Aimee snuck back up the balcony stairs, a smile on her lips. A solution to her most pressing problem was right within her grasp.
She passed the bench where she’d helped Alexi with his headache the first time. It was now cloaked in shadow. A throat cleared. “Feeling better?”
Aimee gasped and spun around, clutching her throat with one hand and her camera with the other. “Alexi! What are you doing out here?”
He came to stand before her. “I think that’s my question. Your headache is gone?”
Aimee’s eyes slid away from his. “Yes. I just went to get some fresh air.”
“With your camera?” Alexi lifted her hand holding the device and raised an eyebrow.
Aimee pulled her hand away. “I take my camera with me most of the time these days.”
“Why did you really leave the dinner table?” Alexi stepped closer to her.
“I wasn’t feeling well. I told you.”
“You were lying. No one gets over a headache that fast.”
Aimee moved back a step. As Alexi matched her step for step, her nervousness increased. She found herself backed against the cool stone of the building and put one hand up to ward him off. “My head was hurting and now it’s not. I’m going to bed.”
Alexi reached for her shoulders. “Good idea. Your room or mine?”
Aimee shoved him away. “Neither! I told you, that was a one-time thing.”
“It doesn’t have to be. I like you Aimee, and we are good together. Besides, you did say you needed to talk to me. Now seems like the perfect time.”
Aimee took a calming breath and then moved away from him. “I got a response back from my friend in D.C. about the email address. He managed to trace the IP address to an address here. In Thessaloniki.”
“What? The emails are coming from right here?”
“At least the most recent ones. He said he could go back to the beginning and probably track those addresses down as well, but it probably wouldn’t do you any good now.”
“No, just the most recent location works. Can I see that email?”
“Sure.” Aimee led the way towards her rooms, feeling Alexi following close behind her. She turned her laptop on and showed Alexi the address, shocked when he cursed violently after reading it.
“What is it? Do you recognize that address?” Alexi didn’t respond, pacing her room, his hands clenched tightly. “Alexi?”
He stopped and looked at her just as his cell phone rang. He answered it, keeping his eyes on hers. “Talk.” Aimee could feel the anger building in him as he stared at her.
She moved back a step.
Alexi spoke a few terse sentences into the phone and ended the call. He didn’t take his eyes off her.
“Who was that?”
“Who did you meet down at the gate?” he demanded.
The gate? “What? What are you talking about?”
“Minutes ago, the guard caught you talking to one of those reporters. I want to know what you told him.”
Aimee was now furious. “I don’t have to tell you who I was talking to. I’d like you to leave. Now.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her anger at his high-handed demands barely containable.
Alexi reached for her shoulders. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what you’ve done. Who was that man and how long have you been feeding him information about us?”
Aimee struggled to remove his hands. “Let go of me. I haven’t told anyone anything about you. He was just a reporter and he could speak English. It was a refreshing change to hear someone speaking English and we chatted for a minute. I’ve never met him before in my life.”
Alexi searched her eyes and then cursed once. He pulled her up, slamming their mouths together. The kiss wasn’t polite and it wasn’t gentle. It was a violent exchange filled with pent-up lust and high emotions. Alexi moved his lips to her jaw, nipping his way down to the collarbones. “Don’t talk to those vultures. Don’t even look at them.”
Aimee tried to remember the reasons she’d had for not getting physical with Alexi again, but her resolve had fled the moment he’d placed his lips on her own. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I don’t want you talking to strange men,” Alexi whispered in her ear before nipping the lobe, sending arcs of pleasure racing down her spine.
His words registered just as his hands found their way beneath her shirt and she froze. “You don’t want me talking to strange men?” Aimee’s voice was cold, and she struggled to control her ragged breathing.
Alexi gave her a hot look. “That’s what I said.”
I can’t believe the audacity of the man! She shoved him, putting a chair between them before pointing to the door. “Get. Out.”
