by Lucy Monroe
“I know he forced you to go with him, but didn’t he have his minions pack up you and your mom’s apartment?”
“He might have given me a chance to pack my own things, but I was so resistant to going to Greece with him that his bodyguards had to force me into the car and the airplane after that. He disposed of almost everything, believing I needed nothing from my previous life in America.”
“Your dad is a real ‘bull in the china shop’ kinda guy, isn’t he?” And the man’s ways were guaranteed to drive wedges between Barnabas Georgas and his only, very strong-willed, son.
“Yes. He does not consider his actions in light of the feelings of others.”
“Maybe no family is better than that kind of family.”
Andreas surprised her by shaking his head. “No. He will be an adequate grandfather and our future children deserve to know where they come from.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.” Andreas sighed as they climbed the stairs to the turret in the folly. “My father’s proclivity for bullish action is not what I wanted to talk about.”
“It’s not?”
“No. As I said, he threw out everything of my mother’s, but he did have his bodyguards pack up some minimal clothes for me, until such time as he could replace them, and my box of mementos because if a boy my age kept one, clearly what was inside was treasured.”
“He told you that?”
Andreas pulled her into a surprisingly deserted overlook. “He did.”
So, not a complete monster, but she knew all too well how devastating it was to be uprooted and lose everything familiar. It had happened to her often enough in foster care, and it had not gotten any easier with the repetition.
“And?” She really didn’t know where this was going.
Andreas pulled a small velvet bag out of his pocket and gave it to her.
“What is this?” she asked, even as she loosened the drawstring to pull out a delicate silver chain.
On the end was what looked like an antique pendant, a silver oval locket about twice the size of a quarter. The front was etched with a fine filigree, a Greek cursive K worked into the center.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“My mother always thought so.”
“This was hers?” Kayla asked in wonder.
“It was in my box of keepsakes, the only piece of her jewelry not disposed of by my father.”
“I’m sorry,” Kayla said, sharing his pain.
“I was too, but the other pieces weren’t valuable.”
“Still, they were hers.”
“Yes.” He reached up and brushed Kayla’s cheek. “You may look inside if you like.”
She wasted no time opening the locket. Inside was a miniature formal shot of a young boy, maybe ten years old, his eyes and jawline very familiar.
Kayla smiled at the precious image, and the one of the beautiful woman in the opposite oval. “Was this you, and your mom?”
“Yes. The locket is now yours, to do with what you will.” His expression was hard to read, almost like he was waiting for her to reject the gift.
Touched beyond anything, she choked out, “It looks old.”
“It has been handed down through many generations of Kostas. Traditionally, it was given to the eldest son for his wife, but my father gave it to my mother when they disowned her.”
“Compensation for losing her family?” Kayla asked in disbelief.
“My mother said it was a reminder that while they could not acknowledge me, or her, if she insisted on keeping me, they still loved her.” Oh, the cynicism he infused that word with.
“You said the family depended on the Georgas empire for their livelihood.”
Andreas shrugged, dismissing that consideration. “They could have moved, found another place to work. Anything but give up their daughter for the sake of expediency.”
“You would never do that.”
“No. My children will know that they come before business concerns, or the approval of others.”
“She kept it, the locket. It was important to her. And then she gave it to you?”
“Just before she died, yes.” Andreas’s jaw tightened. “She treasured it, just as she treasured the letters her mother wrote her, despite the fact my grandmother refused to buck tradition and have a public relationship with her disgraced daughter.”
“The only disgrace was the way her family treated her.” Of that Kayla had no doubts.
Melia Kostas had been an amazing person, not the kind of mom to abandon her three-year-old child at a truck stop. Kayla was glad Andreas had had that kind of mom, at least until he was fourteen.
He leaned down and kissed Kayla’s temple, like he was saying thank you for her words. “I agree.”
“But you still treasure this heirloom” She could see it in the way Andreas looked at the locket dangling from her fingers.
“Very much. It is the only thing I have that belonged to my mother, but it is also an opportunity to continue a Kostas tradition, only make it my own. That was important to Mama.”
“And you’re giving it to me?” To do with as she pleased. He’d said so, but the only thing she could imagine doing with the necklace was keeping it.
“I am. One day, you will pass it on to our oldest child.”
So, he assumed she would continue the tradition, but she found the expectation made her happy, not stifled. “Oldest born child?” she clarified.
“No. The oldest child we bring into our family, boy or girl. My son or daughter will know that traditions connect us to past generations, but we are not bound by them.”
Emotion choked Kayla’s throat even tighter. “You are going to be a wonderful dad.”
“I strive to excel.” Another man might be joking when he said something like that, but she knew Andreas wasn’t.
A wave of love for this incredible man washed over her, the necklace in her hand giving her a tiny spark of hope that their upcoming marriage would not be as lacking in emotion on his side as he claimed. The man wanted to give her a part of the one person in the world he’d ever admitted loving.
“Put it on me?” she asked.
Andreas’s gaze darkened with some unnamed emotion. “By all means.”
