Page 28 of Vows of Revenge

He wanted Kassia with him already.

The rest of the day, and the whole of tomorrow, stretched glaringly, emptily, frustratingly ahead.

CHAPTER SIX

KASSIALOOKEDOUTof the window of the car—a sleek, black expensive model—which had arrived that morning at her mother’s house and conveyed her to London. But not to the Hotel Viscari. She looked out again, puzzled. The chauffeur had pulled up against the kerb and was now opening her door. She got out, surprise and confusion in her face. They were outside a famous and very expensive department store in Knightsbridge.

What on earth...?

Her phone buzzed and, still confused, she got it out of her bag to answer it.

It was Damos.

‘Kassia? Don’t move. I’ll be there in a moment.’

Even as he spoke she saw him coming out of the store. Striding towards her. As she saw him she felt her pulse give a kick. She tried to crush it down, but it was a kick all the same.

One she knew she must not feel.

Because from the moment Damos had hung up the phone the day before yesterday she’d known she should have said no to him. Her reaction to his call had told her that—warning her in the way her pulse had quickened, the way gladness had warmed through her just at hearing his voice again. It was pointless to react like that when she was just not the kind of woman a man like Damos Kallinikos would ever think of in the way that she or any other female would love him to...

She sighed inwardly. Yet she’d said yes to him all the same. Said yes because it would be another chance to see him again when she’d thought she never would. How could she have turned it down, pointless though it was? Pointless though it could only ever be?

But now, as he strode up to her, a smile slanting across his face, she felt that betraying kick in her pulse come again, felt her gaze cling to him. And she knew that she was glad—so glad—to have said yes to him. And if it seemed odd—unlikely, even—that he didn’t have anyone better than her to invite tonight, given that this was not provincial Oxford but the metropolis, where surely he must know more people...well, she just didn’t care. There might be all sorts of reasons she didn’t know about as to why he found it more convenient that she should accompany him tonight, and she knew she did not want to question it. Only to be glad of it.

Her own face broke into a warm smile in response to his and she knew her heart rate was quickening. Just seeing him again was a thrill. He was looking a million dollars, in a business suit that sheathed his tall, lean frame, and his dark eyes were as warm as his smile, doing such things to her composure...

He came up to her, greeted her, his voice as warm and welcoming as his smile, and then turned his attention to the driver.

‘I’ll be about five minutes,’ he said.

Then he took Kassia’s elbow. His touch was light, but it only added to the hollowing out inside her as he guided her towards the store’s entrance.

‘Damos, I don’t understand. What are we doing here?’

She knew there was confusion was in her voice, as well as that hollowing in her stomach, that kick in her pulse.

He paused, turning to her. ‘What I didn’t get a chance to tell you on the phone,’ he said, ‘was that this affair tonight is themed. Thirties Art Deco. Guests are asked to dress accordingly. I’ve ordered a thirties-style tuxedo for myself, but you’ll need something appropriate too. Don’t worry...’ He smiled reassuringly. ‘It’s all taken care of. I just have to hand you over, and the specialists here will do the rest.’

He guided her inside the store, towards a bank of elevators.

‘But I brought the dress I wore to the college dinner...’ Kassia said helplessly.

Damos shook his head. ‘Not nearly Art Deco enough,’ he said, mentally casting the frumpy green dress into the nearest bin. He ushered her into an elevator. ‘All the styling will be taken care of, and of course I’ll be covering the cost. All you have to do,’ he said, his smile warmer than ever, his eyes warmer still, ‘is relax and enjoy.’

Kassia felt breathless—for so many reasons. At seeing Damos again...feeling the warmth of his smile on her...the warmth of his dark eyes on her. But for more as well. She was being whirled away...taken over...by Damos...

The elevator soared upwards, making Kassia feel even more breathless, and she was still breathless when the doors sliced open and Damos ushered her out, towards a very elegantly dressed middle-aged woman who had clearly been waiting for them to emerge.

The woman smiled at Kassia. ‘If you would care to follow me, madam...?’

Kassia looked helplessly at Damos. He smiled again.

‘See you later,’ he said. ‘The car will bring you and your overnight bag to the Viscari when you’re ready.’

He lifted a hand in farewell and stepped back inside the elevator. The doors sliced shut, and he was gone.

Slowly, feeling her heart thumping idiotically, Kassia went after the elegant middle-aged woman to her fate.

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