Page 21 of Breaking the Annulment

A tailored black suit clung to his large, muscular frame. He didn’t glance up from his phone immediately, giving Aurelia a moment to observe him—the square cut of his jaw, the tension in his brows. When he finally raised his eyes, they locked onto her with the intensity of a lion sizing up prey. He took his time looking at her, his gaze trailing down over every inch of her, then back up. By the time he was done, she felt like he’d stripped her naked. Not hard, considering the dress hugged every curve.

She maintained her composure, though a heavy dose of adrenaline coursed through her veins. She balled her fists at her sides and turned away, fully intending to leave, her earlier bravado abandoning her now that she’d come face to face with the beast.

He set his phone down. “Eat,” he said, voice a quiet command. “You’ve been skipping meals.”

She lifted her chin, ignoring the mouthwatering scents of pastries and fresh fruit. “So kind of you to notice, but I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”

A flicker of annoyance stirred in his dark gaze. “Suit yourself,” he said, each syllable clipped.

He reached into his jacket, tossing a small cell phone onto the table. “A monitored line. Don’t bother trying to contact David. My men will cut you off anyway. There should be a laptop in your room when you get back as well. Same thing applies.”

Her heart lurched at David’s name, a pang of guilt mixing with longing. She forced her expression to remain bland while internally she scrambled to formulate a plan. Michalis was giving her a phone? Was this his way of apologizing?

“Wouldn’t dream of calling him. You already gave him the good news anyway, didn’t you? I doubt he’ll ever want to speak to me again.” She lazily took the phone like she didn’t care oneway or the other, which wasn’t that far from the truth. She had no one else to call.

She glanced at Chef Eliana, who stood silently nearby, her eyes big round saucers. She looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Aurelia took pity on her. “Whenever you’re finished, Eliana, I think Gita was looking for you.”

“I’m done. Thank you, Mrs. Giannopoulos. I’ll go find her right now,” she squeaked, and left the two of them alone together.

Gathering her courage, Aurelia walked casually around the table, deliberately stopping directly behind Michalis’s left shoulder. She leaned forward, brushing her chest against his sleeve, leaning seductively into him as she reached past him to steal a strawberry from his plate. She was practically draped on top of him. She looked back over her shoulder, all sunshine and innocence, and batted her lashes. “You know, I think you’re right. Maybe I should eat a little something. You don’t mind if I steal a few of your strawberries, do you? They look so,” she paused to look him up and down, “delicious.”

Michalis didn’t move a muscle as she proceeded to eat all three of his strawberries, still leaning over him, “accidentally” rubbing against him. She smirked. His eyes were glued to her lips as she licked the strawberry juice off. “Mmm.”

She slowly straightened, leaning into him as much as she dared, silently laughing. “Thank you.”

He looked at her suspiciously, but all he said was, “Any time.”

“Good to know.” She wanted to laugh, but held it in. Next, she meandered over to the beverage tray, carefully took the lid off the coffee carafe and dropped the phone into the steaming liquid. “Oops.” Without another word, she sauntered away, ignoring the storm brewing in his eyes.

She made it all the way to the next room before she let out a satisfied chuckle.Bet you’re not going to be feeling so smug about your little “lesson” a few hours from now.

She patted the bodice of her dress where she’d shoved Michalis’s credit card. Fixing up cars wasn’t the only thing her mother taught her when she was growing up. She was an excellent pickpocket. The ropes had made it a lot more difficult, but not impossible.We’ll see who’s laughing when I spend all your money on a new wardrobe. And shoes. Louis Vuitton, here I come.

As she walked back to her room, east wing forgotten, she was still mad as hell about what Michalis had done, but her step had a new spring to it.

Michalis watched Aurelia depart,a storm brewing under a calm exterior. She was up to something, that much was obvious, but she was still in the house, and as expected, her wrists were still bound. If she tried to find a knife to cut herself loose, she would discover that they were stored in locked drawers, not to mention she had guards trailing her everywhere she went.

Still, he would have said they were making progress, but her little act of defiance––tossing the cell phone into the hot coffee, made him think otherwise. He rose from the table and headed toward the east wing.

Each step reverberated with controlled anger. She defied him at every turn, refusing to eat while he was gone, and wasn’t the least bit grateful for the phone or other freedoms she had.

He felt no remorse for what he’d done in the limo. She’d turned them into enemies with her ridiculous demand for an annulment. Well, that was too damn bad, because he was nevergoing to let her go. Would she understand the significance of the ropes? He’d bound them together seven years ago, but that didn’t mean she had no freedom.

The year she’d been in Switzerland, she’d written letters to him. Sometimes they were angry, other times full of sadness. He’d gotten to know her through those letters. He’d never answered, but he’d kept them all. Then she tried to disappear, and he'd let her think she’d succeeded, careful to keep her security team close enough to help if needed, but not so close that she suspected their presence. He’d purposely tried to give her the time and space she needed to come back on her own. He’d even refused to read the reports about her each month other than her basic whereabouts and general safety; nothing personal. But now, the thought of spending one more day without her was unacceptable. He could admit he was obsessed with her, couldn’t live without her.

She just needed recognize what was between them. It was volatile. Explosive. He lived in a dangerous world, and she could fit perfectly in it, by his side, if she let herself. All she had to do was stop fighting. He knew the moment she showed up, mature and full of fire, shoved those ridiculous papers at him, that he would do whatever it took to keep her.

Pushing open a heavy door, Michalis entered the estate’s small surveillance hub. Leon,a slim man with short, messy hair and anxious eyes, manned the monitors. He jumped to attention.

“Boss,” Leon muttered, stepping aside from the main console.

Michalis took the seat, eyes scanning the feeds. He found Aurelia quickly, catching her striding down a corridor toward the library. Her posture was taut, lips pressed in that stubborn line he’d come to both resent and crave. She was obviously still fighting mad. What was behind the performance just now, withthe strawberries? He didn’t believe for a second that she was actually trying to seduce him; not when she was still angry.

He zoomed in, letting the camera’s clarity sharpen each detail.You want to fight? Come on, baby. I’m ready.

She paused by a painting, maybe considering another route to slip away? He smirked. That was never going to happen again, either. He’d given instructions to have special locks on the doors installed while he was away. The house was secure. To get out, she would need one of the electronic badges to release the locks.

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