She didn’t bat an eye over renting an apartment with one bedroom. Did that mean she really did like to be alone? He could hear Akis commenting on the subject. Are you still feeling responsible for her, or is there something more eating at you?
Vasso had to admit there were a lot of things eating at him. He sucked in his breath. “If you need help of any kind, I’m only as far away as the phone.”
“You think I don’t know that?” She walked him to the door. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again. Hopefully by then Yiannis will have a good word for me.”
As Vasso had predicted to Akis, she already had Yiannis eating out of her hand.
“Stay safe, Zoe.”
“You, too.”
He heard the slight wobble in her voice. It stayed with him as he left the apartment, taking with him the haunting image of her blond hair and sparkling eyes, not to mention the white-on-navy print dress that clung to her figure.
Once he reached the car, he took off for his villa. But he was too upset by emotions churning inside him to stay on the island till morning. If he did that, he’d be tempted to drop by the apartment with some excuse to see her again. Instead he alerted the pilot that he was ready to fly back to Athens.
After the helicopter touched down at the penthouse, he checked any messages his private secretary might have left. Apparently Akis had dealt with everything important. Grabbing a cup of coffee, he went back to his office to dig into the inventories still left to get through. But first he texted his brother.
I’m back in the office working. Zoe Zachos is living in the apartment above Kyria Panos’s shop. All is well with Yiannis.
Not two minutes later his brother phoned him back. “Have you contacted Maris?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. She phoned several times yesterday wanting to know about you.”
“Sorry.”
“I get it. So how are things with her?”
“I broke it off with her last night.”
“I guess that doesn’t surprise me. Whatever happened to ‘slow down’?”
Vasso let out a morose laugh. “Look where it got you.”
CHAPTER FIVE
August 26
ALREADY IT WAS FRIDAY. Five days without seeing Vasso felt like five years. In the time they’d been together, they’d confided in each other about the very personal things in their lives. He knew information about her she hadn’t shared with anyone else. Zoe loved being with him. She ached for his company. He brought excitement into her life.
But she’d better get used to separations because the foundation was only a small part of the huge company he ran with his brother. And the more she heard about their generosity, the greater her need grew to do all she could to help in such a humanitarian effort.
Over the last five days Zoe had been able to introduce herself to every inmate except the twenty-four-year-old guy from Athens named Nestor. The resident therapist was worried about him. He’d been undergoing chemo in the infusion clinic and was in a depressed state, refusing to talk to anyone.
The therapist told her Nestor had been a receptionist at a hotel that went bankrupt. He couldn’t find a job and after a few months became homeless. Two months later, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He usually lived on the steps of a Greek Orthodox Church but spent a lot of time under the nearby bridge with his other homeless friends.
This was the case of another kind priest who got in contact with the center on Paxos and arrangements had been made to get him admitted. Zoe found out that the helicopters owned by the Giannopoulos brothers helped transport patients like Nestor from all over Greece when there was no other solution.
Through Yiannis she learned more about Vasso and Akis. Born to poverty, they’d built a billion-dollar business in such a short period of time it stunned the Greek financial world. That was why the media was always in their face. It explained why Vasso made his home here on Paxos. Evidently his younger brother lived on the nearby island of Anti Paxos.
Just thinking about Vasso caused her breath to catch.
Already she was finding out that the homeless patients were afraid there’d be nothing for them to look forward to once they had to leave the center. That was an area needing to be addressed. Zoe had known the kind of depression that was drawing the life out of Nestor. Now that lunch was over, it would be a good time to visit him.
She took some oranges and plastic forks with her. When she reached his room she found him half lying in a recliner wheelchair. Every room had a sign that said, “Reality is never as dark as the places your brain visits in anticipation.” How true.
“Nestor?”
He opened his eyes. They were a warm brown. Despite his bald head, he was good looking, or would be if he were animated.
“If you’re too nauseated to talk, I’ve been there. Mind if I sit down?” She pulled a chair over to him and set the items on the table. “I’m new here. My name’s Zoe. I just got out of the hospital in New York City after being there a year. I had lymphoma too.”
That brought a spark. “You?”
“I thought I’d be dead by now, but it didn’t happen. I also lost my family in a fire, which made things much worse. I understand you don’t have family either.”
“No. My grandfather raised me, but he died.”
“Well we’re both very lucky that the Giannopoulos Foundation exists. They’ve given me a job here. What kind of a job do you want when you leave?”
“I won’t be leaving,” he murmured.
“Of course you will. As my priest told me, God didn’t come to my rescue for nothing. I know how the nausea can make you think you’ll never be better. But it will pass. I brought you some things that helped me.
“If you open and smell an orange before you eat, the aroma will make the food tolerable. At least it worked for me. Also, the metal forks and spoons sometimes make you gag. Try eating your food with a plastic fork and see if it makes any difference.”
