The Savakis Merger Read Free Page A

should have been a moment out of time, a once-in-a-lifetime fantasy. A passing aberration.

    Now she was face to face with the man who’d persuaded her to shed every defence she’d used to keep the world, and especially men, at a distance. To keep herself safe.

    In a moment of terrifying discovery she realised he had power, real, tangible power over her. She’d let him in, casting aside caution, opening her private, vulnerable self to him. Too late now to slam that door shut again.

    This afternoon she’d unwittingly opened a Pandora’s box of raw emotion and physical longing. Feelings she’d locked away seven years ago had sprung to life.

    And now this hunger, this weakness couldn’t be denied.

    Hunger for a man who was here to woo her cousin.

    What had Callie been to him?

    Her stomach somersaulted in distress.

    Desperate to break the bond of knowledge and need that pulsed between them, Callie turned, gesturing abruptly to the sofas. Her hand looked steady. Only she knew of the fine tremors running through her body.

    ‘Won’t you take a seat?’ Her voice was cool, almost without inflection.
    She prayed that no one else noticed her brittle control over her vocal cords. Tension sank talons into the rigid muscles of her neck and shoulders.

    ‘After you.’ He inclined his head and raised his arm behind her back, as if to usher her towards one of the antique French lounges.

    Centimetres separated his palm from the silk of her dress, yet she felt his heat, like a phantom caress in the small of her back. Instantly her spine stiffened.

    ‘No, please. Let me get you a drink. What would you like? A cocktail?
    Wine, sherry? Or something stronger? We have ouzo, brandy…’

    He watched her silently, as if he knew nerves made her babble. Gone was the heat in his gaze. Instead his look was speculative.

    ‘Thank you. A whisky.’

    Callie moved quickly towards the bar. ‘And you, Uncle?’

    ‘Brandy, of course.’ There was a snap in his voice, but Callie barely noticed. She was too busy trying to control the trembling in her legs that threatened to buckle her knees.

    Disbelief and shock clogged her brain.

    She knew the name Damon Savakis. Who didn’t? He ran a company that had interests across the globe, in everything from marinas to luxury-yacht production, from exclusive coastal resorts to shipping lines. His wealth matched his uncanny business acumen, his ability to strike at precisely the right moment, turning an ever greater profit. The pundits said he was sharp, ruthless and had the luck of the devil.

    More, he was the Manolis company’s biggest rival. Surely her uncle had spoken of him as a threat, not a friend?

    Why was he staying in their cove on a beautiful but old yacht?

    Had he known who she was all this time? She’d been on the family’s private estate. But if so surely he’d have mentioned his connection to her uncle.

    And his plans to wed Angela.

    Unless he’d deliberately withheld the truth. Callie’s breath caught.

    Had he got a kick out of seducing her, while arranging to marry Angela?
    Had he laughed at how easy, how gullible she’d been? Did he enjoy watching her flounder for composure?

    Bile rose in her throat as bitter memories surged.

    Callie had too much experience of powerful men and their diversions.
    The way they used women. How had she been so stupidly trusting as to forget? Her first real happiness in seven years had been a betrayal.

    She fumbled as she reached for the glasses.

    ‘Here. Let me help you,’ he murmured from just behind her. A long arm reached out to snag the corkscrew from her hand. ‘You prefer wine?’

    The words were innocuous, but his breath on her neck sent tingles feathering across her skin. His body behind hers evoked an intimacy that made every hair on her nape rise in anticipation.

    Shame washed through her. She couldn’t control her reaction.

    Curtly she nodded and stepped aside as he uncorked the wine. She was crowded into the