Spellbound in His Arms (11 page)

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she murmured and moved a
few feet away.

“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “I need to work anyway.”

“You need to get some sleep,” she said and walked across
the room to pour herself a cup of coffee.

“What were you thinking about right now?” he asked and
came to stand right behind her, shoving his hands in his pockets.

 Jackie could feel his gaze burning into her back and
throughout her entire body and took a deep breath trying to calm down, before
she could turn around to face him. But it was a lost battle. As soon as she
turned and raised her eyes to face him, she felt overwhelmed by the intensity and
desire in his gaze.

“Whether you could be trusted or not,” she replied,
trying to ignore the sparks flying between them.

“I’m not the enemy,” he whispered and placed his hands
on her arms, pulling her closer, sending waves of passion through her entire body.

As his gaze moved to her mouth, Jackie bit her lower lip
and tried to take a step away, but her legs wouldn’t respond. Her body had
turned to jelly and all she could do was stand there and stare at him. She felt
lost and closing her eyes, she leaned against his muscular body. She felt his
arms go around her waist, and she raised hers around his neck, pulling him even
closer.

They stood still for a couple of moments, feeling the
tension building between them.

Suddenly, Michael pulled away and turned his back to
her.

Jackie was taken off guard and she just stood there,
feeling lost and puzzled. Her thighs were trembling and her palms were damp and
tingly.

“Why?”

“I need to concentrate on the case” he said, turning to
face her, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. “Peoples’ lives are at stake
and I need to think straight.”

“No,” she said. “I didn’t mean, why you pulled away. I
meant, why not come out and claim the inheritance?” she asked, searching his
face for his reaction.

“That’s a long story,” he admitted, looking at her
straight in the eyes.

“I think, I have a right to know,” she said. “My cousin
Maria was killed because of that inheritance, and I’ve come a long way to try
to protect my other cousin, Aphrodite.”

“I know,” he replied. “And believe me, I’m really sorry
about Maria. But I had my reasons to withhold the information.”

“And you allowed all these murders to happen?” she asked
confused.

“
No
!” he said and grabbed her by the arms,
shaking her to face him. “I
didn’t
allow anything to happen!” he yelled,
and the intensity of his gaze burned all the way to her soul. “At the time, I
had no idea about all the murders. The local police said Andreas’ death was an
accident, and about Constantinos and my father, all I had to go on were my
suspicions and nothing else. It was after Alexandra died that I started to put things
together. And until you came here, I had no idea about what had happened to
Maria.”

Jackie wanted so much to believe him, but he had lied so
many times before.

“But, why?” she insisted. “If you had no idea that
someone was after the heirs of this property, why wait so long to claim it?”

Michael let go of her arms and walked back to the table
to pick up his notes. “I had my reasons,” he repeated simply and left the room,
leaving Jackie feeling lost.

***

Eric Manos lingered in the dark, waiting for his father
to leave the building. He knew that it wouldn’t be long now. After a long day,
his father would rush over to Catherine, the sexy singer who’d replaced Elizabeth after she got pregnant and fat.

Eric used to get mad at his father for all the pain and
sorrow he’d caused his mother. But that was long time ago. Eric was no longer
the hurt little boy who couldn’t get over the shock of having found his mother
dead, soaking in a bathtub full of blood after she’d cut her wrists. Now he was
grown up and he’d learned to turn things to his advantage…and Catherine was
just one more of those things.

He smiled, as he thought how easy it was to make the
poor, untalented singer fall for him. He was young, had the good looks of his
father, and a lot of money. It had been that simple. Of course, it was
difficult at first to persuade her to be with his father as well. But, when
Eric set his mind on something, he could do miracles. No matter that his father
had a different opinion about him.

Now he had to make a quick phone call to Catherine
before his father got there. He took out his cell phone and dialed the special
number he’d gotten for her to ensure the line was secure. Dealing with a man
like his father, he always had to be extremely cautious.

“Hi, darling,” her sweet, seductive voice answered the
phone. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for your call.”

“Catherine,” Eric replied. “How’s my girl today?”

“Missing you terribly.”

“I know, but I can’t help it. I’ve been real busy,” he
lied. The fact that he had other affairs on the side was none of her business.

“When am I going to see you?” she asked and the
eagerness was evident in her voice.

She’s crazy about me.
Eric
smiled. “Soon,” he replied vaguely. “But for now, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything, darling.”

“I need you to find out what my father is up to with the
Corfu deal and what’s going on with Roussos. He works for me now, but I don’t
really trust him. Something is wrong.”

Silence stretched over the line.

“Catherine,” Eric said. “Are you still there?”

