“I’ll warn you now that I’ve upgraded security since you were last here,” he greeted in a dry voice. “Apparently, our perimeter can be breached with a stolen tin can and a determined woman.”
Dani laughed. “You forgot ‘resourceful.’ I borrowed the dinghy. Borrowed. Big difference.”
Alexandros groaned behind her. “Please don’t encourage her.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Demetrius replied, though the sparkle in his eyes said otherwise. “But it did make the case for a few new cameras.”
“Just so you know, you’ll probably end up with footage of me skinny-dipping off the back deck,” Dani called out over her shoulder.
Demetrius coughed—into his hand, barely hiding a smirk.
Alexandros tripped on the dock ladder and scowled first at her before he turned a warning glare to Demetrius.
Dani grinned.
“I told you she was going to be trouble,” Demetrius chuckled before his humor faded. “You have an unexpected visitor. She arrived an hour ago.”
Alexandros straightened, the muscle in his jaw tightening. “Who?”
“Gina Rossi.”
The name hung in the air like a cork from a bottle no one wanted to open.
Dani caught the briefest flicker of distaste in Demetrius’s otherwise professional demeanor. But it was nothing compared to the steel that snapped into Alexandros’s spine.
“Well,” he said with the warmth of a glacier, “that explains the headache I didn’t know I had.”
“Old friend?”
Demetrius’s mouth twitched. “In her dreams.”
Alexandros turned to her. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get cleaned up? I’ll?—”
“Nope,” she said breezily, cutting him off. “I think I’d like to meet this surprise guest. After all, I live here now too, don’t I? It wouldn’t be proper if I was rude.” She gave him a smile that was just a little too sweet. “Besides, I’m dying to see what kind of woman gives my fiancé indigestion at the mere mention of her name.”
Demetrius choked again.
Alexandros gave her a pained look. Not exactly pleading, but definitely… wary.
Which, of course, only made her more curious.
Hand in hand, they ascended the wide stone steps. The sun was beginning to set, painting the villa in golden hues—and apparently, it brought the drama with it.
Dani let go of Alexandros’s hand just as a tall, breathtakinglybeautiful blonde swept out of the double doors onto the terrace. Dani’s nose wrinkled when she caught the scent of expensive perfume and entitlement.
So this is the mysterious Gina Rossi.
Gina released a high, girly squeal that made Dani’s molars ache, and launched herself at Alexandros like a heat-seeking missile.
“Alexandros! Darling! Did you miss me? I’ve missed you. Paris was simply boring without you. And what have you said to poor Vito? He’s wallowing in self-pity at the gaming tables in Morocco like his best friend has died,” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck before Dani could so much as blink.
The vision of talons on a chalkboard changed to a red haze when Gina clamped her blood-red lips to Alexandros’s before he could respond. The lip lock was a full-on, no-holds-barred, suck his tonsils out kiss. Gina kissed him as if it was her audition for a soap opera—and her big break.
Dani froze. For one wild second, she thought she was hallucinating. But no, that was definitely Gina’s mouth plastered to her fiancé’s.
Alexandros peeled her off with the enthusiasm of someone removing a slug from their shirt.
“Gina,” he said, his voice flat. “What are you doing here?”
