rankled. It was usual for people she did not

know to address her as Your Highness, but Nikos was either unaware or unimpressed that he

should use her royal title. Throughout her life Kitty had been treated with a deference suited to

her royal status. She did not expect to be fawned over, but Nikos had spoken to her as if she were

a lackey. Didn’t he know who she was?

‘You want
me
to serve you?’ she queried, taken aback by his arrogant demand.

Her sharp tone caught Nikos’s attention and he glanced across the room, his eyes narrowing

when he noted the waitress’s mutinous expression. He had paid scant attention to her when he

had first walked into the room, and had formed a vague impression of a dumpy, rather plain girl

in a badly fitting dress. But now, as he studied her more closely, he realised that she was far from uninteresting.

She was unfashionably curvaceous, he mused idly, allowing his gaze to roam over the swell of

her hips that flared below her neat waist. Her voluptuous breasts straining beneath her dress

would make a generous handful. A vivid mental picture came into his mind of her wearing a

strapless, low-cut couture gown that displayed her breasts like plump, round peaches. In his

imagination he saw himself slowly removing the gown, drawing it down and feasting his eyes on

her nakedness, and he felt his body tighten with unbidden sexual awareness.

She wasn’t his type, he reminded himself irritably. He liked tall, elegant blondes, and she was a

short, curvy brunette. Her heavy-rimmed glasses were unflattering, but he noted that her skin

was smooth and tinted a pale olive-gold, her slanting cheekbones highlighted by a flush of rose-

pink, and her mouth was wide, her lips full and lush and eminently kissable.

Hell! He’d obviously been celibate for too long, he thought sardonically. He was a self-

confessed workaholic, and under his leadership Petridis Angelaki Shipping’s profits had soared.

He worked hard and played hard, but recently he hadn’t played enough. It was time he redressed

the balance—but he doubted Prince Sebastian would be pleased if he seduced a member of the

palace staff.

‘If it’s not too much trouble,’ he drawled sarcastically. ‘It is your job, after all.’

Kitty thought of the hours she’d spent organising the party, and felt a spurt of temper. She’d

been run ragged for weeks, anxious to ensure the ball was a success for Sebastian’s sake, but her

duties didn’t include acting as a personal attendant to one of her brother’s friends. Twin spots of

colour burned on her cheeks, and she put her hands on her hips.

‘The idea of the buffet table is that guests can help themselves,’ she informed Nikos tightly.

She saw him frown as his eyes trailed over her, and it suddenly struck her that her high-necked,

long-sleeved black dress—which she had bought two seasons ago in the hope that the starkly

simple style would make her look slimmer—was almost identical to the uniform that the female

serving staff were wearing.
Her job!
Understanding slowly dawned. Could it be that Nikos

Angelaki had no idea of her identity? They had never met, and, unlike Liss, who was often

pictured in the tabloids, she was rarely recognised by the paparazzi. Nikos clearly believed she

was one of the palace staff, and she didn’t know whether to be amused or insulted by the

mistake.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she was Princess Katarina, not a lowly servant, but

something held her back. It was humiliating that he had mistaken her for a waitress. She wished

now that she had made more effort with her appearance instead of blithely assuming that no one

would take much notice of her. She was acting as the Prince Regent’s consort tonight, and

people
had
noticed her, but for all the wrong reasons.

During the evening she had overheard various unflattering comments from the guests that she

was the Plain Jane Princess who had missed out on her sister’s looks: ‘…
twenty-six…oh, no,

notmarried…must be hard to be in the shadow oflovely Liss. Apparently Princess Katarina is

thebrainy one, but she doesn’t share PrincessElissa’s beauty
.’

Kitty wondered how Nikos would react when she told him she was a princess. Would he share

the general consensus of the guests that she was the ugly duckling of the family? It didn’t help

that he was so stunningly good-looking. She could feel her heart thudding erratically as she

absorbed the masculine beauty of his face, and she was startled by a fierce longing to run her

fingers through the lock of silky black hair that had fallen forwards onto his brow.

She was terrified that he could somehow read her mind, but she could not tear her eyes from his,

and she sensed something indefinable pass between them that made her skin prickle and her

breasts tingle. To her horror she felt her nipples swell beneath her dress and she hastily crossed

her arms over her chest, her cheeks burning.

Nikos recognised the flare of sexual awareness in the waitress’s eyes and was infuriated by his

own body’s involuntary reaction to it. He did not have time to waste dealing with a stroppy

domestic, even though the chemistry between them was tangible. ‘I suggest you look up the

word “servant”,’ he said coldly. ‘You’ll find it means “someone who is paid to serve”. I’m sure

Prince Sebastian is a fair employer who pays you a generous wage, and I would be grateful if

you could do as I’ve asked without further argument.’