“Yes, darling,” she replied and her voice was vibrating
with emotions.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “It’s just that…”

“I know it’s hard,” he interrupted her, knowing that she
was scared to death of his father, and avoided to talk to him about business no
matter what. “But this is really important. Everything depends on you—I depend
on you!” he pointed out, wanting to make her feel special.

Catherine kept silent and Eric heard the clinking of
glasses through the phone.
She’s pouring herself a drink,
he realized.

“I wish I were there to have a drink with you,” he lied,
trying to smooth things out.

“I wish you were…” she replied.

“I have to go now,” he said. “I’ll talk to you soon,”
and he hung up the phone.

She’ll do it,
he thought
satisfied.
She might be scared, but she’s stupid enough to do it.

***

Tony Mavrikis finished typing his report and pulled the
last page off the typewriter. He laid it on his desk and leaned back in his chair.
His entire body ached from the long hours he had been working. It was late and
almost everybody had gone home. Most of the lights were out and the building
was quiet.

He looked around and noticed only Paul Stamos, his boss,
was still in his office at the end of the corridor, typing on his computer.

I need to get acquainted with computers
, Tony thought.
It would save me a lot of time, correcting errors
and re-typing the same things
.

Anna Kaloutsi was also there, going through some
paperwork spread all over her desk.

Tony felt a bit edgy. It wasn’t every day that someone
went up against Philip Manos. The man was a legend and no one could touch him.
No one had ever tried, as far as Tony could remember. And now, Michael had
decided to go after the man.

It was crazy, but Tony would stand by Michael’s side at
any cost. After all, he owed him his life.

His thoughts went back to that cold winter night when
they were still in the Special Forces and he shivered. He began to choke and
jumped up, running to the window to get some fresh air.

He got a feeling of choking every time he remembered
being handcuffed to a pole and feeling water rising in the dark room around
him. And then, he heard a loud noise and Michael appeared out of nowhere,
unlocking his handcuffs and helping him out of the sinking boat where he had
been left to drown.

The ringing of the phone brought him back to reality. He
rushed towards his desk, hoping the call was from Michael, but Anna had already
answered the phone. Tony watched her as she listened for a couple of minutes.

“Where?” she asked in a level voice and wrote something
down.
No good news
, he thought. But after all, what did he expect?

“Let’s go,” Anna said, standing up. “We have to go,
captain,” she yelled over her shoulder to Paul, who had stopped typing and
appeared at the entrance of his office. “Another murder.”

Tony didn’t waste anymore time. He grabbed his gun and
rushed after Anna who was already at the elevator.

“What now?” he asked, as soon as the elevator doors closed
behind them.

“A worker down at the docks found a body and called it
in. A woman…”

“Blond, heavy built,” Tony went on and Anna looked at
him inquiringly. “Elizabeth Kristalis, my witness…” he concluded and fell
silent.

“I’m sorry,” Anna said and walked out of the elevator.

Tony followed her outside the building, feeling empty
inside. He thought about the short, blond lady, he had met earlier and felt somewhat
guilty for her death. He knew that being involved with Manos, she would
probably end up dead sooner or later. But still, that didn’t make him feel any
better.

This job is getting to me
,
he thought one more time. This feeling of emptiness inside was getting to be way
too familiar.

He clenched his fists, unable to control his temper.
Michael was right. Someone had to put a stop to this man.

They jumped inside the patrol car, and Anna started the
engine, while Tony dialed Michael’s number.

He should be warned
, he
thought. Manos was onto them, and Michael was in grave danger.

Jackie sat at the kitchen table, drinking
coffee and going over everything in her mind. It seemed this night would never
end.
She felt very tense. So much had
happened in the last few days that she’d lost perspective. Everything had
turned upside-down.

She walked over to the window and looked outside, trying
to peer through the darkness.
Is the maniac out there
? she wondered.
Is
he watching me right now?
She was so tired, not just physically, but
emotionally…
especially emotionally
. She silently wished for the
nightmare to end.

Who is behind all these deaths?
She wondered once again.
Who could be so ruthless to kill so
many people for a piece of property?
Then again, she knew better. She was
aware that people would kill for a lot less than land, and here there was so
much at stake. The Demiris property was worth a lot of money, being right on
the beach of one of the most beautiful and popular Greek islands, not to
mention the mansion itself and the treasure hiding in the secret room.

And why would Constantinos Demiris leave everything
to Michael?
Suspicions started haunting her again.
After all, she did find Michael snooping around the mansion in the middle of
the night. Or was it the other way around? He’d found her snooping. But she had
a good reason for doing so. She had to be careful and discrete when peoples’
lives were at stake.

