Taken by her Greek Boss (2 of 2 free samples)
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Taken by her Greek Boss by Cathy Williams. Copyright 2007 by Cathy Williams.
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CHAPTER ONE (CONT'D)
The taxi, having wound its way through a myriad deserted streets, all identical in their never-ending rows of unlit terraced houses, finally drew to a stop and, to his further amusement, Lily refused to let him pay, even though she would certainly know him for the billionaire he undoubtedly was.
'It's not much... ' she apologised, fumbling in her bag for her front door key.
Nick murmured something suitably polite as she finally opened the front door, but really she was absolutely spot on. It was a house in an area that might, possibly once, have been considered a fairly decent location, but which the passing years had rendered shabby and depressingly uninviting, and stepping inside only served to cement that first impression.
Nick hadn't been to a place like this for a very long time. He had dragged himself up by his bootlaces, worked like a slave so that he could accumulate the necessary qualifications that would enable him to escape a life of mediocrity in the Home Counties, where his father had eked out a living doing manual work at the Big Houses, as he had liked to call them, the likes of which he would never be able to afford. He had been an uneducated Greek and had never dared to aspire beyond his modest sphere.
Nick had had no intention of following his father's footsteps. A first at university had been the start and followed by a rise through the financial world that had left his peers, most of whom came from a background of Big Houses, gaping and speechless. Now, he no longer worked for anyone. He had his own financial empire and called his own shots. When he opened his mouth, the world listened and paid heed.
And with vast power and wealth had come all the trappings. The place in the sun, rarely visited. The country house that he visited occasionally, whenever the ferocious demands of work allowed him the time off. The chauffeured car, the helicopter for those times when he needed to be somewhere faster than a train or car could take him, the lavish apartment in the heart of one of the most expensive areas in London.
He had long ago left behind the type of place now confronting him, with its tiny handkerchief of a front garden and, even in the forgiving cover of darkness, its signs of disrepair. And here in the small hallway, although much effort had obviously been made to brighten the interior, the cheerful primrose-coloured paint was fighting a losing battle with dodgy woodwork and carpeting that was no longer tired, but downright exhausted.
While Lily bent to unzip her boots, sighing with relief as she yanked the first one off, Nick turned to shut the front door. He was unaware of the sound of footsteps and only realised that there was someone else in the house when he heard Lily give a little yelp.
'Rosie! What are you doing up?'
'Who--' the voice was unusually husky for a woman '--is that?'
Nick turned around and found himself staring into a pair of narrowed blue eyes, which were glaring at him. Then he took in the rest of her--small, especially standing next to Lily, and no model's figure, although it was hard to tell because she was swamped in a fairly unflattering ensemble of dressing gown behind which peeked what appeared to be some kind of hideous novelty pyjamas.
'Honestly, Rose, I keep telling you not to wait up for me! I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself!'
The Rose character, whoever she might be, wore the expression of someone who seriously doubted that statement.
'I have no idea how you can say that, Lily, when you've just waltzed through the door with a complete stranger in tow. At nearly one in the morning. I thought you told me that this was going to be an early one?'
'It was early... but... Rose, this is Nick. Nick Papaeliou. Maybe you've heard of him?'
'Of course I haven't heard of him,' Rose snapped. 'You know I don't know a thing about these models you hang around with.'
'Model?' Nick couldn't believe his ears. Nor could he quite believe the way those ferocious blue eyes were scornfully dismissing him. 'You think I'm a model?'
'What else?'
'Oh, Rosie. You have to excuse her, Nick. Rose is very, very protective of me. She thinks I'm going to be gobbled up by a big bad wolf one of these days. But that's cool. Hey, what else do big sisters do?'
'She's your sister?' Nick stared at the small, round woman who was still glaring at him, although he noticed a faint pink colour crawl into her cheeks.
'There's no need to look so stunned,' Rose said coldly.
'We're stepsisters actually,' Lily explained, smiling. 'Isn't it amazing? I mean, you hear so many stories about stepsiblings not getting along but Rose and I couldn't be closer if we were proper sisters.' She gave Rose an affectionate squeeze. Even without shoes, she was at least six inches taller. 'Rosie, Nick's just popped by for a nightcap... would you mind? I've got to go to the bathroom.'
Yes, actually, she would mind, but Lily was already vanishing up the stairs, still taking them two at a time, the way she always had even as a kid. Sweet, sunny-natured Lily who thought the best of everyone, even the ones who had Health Hazard written all over their faces. Like this one staring at her, still incredulously digesting the fact that the leggy blonde with the waist-length hair, the one whom he had probably expected to escort home to a suitably empty house, was related to someone who was physically as different from her as chalk from cheese.
