The following day was an extremely busy one for Billie. The security precautions to ensure the interments remained private were rigorous. Constantine and Natasha were laid to rest in the walled cemetery behind the village church. Alexei, who always rose highest to a challenge, shook off the moodiness and silences of the day before to act as gracious host at the villa. Special travelling arrangements had been put in place to enable the guests to leave in good time for their flights home.
Once everyone was gone, an unearthly silence spread through the house because most of the staff was now off duty as well. Billie went off in search of Alexei because after working so many hours at a stretch she was keen to have some time that was her own. After all, tomorrow would bring an early start, the reading of the will and a return to business, which promised to be even more challenging than anything that had gone before. But who could tell what mood Alexei would be in? Only since the motorway pile-up had she truly appreciated just how volatile he could be
Alexei was on the terrace with a drink in his hand. He had gone through most of the day that way and the sight of that ever-present glass struck a wrong note for her because overindulging in alcohol was not the norm for him. She recalled her painful glimpse of him with his mother's orchids the night before and compressed her mouth. He had discarded his tie and unbuttoned his shirt but he still wore his black designer suit with striking panache. As she looked at him, taking in the grim gold of his stunning eyes and the rough shadow of stubble darkening his jaw line, her heart skipped a beat and she felt horribly guilty for reacting to his sexual allure on such an unhappy day.
'You need a drink,' Alexei drawled.
'No, thanks…er—'
Alexei strode past her into the house. 'What would you like?'
'I don't drink when I'm working—'
'If I'm not working, you're not working either,' Alexei traded and slowly the stiffness in her bearing eased.
'Rosé wine…'
'Rosé? You've got no class,' Alexei groaned from indoors.
'I only like sweet drinks,' she confided.
'Relax, take off your jacket,' Alexei told her.
And she did because she was too warm. Her sleek grey silk T-shirt complemented her tailored skirt. She had learned how to put together an outfit for work and was satisfied that she looked elegant, while being less confident of what she wore outside working hours. A moisture-beaded glass clasped in her hand, she studied Alexei, long dark lashes veiling her anxious green eyes from the disturbing penetration of his.
'You put on a hell of a show for my family today. I appreciate it.'
Her cheeks warmed. 'Thanks.'
'I just wish I felt a little happier about having left my mother in her final resting place down by the church.'
Billie frowned. 'Sorry, I don't understand.'
'I'd always planned to take her away travelling once my father was gone,' Alexei confided with a raw, roughened edge of emotion to his voice. 'I waited too long. It never occurred to me that they might die at the same time. When she married my father she gave up her youth. She spent thirty-odd years withering with boredom and frustration on this island. Speros was her cage, her punishment for marrying a man in his fifties who was afraid that she would meet someone else if he let her have more freedom. She deserved better.'
'Your mother always seemed happy.'
'She was a great wife and mother.' Alexei downed the contents of his glass in a salute. 'But she got very little pleasure out of being a Drakos.'
'You and your father—her family—meant everything to her,' Billie responded softly, and then she set down her empty glass. 'I'm going to turn in now.'
'You have to be the only woman in my life who continually tries to walk out on me,' Alexei remarked with a wondering shake of his handsome dark head. 'Any idea why that is?'
And all over again Billie felt the intense charismatic pull of him tugging at her senses. He was gorgeous and she would have had to be bereft of her senses not to appreciate him. His high-voltage sensuality was like a honey trap, she reasoned feverishly, and not one she could afford to fall into again.
'Working for you is tiring,' she fielded awkwardly.
'What a drab description of being in my employment,' Alexei countered, his Greek accent and possibly the amount of alcohol he had consumed making the words slur together.
Meeting his brilliant golden gaze, Billie felt like a rabbit caught in car headlights: paralysed, trapped and befuddled by the blinding brightness.
'It's never boring and I enjoy the travel and all the different people I meet,' she conceded in a small tense voice. 'Perhaps you should have allowed Brigitte to stay on today to keep you company.'
'The French one who screamed abuse at you when you told her she couldn't stay? You've got to be kidding!' A familiar pulse of arousal was making Alexei uncomfortable. There was something about Billie that turned him on and he had long since given up trying to work out what it was. Yes, she had beautiful green eyes, clear fine skin and a peach of a mouth, but she wasn't in his class and he knew it. She had nothing in common with his other lovers either—that would be a ridiculous comparison to make. Yet, somehow, he was always aware of the movements of that small, delightfully curvy body when it was in his vicinity. He never failed to notice the luscious curve of her breasts and the firm feminine swell of her bottom below a fitted skirt. And, just at that moment, with his blood running insanely hot and making him hard as steel, he wanted to strip off her clothes and sink hard and long into the silky welcome of her virginal body.
'You shouldn't be alone tonight.'