He should walk through into the private sitting room and make his call—but for reasons he

couldn’t explain, he hesitated. He could not dismiss the ridiculous urge to pull the girl into his

arms and kiss her senseless. Not a girl, he corrected himself, his eyes drawn once again to the

firm swell of her breasts. She was very much a woman, with a gorgeous hourglass figure that

might not be ‘in’ with the fashion police but was incredibly sexy. He felt a fierce tug of sexual

hunger in his groin and inhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. ‘What is your name?’ he demanded

harshly.

‘It’s…Rina.’ The words spilled from Kitty’s lips, and the moment they were out it was too late

to retract them. She didn’t understand what had prompted her to withhold her true identity, but

she knew that Nikos had previously met Liss at a party in Paris and, although it was stupid, she

could not bear the idea of him comparing her with her beautiful, glamorous sister. ‘I’m new

here,’ she mumbled, assuring herself that she had only lied to save him the embarrassment of

learning that he had mistaken a member of the royal family for a servant.

‘I see.’ Nikos strolled back across the room towards her and Kitty felt her pulse-rate quicken

with every step he took. He swamped her senses and she was tempted to turn and flee, but when

he halted inches from her she saw the gleam of sexual curiosity in his eyes and shock held her

immobile. Surely she was wrong? Nikos had dated some of the world’s most beautiful women

and it was rumoured that he had been having a white-hot affair with the stunning Hollywood

star, Shannon Marsh, for months. It was inconceivable that he could be attracted to a frump like

her— wasn’t it? She licked her suddenly dry lips and was startled when the expression in his

eyes hardened to a predatory gleam that caused her heart to pound.

‘Something tells me you have a lot to learn, Rina.’

The mockery in his voice was mixed with a blatant sensual message that sent a quiver of

excitement down Kitty’s spine. She had led a sheltered life at the palace, and at twenty-six was

painfully aware of her sexual inexperience, but the feral heat in Nikos’s eyes was unmistakable,

even to a novice like her.

‘I’d better go…and bring you some champagne, Mr Angelaki,’ she said breathlessly, jerking

away from him before she gave in to the temptation to close the space between them and press

her soft body against the muscled hardness of his. Dangerous thoughts; and instinct warned her

he was a man who was way out of her league.

‘Yes, you better had.’ Nikos laughed softly, self-derisively; breaking the web of sexual tension

that curvy little waitress had somehow woven around him. ‘Out of interest, how do you know my

name?’

‘I’ve seen your photograph, and read about you in the newspapers,’ Kitty admitted, although she

did not add that she regularly scanned the tabloids for articles about him or that she was rarely

disappointed by his absence in the gossip columns. Nikos Angelaki’s luck at the roulette table

was as legendary as his business acumen. He was a gambler and a risk-taker, a high-flier who

was frequently snapped by the paparazzi driving around Athens in his Lamborghini with a

seemingly inexhaustible supply of beautiful women at his side. ‘You have a reputation as a

millionaire playboy with a different blonde on your arm almost every week,’ she said stiffly.

Nikos shrugged carelessly. ‘You shouldn’t believe all you read in the papers, Rina. Some of my

“blondes” have lasted much longer than a week, and a few have even made it to a month,’ he

added sardonically. ‘But I think my private life is nobody’s business but my own—don’t you?’

‘Absolutely,’ Kitty replied tightly, stung by his rebuke. ‘It’s no concern of mine that you change

your women as often as other men change their socks.’

An ominous pause followed her defiant statement, and then Nikos threw back his head and

laughed. ‘I wonder if Prince Sebastian is aware that he has a rebel among his staff?’ he drawled,

moving before Kitty had time to react, and capturing her chin between his strong fingers. ‘If

you’re not careful that sassy mouth could get you into a lot of trouble, Rina.’

She was trapped by his closeness, and the heat from his body mingled with the sensual tang of

his aftershave stole around her and held her prisoner. The gleam in his eyes sent a tremor through

her, and for a few electrifying seconds she thought he was going to lower his head and kiss her.

She held her breath, torn between fear and fascination, and felt a crushing sense of

disappointment when he abruptly released her. Of course he hadn’t intended to kiss her; stupid of

her to have thought it.

Nikos wondered if she knew how easily he could read her mind—or how tempted he was to

accept her unspoken invitation and crush her soft mouth beneath his. It took every ounce of his

will power to step away from her and retrace his steps back across the room. ‘Go back to the

ballroom before I decide to tell the prince of your reluctance to do the job you are employed to

do,’ he said tersely. ‘And, Rina—’ he paused in the doorway of the sitting room ‘—don’t forget

my champagne, will you?’

His arrogance was breathtaking. It was on Kitty’s lips to tell him that under Aristo’s ancient

laws his lack of respect for a member of the royal family was a serious offence. He was lucky

she did not call for the palace guard, and have him thrown out, she thought angrily. She was

renowned for her calm and peaceable nature, but she was infuriated by his insolence.