When She Fell for the Billionaire(28)

“You go too far, Eleni,” he bit out.

“I’m willing to go to great lengths for someone I care about.” Her hand landed on his thigh.

“Eleni-”

Her fingers dug deeper into his flesh. “Luca, give me another chance. Give us another chance.”

He covered her hand with his own and lifted it off him, dropping it none too gently on her lap. “It’s over, Eleni.”

“I won’t ask for anything you’re not ready to give yet, Luca. I won’t make demands. Please.”

“If you think your demands were the reason for our break-up, then we had bigger problems than I had realized.”

“Is this about that little slut at the bar again?” Her voice had started to rise, her eyes narrowing. Luca knew the imminent signs. He had better make his escape before she lost it.

He jerked upright. “You can get in touch with my assistant, Olivia, if you need anything else from the House of Argenti. She’s working in the mock-up office at room 505.” He leveled her a look that said she had better get her act together. “I’ll see you at the launch.”

Eleni swiveled her chair towards him and crossed her stockinged legs in a deliberate motion. She regarded him with an expression that was eerily like a cat toying with a mouse. “She wouldn’t have won if she had decided to sue, you know. The slut never stood a chance but since you asked, I apologized,” she drawled, her eyes lit with a malicious gleam. “But you know what, Luca? The truth is I’m not the least bit sorry. It was an accident. I tripped.” she said blithely. “I was tipsy. I picked up the broken brottle from the floor and she was in the way,” she shrugged, “making eyes at you. The alcohol made me clumsy. She didn’t see me coming. Karma’s a bitch and she deserved it.”

She was goading him to react. Eleni knew which buttons to press, and press them she did. She used to stoke his displeasure, rouse him to anger, and just when he was about to boil over, she’d coax him out of his bad temper with sex.

Not this time. And not ever again.

His gaze raked over her, and he didn’t bother to disguise his disgust. “Just stay the hell away from me, Eleni. And get some professional help.” He left the room without looking back.

Dio! He had to keep reminding himself that she was a cousin of his friend or else he would’ve never suffered her presence. Maybe he should’ve told Markos about the incident…

His mobile rang while he was traversing the corridor on his way to the mock-up office. He wanted to check up on Olivia and the preparations for the launch as well as let her know she would be handling all communications coming from the PR firm of the Konstantinos Group.

“Ciao,” he said curtly.

“Good afternoon, sir.” It was Andrews, the head of security of the hotel. The retired American elite force operative would never bother to report to him unless it was about Sabrina Connelly. The other security issues would go straight to the president, Markos himself.

He tempered the edges around his black mood. “You have news?”

“Venus has been sniffing around again.” He stiffened at the code name the bodyguard had given Sabrina. “She’s been seen chatting up another staff member at the front desk. We found out she’s been asking about the availability of the private suites, in particular, the rooms which the Konstantinos family use when they’re here. She says she’s inquiring about it for her friend who’s interested in coming down tomorrow. A Mr. Chase Latimer.”

“I see.” His reply was non-committal, but his black mood became sharper. Sabrina Connelly had a one-track mind. He had to point it in another direction. After a few seconds, he made a decision. “Here’s what I want you to do.”





Chapter 7





Sabrina dropped her long nose plier with a frustrated sigh. She couldn’t decide on how to wire the shard of precious red sea glass she found yesterday on the beach. She was unhappy with her design. Rather than risk dropping and breaking it, she admitted her concentration was shot. She wrapped it in a small velvet pouch and stowed it in a hard-cased plastic box she brought with her whenever she traveled out of town when she went hunting for sea glass.

It was a little past two in the afternoon. She would burn if she went to the beach at this hour but being alone in her suite, with flashbacks of what happened in another suite awhile ago, was making her burn for a different reason altogether. She wanted to jump out of her skin. She felt fidgety. On edge. Desire for that man’s touch was thrumming on all her nerve endings. She had a taste of it and wanted more. If she had satisfied her craving, then she wouldn’t be pacing around the hotel room, wondering if he would make good on his promise to see her again. Sabrina was sure Luca would be able to find a more than willing bed partner replacement with just a sexy quirk of his eyebrow.