After doing the clasp, he brushed his lips against her nape. “There. Perfect.”
Kayla spent the rest of their tour in a happy daze, the weight of the locket a constant reminder that Andreas valued her on a level he did not anyone else. Was that love?
Could the emotion exist without the words?
CHAPTER TWELVE
AFTER ANOTHER INCREDIBLE night of sightseeing, followed by a romantic dinner and lovemaking that lasted into the wee hours, Kayla got to sit next to Andreas in first class for their flight home.
He was solicitous, but then that wasn’t exactly new. However, Kayla saw his actions through new eyes. When he ordered her favorite drink, when it became clear he’d called ahead for a special dinner prep for them, when Andreas offered to play cards rather than losing himself in work during the five-and-a-half-hour flight, she felt cherished.
Kayla also recognized he would have done those things for her, had in fact in the past, even if they had not become lovers again. She knew he wasn’t that caring with his girlfriends, or anyone else. Full stop.
She didn’t want to dwell on what it might mean. Six years ago, she’d believed he loved her despite the lack of words. Had even thought he would propose when he told her he had a proposition for her. When it turned out he wanted her to join him on his upcoming business venture, but in order for them to work together they had to stop having sex—and he’d put it just like that—Kayla’s heart had broken. And she’d learned to doubt her own intuitive sense about people.
Yet she couldn’t help feeling like there was more to her and Andreas in the emotional arena than he was willing to admit, was even beginning to wonder if there always had been.
The following weeks fell into a pattern. Kayla spent the day wor
king, but Andreas was always there at the end of the day to take her home, or out to dinner, to a play or a performance at one of the theaters in downtown Portland. After which she would return to his condominium with him, where they’d plan a surprisingly big, formal wedding, as well as going over the houses—what Kayla privately considered mansions—the property broker had found for them to look at, and always, always, always end up making love before sleeping together in Andreas’s bed.
“What’s the rush with the wedding?” Kayla asked one morning after a fun but exhausting evening of tastings at the caterer’s and wedding cake samplings.dpg!
Andreas adjusted his tie in the mirror, his bespoke suit immaculate. “You know that once I’ve made up my mind, I prefer to act.”
Kayla slipped into her shoes. “You do realize most people take a year or more to plan a wedding of this magnitude?”
“Our guest list is not that large.”
She made a scoffing sound. “In whose universe?”
Andreas had surprised her by agreeing to invite both sides of his family from Greece on her request. However, he’d also insisted on inviting friends like Sebastian Hawk and his wife, and all of the KJ Software employees.
“Would you have rather eloped?” He turned from the mirror and faced her, his hand coming to rest on her waist at it so often did.
If they were in the same room, he was touching her. If he was working in his office and she was in her lab, he texted or called. He was seducing her heart as surely as he did her body.
“No.” She liked the idea of having witnesses to their vows, people who would share the memory of she and Andreas promising a lifetime together.
“So, we invite everyone.”
“I still don’t know how the wedding planner found a venue, caterers, a top-notch photographer and even a pastry chef for the cake on such short notice.” Didn’t it usually take several months ahead of time to order a huge formal wedding cake from the kind of bakery they’d engaged?
“I only hire the best, as you well know.”
Kayla shook her head. “Giving her only two months was insane.” They were a month out from the wedding, and while the last one had been the happiest of Kayla’s life, it had also been nuts with planning.
“And yet she came through,” Andreas said smugly. No one would claim Andreas Kostas was humble.
Good thing she liked his arrogance.
“Only because you were willing to pay such a premium for everything.” Kayla shook her head. “It’s ridiculous how much you’re spending on this wedding.”
“Not to me. The world will know I take this marriage seriously.”
Her heart warmed at his words, further confirmation that despite the fact he still maintained his attitude that love was a weakness, his regard for her was well beyond what it was for anyone else.
“But then why do we have to find a house right now too?” she almost whined, thinking of the multiple viewings they had set up for that evening after work with a property broker. It was sort of her fault there were more than a couple, but she wasn’t settling into some mansion that didn’t feel like a home to raise children. “Don’t you want to stay in and just relax for one night?”
Andreas pulled her body flush with his. “I want you living with me.”
“So, I’ll move in here officially.” Talking was losing its appeal, but if she gave in and kissed him, they’d be late for work. Not something that would help either of their schedules. “I spend all my time here anyway.”
“It is a waste of time and resources to move you twice.” The shrug in his voice couldn’t be more pronounced.
“Says you.” Most of her clothes had already migrated to his closet, but she still had to go to her condo daily to water her plants, sort her mail, etc. She frowned up at him. “So, we are going to rush into buying a house?”
“Only if we find one we both like.” He leaned down and kissed her chastely, though the touch sparked very unchaste desires in her.
Kayla shook her head again, as much to clear it as to let him know she wasn’t buying it. “All of the houses we’re going to look at tonight are amazing.”
“So, presumably it will be no difficulty to choose one for us to begin our family in.”
