Greek Bachelors: Paying The Price. Maya Blake

he glanced up. Unease slid through her blue eyes before she lowered them. He continued to stare, and right before his eyes his normally serenely professional PA became increasingly...flustered. The intrigue that had dogged him since seeing that damned tattoo on her ankle rose even higher.

      He sat back in his chair. ‘Interesting observation, Moneypenny. What makes you say that?’

      She bit her lip and blood roared through his veins. ‘I...didn’t mean anything by it. Certainly nothing based on solid fact.’

      ‘But you said it anyway. Instinctive or not, you suspect there’s something else going on here, no?’

      She shrugged. ‘It was just a general comment, gleaned from observing natural human behaviour. Most people fall into one of those two categories. It could be that Captain Lowell falls into both.’ She firmed her lips as if she wanted to prevent any more words from spilling out.

      ‘What do you mean?’ he asked. Impatience grew when she just shook her head. ‘Come on, you have a theory. Let’s hear it.’

      ‘I just think the fact that both Lowell and his two deputies are missing is highly questionable. I can’t think why all three would be away from the bridge and not respond when the alarm was raised.’

      Ice slammed into his chest. ‘The investigators think it was human error but you think it was deliberate?’ Reactivating the tablet, he flicked through the rest of Morgan Lowell’s work history but nothing in there threw up any red flags.

      On paper, his missing captain was an extremely competent leader with solid credentials who’d piloted the Pantelides tanker efficiently for the last four years.

      On paper.

      Sakis knew first-hand that ‘on paper’ meant nothing when it came right down to it.

      On paper Alexandrou Pantelides, his father, had been an honourable, hard-working and generous father to those who hadn’t known better. Only Sakis, his brothers and mother had known it was a façade he presented to the world. It was only when a scorned lover had tipped off a hungry journalist who’d chosen to dig a little deeper that the truth had emerged. A truth that had unearthed a rotten trough full of discarded mistresses and shady business dealings that had overnight heaped humiliation and devastation on the innocent.

      On paper Giselle had seemed an efficient, healthily ambitious executive assistant, until Sakis’s rejection of her one late-night advance had unearthed a spiteful, cold-blooded, psychopathic nature that had threatened to destabilise his company’s very foundation.

      ‘On paper’ meant nothing if he couldn’t look into Lowell’s eyes, ask what had happened and get a satisfactory answer.

      ‘We need to find him, Moneypenny,’ he bit out, bitterness replacing the ice in his chest. ‘There’s too much at stake here to leave this unresolved for much longer.’ For one thing, the media would spin itself out of control if word of this got out. ‘Contact the head of security. Tell them to dig deeper into Lowell’s background.’

      Sakis looked up in time to see Brianna pale a little. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.

      Her mouth showed the tiniest hint of a twist. ‘No.’

      His gaze dropped to hands that would normally be flying over her tablet as she rushed to do his bidding. They were clasped together, unmoving. ‘Something obviously is.’

      Darkened eyes met his and he saw rebellion lurking in their depths. ‘I don’t think it’s fair to dig into someone’s life just because you have a hunch.’

      Her words held brevity that made Sakis frown. ‘Did you not suggest minutes ago that Lowell could be hiding something?’

      She gave a reluctant nod.

      ‘Then shouldn’t we try and find out what that something is?’

      ‘I suppose.’

      ‘But?’

      ‘I think he deserves for his life not to be turned inside out on a hunch. And I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that was what I wanted, because it’s not.’

      A tic throbbed in his temple. Restlessness made him shove away from the desk. His stride carried him to the window and back to the desk next to where she sat, unmoving fingers resting on her tablet.

      ‘Sometimes we have to bear the consequences of unwanted scrutiny for the greater good.’ As much as he’d detested the hideous fallout, having his father’s true colours exposed had ultimately been to his benefit. He’d learned to look beneath the surface. Always.

      She looked at him. ‘You’re advocating something that you hated having done to you. How did you feel when your family’s secrets were exposed to the whole world?’

      Shock slammed into him at her sheer audacity. Planting his hands on the desk, he lowered his head until his gaze was level with hers. ‘Excuse me? What the hell do you think you know about my family?’ he rasped.

      She drew back a touch but her gaze remained unflinching. ‘I know what happened with your father when you were a teenager. The Internet makes information impossible to hide. And your reaction to the tabloid hack’s question yesterday—’

      ‘There was no reaction.’

      ‘I was there. I saw how much you hated it.’ Her voice was soft with sympathy.

      The idea of being pitied made his fist tighten on the table.

      ‘And you think this should make me bury my head in the sand about Lowell?’

      ‘No, I’m just saying that turning his life inside out doesn’t feel right. Since you’ve been in his shoes—’

      ‘Since I don’t know anything more than what his human resources file says, that’s a lofty conclusion to draw. And, unlike what you think you know about me and my family, what I find out about Captain Lowell won’t find its way to the tabloid press or any social media forum for the world at large to feast over and make caricatures out of. So I say no, there is nothing even remotely similar between the two situations.’

      She drew in a slow, steady breath. ‘If you say so.’ Her gaze dropped and she pulled the tablet towards her.

      Sakis stayed exactly where he was, the urge to invade her space further an almighty need that stomped through him. In the last twenty-four hours, his PA had acted out of character, challenged him in ways she’d never done before.

      The incident with the tent and the sleeping on the sofa bed, he was willing to let go. This latest challenge—breaching the taboo subject of his father—should’ve made him fire her on the spot. But, as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. The journalist’s question had shaken him and unearthed volcanic feelings he preferred masked.

      In silence, he watched her compose a succinct email to his security chief, stating his exact wishes.

      The electronic ‘whoosh’ of the outgoing email perforated the silence in the conference room. It was as if the very air was holding its breath.

      Brianna raised her head after setting the tablet down. ‘Is there anything else?’

      His gaze traced over her. A tendril of hair had escaped its tight prison and caressed the wild pulse beating in her neck. His fingers tingled with the need to smooth it away and trace the pulse with his fingers; to keep tracing down the length of her sleek neck to the delicate collarbone hidden beneath her T-shirt.

      ‘You disagree with what I’m doing?’

      Her full pink lips firmed. That dimple winked again. His groin tightened unbearably.

      ‘Privacy is a right and I detest those who breach it. I know you do too, so I’m struggling with this a little, but I also get why it needs to be done. I also apologise if I stepped out of line but...I trust you when you say you won’t let it fall into unscrupulous hands.’

      Her last words drilled down