He eyed her with curiosity. Good!
“See you soon. Maybe one of these days we’ll go outside on the patio and have a game of cards. I’ll bring a scarf and some snacks. I have an idea you’d make a dashing pirate. You know, young-Zorba-the-Greek style.”
She left the room and continued on her rounds until the end of the day. Yiannis wanted her to be his eyes and ears. Besides keeping up on the paperwork, he expected her to make suggestions to improve their services. What was missing? That’s what he wanted to know.
Now that she’d been hired full time, they would take turns covering for each other Saturday and Sunday. This coming weekend was his turn to work. Suddenly Zoe had more freedom than she knew what to do with.
When she walked out to catch the bus, the fountain of Apollo was playing. Again she was reminded of Vasso who, like the sun god in his chariot, was so handsome it hurt. She needed to get her mind off him. In the morning she’d take a long hike around the island.
On Sunday, she and Olympia, one of the cooks from the hospital, were going to take the ferry to Corfu from Loggos. While Olympia met with her relatives, Zoe planned to do some sightseeing on her own and was looking forward to it.
A group of workers got on the bus with her. They were already friendly with her and chatted. One by one they got off at different stops. Zoe was the only one who rode all the way into the village. By now the driver named Gus knew her name. Though she might be in Greece rather than New York, there was the same atmosphere of community she’d loved growing up.
When Zoe got off the bus, she headed for one of the tavernas that served mezes along the harbor front. At twilight the lights from the boats and ferry twinkled in the distance. It was a magical time of night.
Most of the tables outside were taken by tourists, but she finally found an empty one. She’d been anxious to try the various fis
h appetizers to see how they compared with her mother’s cooking. The waiter brought an assortment of octopus, shrimp, sardines, calamari and clams.
Maybe she was biased, but she thought her mom’s were better. Then again maybe she was missing her family. How they would have loved to come here for a vacation.
Don’t look back, Zoe. You’re the luckiest girl in the world to have been given this opportunity. You’ve been handed a second chance at life. You’ve been able to realize your dream to work for the Giannopoulos Foundation. You’re living in one of the most beautiful spots on earth.
“Such a beautiful young woman sitting alone at the table looking so sad is a sin. Even if it isn’t all right, I’m going to join you.”
She’d know that distinctive male voice anywhere and looked up in shock. “Vasso—”
“Sorrow on a night like this is a tragedy.”
Zoe made an odd sound at the sight of him. Tonight he’d dressed in a black silk shirt and tan trousers. Afraid she was staring hungrily at him, she averted her eyes. “I was just doing a little reminiscing about my parents. You caught me at the wrong moment.”
He took a seat opposite her at the round table. His nearness did strange things to her equilibrium. “What’s on that mind of yours?”
The waiter came, but Vasso only ordered a cup of coffee. She knew he was waiting for an explanation. “I’ve been sitting here counting my blessings.”
“That sounds like you. So you’re not missing home then?”
She sat back in the chair. “I stay in touch with my friends through email. As for Chad, he took my advice and is out of my life.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “It was the right decision for both of us. Otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here on the island Kyria Panos calls the jewel of the Ionian, eating dinner with my benefactor. If you saw me in a sad mood just now, I was thinking how much my parents would have loved this island and how they longed to visit Florina. But my mother would whisper that these sardines were overly seasoned.”
Following his chuckle, he took a sip of the coffee the waiter had brought to the table. “What are your plans for this weekend? I talked to Yiannis and learned it’s your turn to be off work until Monday.”
She glanced around as if she were afraid to look at him. “We’ve decided to alternate weekends. The security guards will take turns to cover for us while we sleep there.”
“According to him you’re turning the place around already.”
“Yianni is just being nice.”
“So it’s Yianni now?” he questioned with a smile.
“The first time I called him that by mistake, he said his wife always dropped the ‘s’ and he ordered me to keep doing the same thing.”
“It’s clear he’s happy with you.” Vasso finished his coffee. “How do you like your job by now?”
CHAPTER SIX
“I LOVE IT!” Zoe’s eyes sparkled like the aquamarine sea around Akis’s villa on Anti Paxos. “There’s this one patient named Nestor I want to tell you about. But only if you have the time.”
“I’m off work for the weekend too. If there isn’t something you need to do, why don’t we drive to my house to talk? There’s a lineup of tourists from the ferry who would appreciate this table.”
When she reached in her purse to pay the bill, he checked her movement and pulled out his wallet to do the honors.
“I don’t expect you to pay for me.”
“Not even when it’s your birthday?”
She gasped slightly, but then she shook her head. “Why am I not surprised? You know everything about me.”
“Almost everything,” he teased. “This one is the big twenty-five. I remember having one of those five years ago.”
“Did you celebrate with someone special?”
“If she’d been special, she and I would still be together.”
She eyed him frankly. “Your fault or hers?”
