She moved on. The breeze played with Ari’s overly long hair. It had a tendency to curl at the tips, like Theo’s…. Sometimes he held his head at an angle while he was looking at something with intensity, and again he reminded her of the man she’d once loved so completely she’d thought she couldn’t live without him.
But that man who’d shown her so much love and had made her feel immortal had disappeared from her life. After realizing he was never coming back, she’d thought she was in the middle of a nightmare and would wake up. To her horror, she discovered she’d been awake the whole time. Welcome to the new reality of her life.
Remembered pain still had the power to shake her. She glanced at Ari. “Are you hungry?”
“No. Dax’s mom fed us. Do you think Dax could come to Andros for part of our vacation?”
Any other time she would have said yes without thinking about it, but her entire world had been turned upside down this afternoon. She dreaded broaching the subject of his father with Ari, but if she put it off she would become more frantic than she already was. Then he’d know something was terribly wrong.
Ari had a very intuitive nature. Since she’d always been honest with him, she couldn’t be any different now. When they pulled around the back of the villa, she didn’t immediately get out of the car.
“Ari—before we go inside, there’s something I have to tell you.”
He looked upset. “Is it about Dax? You don’t like him, huh.”
She blinked. “Where did you ever get that idea? He’s my favorite friend of yours.”
“Because you wouldn’t let him come with us to Andros last year, either.”
Stella let out an anxious sigh. “That wasn’t the reason. Dax’s parents had other plans for him, remember? They took him to Disneyland. It was a surprise. That’s why he couldn’t come with us.”
“Then how come you haven’t said he can come with us this time?” He continued to look at her with those penetrating black eyes while he waited for an answer. Sometimes he could be very adult for his age. It always caught her off guard, probably because he reminded her of the Theo she had once known.
At sixteen Stella had been so shy and unsure of herself, yet he’d been tender and patient with her and he’d slowly built her confidence. When Nikos had been mean to her and made fun of her and her friends, Stella had turned to Theo, whose love and acceptance had made all the hurts go away.
Where had that man gone? After he’d disappeared from her life, she’d wanted to die.
Clearing her throat she turned to Ari and said, “Do you remember when you asked me if I knew where your father lived and I said no?”
All of a sudden she felt Ari go quiet. He nodded.
“It was the truth. I didn’t know anything about him. When I asked why you wanted to know, you said there was no reason, but I knew that wasn’t true.”
He didn’t move a muscle.
“I…I’m afraid I haven’t made it easy for you to talk about your father,” she stammered.
“Stasi said he hurt you so much you got sick.”
“He was right. You see, my mommy died before you were born. Then your father went away and I never saw him again. I was so sad I fell apart for a while.”
To make the pain even more unbearable, Nikos had been cruel and impossible to live with back then, always siding with their father that Theo came from the wrong kind of people with no background or class and no money. A marriage between them was unthinkable. She should be thankful he was out of her life.
Sensing how traumatic the situation was, how fragile her feelings were, Stasio had taken Stella to New York to have her baby. Six months later their father had suffered a fatal heart attack. After his funeral she and Ari had stayed in New York for the next four years. With Stasio there doing business half of every month, it had worked out well for all of them, and Stella had been able to get her college degree.
Thankfully at the time, Nikos went back and forth from Athens to the family’s condo in Chamonix where he skied. She rarely saw him. That was a plus.
“Because of your uncle Stasio’s love and kindness, I got better. The point is, that was a long time ago and a lot has changed since then.” She moistened her lips nervously. “I found out this afternoon that your father has been living in New York.”
His eyes rounded. “Just like we did?”
“Yes.” That had come as another shock. For four years they’d both lived in the same city and hadn’t even known it. Incredible. “However, he’s back in Athens now to stay. He…wants to see you.”
A long silence ensued. She could see him digesting what she’d just told him, but before he could ask another question, she needed to tell him the rest.
“Because it’s been six years and he’s never come near us until now, I need to know how you feel about seeing him. You don’t have to answer right now. Just think about it. If you decide you’d like to meet him, then we’ll call him up, but if you don’t feel comfortable, Ari, you just have to say so—okay?”
If he didn’t want to meet his father, then Stella would phone him when Ari wasn’t aware of it. How she would love to hear Theo’s reason for wanting to be with his child after all this time!
