“I’m looking forward to the trip. What time should I be ready?”
“Eight thirty. We’ll eat breakfast on the plane. You have to know I don’t want to leave you. The only thing that helps me is knowing you’re not going anywhere except to bed. Come on. I’ll walk you to the door.”
He got out and helped her from the car, but didn’t take her arm as they walked in order to remove himself from temptation. That kiss on the beach when he’d felt her mouth open to the pressure of his had lit a fire inside him. But it was too soon to turn it into a conflagration where they both went up in smoke.
Tonight she’d let him inside that place she’d kept hidden until now. He’d walked on sacred ground and the revelations had left him spinning. If he continued to be patient, it was possible he could convince Zoe to spend the rest of her vacation and much more with him.
Her flat door was hidden by the big tree. He waited until she’d opened it and turned on the light. It illuminated those heavenly blue eyes fringed with dark lashes. He found himself wondering which parent had endowed her with those.
When Andreas looked in the mirror, he saw a mixture of his mother and father in the reflection. His thoughts darted to his son. One day Ari would look in a mirror and not be able to find the man he thought was his father in his features or coloring. That’s when Ari would want an explanation. For many reasons brought out in the conversation with Zoe, his decision to tell his son the truth about his parentage one day was more cemented than ever.
“Good night, Andreas.”
“Kalinikta, kyria.”
* * *
Andreas heard an awed cry from Zoe as the jet started to land. Kefalonia Island, the largest of the Ionian group, was a jewel of mountainous green with white beaches washed by brilliant clear blue water. She’d come to the island before, but by ferry. The sight from the air always took his breath.
A limo from the hotel awaited them at the airport and they were driven to the charming village of Lakithra. In a minute, the new, sprawling two-story hotel came into view, with half a dozen blue-and-white Greek flags out in front, signaling the grand opening.
“How beautiful!” Zoe exclaimed. “The yellow-and-white exterior is dazzling in the sunlight.” She turned to him. “Your designer couldn’t have chosen better colors for this setting. If the hotel had been here in March, I would have wanted to stay here.”
“I’ll pass on the compliment to the designer.”
At a glance, he could tell the place was already busy. The parking lot had filled with cars and tour buses, a good sign. Several sets of visitors were going in and out. Two male hotel staff nodded to him as the chauffeur drove them under the portico to the main entrance.
They came right over to open the limo doors. “Kalos orisate, Kyrie Gavras.”
“Efkarista.”
He turned to Zoe, but her attention had fastened on the entrance.
The white carved words Gavras House, Lakithra—Lord Byron were hung against the yellow wall on one side of the glass doors. A large, full-color picture of Lord Byron in Albanian dress hung on the other side, with white carved words beneath it: I came here to save a country.
“Oh, Andreas—” Without waiting for him, Zoe climbed out past the staff and hurried over to the picture. When he joined her, she looked up at him with wet eyes. “I find it astounding that your ancestors—whose land this hotel stands on, whose blood runs through your veins—had an intimate connection with Byron.”
He put a hand on her elbow, craving the warmth of the contact. “What astonishes me is that in a roundabout way covering several continents and an ocean, it brought you and me together. Shall we go inside and take a quick tour? I need to meet with the manager. After that we’ll go for a walk around the village.”
“This is a very exciting day for me, Andreas.” Her earnestness reached his heart.
She’d dressed in a filmy white, stylish two-piece outfit suited for the eighty-nine-degree temperature. The hem of the sleeveless top hung just below her slender waist, tantalizing him. He put a hand on her back and ushered her inside. After introducing her to a handful of staff, Andreas walked her out to the inviting pool.
They had a cold drink at one of the tables, then he introduced her in English to the manager in the office, Leon Padakis.
“Kyria Perkins is a professor of English literature at UCLA in California. She’s an expert on Lord Byron.”
“Ah. We’re delighted that you would come to the grand opening.”
“I’m thrilled to be here and love the photograph at the entrance.”
His eyes twinkled. “I understand that was Kyrie Gavras’s idea.”
Zoe smiled at Andreas. “I knew it,” she said in a low aside.
The manager gave him an inquisitive look. In Greek, he said, “She’s a beautiful woman.” He couldn’t keep his eyes off Zoe. “I didn’t know you would be coming with a guest. Will you be staying overnight?”
Andreas didn’t like the man’s familiarity. “We’ll eat lunch in the dining room before flying back to Patras,” he answered in English. “Now if you’ll excuse us.”
He eyed Zoe. “I know you want to revisit the Book of the Rock.”
“Please.”
They left the hotel and started walking. It was a favorite place of Byron’s where he’d sat on some rocks and wrote his poetry. The town had erected a white stone plaque to honor him. It resembled a large book and was inscribed.
“Is everything all right, Andreas?”
“It is now.” He grasped her hand and they kept on going until they reached the spot for which Lakithra was famous. She tugged on him to climb up the hill to reach the book. Then she read the Greek words aloud in English. “If I am a poet, I owe it to the air of Greece.”