“I still don’t understand why everything has to happen this minute.” Yes, he was the kind of guy who acted after making a decision, but the pace of these changes in their lives was overwhelming.
“I want you settled in my life.”
She laid her forehead against his chest, just enjoying the connection for a second. “I’m already in your life, Andreas, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“I noticed.”
“So?” She looked up at him again, wanting to see his face.
The vulnerability she found there left Kayla breathless.
Andreas’s mouth firmed. “I want the ties.”
Again her heart filled, nearly to bursting, at the evidence of how much he wanted to cement her place with him. “You make it difficult to stay irritated with you, Dre.”
“That is a good thing.”
Kayla wasn’t feeling so charitable a couple of days later as she headed toward Andreas’s office for a surprise meeting. The last one hadn’t gone so well for her. Bradley had been really cagey when he’d called to tell her Andreas needed her in his office at three o’clock too. Kayla couldn’t help but worry. She wasn’t sure what she thought her new fiancé was up to, but whatever it was, Kayla was not ready for one more change in her life.
Bradley waved her through when she got to Andreas’s office suite, a strange expression on the PA’s face.
“What is this about?” Kayla demanded, stopping at Bradley’s desk.
“I can’t say.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t know.”
“Just go in, Kayla. Please.”
Her heart in her toes, sure Andreas had found the CEO to take over for him already, Kayla did as Bradley asked. She wasn’t ready for Andreas not to be working at KJ Software yet. Not that he’d leave immediately, she knew that. He’d have to train his replacement, but still, it was the beginning of the end.
The woman sitting on a leather sofa—not at the conference table—that was part of the conversational group by the window looked far too young and frankly soft to be a corporate-shark CEO. Dressed in a trendy top and calf-length skinny slacks, the woman was Kayla’s age, if not a couple of years younger. Her clothes were stylish, but not corporate sharp or expensive designer label.
There was something familiar about the gray eyes that had locked on to Kayla the moment she walked into the office, though. The woman with delicate features and golden-brown hair, just this side of blonde, gasped and then her eyes filled with moisture.
Kayla did not understand what was happening. She looked to her fiancé and demanded, “Andreas?”
He came toward her quickly, laying a possessive arm around her waist as he guided her toward the sofa and chairs. “Kayla, pethi mou, I would like you to meet your sister.”
Kayla’s knees gave way, her joints and muscles turned to water in her shock. It was only Andreas’s arm around her that stopped Kayla from collapsing to the floor.
“My sister?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, her heart beating so fast, she thought she might pass out.
Andreas’s hold on her tightened as he guided her to a chair catty-corner from where the other woman was sitting.
“Yes,” both Andreas and the woman said at the same time.
The woman, Kayla’s sister...her sister, leaned toward her, gray eyes so familiar because they were just like Kayla’s, she now realized, filled with what looked like hope. “I didn’t know I had a sister.”
“Then how? No, wait, what’s your name?” Kayla needed that piece of information.
Andreas made a noise that would have indicated embarrassment in anyone else. “I should have said.”
“I go by Miranda Smith now, but my friends call me Randi.”
“Go by...n
ow... What does that mean?”
“She had reason to change her name as a teenager,” Andreas offered.
“Because of our mom?” Kayla realized it was just as possible they shared a father.
Randi’s mouth twisted with disgust. “No. That particular issue had nothing to do with the crazy woman who gave us birth.”
“Our mom is mentally ill.” Kayla wasn’t sure how she felt about her sister using the crazy word.
“That’s what her defense attorney claimed after she tried to drown me in the bathtub at age six. However, I do not believe that a terrible temper mixed with drug abuse is in and of itself a mental illness.”
“She tried to kill you?” Kayla asked in pained disbelief.
Randi grimaced. “I’m not sure abandoning a three-year-old at a truck stop is any better.”
“But someone found me and turned me in to the authorities.” According to her records, Kayla hadn’t been in the best condition when she was turned over to child services, but she could not remember if that was due to her mom or the time between the abandonment and her being rescued.
“She didn’t care what happened. That’s the point. She never cares about anyone else. I’m sorry. I know it hurts to hear, but our mom’s life has always been about what she wants, about her comfort. No one else has ever mattered enough for her to change her behavior. They do say narcissism is a diagnosable psychological condition. I’ll give her that one.”
Kayla could feel Randi’s pain and knew with certainty that life with their mom had been awful, the attempted drowning only one terrible memory.
Kayla looked up at Andreas before meeting her sister’s gray gaze again. “I guess foster care wasn’t so bad after all.”
Randi made a pained sound. “You should never have been raised by strangers. You had a family that selfish bitch stole from you. Our grandparents are amazing. My dad would have accepted you as his own. Marla took away all our choices when she abandoned you.”
“You sound very bitter.”
“I do, don’t I?” Randi’s smile was warm, genuine and big. “I’m not. Really. I may despise our mother, but my dad didn’t allow her to terrorize my entire childhood. He really is a great guy and like I said, Mom’s parents are pretty wonderful. They and my dad’s parents always stood by me.”
