Even though, still disoriented by his consuming passion, Michael didn’t resist. He took a step back to give her room to move away from him. He turned and leaned against the wall, watching her taking a few steps towards the kitchen table.
She turned and looked at him and the turmoil of her emotions was evident in those beautiful eyes of hers. He watched as she raised her hand and touched her lips. He knew exactly how she felt. His lips were still numb from their passionate kiss.
So much for keeping his distance—the moment their lips touched, he felt lost in her sweetness and the fire burning deep inside him made him forget everything else.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Jackie said and turned to look away from him.
“If someone should apologize, it should be me.” Michael heard his voice still vibrating from his emotions. “I’m sorry,” he added and put his hands in his pockets to keep them from reaching for her again.
“Let’s not talk about it,” Jackie said and turned to face him. “We’re stuck here tonight. Let’s not make things any more difficult than they already are.”
All of a sudden, a smile flickered across her face. “That was a good try, detective,” she pointed out.
He looked at her, surprised. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that kissing me was a good try to make me forget about my question. But still, you have not answered me about the house.”
Michael was taken aback by her remark. “You’re not insinuating that I kissed you just to avoid answering the question,” he said and felt his temper rising.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she insisted.
Michael took a few deep breaths. It had been such a long time, since a woman could affect him like this and make him lose his temper so easily.
This girl was driving him out of his mind.
***
It was a terrible night. The storm was one of the worst Nancy Felini, the attorney of the Demiris family, had seen in the last few years. The wind was howling and the lights kept flickering on and off. She looked at the man sitting in front of her and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn’t like him at all. He had shown up at her office just as she was getting ready to lock up and go home. What on earth had come over her to stay at her office this late at night? She would usually lock up, and go home long before seven.
But tonight, she had been waiting for a return phone call from the man who had called earlier that morning, inquiring about a hotel deal on the other side of the island—the Evergreens Resort. The man told her on the phone that he would call back later tonight after talking over the deal with his attorneys. Nancy had been very worried ever since. Everything had gone wrong with that damn place so far and now this. Someone knew something…someone was asking questions.
It was almost nine o’clock and he hadn’t called yet, when Nancy finally decided to go home. But by the time she was walking out her office door, this man showed up and inquired about the same property. What on earth? Nancy wondered, but couldn’t do anything else but ask him to come inside.
Now, she was having second thoughts. She should have told him to come back in the morning.
Roussos was watching the attorney very closely, squeezing the knife hidden in his pocket. He could tell she didn’t trust him, but he could care less. He would get the information he needed one way or another. It was all up to her. The boss had said at any cost….
***
“There is no need to play games,” Jackie insisted. For some reason, it seemed safer assuming his kiss wasn’t driven by desire. Even though, deep down inside, she knew she was dead wrong. She had seen the passion burning in his eyes and had felt the eagerness of his kiss. “I’m waiting for an explanation. Why did you lie to me?”
“But I didn’t lie,” Michael protested. “I do own the house, and I have the papers to prove it.”
Jackie looked at him puzzled. “And where are those papers?” she asked, watching him closely with clear suspicion in her eyes.
“I don’t have them with me.”
Jackie burst out laughing. “Yah, right!” she said. “And I’m Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt!”
“That you are,” he said with an enigmatic smile on his face. “You’re just as beautiful and deceiving as she was.”
Jackie looked at him surprised and couldn’t handle the fire she saw in his eyes. She had difficulty breathing and felt the urge to run as far away from him as she could. No, that was a lie. If she wanted to be honest with herself, she would have to admit she was drawn to him like a moth to the flame.
In the meantime, he had approached dangerously close and was leaning over her, looking intensely in her eyes.
“Please… don’t…” Jackie whispered, unable to move.
“Jackie,” he said softly.
She felt as if his voice had touched her skin, caressing it softly. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said irritated, not so much at him, but from her reactions to his presence. She swallowed hard and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “I’m probably tired, and this old mansion is making me act weird.”
“It’s not the mansion,” he said and looked at her tenderly. “And it’s not the storm. It’s us.”
“There is no us!” she protested, even though she knew, he was absolutely right. She could deny it to him, but she couldn’t deny to herself. Every time she was around him, her entire body burned with desire, and she could think of nothing else than to run into his arms and stay there forever.
“Oh, but there is!” he insisted. “I know that you can feel it too!”
Jackie shook her head from side-to-side in denial. “I have to go to bed,” she said suddenly and left him alone in the kitchen. She couldn’t stay in the same room with him any longer and keep on hiding the way she felt.
Walking into the foyer, she realized that she hadn’t managed to make it to the study yet. Anxiously, she looked over her shoulder to make sure he hadn’t followed her.
