Page 9 of Greek's Temporary "I Do"

‘The honeymoon?’

‘Yes. We’re supposed to attend various events to be seen, to prove that this is a real marriage. So that when I register the marriage certificate in the UK there are no questions then about me accessing my inheritance.’

‘You need me to pretend to be him.’

‘I need you,’ Helena grudgingly explained, ‘to pretend to be the affectionate, playboy, charming husband that Leander would have been.’

‘I can do that.’

‘You have as much charm as a venomous snake,’ she hissed. And while everything feminine in her roiled at pretending that Leonidas Liassidis was her ‘loving husband’, she couldn’t deny that he could give her what she needed quickly and without fanfare.

‘How much?’ she asked, cutting to the heart of the matter. She thought she saw a flash of surprise, but it was gone in the blink of an eye.

‘Fifty million. For all your shares.’

Helena nearly choked. ‘That’s nearly a third of their market value, Leo. That’s daylight robbery,’ she accused, horrified. She’d expected to make nearly two hundred million from the sale.

He shrugged as if to say take it or leave it.

‘Absolutely not!’ she cried out angrily as pinpricks of sweat dotted the back of her neck.

It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to replace the money stolen from Incendia.

‘Okay,’ Leo said amicably. ‘It’s your call. I’ll just slip out the back and you can explain to all the guests that my brother has disappeared to leave you stranded and alone on your wedding day. I’m sure that the press will have more sympathy for you than him. But, to be honest, none of this will affect me in the slightest.’

He turned and before she could stop herself she’d reached out to grab his arm. He paused, looking down at where her hand had grasped onto his sleeve as if he couldn’t believe she’d dared.

She removed her hand and he turned slowly to give her his full attention. How could she have ever thought there was anything remotely decent about this man? It had been years since they had properly spoken, more years before that since they had laughed together. Just the thought of it seemed nearly impossible. And now? She couldn’t ever imagine laughing with this man again.

He was blackmailing her with an offer that was so offensive it made her feel nauseous. But what choice did she have? If she didn’t agree to his offer, then there was no way that she could hope to plug the shortfall caused by the CFO’s theft. And if she didn’t, then the charity would be declared bankrupt by the financial review in December. Millions of people, families experiencing loss and devastated by cardiac events, would suffer. All because she hadn’t been able to fix it.

‘I don’t need to know what you need the money for... All that’s important is that you need to sell the shares, and I am in the position to buy them the quickest.’

Leo was right in one way. But he had also made a big mistake in revealing how much he wanted to have the shares for himself. It was a weapon. Small, and not enough to beat him, but enough to get what she needed.

‘One,’ she threw out between them.

‘One what?’

‘One hundred million.’

His head snapped back as if he’d hardly expected her to even think, let alone dare, to actually counter his offer.

‘No.’ The word was a full stop cutting through the air.

‘Okay,’ Helena said, putting her hands on her hips. ‘You’re right. I’ll call this off. I’ll figure out a different way to solve my issues. And I’ll still have thirty percent shares in Liassidis Shipping,’ she taunted.

Tension snapped across those broad shoulders, making him appear to loom more imposingly over her. He went very still, as if fearful that if he moved the wrong way he might lose the one thing he most wanted. Those shares.

‘And then, when I’m twenty-eight, just think of what I could—’

‘Seventy-five.’

‘No.’

Leo slammed his teeth together before he could say another word. Helena Hadden had learned how to negotiate. There had been a time when her face had been so expressive that he could have sworn he’d all but seen her words before she said them, but now? Staring back at him was a fury who had chosen the hill she would die on. He couldn’t afford to underestimate her like he had with her mother, or this time the damage could be fatal.

And really, if he was honest, offering fifty million for thirty percent shares in Liassidis Shipping was almost disgusting. One hundred was still nauseating. But it was a drop in the ocean of what Gwen had cost the company, so Leo told himself that the deeply unfair price was nothing but compensation years after the event.

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