“Aimee, why are you upset? So, I’m jealous. I admit it. You should be happy…”
“I should be happy? I’m not your possession, Alexi. I will talk to whomever I want, whenever I want.” When Alexi started around the chair, she glared at him. “If you don’t want me to scream loud enough to bring the entire household running, leave now. You are the most egotistical, narrow-minded idiot I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet. Get out and stay away from me.”
Alexi opened his mouth to argue and then closed it. “Fine. I will give you time to calm down, but this isn’t over between us. I’ve never felt this kind of jealousy before, and while you might not appreciate the way I handled myself, know this. You are mine until I say otherwise.” His declaration made, he left the room.
Aimee’s mouth hung open. She tried to process what had just happened and ended up only more confused. Alexi seemed to think he had some claim upon her person because they’d had sex, no—they’d made love and it had been wonderful…
Aimee allowed the sweet memories to register for a moment, but then his possessive declaration brought her anger back full force. “He doesn’t own me! He doesn’t have the right to tell me who I can talk to! And he doesn’t get to say when things are over between us, because I already said they were. The fact my body goes up in flames every time he walks into the room means nothing. Nothing!”
It took hours for her emotions to calm down. Aimee busied herself with selecting the perfect picture of Leo and Gemma’s wedding to give to the reporter. She briefly toyed with the idea of asking for permission first, but decided it would be better to beg for forgiveness second.
The picture she chose showed Leo and Gemma, facing one another. The love they felt seemed to rise right off the computer screen. So much for me ever finding that kind of love. I only attract possessive assholes who think they have the right to order me around and dictate my life. Gemma girl, you lucked out with Leo. Thank God you didn’t end up marrying Alexi, he would have made you miserable.
*****
After only a few hours of sleep, Aimee awakened, glanced at the clock and grimaced. She rushed through a shower and then tied her hair up haphazardly into a ponytail. She pulled on jeans and a shirt, grabbed the flash drive, and slipped from her rooms.
The quickest way to reach the maintenance gate was the way she’d gone last night, and she stepped out onto the balcony and headed for the stairs. She didn’t see anyone in the gardens below and walked briskly towards the edge of the property. She smiled as she approached the gate and found the reporter waiting anxiously for her. “Good morning.”
James’s smile was relieved. “I thought maybe you changed your mind.”
“No.” She extended the flash drive through the fence. “I think you’ll like what’s on there.”
James took it and then handed it off to a man behind him with a laptop. “My editor sent someone out to verify the picture and bring the check.”
“This is gold, James,” the man whispered excitedly.
“Now for our part of the bargain.” James handed an envelope through the gate.
A loud shout came from behind her. Aimee turned to see Alexi rushing towards her. She clutched the envelope to her chest. “Get out of here!”
The reporter and his colleague needed no further incentive and disappeared, leaving Aimee to face Alexi alone.
Alexi grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to move her out from in front of the gate. “You lied to me!” he roared.
“There’s no one out there.” Aimee struggled to hold her ground.
“Move. Out. Of. My. Way.”
“Okhi! I will not. Besides, he’s gone.”
Alexi was furious. “What were you telling him?”
“I didn’t tell him anything.” She pushed away from him. The envelope James had given her fell to the ground.
Alexi seized upon it before she could and opened it with a loud curse. “What is this for if you didn’t tell him anything? How could you do this? I told you about the emails. You know how important it is to keep my identity concealed! I can’t believe you would jeopardize our safety for money! What about Gemma? Did you even think about her when you were making a deal with the devil?”
“Alexi, wait! I didn’t tell James anything.”
“James? You’re on a first name basis with a reporter? Great! Just how long has this been going on?”
Aimee’s shoulder stiffened at the implied insult. “It hasn’t. I just met him last night. I didn’t tell him anything.”
“Aimee, I’m not stupid. There is a lot of money in this envelope…”
“Ten thousand dollars,” she murmured.
“Ten grand? You sold me out for ten grand? I would have paid you ten times that to keep my secret,” he spat at her. He tossed the envelope at her, turning on his heel. “Enjoy your money.”
