The Abby Green Modern Collection. ABBY GREEN

‘Impossible. I couldn’t. I can’t.’

      Alexandros felt a surge of irritation and anger. Why was he even telling her all this? He slashed a hand through the air.

      ‘This is all beside the point. You don’t even deserve an explanation. All you need to know is that I hold the fate of your family in my hands. And the only way you can influence that for the better is by marrying me. If you don’t, your family can kiss their fortune goodbye.’

      ‘But that’s…ridiculous…archaic. You don’t want to tie yourself to me—you hate me.’

      He leant forward again. ‘Hate is the other side of love, Kallie. I certainly don’t hate you.’ He swept a look up and down that was so hot she felt it on her skin, ‘But I do desire you.’

      Little fires of shock raced all over Kallie’s body. His eyes had darkened, eyelids lowered slightly so that they looked slumberous.

      He desired her?

      Why did that make a treacherous curl of excitement lick through her body…and not pain, or disgust?

      Her back was so stiff it hurt. Her voice sounded stilted, desperate and glaringly insincere to her ears. ‘Well, I certainly don’t desire you, Alexandros, so it would be a little one-sided.’

      Before she could move out of danger, he had reached across and taken her hand again. Engulfing it with his own. She felt a traitorous pulse start up between her legs and clamped them together. His eyes made a thorough study all the way from her face, the rapid pulse at her neck, down to her chest, where shallow breaths did little to hide her agitation. She could feel her breasts tingle, her nipples hardening, and prayed that he wouldn’t see the reaction.

      His eyes came back to hers, smug. ‘You did once, Kallie, and you still do. If I were to stand up, walk around this table and kiss you right now, you’d be begging for it within seconds.’

      The very thought of him doing that made her mouth go dry.

      ‘You flatter yourself…’ she said faintly, knowing her words would have no effect. He was coming at her like a two-tonne lorry and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She seized on something, her hand still trapped by his. ‘Isabelle Zolanz! You’re hardly going to marry me if you’re seeing her. Why don’t you just marry her? You two are lovers after all…’ Something twisted in her gut when she said that and she had to hide her reaction.

      He let her hand go and flicked his dismissively in a very Greek gesture. ‘Isabelle is no longer a part of my life.’

      Kallie had to suck in a shocked breath at the coldness of his tone. ‘It didn’t look to me the other night as though she was aware of that.’

      ‘She is now.’ His tone brooked no further comment on the subject. Kallie felt a twinge for the other woman and could only imagine how brutal he’d been.

      She had to face it. If she hadn’t already. The young man she had known, the young man who had once been her friend, her confidant, was gone. In his place was a ruthless man of the world. A truly alpha male. And she had played her part in creating him. She should never have gone to him that night. Regret and recrimination burnt its way through her. But it was too late for all that. Far too late.

      She tried to reason with him. ‘I won’t do it, Alexandros. It’s crazy. I’m sorry for what happened. Truly I am. I never meant for anything to happen.’

      Liar…You went in search of him that night…

      She swallowed and cut off her painful thoughts. ‘You can’t punish me for something that happened when I was seventeen.’

      ‘Seventeen?’ He laughed harshly. ‘You were no ingénue, Kallie. I remember the way you were with Giorgio…you had the poor guy panting after you like a dog. You were almost eighteen, about to go to college, on the brink of adulthood—you knew exactly what you were doing.’ He waved an impatient hand. ‘This isn’t about the past any more. In fact, that whole episode just bores me. It’s about the present. All the past is doing now is serving to give me a little leverage where you’re concerned. A little retribution, sweetened by very strong desire.’

      Sadness filled her. He had it all so wrong. Giorgio. She hadn’t thought about him in years. Another friend of her cousins, she’d taken advantage of his dogged pursuit of her to try and make Alexandros jealous. To little effect and much to her shame. But it had been done with the innocence and disregard of a typical teenager. She didn’t doubt that Giorgio had been robust enough to accept her rejection and knew he hadn’t been too wounded as he had quickly sought the affections of another cousin. Was she to be punished for every little thing?

      She shook her head desperately. ‘I won’t do it. You can’t make me.’ Please, she added silently. He had no idea how much of a punishment this would be.

      ‘Too late. I’ve made up my mind. If you don’t marry me, who would suffer most? I think possibly your uncle Alexei, as he has the most invested. Doesn’t he have three grown-up children at college in the States?’

      ‘Stop it…’ Fear and panic laced her voice. ‘You’re a bastard.’

      He inclined his head. ‘No, Kallie, I’m not.’ He lifted a hand and ticked off long fingers. ‘I need to get married more or less immediately, you’ve fallen into my path like a ripe plum, you are available…and you’ve grown up into a very attractive young woman.’

      ‘So that’s it? You only want me now because I come up to your standards of physical perfection?’

      He smiled and it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘You’re no image of physical perfection, Kallie, don’t flatter yourself, but for some reason I find myself wanting you more than I’ve wanted any other woman in a long time…so I don’t anticipate that there’s going to be any hardship on our wedding night when you come to me…’

      His insulting choice of words barely impinged her consciousness, she reacted purely to his assertion that she would ever choose willingly to sleep with him. ‘I’ll never—’

      ‘Yes. You will,’ he cut in ruthlessly. ‘And I am going to enjoy every moment of this sweet revenge, every step of the way, every piece of flesh that’s going to be uncovered as you give yourself to me, as you offer yourself up as you did seven years ago. In the place of the marriage that you made sure didn’t happen, don’t you think when I need a wife now that it’s only fair that you step into that role?’

      She couldn’t control the shiver that shook her frame at his words. And she knew it wasn’t a shiver of fear. She hated this man. He had her backed into a corner with no way out.

      ‘How can I be sure you’ll still deliver on the loan?’

      He shrugged. ‘I could watch your family flounder. Heaven knows, I have the right. But contrary to what you think, Kallie, I’m not that cruel. On our wedding day when I get my convenient wife, you can consider the loan approved.’

      She had an overwhelming urge to jump up and run as fast as she could, as far away as she could. But he would find her if she did. She knew that without a doubt. She sank back against the chair, unable to sit up straight in the face of his condemnation.

      She looked miserable. ‘I don’t want them to suffer, despite what you might think.’

      And suddenly Kallie had to do something, had to try and make him listen. There had to be a human being in there somewhere. The old Alexandros. She appealed to him now, sitting up straight again.

      ‘Alexandros—’

      He started to cut her off and she put up a hand. ‘Please. Just let me say something.’ Her eyes were an intense green on his. ‘I never went to the paper with that story. I would never have done something like that. You knew me…’ Better than nearly anyone.

      He said nothing and Kallie searched her brain frantically. ‘Why would I have done it, Alexandros? Why?’

      There was unmistakable tension in his huge frame, just