Page 12 of The Billionaire’s Siren (S.E. Smith Signature Romance: Heart & Soul #1)
Seven
As dessert arrived—local figs soaked in honey and topped with fresh cream—the air between them shimmered with something new. It was more than lust—stronger than any attraction he’d known. It left him reeling. He wanted to dive into where these new, unfamiliar emotions would take him.
He found himself memorizing everything: the cadence of her voice, the glint of mischief when she teased him, the way her fingers danced along her glass when she was thinking. He wanted to know what made her smile, what made her afraid, what dreams she still hadn’t chased.
Tonight had shown him something he hadn’t realized he was looking for.
And she was sitting right across the table.
“I knew I would marry one day. I believed I’d go through the motions—when the timing was convenient. It always felt like an obligation—something I was expected to do, not something I would choose for myself. Not for love, but to meet expectations.”
Dani studied him for a long moment. She said softly, “I believe in love—true love. Deeply.”
He looked up. There was a hesitant note in her voice .
She smiled—not wistfully, but with a kind of quiet certainty.
“My grandparents had it. That connection. I would see it when they looked across a room. The way their eyes searched for each other. Even after my grandmother died, Gramps still looks for her.” Her voice faltered, just for a beat. “My parents were the same.”
He tilted his head. “How do they feel about your being here? In another country, alone?”
She lowered her eyes. Her smile faltered. She hesitated—just a breath, a blink—and everything changed.
“My folks were killed in a plane crash when I was fifteen.”
His chest tightened as the image hit him.
She stared down at the napkin on her lap, then folded it once, twice. Her voice, when it came again, was steady—but quieter. “It’s just Gramps and me now. He’s amazing. He taught me how to hold a wrench before I could ride a bike. He used to tell me I could fix anything—engines, hearts, the world.”
Alexandros reached across the table without thinking, brushing his fingers lightly over hers.
She looked up, startled by the touch, but didn’t pull away.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Fifteen is… that’s too young. Even at twenty-nine, I still look to my parents for guidance.”
Dani gave a wobbly smile. “It was. But you keep going, you know? Because you have to. And eventually, you learn to live with the quiet.”
He wanted to reach for her then, to pull her into his arms and hold her until she forgot the grief etched into her memory. But he gave her what she seemed to need most: his attention. His silence. His steady presence.
“You’ve lived more lives than most people twice your age,” he said after a moment.
She blinked at him. “What makes you say that?”
“You have stories behind your eyes,” he said simply. “You don’t flinch when things get real. You lean in. Most people don’t.”
Dani gave him a look that was part challenge, part gratitude. “You’re not what I expected.”
He chuckled. “Good or bad? ”
“I’m still deciding—but… I think… mostly good. Very, very good.”
“I want to hold you, Danika,” he murmured, rising from his chair while still retaining her hand.
She didn’t resist.
When she stepped into his arms, it felt like the world stilled.
He didn’t kiss her—not yet. He just held her, her cheek nestled against his heart, as if that was where she had always belonged. Her warmth seeped into him.
Outside, waves lapped gently against the hull. Inside, all he could hear was the steady rhythm of her breath.
She fit against him in a way that made no logical sense. But in that moment, it felt right.
Whatever was happening between them wasn’t casual. It was more.
And he knew it.
She was like a wild creature—graceful, guarded, wary.
Afraid to trust her heart.
And for the first time in his life, he wanted to earn that trust.
She was afraid to trust her heart—just as I’d never believed I had one worth giving.
Dani stood at the edge of the dock, watching the speedboat idling back out into the channel as Demetrius guided it across the moonlit bay.
The wind played with the ends of her scarf, tugging to be free.
At the stern of the boat, Alexandros stood with his hands in his pockets, watching her as he had done every night for the past four nights—until distance swallowed him from view.
She pressed her palm to her chest, right where her heart thudded like a hammer wrapped in velvet.
Each night had been more romantic than the last, but tonight had been one of the most thrilling, frustrating, terrifyingly wonderful nights of her life.
She knew deep down that she was in danger of completely, hopelessly, terrifyingly falling in love with Alexandros Kallistratos if she wasn’t careful.
