Those would be easy to pack.
No; she refused to think like a fugitive. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
With shaky fingers, she undressed and entered the en suite bathroom, suddenly eager to wash away the grime of her conversation with Greg. But his threat lingered in the air, in the water. No matter how much she scrubbed, she felt tainted by the thought that she had even contemplated betrayal to save her own skin.
The pounding at her door finally registered over the hammering of her heart and the rush of the shower. Twisting the tap shut, she heard the faint sound of her mobile just before another round of hammering made her lunge for her dressing down. With a quick sluice of a towel over her body, she went to her door and peered through the peephole.
The massive frame of Sakis looming through the distorted glass quickly eroded the relief that Greg hadn’t found his way to her flat.
It seemed the two people responsible for the angst in her life were determined to breach her sanctuary at all costs today.
Pulse skittering out of control, Brianna cracked open the door. ‘I...I didn’t know you knew where I lived.’ She looked into his clenched-jawed face and her words died on her lips. ‘Why are you here?’
‘I came here because...’ He stopped, then clawed a hand through his hair. ‘Hell, I’m not exactly sure why I came here. But I know I didn’t want to be at the penthouse by myself.’ He raked his hand through his hair again. The weariness she’d glimpsed on his face earlier seemed amplified a hundred-fold. The soft place inside her chest that had been expanding since their pancake episode this morning widened even further and she found herself stepping back.
‘I... Would you like to come in?’
Lips pursed, he nodded. Standing to one side in the narrow hallway, she held her breath as he entered her sanctuary.
Immediately, he dwarfed the space. She shut the door and entered the living room to find him pacing the space in short, jerky strides.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ She hadn’t touched the bottle of scotch that had come with her Christmas hamper last year. Now she was grateful for it as she produced the bottle and Sakis nodded.
She took out a glass, poured a healthy measure and passed it to him.
‘Aren’t you having one?’ Despite his question, his gaze was focused on the amber liquid in his hand.
‘I don’t really...’ She stopped. After what she’d been through already tonight, what she sensed was coming, perhaps a small drink wouldn’t hurt. She poured a single shot for herself, took a sip and nearly choked as the liquid burned a fiery path through her chest.
With a grim smile, Sakis tossed his own drink back in one unflinching gulp. He set his glass down on the coffee table and faced her.
‘Why did you leave?’
The reason for returning home blazed at the back of her mind. Although she’d done nothing wrong, guilt clawed through her nevertheless. She licked her lips then froze when his eyes darkened. ‘I haven’t been home in a while. I just wanted to touch base.’
‘And touching base precluded you from answering your phone?’
She glanced at the phone she’d abandoned on the sofa after her call with Greg. Picking it up, she activated it and saw twelve missed calls on the screen.