Alex sprang off the bed. 'You must accept that Nikos does not belong here.'
Her teeth gritted. Act two, scene five. He was remorseless and so far he had yet to convince her that anyone in the Terzakis family genuinely wanted Nicky, and surely not all the money in the world would make up for the absence of love? It wouldn't, would it? she asked herself anxiously, torn in conflicting directions by her desperate desire to keep the baby that she had already learned to love and the worrying fear that her own feelings might be too deeply involved to allow her to make a fair, clear-headed decision about what was best for the tiny child in her arms.
'It would be less disturbing for you both if you gave him up now.'
What was he going to offer her now? He had tried money. He had tried intimidation. He had tried very briefly to portray Damon and Androula as perfect parents. And he had finally offered himself. But if Nicky went to Greece, Sarah would have no further say over what happened to him, and how far could she trust any Terzakis male?
'I am not a patient man,' he breathed harshly. 'Tell me something I don't know.' Fierce dark eyes stabbed into her. The silence stretched and simmered for long minutes.
'I am a dangerous enemy,' Alex finally assured her icily. 'No matter what the cost, I will take that child from you.'
She had finished feeding Nicky. She settled him back down into his cot, desperately striving to conceal the unsteadiness of her hands. How dared he come to her home and threaten her? Hadn't he and his brother between them already done enough damage? The Terzakis men had killed her sister.Damon should have told Callie that he no longer loved her. Instead he had run away, leaving her poor sister to hope in limbo. What had those months of stress done to her weak heart? And what might have been the result had Damon kept his promises and married her? Callie might well have lived.
'Listen to me...' Alex demanded abruptly, closing a strong hand on her arm.
Sarah jerked away violently and started down the stairs. 'Keep your filthy hands to yourself! I can't bear you to touch me,' she hissed.
'Liar.'
She spun round in the hall in a furious turmoil of emotion. Alex Terzakis lounged back against the wall, exuding a blaze of devastating sexual awareness. She had never seen that in a man before. She saw it now, recognised it on some atavistic level not previously explored inside herself. Raw sexuality sizzled from him, in the tautened poise of his lean, hard body, in the smouldering depths of the golden eyes sliding over her and the audible fracture in his breathing pattern.
'I think you would like me to touch you,' he positively purred.
In complete confusion, Sarah backed away from the heat and the suffocating tension that had entered the atmosphere. Her skin felt hot and stretched over her bones. Her body felt strangely weighted and unfamiliar. She translated the sensations as fear. He scared her.
'You're an animal,' she whispered with a shudder.
He dealt her a slashing smile full of all-male triumph as he absorbed her retreat, and she wanted to knock his teeth down his arrogant throat. Calling him an animal was an insult to animals. But he did belong in a cage. Clearly he thought he was irresistible. But what enraged her most was that he was baiting her on a level she could not match.'Unfortunately when I told you that I would give you whatever you want,' he drawled in a dark, deep voice with an unbelievably insolent smile, 'I wasn't including myself in the offer... When I go to bed with a woman, I have to like her. That is the barest minimum requirement.'
If Sarah had had a knife in her hand, he would have been bleeding to death at her feet. In fact she marvelled that he had managed to reach thirty-three unscathed by vengeful female hands. That he could have the brazen effrontery to insinuate that she found him attractive! That he could then go on to suggest that, had he been willing, she would have dropped gratefully into his arms... Frankly, the power to vocalise simply failed her. He uncoiled himself fluidly from the wall. She shivered. Her hands itched. He made her feel...he made her feel so violent. He incited her to violence.. .his every move, his every word, his every smile. He was a walking incitement to a crime of passion. And yes, he had told her to name her price for Nicky, and it would be hers. However, he wasn't likely to walk voluntarily over the edge of a cliff.
But she knew suddenly with crystal-clarity and embittered frustration what the best punishment of all would have been.. .what would really hurt Alex Terzakis the most. To be forced to marry her to gain access to Nicky. A choky little laugh escaped her. Not that he would have agreed, of course, but how perfect a revenge that would have been. An insane idea, but oh, what a beautiful fantasy! Though why should it be a fantasy? a little voice asked. She should make that demand. It would at the very least get rid of him.