Doukakis's Apprentice Read Online Free PDF Page A

toilets, then you’ll clean the toilets.’
    Those sapphire-blue eyes were locked on his and then she made a sound that might have been a laugh. ‘You really don’t know anything about the company you just bought, do you? Mr Media Mogul who never makes a mistake in business—Mr Big Tycoon who is all-seeing and all-knowing—is suddenly blind.’ Her voice dripped contempt and Damon, who prided himself on his lack of emotion in all his dealings, found himself wrestling the temptation to throttle her.
    ‘My only interest in your father’s business is as a way of ensuring his co-operation.’
    ‘You have no choice but to be interested in his business. You own it. A fairly heavy-handed approach to a problem, I’d say.’
    ‘I’ll do what it takes to protect my sister.’ He’d been protecting her since he was fifteen years old—since that cold February night when the policeman had knocked on the door and delivered the shattering news. Losing both parents in such a brutal way had been devastating but Damon had somehow dragged himself through each day, driven by the knowledge that another person was depending on him. He was all Arianna had in the world and what had began as the most terrifying responsibility had become the driving force behind everything he did. Now, protecting Arianna was as natural as breathing. Nothing would destroy the web of protection he’dspun around her. ‘If you have any idea where they are, you should tell me now because I will find out.’
    ‘I have no idea. I am not my father’s keeper.’
    ‘Arianna is your friend.’ He watched with satisfaction as that barb slid home.
    ‘And she’s your sister. She’s as likely to confide in you as she is in me.’
    ‘She tells me nothing about her life.’ The words tasted bitter in his mouth. ‘And now I know why. Evidently she has much to hide.’
    ‘Or possibly you’re just not an approachable person, Mr Doukakis. Arianna is twenty-four. An adult. If she wanted you to know what she was doing, she’d tell you. Perhaps you should try trusting her.’
    Worry fuelled his anger. ‘My sister is ridiculously naïve.’
    ‘Had you not been so over-protective, perhaps she would have developed some street sense.’
    Damon was thrown once again by the contrast between her fragile appearance and the layer of steel he sensed in her. It had been the same ten years before, when she’d stood in the office in silence, steadfastly refusing to explain her appalling disregard for school rules and general good behaviour. Because of her, his sister had been forced to leave one of the best schools in the country. Damon had subsequently banned Arianna from seeing the appalling Polly Prince. That was before he’d understood how teenage girls worked. The ban had effectively spurred his young sister into full rebellion mode and Arianna had promptly doubled the time she’d spent with the Prince family. It was a decision that had triggered numerous high-octane explosions in the Doukakis household.
    ‘Arianna is a very rich woman. That makes her a target for all sorts of unscrupulous individuals.’
    ‘I don’t pretend to be an expert on relationships, MrDoukakis, but I do know that my father isn’t with Arianna because of her money.’
    ‘Really? Then perhaps you have no idea just how much trouble this company is in.’ He wiped his mind of images of his young sister with an ageing playboy.
    ‘Has it crossed your mind that he might be with her because Arianna is warm and funny and my father finds her entertaining?’
    The thought of what form that ‘entertainment’ was likely to take sent pushed his soaring anger levels from dangerous to critical. ‘Well, she won’t be entertaining him for much longer.’ Control slid from his grip. ‘How the hell can you be so calm? You should be completely mortified. Your father is—how old?—fifty?’
    ‘He’s fifty-four.’
    ‘And it doesn’t embarrass you to see his name linked with an endless string of