When she was sure Michael had stayed in the kitchen, she rushed down the corridor, entered the study, and softly closed the door behind her. She approached the desk and picked up the folders. Then she hastily stuffed the documents back inside them and raced downstairs to the secret room. Having no time to waste, she left the documents on the mahogany table and left the secret room, closing the steel door behind her. She climbed the narrow steps, two at a time. In the study, she turned the hound’s head counterclockwise and stepped back, watching the fireplace move back in place. She let out a deep breath. Now, all she had to do… Oh! My God! One of the documents had fallen on the floor.
She bent down to pick it up when she heard a noise close by. Frantically, she hid the document beneath one of the pillows on the leather sofa. Then she stood still and waited. Nothing. The only sound she could hear was her heavy breathing. She carefully approached the door, opened it, and checked the corridor. There was nobody there.
***
Michael peered through the small opening in the wall behind the big portrait of Emilios Demiris—Constantinos’ grandfather—which hung on the wall behind the showcase with the miniature of the mansion. A small corridor behind the kitchen led to a secret entrance in the study and also had this small opening through which one could watch what was going on in the room. The mansion had a lot of secret passages like this, which had saved the lives of the residents, during wars and other difficult times. Michael knew every single one of them.
So she knew about the secret room, Michael realized. He watched Jackie walk out of the room and turned to get back to the kitchen when he heard a smashing noise. He looked through the opening again. A tall, bulky man climbed inside through the broken, stained glass window.
Without a second thought, Michael pulled the door of the secret entrance to open in order to get inside the study. The door was stuck and Michael had a hard time trying to get it open. By the time he made it to the study, he caught a glimpse of the man climbing out through the window and running
away.
Michael cursed out loud and rushed to the sofa to check underneath the pillow. As he had suspected, the document was gone. Without delay, Michael stormed towards the window. He climbed outside and pulling out his gun, he ran after the intruder.
***
Jackie walked down the corridor towards the kitchen, looking for Michael. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass coming from the study made her stop dead in her tracks. Her heart pounded fast and she hesitated for a moment. Should she go back and check it out or should she wait for Michael? The broken window in the living room the other night had made her very cautious. A sudden gunshot made up her mind for her. Frantically, she turned and rushed into the kitchen, calling out for Michael. He was nowhere to be found.
In a state of panic, she checked every room downstairs, calling out his name. No answer. She finally made it to the study and cautiously entered the room.
The first thing she noticed was the broken window. Shaking from anxiety and fear, she made it to the sofa, only to find out that the document was gone. Oh! My God! What now?
She took a quick look at the fireplace and breathed out in relief to see it was in place. Then she noticed a small opening in the wall next to one of the bookcases, like a narrow secret door. And it was half open.
Jackie was shocked. She looked around petrified, feeling a shiver racing up her spine. Things were getting very creepy. No wonder, she’d felt that someone was watching her.
What now? she wondered. And where on earth is Michael?
Suddenly, another thought crossed her mind. What if it was Michael out there shooting? And ever worse, what if someone was shooting at Michael?
She moved away from the window and hurried to the living room. Calm down, she kept repeating to herself. But it was hard to remain calm. She was having trouble breathing, feeling a constriction in her chest.
“Are you all right?”
She was taken aback when she heard his voice and turned to face him. He was standing in the living room doorway with a gun in his hands.
“What happened?” she asked anxiously. “I heard a gunshot.”
“Someone broke into the house,” he replied. “I went after him.”
“Was that you shooting out there? Did you hit him?”
“No, I missed.”
“Where is he, now?”
“He’s gone!” Michael said and Jackie saw fire burning in his eyes.
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. But it wasn’t the same guy who chased you the other night.”
“Chased me?” she asked confused. Her face turned pale. “What do you mean chased me? Who? When?” A million questions bombarded her mind.
“Jackie, calm down,” he said softly. He put his gun back in its holster and pulled her into his arms, holding her tenderly and caressing her hair.
Jackie felt his strong arms closing around her, and she leaned against his strong body, feeling its warmth. Suddenly, she started shivering but not from fear this time. Every part of her body was responding to his touch. The blood was running hot in her veins and she felt her head spinning.
Michael pulled her towards the sofa and sat down, pulling her down beside him. “Are you all right?” he asked tenderly, brushing her hair away from her face.
“What’s going on?” she asked and turned her eyes on him.
He shifted uncomfortably.
“Michael, what’s going on?” she insisted, squeezing his knee. “Please…I don’t understand anything anymore.”
***
Michael saw how badly shaken she was. Her eyes were filled with anxiety and confusion. He hadn’t told her about the man who’d chased her the other night. She hadn’t seen him running after her, and then the shock of the accident didn’t leave any room for anything else.
Hesitating for a moment, he tried to decide whether she could be trusted. She looked so innocent and vulnerable, the only thing he wanted was to take her in his arms and reassure her that everything was going to be all right. At that very moment, he felt as if he could read her like an open book. But she had tricked him before.