She couldn’t imagine what Theo could say that would absolve him of what he’d done to her—to them! Stella couldn’t comprehend a man walking away like that with no conscience, but it happened to other women all the time.
There were a lot of amoral men in the world, but she didn’t want this one to be anywhere near her son. To her horror, Theo had brought up the possibility of getting the court involved if she didn’t cooperate. She couldn’t bear the thought of it, so she didn’t dare ignore his letter.
Ari lowered his head. “I don’t want to go and live with my father. I want to stay home with you. But I’d like to see him.” He reached for her.
Waves of intense love for her son swept over her. “If that’s your decision, then we’ll tell him together.”
He squinted up at her. “Can he make me go with him? Alex always has to go with his father to his new house and he doesn’t like it.”
Alex was one of Ari’s friends. The situation in their home was very sad since his parents had divorced.
Her heart pounded with sickening intensity. The court could order visitation, but in the letter Theo had said he didn’t want to go that route. Right now she was praying he meant it. “Let’s not worry about that today.”
In an abrupt motion Ari broke away from her and got out of the car with his backpack. “I’m going to call Stasi.”
“No, Ari!”
That brought her son to a halt. He turned around, not quite believing her firmness. “Why can’t I?”
“Because he’s been forced to worry about us for too long as it is.”
“But—”
“I said no.” She cut him off before getting out of the car herself. “This isn’t his business and doesn’t involve anyone but you and me. Do you understand? After we go into the house we’ll phone Dax’s parents. Maybe they’ll let him come to Andros with us for a few days. But whatever happens, when we get to the island, I don’t want you to say a word about your father to anyone.
“Except for Iola, no one else knows he’s back in Greece.” You’re not to tell the girls or Rachel or Stasio or Nikos. Can you promise me you’ll keep quiet about it?”
“Yes.” She’d thought the mention of Dax joining them might take the edge off this new worry in his life, but she was a fool to think that. After hearing his father wanted to see him, what little boy could think about anything else?
At this point Ari was horribly confused. So was she, and heartsick for him. His dark eyes filled with tears before he trudged toward the porch, leaving her devastated.
The resort Theo had built on St. Thomas in the Saronic Islands brought an influx of the elite from the major continents. The manager Theo hired said they were fast becoming the preferred vacation destination in all Greece and had the statistics to back it up.
That was always good news, but after leaving Athens to spend the night here, he’d had other things on his mind. He’d give Stella another hour to respond to his letter before phoning her. There was no telling where she was right now. Probably with her brothers while they planned a way to stop Theo cold. It would do them no good.
There was a reason for that and it lay in front of him. The velvety green of the golf course extending in two directions from the sprawling white hotel represented many lucrative investments that now ensured Theo’s wealth. It took this kind of money to be on a par with the Athas dynasty.
Theo had never been a mercenary man. He still wasn’t. That was why the medium-size villa he’d had built on Salamis was comfortable without overwhelming Theo’s own parents and siblings with a lifestyle foreign to them.
Needing an outlet for his energy, he walked around the resort to the marina. Most of the motorboats and small sailboats were out enjoying the beautiful late afternoon. One morning soon he’d take his boy out on the calm water.
He didn’t doubt his son had been exposed to every water sport imaginable, but he’d only been taught by the Athas family. There was a whole side to him he didn’t know about yet that only Theo could show him because he was his father.
After chatting with a few of the employees, he entered the hotel and headed for the manager’s office. The other man had arranged for Theo to meet the new head chef and go over the various menus for Theo’s approval.
Once their business was concluded, he had the office to himself. Boris, his bodyguard, stood outside the room while Theo walked over to the window that looked out on the blue sea. He pressed the digit for Stella’s cell phone he’d programmed into his. Nestor Georgeles, his attorney, had his methods of obtaining information. Theo flicked on the device that blocked his caller ID.
When Stella picked up after four rings, she was still talking to someone else. He could hear another voice in the background.
“Hello?”
It was her voice. Yet it was different. It was the voice of a woman.
“Kalispera, Stella.”
He heard her sudden intake of breath. “Theo—h-how did you—” She paused. “Never mind. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I have to admit that when I drove past your villa for old-time’s sake, I was surprised to discover you hadn’t aborted our baby after all.”
“Aborted?” she cried.
