The Greek Tycoon's Achilles Heel. Lucy Gordon

      

       Under the cover of darkness, he pulled her into his arms.

      ‘Now!’ he said.

      Pleasure and relief went through her. She had wanted this so much, and now everything in her yearned towards him. His kiss was everything she’d wanted since their meeting. Nothing else in her life had been like it. Nothing else ever would be.

      ‘What have you done to me?’ he growled. ‘Why can’t I stop you doing it?’

      Lysandros felt as if he were awaking from a dream, or sinking into one. He wasn’t sure which. Her plea of ‘kiss me’ was entrancing, yet something deep inside him was drawing away. He tried to fight it. He wanted her, but so much that it alarmed him.

      Impulse had made him call her tonight. Impulse had made him drag her away from their unwanted companions. Impulse, the thing he’d battled for years, was turning him into its creature.

      Her creature! The words screamed at him. A puppet dancing on the end of her chain. And she knew it.

      ‘What is it?’ she asked, feeling him draw away.

      ‘This place is very public. I think we should both—go home.’

      She stared at him, trying to believe what he was doing, feeling the anger rise within her. He was telling her the magic was over. He’d banished it by an act of will, proving that his control was still strong, although he’d brought her to the edge of losing hers.

      THE GREEK TYCOONS

       Legends are made of men like these!

      Modern^™ Romance are proud to introduce you to…The all new Greek Tycoons

      Modern day magnates As gorgeous and god-like as their mythological ancestors, they put the ‘man’ into Romance!

       This month

       The Greek Tycoon’s Achilles Heel

       by Lucy Gordon

      Meet Lysandros Achilles Demetriou as he faces his only weakness—English beauty Petra Radnor!

       In June 2010

       The Power of the Legendary Greek

       by Catherine George

      Lukas is the wing-heeled Perseus whose life takes a different turn when the intriguing Isobel James washes up on his beach!

       Lucy Gordon also writes for Mills & Boon® Romance!

      The Greek Tycoon’s Achilles Heel

      by

      Lucy Gordon

       MILLS & BOON®

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

       Dear Reader,

      I’ve really enjoyed the chance to write about Achilles, because of all the charismatic Greek heroes he’s the one whose story still speaks to us down the centuries. His name lives in the phrase ‘Achilles heel’ meaning a secret weakness through which even the strongest person can be overcome.

      Legend says that, to protect her baby son, his mother dipped him into the River Styx, which lay between earth and the underworld, knowing that the water would make him invulnerable.

      But she held him by the heel, leaving a place where the water had not touched him. Years later it was an arrow in the unprotected heel that brought him down.

      Achilles was a powerful man, bold, adventurous, fearing nothing. Yet it’s his hidden frailty that had caused his name to survive, perhaps because it’s something we can all feel in ourselves.

      Lysandros knew that his own weakness was emotion. Once he’d yielded to it so completely that it nearly destroyed him. Determined never to succumb again, he imprisoned his heart behind bolts and bars so that nobody should suspect the truth.

      But Petra knew from the start that under his hard exterior was a man of deeper feeling than he would ever admit. The question was, would he allow her close enough to heal him, or turn away into a bleak, unfeeling wilderness? Until the last moment, neither of them could know.

      Warm wishes,

       Lucy Gordon

      Lucy Gordon cut her writing teeth on magazine journalism, interviewing many of the world’s most interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston and Roger Moore. She also camped out with lions in Africa, and had many other unusual experiences which have often provided the background for her books. Several years ago, while staying in Venice, she met a Venetian who proposed in two days. They have been married ever since. Naturally this has affected her writing, where romantic Italian men tend to feature strongly.

      Two of her books have won the Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award. You can visit her website at www.lucy-gordon.com

       Lucy Gordon also writes for Mills & Boon® Romance!

      PROLOGUE

      THE lights of the Las Vegas Strip gleamed and glittered up into the night sky. Down below, the hotels and casinos rioted with life and money but the Palace Athena outshone them all.

      In the six months since its opening it had gained a reputation for being more lavish than its competitors, and today it had put the seal on its success by hosting the wedding of the beautiful, glamorous film star, Estelle Radnor.

      The owner of the Palace, no fool, had gained the prestige of staging her wedding by offering everything for free, and the gorgeous Estelle, also no fool where money was concerned, whatever might be said of her taste in men, had seized the offer.

      The wedding party finished up in the casino, where the bride was photographed throwing dice, embracing her groom, throwing more dice, slipping an arm around the shoulders of a thin, nondescript young girl, then throwing more dice. The owner watched it all with satisfaction, before turning to a young man who stood regarding the performance sardonically.

      ‘Achilles, my friend—’

      ‘I’ve told you before, don’t call me that.’

      ‘But your name has brought me such good luck. Your excellent advice on how to make this place convincingly Greek—’

      ‘None of which you’ve taken.’

      ‘Well, my customers believe it’s Greek and that’s what matters.’

      ‘Of course, appearance is everything and what else counts?’ the young man murmured.

      ‘You’re gloomy tonight. Is it the wedding? Do you envy them?’

      ‘Achilles’ turned on him with swift ferocity. ‘Don’t talk nonsense!’ he snapped. ‘All I feel is boredom and disgust.’

      ‘Have things gone badly for you?’

      A shrug. ‘I’ve lost a million. Before the night’s out I’ll probably lose another. So what?’

      ‘Come and join the party.’

      ‘I haven’t been invited.’

      ‘You think they’re going to turn away the son of the wealthiest man in Greece?’

      ‘They’re not going to get the chance. Leave me and get back to your guests.’

      He strolled away, a lean, isolated figure, followed by two pairs of eyes, one belonging to the man he’d just left, the other to the awkward-looking