Zoe looked all around. “I know exactly how Byron felt. The air and the scenery here are intoxicating. What a tragedy he died young.”
“We can be thankful he was prolific. After we walk to Metaxata to see his statue, we’ll have a late lunch.” He would just as soon not return to the hotel, but he’d come to see if its efficiency and the chef’s menu were up to Gavras standards.
An hour later, as they were finishing their meal of lobster and anginares, she flashed him an impish smile.
“Did you know? Byron said, ‘A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and champagne, the only truly feminine and becoming viands.’ The poet had opinions on everything and hang-ups about getting fat. He’d binge, then exist on soda water and potatoes soaked in vinegar.”
His black eyes smiled. “A most unusual genius.”
A worried look crept into her expression. “Forgive me for going on and on, Andreas. Thank you again for bringing me here and putting up with me. While I’ve been relishing this unforgettable day in Byron’s world, I’ve driven you nuts. But now I’m through and am looking forward to meeting your little boy. Does your wife know I’ll be there? It might be upsetting to her.”
They were finally getting around to Lia. Because Zoe was the kind of sensitive woman who had never pried into his personal life—a quality he cherished in her—she deserved to hear everything. He needed her to know all the truth.
“When we get on the plane, I’ll tell you about Lia.” He rang the driver to pick them up.
Her eyes reflected concern as he got to his feet and ushered her out of the dining room. With no intention of visiting the office again, Andreas walked her to the entrance. The two male staff members helped them inside the back of the limo.
During the short drive to the airport, Zoe studied him. “What’s wrong, Andreas? You’ve been preoccupied since we first arrived at the hotel. Is it something I’ve done?”
“Never you.” They sat by each other, making it easy for him to grasp her hand and squeeze it. “News of my separation has traveled fast. I haven’t been seen in public with anot
her woman except for you. I forgot how fast word would spread throughout the company, even to Kefalonia and a hotel manager I’d like to fire.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He commented on your beauty and inferred I might want a room for the night.”
“Ooh—he said that to the CEO? He really has no boundaries and doesn’t know what a private person you are.”
“The one thing it did do was remind me I haven’t protected you from Lia. There’s no doubt she’s aware of you. She has eyes and ears watching me, but so far I haven’t taken you to Athens.”
Zoe looked stunned. “Is she the reason I haven’t met your son?”
“That requires a complicated answer. I wanted you to get to know him, but at first you and I were both feeling our way carefully with each other. I feared overwhelming you.”
She nodded. “How long were you married?”
“Twenty months to the day I filed for separation. I met you two days later. It’s a contested divorce so I don’t know when it will become final.”
“I didn’t realize you’d been married such a short time. I thought mine held the record for brevity but yours didn’t last much longer.”
“Neither marriage was meant to be,” he murmured. “I’m anxious to explain everything, but we’ve arrived at the airport. I’ll tell you the rest after we board the jet.”
Andreas helped her up the steps. The elegant interior included the arrangement of four taupe-colored club seats with couches behind them. He sat across from her. Once they’d attained cruising speed and the fasten seat belt light had shut off, he leaned forward to talk to her.
“I met Lia in Athens. She was the daughter of a prominent banker I did business with in setting up an international exporting business. I fell for her.
“We didn’t want a really long engagement so we were married only five months after we met. My parents had been killed in a helicopter crash the year before.”
“Oh, no—” Zoe’s heart ached for his loss.
“That tragedy was probably the reason I was so eager to get married and start a family. We honeymooned in Italy, but I sensed something was wrong even then.”
“Wrong? What do you mean?”
“She wasn’t responsive the way she was before we got married. Sometimes I got the feeling she was avoiding me.”
Zoe couldn’t imagine it, not with Andreas.
“Once we realized she was pregnant, I was thrilled and thought it had to be the morning sickness affecting her. But in time I realized she wasn’t going to change. By the time our son was born, we’d become completely estranged. Any joy had gone out of our marriage, but Ari brought me back to life.”
“She never explained what was wrong?”
His expression grew bleak. “Never, but because of Ari I didn’t want a divorce. We tolerated each other until the night he woke up screaming in pain. We rushed him to the hospital and learned he had a ruptured intestine.”
“Oh, the poor little thing.”
“He needed an operation and the doctor wanted our blood types.”
Suddenly Zoe knew what she was going to hear. The whole time he’d been talking, she’d decided his wife had been guilt ridden over something traumatic. “Is that when you found out she had a secret?”
His gaze locked with hers. “Ari needed blood. After the operation, the doctor told me privately that he couldn’t be mine.”
She closed her eyes tightly. “How unbearable.”
“I won’t lie about that, but at least I finally understood why our marriage never worked.” In the next breath he told her the rest. Lia had slept one time with another man before their wedding at a girl’s bachelor party. There’d been a lot of drinking. The whole thing sickened Zoe. She couldn’t imagine what it did to Andreas.
“Lia doesn’t want a divorce. She has begged me to try again, but I fell out of love and the trust has completely gone out of our marriage.”
“No one understands lack of trust better than I do.”