“Most definitely mine.”
“Don’t tell me there hasn’t been one woman in your life who meant the world to you?”
He helped her up from the table and they walked along the waterfront to the parking area near the pier. “Her name was Sofia Peri. I asked her to marry me.”
After a measured silence, “How long ago?”
“When I was twenty. But the business Akis and I put together hadn’t gotten off the ground yet. She needed a man with substance.”
Zoe stared up at him before getting in his car. “Just look what she missed...”
Touché.
He closed the door and went around to the driver’s seat to get in. They drove the short way to his house in companionable silence. “Where does that road go?” she asked before they reached his villa.
“To the pier where I keep my boat.”
She turned to him. “Can we drive down to look at it?”
“If that’s what you want.” He made a right turn that led to the water’s edge where she saw his gleaming cruiser.
There was an enchantment about the night. A fragrant breeze lightly rippled the water. This was Vasso’s front yard. “It must be fabulous to go everywhere you want by water. Of course you go by helicopter too, but I can’t imagine anything more fun than finding new coasts to explore.”
Vasso shut off the engine and turned to her. “I had those same thoughts years ago. When the rich people pulled into our little harbor to eat and buy things from the store where Akis and I worked, I always wondered what that would be like. That was long before it became an Alpha/Omega 24 store.”
Her heart ached for how difficult his life had been. “Is that how you met the woman you proposed to? Was she a tourist who came in?”
“No. She lived in the village. We went to the same church and the same school, even though Akis and I were absent most of the time. Her parents didn’t approve of me, but she defied them to be with me.”
Zoe felt pained for him. “Was she your childhood sweetheart?”
“You could say that. I assumed we’d get married one day. We were crazy about each other, or so I thought. It helped me get through some difficult times, especially after our father died. Akis and I continued to work there and had saved enough money to buy it from the owner. By then I was nineteen and had to do my military service.
“While I was gone, we wrote to each other and made plans. At least I did. But I didn’t realize that while I was away, she’d started seeing a local fisherman’s son who was making a good living. She never once mentioned him to me until my return. The news that she’d fallen for someone else pretty well cut my heart out.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say. “My relationship with Chad never got as far as yours.” The normal platitudes wouldn’t cover it to comfort him because in truth, the woman sounded shallow. If she chose ready money over the true value of Vasso Giannopoulos whom she’d loved for years, then he was well out of it.
“Are you saying you were never intimate with him?”
“No. I was taught to wait for marriage. Guilt kept me from making that mistake. Thank goodness it did since Chad and I weren’t meant to be. But I’m truly sorry about Sofia.”
“That’s past history. Fortunately for me, it was Akis’s time to go into the military. I had to do the job of two people to keep our business running. By the time he got back, we went all out to make a success of our lives. Both of us were sick of being looked upon as the impoverished Giannopoulos boys who rarely went to school and had no education. I believe it was harder on Akis, but he’s very sensitive about it.”
“The poor thing,” she said quietly. “Neither of you knew your mother who could have comforted both of you. I can’t comprehend it.”
“Our father made up for it.”
“That’s obvious. The two centers you’ve built in honor of him say everything.” Her throat ha
d started to swell. “If I could meet him, I’d tell him he raised the best sons on earth.”
“If I keep listening to you, I just might believe it. As long as we’re here, would you like to go for a boat ride?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” she admitted on a laugh.
“I’ll take us on a short drive to the harbor. It’s very picturesque at night.”
Zoe got out of the car before he could come around to help her and started walking to the boat dock. She turned to him. “What can I do to help?”
His white smile in the semi-darkness sent a rush of warmth through her body. “If you want to undo the rope on this end, I’ll take care of the other.”
His cruiser looked state-of-the-art, but small enough for one person to manage. She did her part, then stepped in and moved over to the seat opposite the driver’s seat. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined spending her twenty-fifth birthday driving around an island in the Ionian Sea with a man as incredible as Vasso. If she was dreaming, it didn’t matter. She was loving every minute of it.
He stepped in with a male agility that was fascinating to watch and handed her a life jacket to put on. As he started to sit down she said, “You have to wear one too. I’m not the world’s greatest swimmer. If I had to save you, it would be kind of scary.”
His deep chuckle seemed part of the magic of the night. When they were both buckled up, he started the engine and they went at wakeless speed until they were able to skirt the cove. Zoe got up and stood at the side. Other boats were out, but all you could see were their lights and other lights on the island.
She turned around and braced her back so she could look at Vasso. “I’ve been thinking about your childhood. Did they offer a class in English when you did go to school?”
He slanted her a glance. “Yes, but we were rarely there. Our major knowledge came from talking to the English-speaking tourists. The owner of the store gave us a book to learn from. Our father told us we had to learn it in order to be successful.”
A Wedding For The Greek Tycoon (Greek Billionaires Book 2) Page 7