“The other night when you ran away from me,” he said, putting emphasis on his last words, “I saw someone running away from the house in the same direction you had taken. I assumed he was running after you,” he explained, choosing his words very carefully, and watching her reactions closely. He had decided to give her only the facts. He couldn’t possibly tell her the whole truth. He felt her tensing and saw her face frowning. “I’m not sure who he was,” he continued. That much was true.
“But you have suspicions?” she asked, carefully searching her face.
“No,” he lied. “At least not for the time being.”
“And what about tonight?”
“This wasn’t the same guy,” he said firmly. “The other one seemed slimmer and taller.”
“What now?” she asked puzzled.
“We have to secure the house and wait until tomorrow morning. There’s nothing we can do in the middle of the night.” He looked out the window. “At least the rain’s stopped for a while.”
“Yes,” Jackie agreed and gave him a hesitant look.
“What?” he asked and saw her shifting uncomfortably. “Jackie, what is it?” he insisted, seeing her hesitation.
“I was just wondering…” she started and lowered her eyes.
“You were wondering what?” he insisted.
“I was wondering…” she said, keeping her eyes away from him, “if you could spend the night with me?”
***
Jackie heard him taking a deep breath and raised her face to look at him. Seeing the look in his eyes, she realized how her statement must have sounded.
“I didn’t mean that!” she protested and was furious to see an amused smile on his face. “I just don’t want to be alone and was wondering if we could sleep in the same room.” Her voice shook from embarrassment.
“I have no problem with that,” he reassured her. “Even though, I had no problem with your first suggestion either,” he added, making her blush again.
“Forget about it!” She jumped up from the sofa. “Just forget I even asked.” She rushed to the kitchen to pick up her flashlight. With the electricity out on the second floor, she needed light to go upstairs. She had decided earlier to use one of the bedrooms on the second floor. It somehow seemed more secure being in a room up there. And now after tonight’s events, she was even more determined to spend the night in the dark with only the company of the flashlight and maybe a candle or two, than to be downstairs where intruders had immediate access.
“Jackie!”
She heard his voice, calling after her, but she wouldn’t stop. She needed to get away from him…as far away as she could. She couldn’t believe that he had misinterpreted her intensions like this. He was infuriating.
But, if she wanted to be honest, it wasn’t his fault after all. The problem was, though, that she didn’t want to be honest. If she did, she would have to face the fact that spending the night with him had crossed her mind more than once.
Holding the flashlight in her hands, she entered the first bedroom on the right and slammed the door behind her. It was good that she had carried some of her stuff into the room earlier because she had no intention of going back downstairs tonight.
She lit a candle in the candlestick on the small desk by the window. She turned her flashlight off and went to close the heavy curtains, glancing uneasily outside for a moment. She knew that someone was out there, watching, waiting….
***
Michael didn’t want to pressure her anymore. She wasn’t being honest with him, but he was no better. He had been lying to her all along too.
He walked to the study and examined the area. He realized he’d left the secret door open and wondered if Jackie had seen it. If she had, she hadn’t mentioned anything about it for some reason.
He looked around the room and his eyes rested for a minute on the portrait of the young gi
rl. “I miss you so much…” he whispered. “I miss you and I miss dad. I promise you I’ll make this bastard pay for everything.” He let out a deep breath and clenched his fists, making the muscles in his arms flex. Just thinking of what his mother had been through made him furious. I need to control myself, he realized. I can’t let anger blind me. I need to clear my head and get to the bottom of this.
He took another look around, trying to find something to place in front of the broken window in order to block the opening. Nothing seemed to fit the bill except the bookcases, but he knew they were too heavy to move by himself. He walked out into the corridor and decided to use the grandfather’s clock that was placed against the wall right outside the study. It was big enough and at the same time, easier to move. He moved the clock in front of the broken window. It would have to do for tonight, he thought. Besides, if someone tried to move it, it would probably make enough noise to be heard.
He walked back to the corridor and, just to be on the safe side, locked the door to the study behind him. Then he picked up his small backpack he’d dropped by the front entrance when he stormed into the mansion earlier and went upstairs. He picked the room opposite Jackie’s and left the door open, so that he could watch the door to her room. He lay down on the bed without taking his clothes off. Taking out his gun, he placed it on the pillow next to him.
Now all he had to do was wait.
However, he realized soon enough it wasn’t going to be easy. Wild thoughts whirled around in his mind, as her lovely face and heavenly curves kept haunting him, driving his senses insane. Thinking of the passion he had seen in her seductive eyes and the trembling of her inviting lips, he felt every muscle in his body tighten and a hot wave of passion threatened to consume him. He wanted her…he wanted her so much it hurt. He longed to take her in his arms and conquer her lips with his. And she wanted him too. He could sense it; he could see it in her eyes every time she looked at him. Then again, she didn’t want to admit it. Maybe it was pride, maybe it was fear. Whatever it was though, it couldn’t change the fact that the feelings were there and they would have to address them sooner or later.