Sophia quivered as Felipe’s hard body pressed against hers. He definitely had bigger muscles. He was stronger and he’d been strong enough six years ago. Need rippled through her—unstoppable and overwhelming.
‘What are you doing?’ she muttered. Inane. Stupid. Breathless.
‘Dealing with unfinished business.’
Her bravado slipped. There were such depths of unfinished business here. So much more so for her than for him. He affected her so wholly, so desperately, she was suddenly unable to answer.
‘There’s the Sophia Dimou I know all too well,’ he provoked with a growl. ‘Demure and dutiful and never brave enough to say what she actually wants. Let alone do it.’
‘You think you’re what I want to do?’ she snapped.
‘Absolutely.’ He smiled sharply. ‘I always have been. You can’t take your eyes off me.’
‘Because I’d forgotten how astoundingly huge your arrogance is.’
His smile widened. Slowly, he brushed the backs of his fingers across her jaw, then traced her upper lip with his fingertip. ‘You can’t deny you know me now.’
Her heart hurt. How dense was he? She’d been trying to protect him. If her father had ever discovered how much time Sophia had spent with Felipe, he’d have fired his mother. Sophia could never let that happen. She’d been there the day Felipe’s father had died. She knew just how badly both Felipe and his mother had needed their jobs. And she knew just how awful her own family could be. They’d been desperate to retain power within the Vasiliadis empire. Influence, acquisition and appearance had been everything to them.
But she realised that this now was also a public show. A performance. Felipe was deliberately tormenting her here. Did he want revenge? To publicly reject her in some kind of retaliation for what she’d done to him? It was the only thing that made sense.
Fury thrummed through her. She pressed closer, allowing herself to melt in the way she’d deeply yearned. The impact was instant; she almost shivered with need and that just made her angrier still.
‘Is this what you want, Felipe?’ she goaded breathlessly. ‘Do you want my surrender?’
She ached to give it. Horrifically, she realised she would always ache.
His hands slipped to her hips and tightened, pulling her into an embrace that really ought not to be public. For a moment it was heaven, but suddenly, she’d never felt more terrified.
He’d ruined her. Not her father. Not Ares. But Felipe.
He’d ruined her for all these years. She’d not been able to forget. She’d not been able to feel. Not this fire—not with anyone but him.
And now his mouth lowered again. His lips almost brushed hers again. And once more his whisper whipped across her heart.
‘Always, damn you.’
Shock pulsed through her. But yearning roared—rage coalesced. How definitively she still wanted him. Only ever him.
Overwhelmed, she tore free and dashed from the crowded ballroom. She didn’t think about who was watching, or the fact she was supposed to be working. She simply had to escape.
From him.
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