Maybe he had good reasons too.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. If she wanted
to be honest with herself, she had to admit she was falling in love with him.
She wanted nothing more than for him to be innocent and a victim of this whole
ordeal just as Stephanos’ family was. How much she wanted to believe that was true.
How much she
needed
to believe it was true. But she had to be realistic.
The chances of Michael being the innocent victim were very slim. After all, a
man like Michael—strong, smart, well-trained and powerful—would never allow
himself to be put in a situation where someone else was pulling the strings. He
would always want to be in control. He would always be the one pulling the
strings.

She walked away from the window and out the kitchen
door. She had to talk to him. She needed to get some things off her chest.

She looked towards the study. He had been in there for
hours. He was probably going over the contents of the folders, and there was
nothing she could do about it. After all, he more likely already knew exactly
what was in those folders. He had access to the house and access to the secret
room long before she even got here.

“Michael,” she whispered and approached the door to the
study, which was halfway open.

She walked in to find him sitting at the desk and
placing folders into a leather briefcase.
The folders from the secret room
,
she realized.

Michael glanced at her and got right back to what he was
doing.

“What’s going on? What are you doing with those documents?”

“I’m taking them with us.”

“Taking them?” Jackie felt her temper rising. “What do
you mean, taking them? This is robbery!”

Michael stopped for a second and looked up at her with a
mocking smile on his face. “Robbery? You forgot that everything in this house belongs
to me?”

“Nothing is final yet!”

“You still don’t trust me…” Michael clenched his fists
and let out a deep breath. “You think I forged the will.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I know
exactly
what’s going on in that pretty
little head of yours,” he said and closed the briefcase.

“I can’t let you do this.” Seeing the smile on his face
caused red-hot fury to wash over her.

“And how exactly do you intend to stop me?” he asked,
but the look in his eyes had none of the irony in his voice. Instead, his look
was fiery and passionate and told her things she wished she could hear from his
lips.

He stood up and walked around the desk, coming to stand right
in front of her.

Her heart was pounding, as she raised her eyes to meet
his gaze.

“Don’t…” she whispered, but her heart was reaching out
for him. She needed to feel his arms wrapped around her body, his lips
caressing hers.

She closed her eyes and felt suspended in space. When
his lips touched hers, she was lost. His kiss was soft and sweet at first and
then, it became more possessive and passionate. Jackie wrapped her arms around
his strong shoulders and pulled him even closer, feeling ready to collapse on
the floor.

His kiss became more intense and demanding, and Jackie
felt a jolt of desire shooting right through her. Michael’s lips left her mouth
and moved to the side of her neck, leaving a burning trail everywhere his lips
touched her skin.

“
I want you
…” he whispered in her ear and she
felt her heart thrill.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she murmured, keeping
her eyes closed, feeling captivated in his arms.

“Doing what to you?” he asked teasingly. “I’m not doing
anything to you. It’s you who’s driving me crazy and making me lose control.”

Jackie pulled back and looked at him straight in the
eyes. Was it true? Did she really have this effect on him?”

“Oh, Michael…” she whispered, caressing his hair. “We
really need to talk and get everything straightened out between us…”

The ringing of a phone interrupted her, and she jumped
back surprised. She’d forgotten all about his phone and his lying about being
out of range.

“
You need to answer that
!” Jackie pulled away
from him, wrapping her arms protectively around her body.

Michael looked at her for a second and then answered his
phone, turning his back on her and walking over to the window.

Jackie didn’t want to wait another minute. She turned on
her heel and stormed out of the study and down the corridor. She needed to pack
her stuff and get out of here at the first light of dawn. This was way too much
for her. The sooner she left behind this old place, the better.

Who was she trying to fool?
S
he wasn’t running
away from the mansion or even her assignment. She was running away from
Michael. The way she felt about him was something new for her. She wasn’t a
quitter, and she’d never run away from anything in her life. But this time was
different. This was something she couldn’t face.

The few superficial encounters she had with men in the
past were nothing like the fiery passion she felt every time she was around
Michael. None of the men she’d dated before had been able to touch her heart.
She’d never moved on to more than a couple dead-end dates that lead to maybe a
kiss or two, and that more out of curiosity than anything else.

Of course, her cousin Maria, who was a fiery little
Greek and had broken lots of hearts, used to laugh and call her old-fashioned.
But Jackie was very romantic deep down inside and always dreamed about
true
love
. Except her cousins, who knew her very well, no one else could ever guess
the strong-willed reporter, who seemed ready to confront just about anything
and anybody, was saving herself for the one and only man she’d been dreaming
of.

“
Jackie
!”

She heard him rushing down the corridor, calling out for
her, but she wouldn’t stop. She climbed the steps to the second floor two at a
time, and entered the bedroom she’d slept in, slamming the door behind her.

