He grinned, unable to help it.
She threw her hands up at the sight, a very French gesture that made Jason’s lips twitch unexpectedly. “You made me wait!” Angry sparks shot out from her gray eyes. “Why do you always insist on making me wait?”
Jason’s grin turned into a full-fledged laugh, a dark seductive sound that had women all around them wishing they were the one who had elicited it. If they had, then perhaps one of them might have had the luck to spend a night in the divinely gorgeous Jason Christakos’ bed.
“But of course I must make you wait, ma petite. How else are we to ensure that you do not become like one of your peers?” Jason’s faint shudder was not altogether feigned. “I do not want you to think you are all that.”
Keanne snorted. “Oh, you mean between the two of us, you’re the only one allowed to have an ego?” Even as she spoke, Jason’s hand had already comfortably gone to the small of her back, guiding her to the entrance of the club, where the line of waiting guests had already wrapped around the entire block.
As the club’s guards immediately waved them in, their faces alone guaranteeing their entrance, Jason said arrogantly, “I am Greek. Of course I am the only one who should have an ego. And as a woman, you must pander to me.”
She spouted French curses at him, and she was still doing so despite Jason’s laughter by the time they were escorted to one of the private second-floor lounges reserved for VIP guests.
He waited for her to slide into the tiny velvet-covered booth before following, folding his long denim-encased legs under the black mirror-surfaced table.
Keanne fell silent when Janet, the sexy brunette who identified herself as their personal server, finally left, the subtle message she imparted about what “personal” meant still lingering in the air.
Her sudden withdrawn attitude bemused him. “Ma petite?”
In seconds, she had closed the distance between them, her arms going around him. "Je suis désolée,” Keanne whispered against his neck.
Ah.
“You remember your promise, no?” Her words were strongly accented, just like his own English would hint of his Greek bloodline when his emotions ran high, threatening to overcome his rigid self-control.
She did not wait for him to answer. “Quand cet homme méprisable…” Keanne inhaled sharply, willing herself to stay under control. When she spoke again, she returned to English, using it as another shield for her feelings. “When that despicable man came to my school, demanding to see the principal, wanting me to be expelled – do you remember that day?”
He did.
They both did.
“Do you,” she asked fiercely, “remember what you told me when I called you in tears?”
Jason’s eyes closed as the painfully bittersweet memory came to life with vivid clarity.
Her sobs had been heartbreaking to hear, but he had steeled himself against it, knowing that the time had come for her to save herself.
“Please come here, s'il vous plait,” Keanne had begged, her words a jumble of English and French. “Please, please, please---”
She had begged him over and over, crying her heart out, and he let her. But when she fell silent, Jason said flatly, “No.”
Her moan was full of betrayal, and everything in him wanted to go to her – his little dove, the one thing in his world that was right. He had fucked up so many times with all the people he had loved, but with Keanne he made sure he did everything right – and he would be damned if he would let pity sway him from doing otherwise.
“Listen to me.” Those were the very first words he had used to command her when he was younger, to train her to be as strong and as ruthless as he was in clawing her way back to the top.
Her sobs quieted, and his chest constricted at the way Keanne was doing her best to follow him.
“Later, when you come home, I will be waiting for you, ma petite. In my arms, you can cry – I want you to cry, I want to comfort you. I want to be there for you. With me, you can be weak – but not with anyone else.”
“Oui,” she whispered, but her voice still shook.
It made Jason bite out sharply, “No more tears!”
He heard her swallowing hard, and when she spoke, her voice was still hoarse but firmer. “Yes.”
Good. She was speaking in English now. Her shield was up, and that was exactly how it should be.
“Only with me, Keanne. Never forget that. You cannot be weak with anyone else. All these years that I have helped you become strong will be for nothing if you give up now.”
She did not answer.
He did not allow it. “Do you understand, Keanne?”
An eternity passed. “Yes.”