Page 120 of Tempting the President

“Aria...” His voice was uneven and his green eyes strangely vulnerable.

I gripped his hands, holding them tightly as I whispered, “You will make...agreatPresident.” I willed him to believe me, willed him to see how he looked in my eyes. “If you could...saveme,you can save...the whole...world.”

Kellion pulled me into his arms. “I don’t deserve you, baby. I just—-”

I placed a finger on his lips.Don’t say it.

He shuddered, but after a moment, he was sucking my finger into his mouth, making me shudder, too. Releasing it, he said hoarsely, “I won’t say it.” We made love after that, but it felt different from all the times we had sex. This time, it wasn’t just tender, it also felt rawer, like both of us felt an inexplicable urge to cling to each other and not let others tear us apart.

When I woke up, I was alone in our room and the phone was ringing. I hesitated, but when it kept ringing for five straight minutes, I finally answered. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon.” The voice on the other end of the line was accented.Greek.It belonged to an older woman, and I would have thought I was speaking to his mother until the woman’s next words.

“This is Dinah, Ms. Jacqueline’s nanny.”

For some reason, my heart started to feel funny, and a curious mix of pain and fear started throttling me.

“Is Master Kellion there?”

I knew I should answer, but I couldn’t.

“Hello?”

There was this strongest urge inside me to put the phone down.End the call,the sensible part of me begged, and life would remain the same.

“Hello?”

My fingers around the phone tightened. If I ended the call, I would go back to square one, and God, I was tired of being a coward, of being afraid of life with all its pains and joys.

“Are you one of the...” The woman paused. “I forget what you call it...I believe...a recruit? A volunteer? If you are one of those, please check your manual. You should see my mistress’ name under the VIP list. It will be listed as Jacqueline Koufos. Or Master Kellion may have listed her as Jack.”

I almost dropped the phone at the name.

Jack.

No.

I tried not to remember, but it was impossible. I could see it so clearly, the sadness etched on Kellion’s beautiful face. And God, his voice, the pain in his voice—-

“It’s a friend of mine. Jack’s asking me to fly to Greece. It means I won’t be able to be at your exhibit if I do.”

And he had, in the end, chosen “Jack” over me.

“Kyria?” The woman’s voice from the other end wrenched me out of my thoughts. “Please, you should know what this VIP list means, right? So please let Master Kellion know that Ms. Jacqueline hasn’t been eating for a week, and she needs him terribly.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dear Ashton,

I never knew I was stuck-up...until today.

When you tell me I’m the prettiest sister in the whole world, when you tell me you love me, you...meant it, right?

Love, Your Big Sis

KELLION

IT WAS MIDNIGHT BYthe time Kellion returned to his room. His private meeting with Helios had exhausted him, but somehow, it had been liberating, too. For the first time in his life, he had voiced out loud what used to be his greatest secret and shame.