Aimee gathered up the envelope and the bills that had spilled from it, tears gathering in her eyes. “Alexi, wait!”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” He kept walking. “You had the right idea last night. Let’s keep away from one another.”
Aimee watched him enter the house, shutting the door behind him. She took a shaky breath, her emotions in turmoil. She did want him to leave her alone. But now that he’d given her what she wanted, there was a gaping hole in her heart. Her knees trembled when she realized Alexi might be the only one who could fill it.
What have I done? I don’t really want him to go away. God, I love him and I just ruined any chance of ever calling him mine. I don’t care that he likes to control everything around him…
Her despair was so intense, she collapsed beneath the nearest tree. She pulled her knees up to her chest, bitter tears coursing down her cheeks. In a matter of minutes her entire future had turned from one of hope to one so bleak she couldn’t even see her way back into the house.
*****
How long she sat there feeling sorry for herself, she didn’t know. She finally wiped her cheeks with her fingers, her eyes feeling scratchy and puffy from crying, her hands shaking as she tried to think of anything besides Alexi and the mess she’d made of things. She pushed herself up from the ground, barely finding the energy to turn and head for the balcony stairs. She almost made it to her rooms.
“Good morning… Aimee, what’s wrong?” Gemma’s voice. From the note of worry in it, Aimee knew Gemma had spotted her distress.
Aimee covered her face with her hands. “God, Gemma. I just made a huge mistake and Alexi hates me!”
“Alexi doesn’t hate you,” Gemma protested.
“Yeah, he does.” Aimee couldn’t get the way he’d looked at her out of her mind. “He won’t even let me explain.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened and maybe together we can figure this out?” Gemma beckoned Aimee to join her in her room.
In the privacy of Gemma’s suite, Aimee spilled the entire story. How she’d been depressed at the thought of going back to the States alone and taking another meaningless job. About the reporter and how she’d seen an opportunity to pay her own way and jumped at it. “I was going to tell you about the picture, but I didn’t want Leo to try and stop me. It’s a good one and James, the reporter, promised me they wouldn’t write any sordid story to go with it.”
Gemma was quiet for a long moment. “Why is Alexi mad at you?”
“He thinks I told the reporter about him being alive.”
“Ah! That would make him very upset. There is something going on that neither Alexi nor Leo will tell me, but I’ve noticed more security guards around these last few days. Is there something you want to tell me?”
Aimee shook her head, not wanting to upset Gemma for no reason. With her pregnancy and morning sickness, Gemma had enough to worry about. She didn’t need to add worrying about some unknown entity trying to kill everyone around her. “What am I going to do about Alexi? He was really mad.”
“You like him, don’t you?” Gemma asked.
Aimee started to shake her head, but realized there was no point in denying it. Her shoulders slumped. “Yes, damn it! I can’t fall for a guy like him. I mean, where is it supposed to go? We come from two different worlds and I like to make my own decisions…”
Gemma shook her head with a laugh, “Listen to you. Two separate worlds? Leo and I were in the same boat as you and Alexi and look how things turned out for us. What’s really bothering you about Alexi?”
“The man always has to be in control. I can’t be some man’s possession.”
Gemma reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I know Alexi likes to be in control of things, but it’s because he feels the need to protect everyone around him. If you two could learn to talk to one another instead of jumping to conclusions, you might find you have more in common than you think.”
“That may be true, but I don’t think he’s ever going to want to talk to me again.”
Gemma was thoughtful. “When is the picture going to print?”
“Probably tomorrow. They were really excited to get it. No one else has a picture of you and Leo together. God, Gemma. I can’t believe I screwed this up so badly. I have to fix this, no matter what it takes. I love him.”
“Tell him that,” Gemma suggested.
“He won’t listen to me. He thinks I betrayed him and never wants to see me again.” Aimee lowered her head, her brain trying to come up with some way of redeeming this situation.
Gemma had a conspiratorial look on her face. “I think I might have an idea.” She lowered her voice. “What if you…”