Nick and Lilac Read online

  “Milord, it is, err, my greatest honor to present to you Lady Lilia.” Mr. Forsythe paused, not knowing what else to say, for he was not a damnable butler able to cite by rote the entire genealogy of peers of the realm.

  “My good man, if you will, I would like to purchase three dozen of your pastries and have it delivered to the lady’s address on my account.” He saw the wide-eyed look of surprise of the lady, and he, too, was surprised at the way such a look made him feel…different.

  “You cannot---” she began protesting but the marquis cut her off with one raised eyebrow. She sputtered at the look.

  “It is my gift,” he said solemnly. “My way of solving your troubles for now you can use your pin money on all the silly dresses you must buy.”

  She said stiffly, “I cannot accept such a gift. I do not know you at all, sir.”

  “Oh, but you already do. As Mr. Forsythe has said, I am the Marquis of Devonwood.”

  She muttered under her breath, the words of which he caught easily – and stunned him. “Did you say---” he asked slowly, “---something about the Duke of Ridgeway?”

  “And if I did?” She paused then added reluctantly, “---my lord?”

  “Then you would be right in thinking that we have many a thing in common.” His gaze now intense, he looked at her from head to toe.

  She muttered under her breath again and once more he easily cottoned on to her words. His lips twitched. “No, milady – it is more than birds possessing the same damnable feather.” His eyes danced with wicked amusement at the look of mortification on the young girl’s face, having been caught cursing. “You see, my beautiful girl, the duke and I are related by blood.”

  She gasped.

  “We are first cousins, raised together from birth. Many say,” the marquis murmured almost apologetically, “we are so alike we may pass off as twins.” He stepped forward. “And it seems now, we have another thing in common.”

  “Another thing in common?” she echoed in bemusement.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “And that would be our taste in women.”

  It took her more than a moment to comprehend what the meaningful look the marquis directed at her meant, and when the knowledge sank in, she gasped and stepped back.

  Oh, oh, dear – she had prayed for a way to protect her heart from the duke, but not like this!

  “Lilac?”

  She crashed back on earth at the sound of Jason Christakos’ voice. Color suffused her cheeks when she realized she had daydreamed – and about Nick’s brother no less! Lilac nibbled on her lip. She must not do it again – even if the plot was promising.

  Not knowing if he was amused or offended by the way Lilac was so obviously thinking of something else, Jason repeated, “Lilac?”

  Guilty at being caught zoning out again, Lilac hastily swung her seat around to face him, so quickly she started to fall.

  “Whoa.” He caught Lilac just before she was about to fall out of her seat, and as he did, her breasts pressed against his arm. Ah, shit. This, Jason thought with a mental wince as his entire body reacted to the contact, was not good.

  He carefully but swiftly helped Lilac back to her seat, trying not to wince at how hard it was to move with a raging hard-on he was doing his best to suppress and deflect attention from. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” Lilac answered, still mortified. “I’m sorry…I was…thinking about…my thesis.” It was the closest thing to the truth she could think of.

  “That must be one hell of a thesis to make you blush like that,” he murmured devilishly, seeing the way her cheeks turned a becoming shade of pink. She blushed harder at his words, making her all the more beautiful and the sight had his body going tauter with barely contained lust.

  Lilac was saved from coming up with another face-saving lie at the return of Wally, followed by a lineup of models. All of them were statuesque beauties in identical strapless black dresses, with their hair twisted up to better display the various types of pearl necklaces gracing their necks.

  “Oh” was all Lilac could say when she realized that a private show of the store’s collection was about to start.

  Wally gestured to the model standing at the far left. “Marie here is wearing a three-strand necklace with a sapphire pendant outlined with diamonds. The clasp at the back is made entirely of 24K gold.”

  He moved to the next woman in the line. “This one is made entirely of natural grey pearls, and the clasp is made of rubies and diamonds.”

