Her throat felt raw, her chest tight. So many people could be hurt by the path he was pushing her on. Tyler, Venetia, Lexi herself and Nikos, most of all. Nikos, whom she had thought impervious to any feeling, whom she had assumed ruthless to a fault. Only all he wanted was to protect his sister. From what? Another truth slammed into her. “Is this about getting Tyler out of Venetia’s life or love out of it, Nikos?”
His head reared back in the tiniest of movements, his eyes cold and hard. A cold chill permeated her skin and she almost wished the words unsaid. “I’m not paying you to analyze me.” His tone was low, thrumming with emotion he refused to give outlet. “I failed my sister once. And it broke her in so many ways. I will do whatever it takes to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“Call me a villain, like your space pirate. Tell yourself I’m forcing you into this if it helps you sleep better.”
“My skin crawls to even think about manipulating him like that. But I just can’t. If I could be some kind of femme fatale as you’re plotting, Tyler and I would still have been together. But I’m not the kind of woman that men lose their minds over. So all this,” she said, pointing to the designer clothes, “it’s an utter waste. Because Tyler will never leave Venetia for me, of all people.”
He looked at her with none of the resolve diminished. It was like banging her head against an invisible wall. “Don’t underestimate yourself.” A spark of something came alive in his gaze and was gone before she could blink. “I know how much you can mess with a man’s head, and that’s when you’re not trying. Think of how easy your real job is now. All you have to do is convince Tyler that he belongs with you, as always.”
He was not going to budge from this path.
Just thinking about what he suggested, the fact that he had paid for it, made her nauseous. But he would not rest until Tyler was out of Venetia’s life. And she didn’t doubt for a second the lengths he would go to. She had already seen proof of that. He would also do it in a way that caused his sister minimum pain. Which meant Tyler would suffer. And she just couldn’t leave her friend at Nikos’s mercy.
She would have to go with Nikos, play the part he wanted her to play. At least that way, she could find a way to protect Tyler in the meantime. Tucking her knees together, she kept her gaze studiously away from his. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
He stilled. She could almost hear the gears in his head turning. “You will?”
“You’ve left me no choice, have you?” she said, blustering through it. It was the only way to stop from going into full-on panic. “You’re the manipulative jerk for doing this to them, but yes, I’ll be your evil sidekick. And it’s a NO to the sex clothes.”
His gaze thoughtful, he walked away from her.
Lexi sagged into the couch, shivering. Lying had never been her strong suit. But she had pulled it off for now, managed to fool Nikos. A Machiavellian feat in itself.
She was playing a dangerous game, but she could see no way out of it.
CHAPTER SIX
LEXI WOKE UP with a start and jerked upright. The feel of the softest Egyptian cotton against her fingers, the high ceiling as her gaze flew open and the pleasant scent of roses, and curiously basil, only intensified her confusion.
Usually, all she could smell was old pizza and smoke.
The view through the French doors onto a vast island set her bearings straight. The water was an intense blue; the sand, burnished gold, a striking contrast against it. It stretched for miles, as far as she could see. And other than the lapping of the waves, silence reigned.