Claimed by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 2): Duke Ryder

by Melissa Foster

  “Well,” Addy said, “at least it’ll take your mind off the McGrady mediation.”

  They had been working on the McGrady divorce for months. Mr. McGrady’s attorney was a slick bastard, and Mr. McGrady was a high-profile cheating husband with a holier-than-thou attitude and numerous assets he stood to lose in the divorce. Gabriella didn’t have high hopes that anyone could get through to him, but mediation was a necessary step in the process. Not for the first time, she wondered how she’d gotten sucked into such an unpleasant field. She’d wanted to ensure children’s lives were managed well through the stressful process of divorce and to help families with adoptions and surrogacies. Unfortunately, she’d quickly realized that in too many cases children were used as pawns.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me. Hopefully I can forget about them for a few days.”

  “Crap, I totally made you think of something horrible when you need me to pep you up. Sorry.”

  “Hey, that’s my life, right?” Gabriella pictured Addy’s big hazel eyes narrowing as she mentally sifted through ideas to pick up Gabriella’s spirits. Addy was good at that, like a ray of sunshine when the assholes of the divorce world rained down on Gabriella.

  “Only part of your life,” Addy said. “You’ll have fun with your family. And remember, Gab, your grandfather asked you to handle things because he knows how much you love the island and that you’re an incredible businesswoman, so go get ’em, tiger.”

  After ending the call, Gabriella tried to stop the recurring, childish thought from slipping in, but it was no use. She’d never fully shaken the hurt. If I’m the best there is, Gabriella thought, why didn’t he fight to keep me on the island?

  She wondered why her grandfather hadn’t had his attorney, his real estate agent, or even another family member who still lived on the island show the investor around. But in their family, respect for their elders was everything, and she would do as he asked out of respect, and out of love.

  Gabriella placed the basket of bread she’d baked for her grandfather on the seat beside her and started up the golf cart, thinking about the overly starched mainlander waiting for her. He was big, at least a foot taller than her five three, and strikingly handsome, in a cityish sort of way. He’d probably read up on the perfect number of days to grow out the sexy scruff that covered his chiseled cheeks and strong chin. And those eyes. He had the kind of warm dark eyes that made a woman feel like she was the only thing he saw.

  She totally had his number. How many men like him had she slaughtered in divorce court? He probably had at least one ex-wife mixed with other skeletons she didn’t want to know about. She drove around the building, thinking about how easy it was to see the difference between a city boy and an islander. Sure, city boys like Duke introduced themselves with friendly words and a handshake, like they were as easygoing as a summer breeze. But it never took long for the lack of reliable Internet, or the heat, or the sand, or early-morning birds singing to greet the day, or any number of the other things Gabriella adored about the island, to bring out the arrogance and attitudes that followed savvy businessmen like shadows.

  She rounded the building and was surprised to see Duke sitting on the front step beside her twelve-year-old niece, Vivi, and a handful of Gabriella’s other nieces and nephews and their friends, who had just returned from school on the mainland.

  There was only one school on the island, with two multigrade classrooms. Kids in grades six through twelve were transported to the mainland by ferry, then picked up by a school bus to attend middle and high school. Gabriella used to rue those hours away, and when her parents insisted that she attend college, she’d hated that even more. She had never liked the selfishness that clung to city people like a second skin, or the way they never slowed down enough to enjoy the glorious earth they lived on. They were destroying it with their carbon footprints, raping the land of trees and greenery, and don’t even get her started on the way so many people took family for granted, putting work above all else.

  “Do you have more pictures of your sister? She’s so pretty.” Vivi’s dark eyes were wide and excited as she waved to Gabriella. “Thea, his sister is an actress!”

  Figures. Images of pin-thin, entitled women came to mind, and she wondered how much of that mind-set ran in his family. Duke was savvier than she’d given him credit for. He was trying to win over the kids, too. She forced a smile for her niece’s sake.

  “How exciting.” She knew Vivi, like many of her younger relatives, was enamored with life on the mainland in a way that Gabriella had never been and had aspirations of leaving the island.