Seconds later, the door swung open, and Michael stormed
into the room.

“Get your stuff!” he ordered her. “We have to get out of
here right now.”

Even though this was exactly her intention, Jackie felt
her temper rising with the way he was bossing her around. “I’m not going
anywhere,” she stated, facing him defiantly.

“Jackie, I have no time for playing games!” Michael
grabbed her by the arm, shaking her back to reality. “There has been another
murder, and I have to be on the first plane to Athens.”

Jackie felt shaken and swallowed hard, trying to comprehend
what he was telling her. “You go on,” she mumbled, not so sure about herself any
more.

“You’re coming with me,” he said, and the finality in
his voice left no room for other interpretations of his intentions.

Without another word, Jackie turned and started
gathering up her stuff. She tried to keep her back straight and her hands from
shaking.

“Listen…” Michael started in a softer voice.

Jackie turned around to face him, fighting back the
tears.

“I’m sorry, I yelled at you, but we need to go now.”

“Who was it?” she asked shaking uncontrollably now. “Was
it Aphrodite?”

“Oh, no,” he said. “Your cousin is fine.”

“Then who?”

“Elizabeth Kristalis,” he replied.

Jackie looked at him puzzled. Who was Elizabeth Kristalis
and what did she have to do with the Demiris family?

“She is…well, she was Philip Manos’ secretary,” Michael
answered her silent question. “And now, you’re probably wondering who Philip
Manos is,” he continued, “but I have no time for explanations. The only thing I
can tell you right now is that he’s the one responsible for all these murders.”
He turned on his heel and walked right out of the room.

“Be downstairs in five minutes,” he yelled over his
shoulder.

Jackie was packed and downstairs, a lot sooner than
that. She didn’t want to spend another minute out here in the middle of nowhere
with a killer on the loose. But where would they go in the dark? The path would
be hard to find even in the bright daylight.

Michael appeared a few minutes later from the study
carrying the briefcase. “Let’s go,” he said.

“How do we get out of here?” she asked, grabbing his
arm.

“Through the back way,” he said simply and walked out
the door.

He waited for Jackie to join him on the porch and he
locked the door behind them.

Jackie started to walk towards her rental car, when she
saw the police Jeep that Michael had parked around the corner.

“We’ll take the Jeep,” he said. “There’s no way that
little car of yours will make it through the woods and up and down the hill.”

Jackie followed him to the Jeep and climbed in the
passenger seat. Michael jumped in the driver seat and threw the briefcase in
the back. “Put your seatbelt on,” he ordered her. “We’re in for a rough ride.”

Jackie held on to her seat as they sped through the
woods. She was able to see only where the storm lights of the Jeep were
shining. Her heart was pounding fast, and her mouth had gone dry.
He wasn’t
kidding at all when he said we’re in for a rough ride.

After a few agonizing minutes, the trail started going
downhill towards the beach. She bounced around, holding her breath and sending side
looks towards Michael. He was completely absorbed in keeping the Jeep on the
trail and not over the edge. The narrow trail—if anyone could call it a
trail—ended up on the beach. Michael steered the Jeep forward on the sand,
riding along the coastline for a few minutes. Then he turned the wheel sharply
to the left and started climbing up the hill again.

Climbing where
? Jackie
thought, panicking. She could see no trail or anything that looked like a
trail, but Michael kept on going.

Thank God, he’s with me
,
she realized.
I would have never found my way out of here.
She gave him
a sideways glance and was surprised to see him looking at her.

“Keep your eyes on the road!” she yelled at him.

“Calm down,” he said and his voice sounded calm and
reassuring.

Jackie looked at him, shocked. “Are you serious?” she
asked and glanced over his shoulder to the edge of the cliff, hanging beneath
them. “How can I calm down when we could fall off the road and into the abyss
at any second?”

“We’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “I know this trail
like the back of my hand. I’ve been up and down these trails since childhood.”

“Well, maybe you have, but I haven’t, and I have every
right to be scared,” she protested and crossed her arms over her chest to show
that the conversation was over. But this didn’t last more than a few seconds
when she had to uncross her arms again and grab hold of her seat. She heard his
laugh and turned to give him a murderous look. They were going through hell, and
he had the nerve to make fun of her. At least, the sun was about to rise, and
it wasn’t as dark anymore.

Now they had climbed up the hill and were well inside
the woods again, following a small trail covered in weeds and rocks. The Jeep
was bouncing around but, at least, they’d left the cliff behind.

As they came around a corner to a spot with very few
trees, Jackie saw the sun rising and was taken aback by the beauty of it. The
golden rays reflected on the surface of the water, turning it to a magnificent
spectrum of colors.