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What The Greek Wants Most(2)

By:Maya Blake

       
           



       

Focusing his gaze across the room to where Benedicto and his son held   court among Rio's movers and shakers, he strategised how best to   approach his quarry.

Despite the suave exterior he tried to portray with his tailor-made suit   and carefully cropped hair, Benedicto could never mask his lizard-like   character for very long. His sharp, angular face and reptilian eyes  held  a cruelty that was instinctively felt by those around him. And  Theo  knew that he honed that characteristic to superb effect when  needed. He  bullied when charm failed, resulting in the fact that half  of the people  in this room had attended the fund-raiser tonight just to  stay on  Benedicto's good side.

Five years ago, Benedicto had made his political aspirations very clear,   and since then he'd been paving the way for his rise to power through   mostly unsavoury means.

The same unsavoury means Theo's own father had used to bring shame and devastation to his family.

Grabbing a glass of champagne, Theo sipped it as he slowly worked his   way deeper into the room, exchanging pleasantries with ministers and   dignitaries who were eager to find favour with the Pantelides name.

He noticed the moment Benedicto and Pietro zeroed in on his presence.   Bow ties were surreptitiously straightened. Smiles grew wider and spines   straighter.

He suppressed a smile, deliberately turned his back on the father and   son and made a beeline for where the daughter was smiling up at Alfonso   Delgado, the Brazilian millionaire philanthropist, who was her latest   prey.

'If you want me to host a gala for you, Alfonso, all you have to do is   say the word. My mother used to be able to throw events like these   together in her sleep and I've been told that I've inherited her talent.   Or do you doubt my talents?' Her head tilted in a coquettish move that   most definitely would've made Theo snort, had his eyes not been drawn  to  the sleek line of her smooth neck.

Alfonso smiled, his expression beginning to closely resemble adoration.

Forcing himself not to openly grimace, Theo took another sip of   champagne and brushed off an acquaintance who tried to catch his eye.

'No one in their right mind would doubt your talent. Perhaps we can discuss it over dinner one night this week?'

The smile that started to curve her full, glossy lips forced another   punch of heat through him. 'Of course, I would love to. We can also   discuss that pledge you made to support my father's campaign … ?'

Theo moved closer, deliberately encroaching on the space between the two people in the centre of the room.

Alfonso's attention jerked towards him and his smile changed from playboy-charming to friendly welcome.

'Amigo, I wasn't aware that you had returned to my beloved country. It seems we cannot keep you away.'

'For what I need to achieve in Rio, wild horses couldn't keep me away,'   he replied, deliberately keeping himself from glancing at the woman who   stood next to Alfonso. He breathed in and caught her scent-expensive  but  subtle, a seductive whisper of flowers and warm sunshine.

His friend's eyes gleamed. 'Speaking of horses-'

Theo shook his head. 'No, Alfonso, your racehorses don't interest me.   Speedboat racing, on the other hand …  Just say the word and I'll kick   your ass from one end of the Copacabana to the other.'

Alfonso laughed. 'No can do, my friend. Everyone knows underneath that   tuxedo you're part shark. I prefer to take my chances on land.'

A delicate clearing of a throat made Alfonso turn, a smile of apology   appearing on his face as he slipped back into playboy mode. For the ten   years that Theo had known him, Alfonso had had a weakness for curvy   brunettes.

Inez da Costa had curves that required their own danger signs. His   friend risked being easy prey for whatever the da Costas had in mind for   him.

'Apologies, querida. Please allow me to introduce you to-'

Theo stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. 'I'm perfectly   capable of making my own introductions. Right now, I think you're needed   elsewhere.'

Alfonso's eyes widened in confusion. 'Elsewhere?'

Theo leaned and whispered in his friend's ear. Shock and anger   registered on Alfonso's face before his jaw clenched and he reined his   emotions back in. His gaze slid to the woman next to him and returned to   Theo's.                       
       
           



       

Taking in a deep breath, he held out his hand. 'I guess I owe you one, my friend.'

Theo took the proffered hand. 'You owe me several, but who's counting?'

'And I shall repay you. Até a próxima.'

'Until next time,' Theo repeated. He heard the disbelieving gasp from   Inez da Costa as Alfonso walked away without another glance in her   direction.

A thread of satisfaction oozed through him as he tracked his friend to   the ballroom doors. Scanning the room, he saw Pietro da Costa's   thunderous look in his sister's direction.

Theo lifted his glass to his lips and took a lazy sip then turned his attention to Inez da Costa.

Her large brown eyes were filled with anger as she glared at him.

'Who the devil are you and what did you say to Alfonso?'





CHAPTER TWO

THEO DIDN'T LIKE the idea that he'd been less than one hundred per cent thorough in covering every angle in his investigations.

His surveillance of Inez da Costa had been from afar simply because   until recently he'd deemed her involvement in his investigation   peripheral at best.

The extent of her role in her father's organisation had only come to   light a few days ago. But even then he should've recognised her power.

Now, at the first proper sight of what was turning out to be the jewel   in Benedicto da Costa's crown, the essential cog in the sinister wheel   that his enemy was intent on using to his full advantage, he experienced   a pulse of heat so strong, so powerful, he sucked in a quick breath.

Up close, Inez da Costa's heart-shaped face was flawless … breathtaking,   her skin a silky, vibrant complexion even the best cosmetics couldn't   hope to produce.

Not that she hadn't attempted to enhance her beauty even further. Her   make-up was impeccable, her lids smoky in a way that drew attention to   her wide, doe-like stare.

Long-lashed eyes that bored into him with unwavering demand and a   healthy dose of suspicion. Her nose flared with pure Latin ire and her   full lips parted as she released another agitated breath.

The pictures in his dossier did her no justice at all. Flesh and blood   wrapped in red silk from cleavage to toe, she made his senses ignite in a   way he hadn't felt in a long time. The earlier pull deep in his groin   returned. Harder.

'I asked you a question.' Her voice held a hint of dark sultriness that   reminded him of a warm Santorini evening spent drinking ouzo on a   deserted beach. And the mouth that framed her words, painted a deep matt   red, reminded him of what happened on the beach after the ouzo had  been  consumed and inhibitions were at their loosest.

She glanced over his shoulder and Theo's jaw clenched at the thought   that she was more concerned with the departing Alfonso than she was with   him.

'Why is one of my guests walking out the door right this moment?'

'I told him that if he didn't want a noose slipped around his neck   before he was ready to be hog-tied, he needed to stay away from you.'

Her parted mouth gaped wider, showing a row of perfect white teeth. 'Excuse me-?'

'You're excused.'

Eyes the colour of dark caramel flashed. 'How dare you refer to me as such-?'

'Careful, anjo, you're causing a scene. Pai would not be happy to see his event ruined by a tantrum now, would he?'

Her eyes didn't stray from his, her stare direct and cutting in a way   that made it difficult for him to look away. Or maybe it was because,   despite the boldly challenging stare, he spied a quickly hidden   vulnerability that tweaked his radar?

'I don't know who you think you are but perhaps you need to be educated   in the etiquette of social gatherings. You don't deliberately set out  to  insult your host or-'

'My intention was quite simple. I wanted to get rid of the competition.'

'The competition?'

The doors to the larger ballroom where the dinner fund-raiser was to be   held were thrown open. Theo turned to her. 'Yes. And now Alfonso's  gone,  I have you all to myself. And, as to who I am, I'm Theo  Pantelides,  your VIP guest of honour. Maybe you should add another  bullet point to  your rules of etiquette. That the hostess should know  who her most  important guests are?'