  Gabriella and other relatives her age had been lovingly forced to move off the island after graduating college to have a life. She couldn’t think about that now, not when she had a tour to give.

  Duke flashed a panty-melting smile that, in combination with his sexily tousled dirty-blond hair, she was sure charmed him into the beds of plenty of women. Despite herself, she could totally see how it would work. While marriages seemed to not only last, but flourish, on the island, as a family-law attorney, Gabriella battled the pain of divorce for her clients on a daily basis. She didn’t date often, and it had been a long time since she’d been flirted with. Obviously her body was craving a little flirtation, because it was betraying her intelligence and enjoying the attention.

  Way to go, Gab. He’s not even flirting. He’s smiling.

  Duke turned his attention back to the kids. “I have only one sister, and she’s nowhere near as pretty as you.” He tapped Vivi’s nose, earning another grin from her niece and making Gabriella curious at his easy nature with the kids, which was a complete contradiction to what she’d expected.

  “I think it’s time for me to take a tour of the island, but it’s been nice talking with you.” Duke shifted his attention to Gabriella’s nephew David, and his tone turned serious. “Hey, buddy. It takes a bigger man to shrug it off when people call you names rather than shooting them right back. Think about it. Maybe try that next time.”

  David’s eyes shifted to Gabriella. His dark hair was thick and tousled, and his eyes pleaded for lenience. She wondered what Duke had heard. If David had been in trouble at school, the kids were probably talking about it. There were no secrets in their big, extended family. She knew he’d been in some trouble for mouthing off. Even if she wanted to tell David that everything would be okay, no matter what had happened at school, she knew she shouldn’t. Their family believed in standing up to their messes and facing them head-on. They didn’t hide from them or pretend they didn’t happen. Although the look on her nephew’s face told her that he’d like to do just that.

  She focused on her nephew once again and spoke in Greek, so as not to embarrass him in front of Duke. “Is your mother going to get another call from the principal?”

  David shrugged.

  “Now that you’ve eaten the bull, you want to leave the tail? Tsk. I don’t think so. Go tell your mother what happened.” Gabriella picked up the basket of bread she’d set on the passenger’s seat, marveling at how easily the words her father had said hundreds of times spewed from her lips. See, Baba? I do listen.

  “Are you joining us on the tour?” Duke asked Vivi and David.

  “I can’t, but thanks,” David said.

  Vivi’s dark eyes widened. “May I, Thea?”

  “Absolutely. We’ll just stop by and tell your mama.” Gabriella was relieved. Vivi would be a great distraction from Mr. I Want to Ruin Your Island. She said goodbye to the other kids and watched them walk toward town, not for the first time reveling in the contrast between the safety of the island versus the city she now called home.

  Their grandfather had been talking about selling for years, but Gabriella didn’t believe for a minute that he would actually go through with it, despite their diminished economy. But she wasn’t about to leave it open to chance. She’d give Duke a tour, all right. She’d make sure he got the whole island experience, from the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun
to the sand that would ruin his pricey shoes and pants. Throw in a few overly talkative residents who would bore him to death, and he’d probably be gone by sunset.

  Duke lifted Vivi’s backpack from her shoulders and waved to the passenger seat. “Ladies ride up front.”

  Vivi giggled as she climbed in and took the basket from Gabriella, while Gabriella tucked away her surprise. Most men like him, impeccably dressed, with a suitcase that probably cost more than the golf cart, would sit in the front, away from the dusty plume of sand that would follow them down the road.

  “Thea?” he asked.

  “It means aunt. I’m not really her aunt. She’s my cousin’s daughter. But in my family, we call cousins who are significantly younger, nieces and nephews. It’s weird, I know, but it’s what my family has always done.”

  “I like that,” he said, and nodded toward the basket. “A tour and a snack? Looks like we’re pretty lucky, Vivi.”

  Vivi laughed. “That’s for Papou. Thea makes the best bread on the island.”

  Their grandfather was in his eighties, and as the owner of the majority of Elpitha, he was the man who made their wonderful island life possible.

