of thinking that he cares for you.’
‘I know that.’ Selene lifted her chin. ‘And I used him to get away from you, so that probably makes us equally manipulative. It was my choice to have sex with him.’
Her father moved quickly for a man carrying such excess bulk but Stefan was faster, blocking the blow and delivering two of his own, one low and one straight to the jaw that gave a satisfying crack and sent the other man sprawling on the path.
The Antaxos security team moved forward but Stefan turned his head and sent them a single fulminating glance because now he had evidence of why she’d been so desperate to leave home.
‘You really want to defend a man who hits women? Is that in your job description?’ When they hesitated, he transferred his gaze to the man now crumpled at his feet.
The man who was responsible for so much pain.
His knuckles throbbed. ‘Get up.’ Stefan barely recognised his own voice. It was thickened with anger and rage and suddenly he knew he wasn’t safe around this man. ‘This is what you do to women, isn’t it? You live in this place so they can’t escape and then you treat them like this. And they don’t all get away, do they?’
‘Stefan—’
Selene’s voice penetrated that mist of fury but he ignored her, all his attention focused on her father.
‘I’m taking her away from you. You’ve lost her. And I’ll be contacting lawyers and the police. The real police, by the way—not the ones you’ve bribed.’
He watched with a complete lack of sympathy as the tycoon dragged his overweight frame upright, staggering slightly as he stood. Without the support of his security team he appeared to shrink in size.
Stefan turned briefly to Selene. ‘Go. Get in my boat. Takis will help you.’
He knew that, wounded and publicly humiliated, Stavros Antaxos was perhaps even more dangerous now than he’d been a few moments ago but to Stefan’s surprise instead of denouncing his intention to take his daughter the man appeared to crumple, the fight draining from him.
‘If she wants to go she can go, of course. I just want the best for her like any father would. But if she goes then she must live with the consequences.’
Stefan frowned. ‘The only consequences will be positive ones. Get in my boat, Selene.’
But she didn’t move. Her eyes were fixed on her father. ‘I can’t.’
He glanced at her impatiently, thinking that he must have misheard. ‘What?’
‘If I leave, he’ll hurt her. That’s what he means by living with the consequences. He’ll hurt her and it will be my fault.’
‘Who?’
‘My mother. He’ll hurt my mother.’ It was a desperate whisper. ‘It’s what he always does when I don’t do what he wants.’
‘Your mother?’
And then it fell into place, all of it, and he wondered why on earth it had taken him so long to work it out. This was why she’d wanted the cash. To get her mother away from the island. And she’d wanted to do it while her father was away in Crete. This was the plan. No rebellion. No business plan. Just an escape plan.
An escape plan he’d wrecked.
She had no other source of income. No place to go. All her resources cut off by this brutal tyrant.
Exasperation that she hadn’t told him the truth mixed in with another, unfamiliar emotion. Guilt? ‘Where is your mother now?’
‘In her room.’
With a simple movement of his head Stefan indicated that his head of security should deal with it. Reluctantly, he let go of Selene. ‘Do you feel well enough to show Takis the way? If so, go and bring her here.’
Face pale, she glanced at her father and then back at him. It was obvious she didn’t know whom to trust and the uncertainty in her face almost killed him.
‘Just fetch her.’ Unnerved by the blood still oozing from her head, Stefan took a dressing pad from one of the security team and quickly bound her head. ‘Stay close to Takis and if you feel dizzy, tell him. I’d go with you but I have some business to finish here.’
Switching from intimidating hulk to pussycat, Takis smiled at Selene and took her hand. ‘Which way?’
When they were a safe distance away and out of earshot, Stefan turned his attention back to her father. Turned to have a conversation that was long overdue. Finally he had the power he’d wished he’d had as a child and he used it now, feeling a rush of grim satisfaction as Antaxos’s security team melted into the background, not wanting to get between the two men. ‘You and I have things to discuss.’
NUMB with shock, Selene sat in the stateroom of Stefan’s luxury yacht, watching over her mother.
She knew she had to move but she ached from head to foot after her fall onto the hard floor. Every time she tried to boost her spirits panic descended, squashing her flat. She had nothing. No money, no home, no job, no means to support herself. And the craziest thing of all was that none of that depressed her as much as the knowledge that Stefan had set her up. That nothing about that night had been real.
It was humiliating to admit that she’d been so naïve it hadn’t even occurred to her to be suspicious when he’d invited her to attend the party. She’d seen him as heroic instead of as he really was—a ruthless businessman who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
He was no better than her father.
She was going to have to try and find someone else to give her a business loan but she already knew her father would block every avenue.
In the midst of her lowest moment ever, the door to the stateroom opened.
Stefan stood there, casually dressed in dark jeans and a shirt that did little to disguise the muscular frame that even her father had found intimidating.
Ignoring the tug of lust deep in her belly, Selene started to boil inside. Misery turned to anger.
How dared he stand there, so cool, controlled and sleek, when her life was falling apart because of him? Yes, some of it was her fault, but if she’d known what he was going to do she would never have made that decision.
Anger simmering, she stalked through the door and closed it behind her, anxious not to wake her mother and determined to maintain her dignity no matter what.
Determined not to be trapped in a room with him, she chose the steps that led to the luxurious deck, relieved to find that Antaxos was no longer even on the horizon. It was gone and she hoped she’d never see it again.
Stefan strode after her. ‘You and I have things to discuss.’ He spoke through his teeth, as if he were hanging onto control by a thread. ‘But first I want to know why you refused to see the doctor.’
‘I don’t need a doctor.’ She was so shaken by what he’d done she could hardly bring herself to speak to him. ‘But you should definitely see one because there has to be something seriously wrong with you to even contemplate doing what you did to me.’
The flare of shock in those fierce dark eyes revealed that her response wasn’t the one he’d been expecting. ‘I rescued you.’
‘You rescued me from a situation of your making. That doesn’t score you any points.’ Her voice rose. ‘Before St George killed the dragon did he first poke it in the eye with a burning stick and drive it mad so that he’d look good when he killed it? I don’t think so.’
Stefan eyed her with