Possession. Maisey Yates

      Possession

      The Greek Tycoon’s Blackmailed Mistress

      Lynne Graham

      His Virgin Acquisition

      Maisey Yates

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      Praise

       Two sizzling, emotional and powerful stories. An absolute classic from bestselling author Lynne Graham and the first novel from one of our rising stars, Maisey Yates!

      POSSESSION

      “Lynne Graham gives readers an exciting reading experience filled with explosive tension and a strong emotional premise.”

       —RT Book Reviews

      “Yates’ smooth dialogue and clever narrative will pull readers in. These delightfully spirited, vulnerable characters will feel like friends by the story’s end.”

      —RT Book Reviews on The Petrov Proposal

      The Greek Tycoon’s Blackmailed Mistress

       Lynne Graham

      About the Author

      LYNNE GRAHAM was born in Northern Ireland and has been a keen Mills & Boon^® reader since her teens. She is very happily married, with an understanding husband who has learned to cook since she started to write! Her five children keep her on her toes. She has a very large dog, which knocks everything over, a very small terrier, which barks a lot, and two cats. When time allows, Lynne is a keen gardener.

      Dear Reader,

      Like many of you, I look forward every month to receiving my delivery of Modern^™ romance from Mills & Boon’s subscription service. I know that in my parcel I’ll find books by authors whose work I’ve long admired and always look out for, and it’s also nice to discover stories by new writers.

      One author who caught my eye when she debuted in 2010 is Maisey Yates. Her biography in the front pages appealed to me: she’s an energetic young mum with three small children who has been writing for herself since childhood. When she discovered a Modern romance in a charity shop book box, she was hooked and realised what she’d been born to do. That drive, intensity and passion is very apparent in her stories and characters, which draw you right in and carry you along at a rate of knots.

      So I am delighted that my novel The Greek Tycoon’s Blackmailed Mistress has been paired with Maisey’s first ever book, His Virgin Acquisition, in this special edition. I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did the tale of brave Elaine who takes a huge leap in the dark when she proposes a marriage of convenience to gorgeous playboy tycoon Marco de Luca in order to keep her share in her family’s company, forgetting to explain that she’s totally inexperienced in the ways of love and relationships …

      With warm regards,

       Lynne Graham

      PROLOGUE

      ‘AN ENCHANTING child,’ Drakon Xenakis remarked as he stood at a window, watching the little girl playing in the lush gardens of his grandson’s villa. ‘She reminds me of someone. I can’t think who …’

      Aristandros veiled his brilliant dark eyes, his lean, darkly handsome face unrevealing. He said nothing, although he had made a genetic connection at first glance. In his opinion it was impossible not to: that blonde hair, so pale that it was somewhere between white and silver, and those hyacinth-blue eyes and pouting pink mouth were like miniature identity-tags. Yes, fate had placed an immensely potent weapon in his hands and he would have no qualms about using it to get what he wanted. Aristandros always kept his conscience well under wraps. Neither failure nor consolation prizes were acceptable to him. Without a doubt he would triumph—and winning most often meant breaking the rules.

      ‘But little girls need mothers,’ Drakon continued, his proud carriage impressively upright in spite of his eighty-two years. ‘And you specialise in—’

      ‘Beautiful models,’ Aristandros slotted in swiftly, conscious that the older man was likely to take a moralistic viewpoint and employ a more judgemental term for the women who entertained his grandson in the bedroom. ‘Timon, however, left me his daughter to raise, and I have every intention of meeting that challenge.’

      ‘Timon was a childhood playmate and a cousin, not your brother,’ his grandfather countered in a troubled voice. ‘Are you willing to give up the strings of gorgeous women and the endless parties for the sake of a child who isn’t your own?’

      ‘I have a large, well-trained and reliable staff. I don’t think Calliope’s impact on my life will be that catastrophic.’ Aristandros had never sacrificed anything for anyone, nor could he imagine doing so. But, even if he did not agree with his grandfather’s views, he respected him and he would allow the older man to have his say.

      In any case, few men had more right to talk frankly on the score of family responsibility than Drakon Xenakis. The family name had long been synonymous with dysfunction and explosive scandals. Drakon blamed himself that all his children had messed up spectacularly as adults with their car-crash marriages, addictions and affairs. Aristandros’s father had proved the worst offender of all, and his mother, the heiress daughter of another shipping family, had matched her husband in her appetite for self-indulgence and irresponsibility.

      ‘If you think that, you’re underestimating the responsibility you’re taking on. A child who has already lost both parents will need a lot of your attention to feel secure. You’re a workaholic, just as I was, Aristandros. We’re brilliant at making money, but we’re not good parents,’ Drakon pronounced, his concern patent. ‘You need to find a wife willing to be Callie’s mother.’

      ‘Marriage really isn’t my style,’ Aristandros countered coolly.

      ‘The incident you are referring to took place when you were twenty-five years old,’ Drakon dared to remark, watching the younger man’s bronzed features shutter and chill at that less-than-tactful reminder.

      Aristandros shrugged a broad shoulder. ‘It was merely a brief infatuation from which I soon recovered.’

      Aristandros was, however, pierced by a familiar tide of bitter anger. Ella. He only had to think her name to feel that anger. Seven years ago, he had put a price on the head of the one woman he’d wanted, and the one woman he still couldn’t forget. He had sworn then that, one day, he would take revenge for what she had done to him. The engagement that never was—an unthinkable rejection. Yet, in some ways, hadn’t Ella done him a favour? The early unanticipated disappointment and the sense of humiliation which she’d inflicted had ensured that Ari had never dropped his guard with a woman again. Instead he had concentrated on enjoying the fruits of his fabulous wealth while he’d steadily grown tougher, harder and more ambitious.