  Lilac was doing her best not to gape. Until now, she hadn’t even been aware that there were grey pearls. By the time Wally finished describing each of the seven pearl necklaces on display, her head was spinning, and she wished heartily she had thought of recording Wally the entire time. Those amazing details would be great to include in her book!

  Wally handed them each an iPad. “The entire collection is loaded there, together with all the necessary details. We’ll leave you to discuss your choices.” He bowed slightly then turned to his models, murmuring, “Ladies.” In a few seconds, Lilac and Jason had the room entirely to themselves.

  “I’m glad…he gave us…this. The details will be…nice to have,” Lilac told Jason breathlessly. “Thank you so much…for this, Jason. This had been…unbelievably cool.”

  And she was, Jason thought, unbelievably hot, enough to set him on edge. He knew this was wrong, but he also knew didn’t have it in him to keep away from Lilac York.

  Maybe it was because they were twins, but somehow there was something about her that drew Jason in, a kind of allure that Christakos men appeared genetically predisposed to be obsessed with.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed the show,” Jason said finally, making sure to keep his voice light and easy. Lilac was like a skittish deer that had to be reined in gently and treated with kid gloves at all times. Although Nick was moodier and more aloof on the outside, Jason knew that his brother was the gentler one between them when and where it counted. On the other hand, while the whole world knew him to be effortlessly charming and lighthearted, no one – not even his twin, not even his mother – knew that inside he was ice cold – had been so since he had allowed Beatrice to violate him.

  He was not the right man for Lilac, but right now – it didn’t appear Nick was either. For Jason, that only meant he still had a chance with her – while his brother hadn’t yet made his claim.

  The Fourteenth Encounter

  “Sir, the pilot has already changed course.” Holly Olsen said the words clearly but respectfully, well-used to getting around her billionaire boss’ mercurial moods. Although she had been officially hired to work as a secretary to Nick’s P.A Eleanor., she was the one who had to take on all the field assignments since Nick’s P.A. was a little too old to do field trips every week.

  When he only nodded, she murmured her excuses before leaving his private office onboard. The entire flight crew was agog with curiosity about what had suddenly made Nick Christakos cancel his flight to California – especially since everyone knew Karla Niall was there.

  Eleanor had told her it was pretty much the same in the Greek offices, with every employee tuned in to the gossip sites waiting for updates. Holly almost snorted. The idiots were so clueless about Nick Christakos. The big boss had found himself a new girl. Couldn’t they see that? Holly had seen the signs before and they were all pointing to one thing: Nick had found a new playmate – and whoever she was – that girl was definitely running circles around her billionaire boss.

  Nick rubbed his temples, trying to relieve himself of the strange tension that had gripped him since he left Florida. Not much time had passed since his jet had taken off, but Nick still felt restless. It didn’t feel like he was traveling fast enough to ward off the feeling of impending doom.

  Maybe it was guilt – for canceling his trip to see Karla when she needed him most, even if she didn’t want to admit it. But somehow it wasn’t that. All Nick knew was that something fucking shitty was going to happen, if it hadn’t alr
eady happened.

  Unable to help it, he took out his phone and reread Baxter’s message.

  FYI: Ms. Lilac to ride in the car with your brother. Will trail after them.

  Nick closed his eyes. In his mind, he saw Lilac and Jason laughing together inside Jason’s car, Lilac blinking her eyes and Jason losing control, taking her---

  Fuck!

  Nick shook his head, wishing furiously he could do something to permanently block such thoughts from his mind. He grabbed his phone and dialed Lilac’s for the third time. She still didn’t answer. He tried Baxter’s next, who also hadn’t answered his calls the past half hour. This time, though, Baxter did, and Nick grated out, “Why the fuck haven’t you been answering my calls?”

  “Apologies, sir---” Baxter sounded harassed.

  Nick stiffened. “What the fuck’s going on there?” He strained his ears, trying to make sense of the background noise. And it was loud, with lots of shouting. “Have you been spotted by the paps?”

  “Hunted would be the better word, sir.”

