Rising from the table with purpose, she moved up to the second floor of the lovely building, moving in and out of the different rooms. In each she picked up the phone, grimacing as each and every one was, as he already told her, dead. However, one of these rooms would be his, and right now he was downstairs somewhere in his office leaving her free to search. As she reached one door she found it to be locked, and she cursed gently, realising that he had outmanoeuvred her once more.

Diona spent nearly a half an hour on her fruitless search, amazed at the size of the home. Finally she decided to search the island for other outbuildings he might have missed, perhaps she could even get one of the people she had spotted earlier to give her a lift off or even just to let her use their mobile phone.

As she moved quietly back down the stairs she dropped down, as she saw him exiting a room at the end of the hall where, unaware of her presence, he headed into another room. Hardly believing her luck, Diona silently ran down the rest of the stairs slipping into the room he just left, realising that it was indeed as she suspected: his office. A large wooden desk which probably cost as much as her whole flat took up a prime position close to a picture window looking out over the cliff, and she was once more reminded of the wildness of the house setting, the thought that it suited its owner so well fleeting through her mind. Rushing over to the phone she picked it up, hearing the dial tone, much to her relief. As she began to dial her sister’s mobile number, the tone died as a message requested she enter the three digit security number. Looking in disbelief at the phone, she cursed it, placing it back onto its cradle, her eyes scanning the room for some other means with which to contact her sister. Spotting the computer on the desk she quickly moved over, pressing the keys in the hope that he left it connected – a hope which was quickly dashed as she had been requested to enter a password. Closing her eyes in defeat she stared at the screen. “Give up”, a voice from the other end of the room spoke softly, causing her to lift her head quickly to see Nikias watching her from the door, which she had not heard open. “And just so you know, I have banned all mobile phones for the week and threatened anybody who agrees to take you across to the mainland with immediate dismissal”, he added, almost as though he had read her mind. Clenching her hands angrily by her side and gritting her teeth, she glared at the man on the other side of the room. “You have to let me off this island… I need to save my sister from your damn brother”, she bit out, her tone low and angry.

“While you are here, as far as I am concerned my brother is safe… at least from you”, he retorted, his tone just as controlled as hers, as the two glared at each other, both feeling the way the very air between them was charged. As Nikias moved towards her, Diona panicked, suddenly so aware of the handsome tall man before her, and she moved around him nimbly, reaching the door and fleeing from the room, moving out of the house in a sudden need to feel fresh air on her body.

Standing in his office, Nikias watched her leave, seeing how she fled, her eyes full of panic. He frowned gently, feeling once again the need for her made more acute by the fact that she had not tied up her hair, and it still hung around her body giving her a sensual look, which caused the blood in his veins to boil so alarmingly. God she was good, he thought, even her hard-to-get innocent act was better than any other he had come across, and he knew that she was trouble with a capital T. However, lifting up the phone he quickly barked out commands in Greek before moving out of the room to find her.

He spotted her moving down the path towards the beach and with a grin he knew that she was still searching for a way off the island, admiring her perseverance in spite of himself, as he quickly caught up with her. Moving as quickly as she was able down the uneven path, Diona heard him calling her name, stopping in her tracks as she looked back, watching intently as he strode towards her. “Will you promise to give up trying to escape?”, he asked, his eyes holding hers. “Absolutely not”, she threw back defiantly, with such determination that he looked heavenwards, muttering something she could not understand, in Greek. “In that case I will have to make sure that you don’t get yourself into any trouble”, he finally said, his expression grim as she glared back at him. “Do you ride Diona?”, he asked more softly, as she frowned at him in surprise. “A little”, she replied, her voice confused as he placed a hand on her back, instantly causing sensations to travel up and down her body, as he directed her to a path to the side of where she was currently walking. “Then at least let me show you the island, and prove that there is no way off”