She turned from the dock and started back toward the Gentle Breeze , her bare feet silent against the wooden planks. Her lips were curved in a smile she couldn’t hide, her body felt like it was filled with warm champagne bubbles, and her heart… her heart felt like it was no longer her own.
He had asked her to stay, as he had done each night before, but there had been something different about his request tonight. For one irrational, aching second, she had almost said yes. If he had kissed her one more time, if he’d lingered just a moment longer, her resolve would have shattered.
But he hadn’t kissed her again.
He hadn’t pressed.
He had simply… let her go.
That restraint—his quiet, honorable respect—made her respect him a hundred times more.
She reached the trawler and climbed aboard, still humming under her breath.
Unlocking the double doors to the salon, she stepped inside, closed the doors, and locked them again behind her.
The gentle scent of lavender she had growing in pots and the teak oil polish used on the wood greeted her like home.
She twirled across the room, keys landing with a clink on the counter, before flopping onto the bench seat in a daze of contentment.
Dani started when her phone suddenly buzzed.
She glanced at the screen and laughed softly. Stuart.
She answered with a bright, “Hi, Gramps!”
His familiar chuckle rumbled through the line. “There’s my girl. I was wondering if you were still floating around out there or if some swarthy Greek sailor had swept you off your feet.”
She grinned and stretched out, one arm behind her head. “Oh, I’m floating alright… figuratively and literally.”
He paused. “That sounds suspiciously dreamy.”
“It was… a good day,” she said, and then quieter, “and a really magical evening. ”
“Well now,” Stuart said, warmth laced with curiosity, “Do tell—as long as it is something my old ears can hear and my old heart can handle.”
Dani told him everything—about the job, the tools, the sea, and finally, Alexandros. Her voice softened, grew hesitant.
“I think… I might be falling for him, Gramps. Is it real? This doesn’t… feel like the last time.”
There was a long beat of silence before her grandfather spoke.
His voice, when it came, was lower, gruffer.
“The first time I saw your grandmother, she was standing on a street corner in a yellow dress and holding a bouquet of sunflowers. She smiled at me like she knew me… and damn if my heart didn’t leap right out of my chest.”
Dani swallowed, touched.
“How did you know?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“You don’t always know with your head. Sometimes your soul knows before your mind catches up. Sometimes, two souls that have been searching through time just… hear each other. Like echoes calling across the stars.”
Dani blinked, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Gramps, I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”
“I wasn’t—until that day,” he said gently. “She made me believe in things I didn’t even know I needed. Even after all this time… I still believe I’ll see her again.”
She bit her lip, touched to her core. “What do I do?”
There was a pause, then, “What does your gut tell you, sweetheart?”
Dani stared up at the ceiling, the beams overhead bathed in moonlight. “It tells me to trust him. But I’m scared, Gramps. What if he breaks my heart?”
“Then at least you gave it a chance to beat for something that mattered. You can’t live your life in fear, Dani. Love’s a risk. But it’s the only thing worth the bruises.”
She smiled, wiped her eyes. “You’re a smart man, Stuart Bouras.”
“You take after me. ”
They spoke a little longer before she whispered, “Goodnight, Gramps.”
“Goodnight, pumpkin. Sweet dreams.”
She hung up, laying the phone on her chest for a moment before slipping it into her pocket. The clouds drifted outside the salon windows, their soft gray shadows stretching across the sky. Her thoughts swirled, too tangled for sleep.
With a sigh, she stood and turned toward the narrow stairwell leading below deck.
And froze.
A dark shape stood in the shadows—just beyond the edge of the moonlight. It hadn’t been there a second ago.
Her heart stuttered, her breath caught, her instincts screamed before her mind could react.
“Who—?” she started, but didn’t finish.
The shadow lunged. Arms—strong, thick, unbreakable—wrapped around her from behind. A hand clamped over her mouth, cutting off her scream.
Her vision swam as she kicked, clawed—but he didn’t budge. Her terror exploded when he pressed a rag to her face. An acrid and chemical burning filled her nostrils.
No!
She twisted, trying to scream, but the cloth cut off her breath. Her vision blurred.
Her heart pounded with terror.
A voice, hot and hateful, in her ear.
“Did you miss me, azziz ?”
No! Please… no, she thought as the world slipped sideways.
Before darkness pulled her down into its greedy realm.