“She still wants me back. At first she moved to Athens and threatened that I would never see Ari again. Of course that was absurd. The judge awarded us joint custody.”
“I understand that’s why you fly to Athens as often as you do.”
He nodded. “He’s young and I haven’t wanted to take him back and forth on the jet. It’s been better that I fly there. The situation has been working. I’ve turned the private Gavras suite at the hotel into my home away from home. But I plan to change the situation soon.”
“How?”
“Lia has bought a villa in Athens and asked me for more money beyond the settlement to refurbish it. I gave it to her and pray she has already moved out of her parents’ villa. The second I find out that she has, I’ll take her to court for a change in visitation. We’ll trade off every eight days so we both get more and equal time with Ari.”
“Do you think she’ll agree to it?”
“No. Lia will fight me all the way, but she’ll lose because she doesn’t have a job and no means of support except family money. I have the weight on my side because I earn the living.
“The judge will hear I want Ari back at the villa with me. The equal division of time every eight days means I’ll be able to travel when he’s not with me, and work part-time at home when he’s in the house. Ari is getting older and I hope he won’t mind the flights.”
“If he’s with you, he’ll love it, Andreas. You’ve moved heaven and earth to make this work.”
“Unfortunately it’s not over yet. That’s why I’ve told you about her. It’s better to be forewarned where Lia is concerned.”
The fasten seat belt light flashed on. She buckled up. “Does the man she slept with know what happened?”
He sat back and fastened his. “It’s possible, but that’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it on the flight to Athens in the morning when we’re not rushed. Right now I must run you to the apartment because I have to get back to the office for a few hours to finish up some work.”
“I understand.”
In another half hour Zoe was back in the flat, wishing Andreas hadn’t had to go. After kissing her cheek at the door, he’d walked swiftly away. Left to her own devices, she needed to talk to someone and pulled out her cell phone.
Eight o’clock here meant seven in Burgundy.
Abby, Abby, please be home.
But Zoe got her voice mail and left a message to call her back. An hour later, while she was packing for the trip to Athens, she heard from her friend.
“Zoe? I’ve been hoping you’d call. What’s happened?”
“I’m phoning to thank you for pushing me to return to Patras. I’m so glad I listened to you! I was with Andreas last evening and all day today. Tomorrow he’s taking me to Athens to meet his son.”
“From the sound of your voice, you’re a different person.”
“He...was happy I returned and we both admitted we have feelings for each other.”
“Then I don’t expect I’ll be seeing you after all. Just promise to keep me informed when you find a moment to come down from the clouds.”
“You know I will. Abby? Before we hang up, how is everything with you?”
“We’ve been trying for a baby. That’s how it’s been going.”
Zoe grinned. “Lucky you.”
“I’m so in love with Raoul, it’s sickening. Watch out, Zoe.”
“I’m afraid that warning has come too late.” Far too late, her heart whispered. “Good luck to the two of you. I hope to hear breaking news soon! I can’t help but wonder who will have a baby first. You, or Ginger.”
That produced laughter from Abby before Zoe hung up and got ready for bed. She was living to be with Andreas again and feared she wouldn’t be able to sleep. He’d suffered a great deal. Between the loss of his parents and Lia’s betr
ayal, she marveled he even functioned. Then to learn Ari wasn’t his son... Only a strong, extraordinary man could deal with that.
After she climbed under the covers, oblivion eventually took over. Her watch alarm woke her up in time to shower and dress. Zoe had left out a pair of pleated cream-colored pants and a short-sleeved navy blouse. She liked its tiny print of cream and white flowers. Being around a toddler, she’d be more comfortable in this outfit.
Zoe wore earrings with a small navy blue ball hanging from a delicate gold thread. Once she’d brushed out her hair and applied pink frost lipstick, she reached for her purse and suitcase, then started out the flat door.
“Andreas—” she cried because she almost ran into him coming around the trees. His hands steadied her upper arms so she stayed upright.
“Kalimera, Zoe. You look incredible.” He found her unsuspecting mouth and kissed her with a hunger that shook her to the depths. The passion he generated caused her to lose her grip on the suitcase and it fell to the ground. “I needed that,” he said in a smoky voice against her trembling lips before picking it up for her.
Zoe took one look at him dressed in a short-sleeved coffee-colored sport shirt and white pants and almost lost her breath. No man could touch Andreas’s sheer virility clothed this morning in casual elegance only he could carry off.
Andreas had come in the limo. The driver took care of her suitcase while Andreas opened the rear door. But before she could get in, he caught her to him and kissed her mouth once more.
“My marriage was over before it even began, killing the dream. I don’t know about you, but the moment I found out you’d phoned my office, I started dreaming again. That in itself is a miracle. Thank heaven you’re with me.”
Zoe felt overwhelmed with emotion. She was a little spooked by the speed of his declarations considering how quickly she’d jumped into marriage last time. Of course it wasn’t as if Andreas had asked her to marry him, but her emotions were certainly getting more complicated.
Wedding The Greek Billionaire (Holiday With A Billionaire Book 3) Page 6