  Nick scowled, barely able to make out Baxter’s words. “Get to the fucking point, Baxter. I don’t see what the fuss is about. It’s not as if this is the first time Jason’s dated---” His own choice of words caught Nick off-guard.

  Lilac reaching out to Jason…his brother pulling Lilac close for a kiss…

  No fucking way, Nick thought coldly. It didn’t fucking matter if Jason was his twin. Lilac was his and no one – not even his brother, no matter what his intentions were – would take Lilac away.

  “It’s different this time, sir.” Baxter sounded like he was running himself and doing his best to catch his breath. Pounding footsteps and more shouts filled the background. “They were caught stepping out of a jeweler’s.”

  “The fuck you say!” This time, Nick’s fury knew no bounds. Finally, he understood why the press was having a field day about seeing Jason and Lilac together, and he didn’t like it, didn’t like one fucking bit that now the whole world thought Lilac belonged to another man.

  Baxter said something else, but his voice came out choppy.

  “Dammit, I’m losing you---where the fuck is Lilac? Is she fine? I want to speak to her!”

  The line went dead.

  Fuck.

  Jason taking off Lilac’s clothes, Lilac moaning---

  Nick’s entire body trembled with rage. No…fucking…goddamned…way!

  It didn’t matter if Lilac was only supposed to be his friend, didn’t matter if he knew that in his heart Karla was still the woman he loved, the woman he needed, the woman who had the power to make him live or die.

  All he knew now was that Lilac could only belong to him. Lilac was his first, and it would goddamn stay that way – even if he had to fight his own brother to keep Lilac in his possession.

  Lilac York was all that stood between Nick and the darkness of his past. It was better for all concerned that Lilac remained his.

  ****

  One moment Jason and Lilac were talking and laughing about giving Nick pearls for his birthday; the next thing they knew, a crowd of reporters and photographers ambushed them right in front the jeweler’s.

  Shit! Jason automatically pulled Lilac close, ignoring her muffled gasp as she stumbled against his chest. “Look down,” he muttered to her as he drew her closer to him. Her softness immediately tantalized his senses, but Jason pushed the distracting feelings away. He needed to concentrate on getting Lilac out of this madhouse as quickly as possible.

  “This way, sir!” His own head of security, Michael, called his attention. Behind him were Baxter and the rest of the guys, their expressions rigid. They started pushing towards Jason and Lilac, forcing a path to open.

  Sensing their targets’ impending escape, the crowd of paparazzi surged forward, becoming more aggressive with their questions.

  “Who’s the lucky girl, Jason?”

  “Give us a smile, hon!”

  “When’s the engagement?”

  The last word acted like a trigger, and the crowd went wild. Jason grabbed Lilac’s hand. “Ready to make a run for it?” It was their only chance to get out of this as quickly as possible, with the crowd barricading their exit to the main street, where his car waited.

  She looked up at him with a mixture of nervousness and determination, her adorable face scrunched up like she was a military recruit about to go on her first mission. “Okay.” He almost expected her to salute afterwards.

  Jason’s chest constricted even as he managed a smile for her. “Good.” Lilac York was really like no other, and he wondered if God would ever forgive him if he did become serious about stealing this girl away from the man she belonged to. Right now, he didn’t even want to remember who that man was, didn’t want anything to remind him that Lilac York couldn’t be his.

  “Ready…”

  She nodded, her forehead furrowing.

  “One…and go!” He grabbed Lilac’s hand and made a dash for it. Shock was written all over her face, Lilac clearly expecting him to count to three. But she was quick to follow his lead and with his security team’s help, they were able to find a way past the crowd.

  “You okay?” he asked, pacing himself, slowing down to match Lilac’s smaller strides as the press continued to run after them.

  Hair flying behind her like a dark silky stream, Lilac looked at him with a grin. “Yes,” she panted out.

  Ah shit. Panting was not good. It was just not fucking good at all because it made Jason think of another way to make Lilac pant.

