Entering his study, he shut the door and turned to her. ‘What’s on your mind?’
For several seconds, she didn’t speak. She looked lost, miserable, like the bottom had gone out of her world. His heart swelled with the need to take away her pain.
‘Brianna, pethi mou, whatever the hell it is, I can’t fix it until I know what it is.’
That got her attention. She slowly shook her head. ‘That’s just it. I don’t think you can fix this, Sakis.’
His palms grew cold. Clenching his fists tight, he waited.
‘A few years ago, I worked for Greg Landers.’
The name popped like a firework in his brain. ‘Landers? The guy who was working with Moorecroft?’
‘Yes. But back then he owned a gas brokerage firm.’
‘And?’ he demanded, because his gut told him there was more. Much, much more. ‘He’s the one who’s been texting you. He’s G.’ He didn’t try to frame it as a question. He knew.
She licked her lips and, despite the fear and desperation clawing through his belly, he couldn’t stop his body’s sexual reaction. ‘Yes.’
Sakis breathed in deep, but the control kept unravelling. It took every ounce of strength he had to remain standing. ‘Is he your lover?’
She gasped. ‘No!’ A look very much like shame crossed her face. ‘But he was,’ she whispered.
He’d never understood jealousy up until now. Never got why it compelled strong emotion in others. In that moment, he understood. All Sakis could see in that moment was red, fiery red anger, and white-hot pain. ‘Why does he call you “Anna”?’
‘Because that’s my name. My real name is Anna Simpson. I changed it to Brianna Moneypenny after...after...’
‘After what?’
‘After I served just under two years in jail for embezzlement and fraud.’
Ice, sharp and deadly, clenched hard around his chest. ‘You went to jail? For fraud?’
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she nodded.
Sakis couldn’t breathe. His whole body had gone numb. He’d been betrayed again. And this time by a woman he loved. And, yes, he could finally admit that the feeling was love because nothing else came close to describing his emotions.
He tried to move towards her and absently noted that his feet were carrying him in the other direction. Numbness spread until his whole body felt frozen to the core.
‘You lied to me,’ he rasped around the pain gripping his throat.
Slowly, she nodded. Then she cleared her throat. ‘Yes.’
‘You colluded with a criminal to defraud and then you wormed your way into my company and my bed to do it all over again. You were helping him to topple my company, risking the livelihood of thousands of people.’ His voice shook, his insides raw with agony.
‘No! Please listen—I didn’t. I’d never do that to you.’
‘How long have you and Landers been involved in your little scheme?’ he snarled, his senses reeling.