“I wish we didn’t have to go back.” Scarlett sighed, dressing in the trousers and tank top from yesterday. “This was exactly the break I needed.”

“We’ll come back a few more times before we fly out,” Carter promised. “I need to get you alone again,” he added before wrapping his hand around her waist and kissing her passionately just as he did the night before. Whenever thoughts of last night crowded into her mind, she was powerless to resist the flush that followed, or the erotic thoughts that flowered from the images.

“You do.” She responded, happy to honor his demands.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir.” Scarlett snapped a jaunty salute.

Carter rolled his eyes, “Then let’s go.”

Nodding, Scarlett followed him from the room. They checked out at the desk and walked back to the small dock where the powerboat was anchored. It had been in the open all night, secured only by a rope, but it remained.

Carter held the boat for Scarlett as she scrambled inside and climbed in behind her. Soon, they were on their way, and the wind made conversation nearly impossible, as it had yesterday.

Today, the temperature had barely hit seventy, and the wind made Scarlett chilly. She huddled in a miserable ball, trying to stay warm. Sighing, Carter drew her to him, practically holding her on his lap. As they approached the dock he signaled for her to get back to her seat. She had a feeling that would happen. Last night would be a secret from his family. Because of their hate for her father.

After anchoring the speed boat, Carter helped her out, and they walked up the path to his home. They were surprised to see his family and Darren gathered in the sitting room, his sisters pacing frantically. “Where were you?” Lydia demanded. “We were worried sick.”

“I was on Mykanos,” said Carter. “I have been there many times before, often staying the night, without informing you.” Scarlett could see he was annoyed with her questions, narrowing his eyes at his sister.

“That was different,” said Thea.

“How so?” Carter crossed his arms.

“You were with her,” Thea spit out. “We had no way of knowing what she might do to you. She could have killed you and dumped you in the sea.”

“Me? Kill him? How dare you?” She threw up her hands. “I’ve done my best to be polite to you, but all you do is rip into me. I’m sick of this. I have done nothing to you to deserve your treatment, and I fail to see how you could speculate about me doing away with your brother, even in your wildest dreams.”

“Yes, it would be quite difficult for her to overpower me,” Carter said, his lips twitching.

Lydia ignored Carter’s contribution. “You are a Terini, and that justifies my hatred of you. You are more than capable of the most foul deed ever dreamed up by man, and I have no doubt you would murder as easily as anything else you do.”

Scarlett sighed deeply. “I’m going to my room.” She pushed past him. But instead of rushing upstairs she waited behind the wall, she had to list, to know if he would defend her.

“Why must you taunt her so?” asked Carter in an icy voice. “She is not her father.” He blinked as he realized he was defending her.

“No.” Thea moaned. “The worst has happened.”

“No way!” Lydia protested.

“What are you talking about?” Carter feigned amusement.

“You’ve fallen in love with her, a Terini.” Thea cursed in Greek.

“That can’t be true, brother. You would not do that to your family.”

“Do not be foolish. She is simply a means to an end, nothing more.”

Scarlett couldn’t bear to listen to the rest of the conversation and abandoned her hiding place around the corner. Some compulsion had urged her to stay, to hear his sisters, hoping that a reasonable explanation for their behavior would be offered. She bit back a sob as she ran to her room, wishing she’d never heard those damning words. She wanted to pretend that Carter had slept with her because he wanted her, maybe because he was starting to love her as she was beginning to love him.

The truth was so much more simple, plain, and devastating. To Carter, she was an inconvenience, a way to toy with her father. He probably considered last night a small consolation for the trouble she’d put him through. He was a man, not going to refuse what was offered, especially when she’d been so humiliatingly willing. Scarlett’s face flamed as she remembered begging Carter to make love to her. At the time she’d assumed he was prolonging her pleasure, but now she knew he was prolonging his own. Playing with her had must have brought almost as much satisfaction as the sexual release, if not more.

Scarlett threw herself on the bed, finally giving in to the sobs. She was falling in love with a man who hated and despised her, who regarded her as a pawn in a game of war he was playing with her father. The worst part was, she didn’t know how to stop falling for him. How did she turn off her emotions? She might as well rip the heart from her chest and grind it under her heel. And she could never do it as effectively as Carter had done with a few careless words.

* * *

Athena shook her head at Carter as his sisters left the room. “It’s not like you to lie. You’ve always been truthful.”

“I’m not lying,” Carter said in a voice that rang with conviction.

She nodded sagely. “That is the worst kind of lie, Carter. The kind you tell yourself,” she added, leaving him in the sudden silence as she swept out of the room.

Carter looked up to meet the recrimination in Darren’s eyes. “What?” he bit out. “You disapprove of my game?”

“She’s not a game,” Darren said in a mild tone. “She’s a nice girl, and she doesn’t deserve what you’re doing to her.” He shook his head and left Carter as well.

Carter shook his head, marveling at how quickly everyone could abandon a person. His sisters had departed after hearing what they wanted to hear, going about their lives. Then his mother and her ridiculous accusation, followed by Darren’s disapproval.

“Dammit,” Carter cursed, drawing himself up sharply. He had to separate the truth from the lies, the pretense from the reality, before he could allow himself to trust her enough to love her.