  Gabriella answered the question lingering in Duke’s eyes. “Papou, grandpa. We don’t use descriptors like great-grandpa, or first cousin.” In her family, there were no delineations of lineage, and that Greek tradition carried over to her mother’s side of the family as well. A second cousin or a great-aunt was simply known as cousin or aunt.

  Duke nodded. As he went around to the back of the cart and set his suitcase on one of the seats, he said, “Papou.”

  His curiosity about their language intrigued her. Most visitors never cared enough to ask.

  Vivi lifted the cover from the basket and turned pleading eyes to Gabriella, asking in Greek, “May I share?”

  Gabriella had a soft place in her heart for her nieces and nephews. As much as she’d like to tell Vivi she couldn’t share their grandfather’s bread with Duke just for the sake of squeezing out the guy who wanted to buy the island, she would never squash Vivi’s giving nature.

  “You may,” Gabriella said.

  Duke caught Gabriella’s eye as he reached for the bread Vivi offered him. Gabriella’s stomach fluttered nervously, surprising her, and she quickly turned her attention back to driving and pulled onto the sandy road, hoping he liked the bread she’d made.

  Ugh. Why does that matter?

  **

  DUKE HAD SEEN plenty of pictures of the island, but as they drove down sandy roads, shaded beneath large trees draped in moss, he thought he’d never seen anyplace as serene. As they neared the residential area, the view of the ocean disappeared, replaced by lush greenery as far as the eye could see. They passed homes nestled among the trees, some with grassy lawns, overflowing with gardens, and others barely visible amid the trees.

  It was a strange feeling to see cottages, stately plantations, and Queen Anne–style houses mixed in with Mediterranean-style villas. The only thing that seemed to tie the homes together were the colorful shutters, giving each house its own personality.

  Gabriella turned down a long driveway and parked in front of a boxy white villa with bright blue shutters.

  “This will only take a moment,” she said as she and Vivi stepped from the cart.

  Duke carried the backpack as Vivi ran into the house.

  “She seems like a sweet kid.” He followed her up the walkway.

  “She is.” Gabriella reached for the backpack.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got it, unless you’d rather I wait in the cart?”

  Confusion filled her eyes, in the same adorable way it had when she’d pulled up and seen him sitting with the kids. “You want to go inside? Most people would be put off by the inconvenience.”

  “Inconvenience? If anything, I’m inconveniencing you.” He put a hand on the small of her back as they started up the walk, and felt her bristle beneath his touch.

  “Sorry.” He pulled his hand back. “I wasn’t trying to be forward. It’s a habit. A protective one, I guess, carried over from when I’m with my mom or my sister.”

  Before she could respond, the front door flew open and a very pregnant woman carrying a little girl with curly dark hair hurried across the lawn toward them. The woman’s hair was piled on her head in a messy knot, and she was speaking loud and fast in Greek. Her hand went this way and that as she pulled Gabriella into a hug, kissing each of her cheeks, and then she stood, hand on her hip, as her eyes feasted on every inch of Duke.

  He waited for her to say something he could understand, but she continued speaking a mile a minute in Greek. Between the way her eyes were taking him in and the rosy blush rising on Gabriella’s cheeks, he had a feeling she was talking about his looks. At six four, Duke knew he had an imposing presence, especially to petite women such as these two, who couldn’t be more than a few inches over five feet.

  “Duke Ryder,” Gabriella finally said, “meet my cousin Katarina.”

  Before he could say a word, Katarina placed one hand on his shoulder, went up on her toes, and kissed each of his cheeks.

  “And this is Ermione.” The little girl’s name sounded like Er-mee-oh-knee. Katarina kissed the baby girl’s cheek and whispered, “Say hi, Mione.”

  The little girl buried her face in the crook of her mother’s neck and said, “Hi.”

  Duke loved children, and Mione looked like she was maybe three or four years old, and cute as a button. “Nice to meet you both. You have lovely daughters.”

