Page 46 of Her Greek Protector

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…”