The Shy Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

efficient move of his wrist. “I make no promises about how much practicing I will do, but I will have a piano delivered to my penthouse. My personal assistant will call you for a recommendation.”
    Neo’s personal assistant called, but it wasn’t to ask for a purchasing recommendation. It was to cancel Neo’s next lesson. He would be out of Seattle the following week.
    “Please do not mention this to anyone. Mr. Stamos’s whereabouts could cause speculation that might adversely affect his current business negotiations.” The woman’s tone made it clear that if it had been left up to her, she would have cancelled the meeting without giving an explanation.
    Apparently, Neo had felt otherwise. That knowledge made Cass smile, though she promised to be circumspect in perfectly somber tones.
    Unfortunately for her, the fact that Neo was out of the city had not made it to the attention of the media, but his weekly visits to her home had.
    She woke up Tuesday morning to the sound of car doors slamming and people talking in strident tones outside her home. She rushed to the bedroom that overlooked the street and peeked out through the privacy curtain.
    Three media vans and a couple of cars were parked in front of her home. Someone rang the doorbell even as her eyes took in the spectacle before her.
    The doorbell continued to ring as she rushed back to herbedroom to dress. She would just ignore them. She didn’t have to answer. She wasn’t a public person any longer. The media had no call on her time or her person.
    Nevertheless, she skipped her morning shower and pulled her clothes on with haste. Someone banged on the French doors to her bedroom and Cass screamed. Her brain told her it was nothing more than an enterprising reporter who had climbed up to the deck off her bedroom, but familiar panic threatened to immobilize her.
    She grabbed the phone off her nightstand and dialed her manager. When she told Bob in short staccato bursts what was going on, he told her to calm down. That this kind of media attention was good for CD sales.
    Cass didn’t bother to argue. She was trying too hard not to heave from the stress. She hung up and dialed Neo’s office, each insistent pound on the glass doors leading to her bedroom making her body flinch.
    Her call went to voice mail and she couldn’t remember what she said in the message, just that she left one.
    She went into the bathroom, shut the door, locked it and prayed for the media to leave.
    She was still there, curled up in a ball between the old-fashioned clawfoot tub and the wall, when someone knocked on the bathroom door itself. “Cassandra! Are you in there? Open the door, pethi mou. It is Neo.”
    Neo was out of the city. His personal assistant had said so. She shook her head at the door, another layer of perspiration coming over her already clammy skin.
    The knob rattled. “Cassandra, open the door.”
    The voice sounded like Neo, but she could not accept that he was there. She hated being like this. Didn’t wantanyone else to know how bad it got, but the rational part of her mind told her to open the door.
    The next knock was almost gentle and so was Neo’s tone. “Please, little one, open the door.”
    She forced cramped muscles to work and stood. “I’m…I’m coming,” she croaked.
    He said something forceful in Greek and then, “Good. Thank you. Open the door.”
    She reached out and unlocked the door, then pulled it open.
    The man standing there did not look like Neo’s usual imperturbable self. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket and his expression was nothing less than grim.
    She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “I…they…someone leaked your Tuesday lessons to the media.”
    “Yes.”
    “I thought they might come inside.”
    “It is a good thing they did not.”
    She nodded, in total agreement.
    “You look like you could use a hot shower. I will make you some tea.”
    “I…yes, that’s a good idea.” She looked around herself