  A spark of mischief appeared in Katarina’s dark eyes and she bumped Gabriella’s shoulder. “And a lovely cousin, too, yes?”

  “Katarina!” Gabriella shook her head and shielded her eyes with her hand. “Ignore her. She’s had so many children she’s lost her mind.”

  Katarina patted her burgeoning belly. “Hopefully this one will be a boy.”

  “Baba says we’ll keep having them until he gets his boy,” Vivi said, reaching up to pat her younger sister’s back. Katarina leaned down and kissed the top of Vivi’s head.

  “How many daughters do you have?” He tried to place Katarina’s age, and didn’t think she could be much older than thirty.

  “Four, so far.” She patted the side of her hair and said, “I started young.”

  “Mama had me when she was first married, at twenty,” Vivi said. “She’s thirty-two now.”

  Katarina yanked playfully on Vivi’s ponytail and said something in Greek that made Vivi cover her mouth with her hand and laugh.

  “You’re very blessed. I come from a large family and hope to have one myself someday.” Duke was the eldest of six. His brother Cash had recently married, and Blue, another of his brothers, had recently gotten engaged. He’d always thought he’d be the first to marry, but he had yet to meet a woman whom he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. He gave his brothers a hard time about settling down, but the truth was, Duke had had his share of women, and he was ready for the next chapter of his life.

  Katarina elbowed Gabriella, and Duke pretended to ignore her matchmaking efforts, though he was secretly hoping that Gabriella was as attracted to him as he was to her. What man wouldn’t be? A feisty brunette with a killer bod and a spark of rebellion? Perfect.

  “We should go. I’m on tour duty today.” Gabriella hugged her cousin, and Vivi reached for her aunt’s hand.

  Katarina lowered her voice. “Are you sure you want Vivi tagging along?”

  “Yes, of course,” Gabriella said vehemently, and headed for the golf cart with her niece in tow.

  Duke swallowed the sting of Gabriella’s brush-off at the chance of spending time alone with him. “If I don’t see you again, I wish you luck with your new baby, Katarina.”

  She grabbed his forearm. “Are you coming to the celebration tomorrow night?”

  “Celebration?”

  “We’re celebrating my father’s birthday. Practically the whole island will be there, and you should d
efinitely come.” She leaned in closer and said, “It’s at the big house by the lighthouse, seven o’clock.”

  Duke glanced back at Gabriella, wondering if she’d be there, too. Normally if a woman blew him off, he’d take the hint and turn his attention elsewhere. But there was something about Gabriella that intrigued him, and that made her impossible to put out of his mind.

  “Thank you. That sounds like something I’d enjoy.”

  He climbed into the golf cart, and they spent the next hour touring the residential areas. Everyone they passed waved. Duke noticed that there were no fenced yards, no divide between one family and the next. Women talked in their yards while children played nearby, giving him a warm feeling about the island.

  As they drove back into town Gabriella said, “None of the roads are paved. There are only a handful of cars on the island, and they’re used for emergencies, mostly.” She brought the cart to a stop in front of Liakos Taverna, a small restaurant built in the same Mediterranean style as several of the villas he’d just seen.

  “We travel by golf cart, bike, or these.” She pointed to her feet. “The island is only eight square miles. You could walk it in a day if you wanted to.”

  “Can I run in and see Theos?” Vivi was already out of the cart and heading for the door.

  “Sure.” She stepped from the cart, and Duke took the cue that they were done riding.

  “Theos?” he asked as he came to her side.

  “Uncle.” She had that curious glint in her eyes again.

  “Ah. I can’t wait to be an uncle.” He stripped off his suit coat and tossed it over the back of the seat, then rolled up his shirtsleeves. When he lifted his gaze, there was no mistaking the heat in Gabriella’s eyes.

  “Yes, well…” Her cheeks flushed, but she held his gaze, which Duke found impressive, given that he’d just caught her gawking at him. “We have a very big, very close-knit family.” She took a step toward the restaurant just as a thick-bodied man with jet-black hair and a goatee stepped from the restaurant. His eyes moved between Gabriella and Duke.