For the rest of the journey to Pantelides Towers, Brianna immersed herself in doing what she did best—anticipating her boss’s every need and fulfilling it without so much as a whisper-light ruffle.
It was the only way she knew how to function nowadays.
By the time she handed their emergency suitcases to his helicopter pilot and followed Sakis into the lift that would take them to the helipad at the top of Pantelides Towers, they had a firm idea of what lay ahead of them.
There was nothing they could do to stop the crude oil spilling into the South Atlantic—at least not until the salvage team got there and went into action.
But, glancing at him, Brianna knew it wasn’t only the disaster that had put the strain on Sakis’s face. It was also being hit with the unexpected.
If there was one thing Sakis hated, it was surprises. It was why he always out-thought his opponents by a dozen moves, so he couldn’t be surprised. Having gained a little insight into his past from working with him, Brianna wasn’t surprised.
The devastating bombshell Sakis’s father had dropped on his family when Sakis had been a teen was still fodder for journalists. Of course, she didn’t know the full story, but she knew enough to understand why Sakis would hate having his company thrown into the limelight like this.
His phone rang again.
‘Mrs Lowell. No, I’m sorry, there’s no news.’ His voice held the strength and the solid dependable calm needed to reassure the wife of the missing captain. ‘Yes, he’s still missing, but please be assured, I’ll personally call you as soon as I have any information. You have my word.’
A pulse jumped in his temple as he hung up. ‘How long before the search and rescue team are at the site?’
She checked her watch. ‘Ninety minutes.’
‘Hire another crew. Three teams working in eight-hour shifts are better than two working in twelve-hour shifts. I don’t want anything missed because they’re exhausted. And they’re to work around the clock until the missing crew are found. Make it happen, Moneypenny.’
‘Yes, of course.’
The lift doors opened. Brianna nearly stumbled when his hand settled in the small of her back to guide her out.
In all her time working for him, he’d never touched her in any way. Forcing herself not to react, she glanced at him. His face was set, his brows clamped in fierce concentration as he guided her swiftly towards the waiting helicopter. A few feet away, his hand dropped. He waited for the pilot to help her up into her seat before he slid in beside her.
Before the aircraft was airborne, Sakis was on the phone again, this time to Theo. The urgent exchange in Greek went right over Brianna’s head but it didn’t stop her secret fascination with the mellifluous language or the man who spoke it.
His glance slid to her and she realised she’d been unashamedly staring.
She snapped her attention back to the tablet in her hand and activated it.
There’d been nothing personal in Sakis’s touch or his look. Not that she’d expected there to be. In all ways and in all things, Sakis Pantelides was extremely professional.
She expected nothing less from him. And that was just the way she wished it.
Her lesson had been well and truly learned in that department, in the harshest possible way, barring death—not that she hadn’t come close once or twice. And all because she’d allowed herself to feel, to dare to connect with another human being after the hell she’d suffered with her mother.