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Authors: Kate Walker
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them to decide on their meals.
‘Of course I came. As you knew I would have to. I had no other choice. Not unless I wanted to stay at home and pack, as you’d already ordered me to do.’
‘Not ordered. It was the logical next step if things stayed as they were,’ Nikos corrected softly, earning himself a sideways glare that Sadie hoped made it clear that she was not in the least convinced by the apparent conciliatory tone in his voice.
There was no way that he was here to do any peacemaking. Why should he when he held all the cards in his hands—and most of them were aces?
‘And I suppose you are going to claim that you didn’t order me to meet you here?’
‘I merely invited you. So, what would you like to eat?’
Nothing. Sadie felt that she would be unable to swallow a single mouthful. Besides…
‘Did you really invite me out for a meal?’
Nikos glanced up from his study of the menu, one black brow slightly lifted in mocking enquiry.
‘Why else would we be in a restaurant, with menus to choose from?’
Because he wanted to prove that he had so much power over her that he could say jump and she would ask how high.Because he wanted to emphasise, by choosing this particular restaurant, just how very different things were now from the way they had been in the past, when they had been here together before.
‘And why are we in this particular restaurant? Why here and nowhere else?’
‘Because I know you like it here.’
If she didn’t know better, she might almost believe in the innocence in his eyes, his voice. But she had no doubt that it was more than that. Nikos Konstantos never did anything without considering all possible outcomes and planning for the one that was exactly what he wanted.
‘I liked it once,’ she said coldly, pointedly. ‘My tastes have changed since then.’
‘Mine too,’ Nikos drawled cynically.
So how was she supposed to take that? Was he, like her, thinking of the first meal they had eaten here? She hadn’t known who he was then. Only that she had fallen for the most devastatingly handsome and attractive man she had ever met. If she had known would she have been more careful, more on her guard? Maybe even held back and never agreed to go out with him?
If she had then things would have been so much easier. She would never have become tangled up in Nikos’s schemes—and those of her father. She would never have become a pawn in their hateful feud, never been used by each of them against the other. Because that had been all she was to them. A weapon which they could use to inflict as much damage on the other as possible.
‘I understand that the calamari here is very good—unless you prefer—’
‘What I’d prefer…’ Sadie put in sharply, having foolishly let her eyes wander over the menu so that she spotted the delicious shrimp dish she had eaten that first time she had been here. She could almost taste it in her mouth, the memory was so clear and devastating. ‘What I’d prefer is that you tell me exactly why I’m here and what you want from me.’
‘Some wine first?’ Nikos returned imperturbably, lifting one hand to summon the waiter.
The response was immediate, as of course it always was with Nikos. He only had to make the slightest gesture, look as if he might need something, and there was always someone there, right at hand, ready to provide whatever he needed.
But the presence of the waiter and his enquiring glance in her direction, the way he brandished his notepad and pen, meant that she couldn’t pursue the topic she wanted with him standing there listening. Feeling cornered, with her back against the wall, she snatched up the menu again and chose a pasta dish completely at random, only wanting the man to be gone so that she could confront Nikos and find out just what was going on.
‘I don’t for one moment believe,’ she began as soon as they were alone again, ‘that you have invited me here simply to spend an evening together and
‘Of course I came. As you knew I would have to. I had no other choice. Not unless I wanted to stay at home and pack, as you’d already ordered me to do.’
‘Not ordered. It was the logical next step if things stayed as they were,’ Nikos corrected softly, earning himself a sideways glare that Sadie hoped made it clear that she was not in the least convinced by the apparent conciliatory tone in his voice.
There was no way that he was here to do any peacemaking. Why should he when he held all the cards in his hands—and most of them were aces?
‘And I suppose you are going to claim that you didn’t order me to meet you here?’
‘I merely invited you. So, what would you like to eat?’
Nothing. Sadie felt that she would be unable to swallow a single mouthful. Besides…
‘Did you really invite me out for a meal?’
Nikos glanced up from his study of the menu, one black brow slightly lifted in mocking enquiry.
‘Why else would we be in a restaurant, with menus to choose from?’
Because he wanted to prove that he had so much power over her that he could say jump and she would ask how high.Because he wanted to emphasise, by choosing this particular restaurant, just how very different things were now from the way they had been in the past, when they had been here together before.
‘And why are we in this particular restaurant? Why here and nowhere else?’
‘Because I know you like it here.’
If she didn’t know better, she might almost believe in the innocence in his eyes, his voice. But she had no doubt that it was more than that. Nikos Konstantos never did anything without considering all possible outcomes and planning for the one that was exactly what he wanted.
‘I liked it once,’ she said coldly, pointedly. ‘My tastes have changed since then.’
‘Mine too,’ Nikos drawled cynically.
So how was she supposed to take that? Was he, like her, thinking of the first meal they had eaten here? She hadn’t known who he was then. Only that she had fallen for the most devastatingly handsome and attractive man she had ever met. If she had known would she have been more careful, more on her guard? Maybe even held back and never agreed to go out with him?
If she had then things would have been so much easier. She would never have become tangled up in Nikos’s schemes—and those of her father. She would never have become a pawn in their hateful feud, never been used by each of them against the other. Because that had been all she was to them. A weapon which they could use to inflict as much damage on the other as possible.
‘I understand that the calamari here is very good—unless you prefer—’
‘What I’d prefer…’ Sadie put in sharply, having foolishly let her eyes wander over the menu so that she spotted the delicious shrimp dish she had eaten that first time she had been here. She could almost taste it in her mouth, the memory was so clear and devastating. ‘What I’d prefer is that you tell me exactly why I’m here and what you want from me.’
‘Some wine first?’ Nikos returned imperturbably, lifting one hand to summon the waiter.
The response was immediate, as of course it always was with Nikos. He only had to make the slightest gesture, look as if he might need something, and there was always someone there, right at hand, ready to provide whatever he needed.
But the presence of the waiter and his enquiring glance in her direction, the way he brandished his notepad and pen, meant that she couldn’t pursue the topic she wanted with him standing there listening. Feeling cornered, with her back against the wall, she snatched up the menu again and chose a pasta dish completely at random, only wanting the man to be gone so that she could confront Nikos and find out just what was going on.
‘I don’t for one moment believe,’ she began as soon as they were alone again, ‘that you have invited me here simply to spend an evening together and
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