  They ran at least another block before his security team was able to clear a route leading to the back exit of Aehrenthal Hotel, an establishment well-known for zealously protecting the privacy of its exclusive clientele.

  Lilac hesitated when she saw where they were going.

  “Go, it’s all right!”

  She ran in and he followed right behind her, a hotel bellboy quickly shutting the back exit for them. Outside, the press literally howled and shouted its protests, calling for Jason’s name repeatedly.

  When he looked at Lilac, she was grinning, her face flushed, and…she was panting heavily, her breasts rising and falling under her tight shirt.

  Jason squeezed his eyes shut.

  Love at fucking first sight, he thought. Could it be fucking real? And if it was, did it have to be with the one girl he couldn’t have?

  Minutes later, Lilac allowed Jason to guide her inside the posh café situated at Aehrenthal Hotel’s vast lobby. Patterned after Parisian street cafes, its interior was charmingly elegant, with intimate place settings for its rustic wood tables, watercolor murals on the walls, and instrumental ballads playing on the background.

  “I’m sorry we had to make a run for it,” Jason said for the nth time as he helped Lilac to her seat.

  She shook her head even as she tried to hide the fact that she was thoroughly winded. Dear oh dear, but she really had to work out more. Jason didn’t even appear to have broken a sweat and here she was, feeling like her lungs were already on fire.

  “It was…scary at first,” she admitted with a grin, “---but then after…it was…more like…we were playing hide…and…seek.” She was about to say more when her phone rang, Nick’s name flashing on the screen. “Nick.” She sounded a little breathless even to herself, and Lilac knew it had nothing to do with how she had run an impromptu marathon.

  It took more than a moment for Nick to talk. Alone in the backseat of his limousine, Nick struggled to control his instinctive urge to lash out, the silence around him only succeeding in fueling his rage. Lilac sounded breathless, and he wondered cynically if it was because she felt like she had been caught cheating.

  Throughout their lives, Nick and Jason had never worried about being mistaken for the other. They had never been insecure of each other and they had never felt the need to compete with each other.

  But there was always a first time for everything, and if Lilac gave him the wrong answer, then this might be it.


  “Where are you?”

  Nick’s terse voice took her aback. “I…” She found herself being flustered for some reason. How to explain the crazy things that had taken place an hour ago? “I’m at…the…Aehrenthal Hotel,” she finally said, deciding to keep the long story short. There was time for explanations later, when they were face-to-face and if Nick wanted it.

  “Who’s with you?”

  Uneasy at Nick’s still sharp tone, she became tongue-tied as her gaze flew to Jason. Nick’s brother gave her an enigmatic smile. Well, Lilac thought a little exasperatedly, that was a lot of help.

  The silence on the other end of the line was like a slap to Nick’s face. He gritted out, “Are you still with Jason?”

  “H-how?” Shock underlined Lilac’s voice.

  “So you’re still with him,” he concluded grimly. Jealousy churned inside him even as Nick did his best not to think of what Jason and Lilac could be doing in a hotel. Before he could stop himself, he asked, “Are you in a hotel room?”

  Lilac choked. “No.”

  Something in his chest eased at the truth in Lilac’s answer, but he was still not completely at ease. He probably wouldn’t be until he had Lilac with him. He did his best to keep anger from lining his voice as he asked, “Where exactly are you?”

  Nick was furious. He was making an effort to keep it from her, but Lilac could feel it, the way tension hardened every clipped word that fell from his lips. After the strange way Nick had acted with her last night, she was more than a little worried now. Something was obviously wrong, but it was obvious he didn’t want her to know now or ever.

  Lilac gnawed at her lip. Did he not like her hanging out with his twin brother? Perhaps he was ashamed of her?

  “I need to see you.”

  Her anxiety increased. Was that something to be happy about? She just wasn’t sure at all now. “Okay,” Lilac said finally. Reluctance colored her tone as she said, “When you…get back…”

  “I’m already back.”

  Lilac couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re not…kidding?”