The Only Woman to Defy Him by Carol Marinelli Page B

shall be leaving Australia soon and I have no intention of ever coming back.’
    Okay, a little too direct at times but it was necessary because he could see the wrestle in her eyes as she made peace with that.
    ‘I get that.’
    ‘Alina, I’m not someone that you should be cutting your teeth on.’ He saw her blush when she didn’t need to. He was simply telling her the truth, he was bad, he had no soul and he never looked back. ‘Back to business on Monday.’
    He walked her to the car and although usually he’d walk off, this time he actually climbed in.
    ‘You are not to let me out of this car,’ Demyan said in Russian to Boris. ‘My order is to make sure she gets safely home. Alone.’
    ‘What did you say to him?’
    ‘To avert his eyes.’
    He forgot he loathed kissing and Alina forgot her own address as he kissed her all the way home. Indecent kisses and not just from Demyan, her mouth telling his what she wanted now.
    ‘You,’ Demyan said to her as Boris tapped on the window, ‘are amazing, and way too good for me.’
    He turned it all around, he turned her whole word around.
    ‘You’re having a party?’ He frowned at the music.
    ‘My flatmate’s having a party.’
    It offered them an excuse to go back to the hotel.
    He resisted.
    ‘Bed,’ Demyan said. ‘Alone and safe from this wolf. Consider it forgotten by Monday.’
    She’d never forget.
    Alina stepped in and closed the door. She was a little high from a very nice kiss, a little confused from a very unexpected night, and then, as she headed to the relative quiet of her room and checked her phone to see if her father had made contact...
    ...more than a little devastated.

CHAPTER FIVE
    D EMYAN WASN ’ T IN the best of moods on Monday because he still could not get hold of Roman.
    Nadia blocked his attempts to meet with his son at every turn.
    ‘Did you meet with the estate agents?’ Demyan asked Alina.
    ‘Just one,’ Alina said.
    ‘One?’
    ‘I didn’t get past the receptionists with the others.’ Demyan held in a very irritated sigh. Why hadn’t she just insisted?
    ‘What did the one you did see say?’
    ‘She gave me a brochure and said that at the prices I was discussing everything was negotiable.’ Alina looked at him and he could see her blotchy, swollen eyes and he was arrogant enough to assume that he was the cause of them.
    He wanted to get up from his desk and shake her and tell her not to wear her heart on her sleeve.
    Give that girl a shot of confidence, he felt like shouting to the bar, except it was just the two of them here and it didn’t make proper sense, because she’d had plenty of confidence the other night.
    No. Demyan refused to think about the other night.
    ‘I think Libby, the agent, thought I was a bit mad,’ Alina said, and he tried not to smile. ‘That you were my imaginary boss.’
    ‘Call her,’ Demyan said. ‘On speaker.’
    Alina did so and she could picture Libby’s tight smile when she was put through.
    ‘Ah, Alina, how are you?’
    ‘Very well,’ Alina said. ‘My boss has a few more questions.’
    ‘Such as?’
    It was Demyan who answered. ‘How many clients you have on your books that would be looking in that price range.’
    There was a very long pause. ‘Several?’
    ‘How many?’
    ‘Two, possibly three, though that’s before I put out feelers.’
    ‘Names?’ Demyan said.
    ‘Not at this stage.’
    ‘One name,’ Demyan pushed, and there was a long hesitation.
    ‘Not at this stage.’
    ‘Alina will call you back.’ He clicked off the phone.
    Alina did call her back but not till five o’clock, and Libby answered her phone on first ring. When Alina confirmed that, yes, she was speaking about Demyan Zukov she suddenly found herself with a new best friend, and the next afternoon she showed Libby around the penthouse and they discussed what they could do to enhance perfection.
    Alina was loving this part. Being a PA had been more her mother’s vision than hers. She was