Just then Stella had sounded too aghast at his comment to have faked it. He clutched his phone tighter. Among Nikos Athas’s many sins, he’d coldbloodedly lied to Theo about Stella getting rid of the baby.
Sickened by the possibility that she’d really gone through with it and couldn’t face him with the truth, Theo had left for New York determined to start a new life and make the kind of money so his family would never know poverty again.
However, now that he was back home and had discovered he had a son, no power was going to keep Theo from him. If Nikos interfered again and tried to do his worst, it wouldn’t get him or her brother Stasio anywhere. Theo was more than prepared to fight fire with fire because he intended to be a full-time father to his child.
All these years he’d accused her in his heart of doing the worst thing a mother could do. He should have known she wouldn’t have done away with their child. It wasn’t in her nature. But for her to keep all knowledge of their son from him wounded him so deeply, he could hardly talk. His eyes smarted.
“What did you name him?”
There was a period of silence before she said, “I…I’m surprised you didn’t find that out since you seem to know everything else.” After another pause while he waited, she added, “He was christened Ari.”
He sucked in his breath. “Is that an Athas family name?”
“No. I just liked it,” she murmured.
Now that he knew that, he liked it, too. Very much, in fact. For the moment she was sounding like the old Stella.
In the past they’d been forced to speak quietly over the phone so her family wouldn’t know she was making plans with him. She hadn’t been allowed to start dating until she was eighteen, but she’d caught his eye before her seventeenth birthday. The thrill of falling in love had made both of them careless.
They’d slipped out at different times to be together. Theo had paid an old fisherman on a regular basis for the use of his wooden rowboat. There had been a protected cove on Salamis and he had always taken her there. They’d swim and then lie on a quilt spread on the sand. Theo knew he shouldn’t touch her, but he couldn’t help it, not when she begged him to make love to her.
She had been so giving, so utterly sweet and passionate while at the same time being so innocent, he had told her that if they waited until she turned eighteen, they’d get married and have a real church wedding. Though they’d tried to wait, there came a day when neither of them could stand it any longer. Once they’d made love, there was no going back.
He cleared his throat, intent on learning everything about his son. There were six years to catch up on. “If you could tell me the most important thing about him, what would it be?”
“I couldn’t pick just one thing.” Her voice shook. “He’s sweet, loving. I think he’s the smartest, kindest little boy in the world.”
That described the woman he’d once loved. She’d spoken like a mother who adored her son. Ari sounded the antithesis of his uncle Nikos who years before had caught up to Theo with his first volley of threats. “Stay away from my sister or you’ll live to regret it.”
Nikos had been watching them at church, following them while they went for walks. When his threats didn’t work, he had tried to bribe Theo with money. Theo had thrown it back in his face.
A week later there had been a small fire at his parents’ taverna. The police had said it was arson, but they never found the perpetrator. Someone working for Nikos had phoned with more threats, and Theo had been warned there was more to come if he didn’t leave Stella alone.
When Theo’s brother Spiro had been injured on his motor scooter by a luxury car driving way too fast for that time of night, Theo realized Nikos was in dead earnest.
The last time he ever saw Stella, she had told him she was pregnant. The news had overjoyed him and suddenly everything made sense. She’d been impregnated by a Pantheras. It was no wonder Nikos had behaved like a madman—Theo had violated his sister and there’d be hell to pay.
That night Theo had told her he wanted to marry her as soon as possible. They would go away and he’d get a good job to support her and the baby. They’d planned everything out and had decided to meet at the church in secret. But on the night in question, Nikos had been waiting for him in the church parking lot. He had told Theo that Stella wouldn’t be coming now or ever, that she had aborted their baby and wanted to forget all about Theo.
In shock Theo had lunged for him, but he had been beaten up by hired thugs and left for dead on the island of Salamis. After he had recovered from his injuries he’d looked everywhere for Stella, but no one had seen her. She didn’t answer his calls or letters. She’d simply vanished.
Eventually he came to the conclusion that she really didn’t want to see him again. It was evident her family had talked her into getting rid of the baby. His baby.
He shifted his weight. “I’ve been waiting all day for your call so we could discuss Ari. When I didn’t hear from you, I decided to phone you. Where and how would you like my first meeting with him to take place?”
“I’d rather it never happened in this lifetime or the next.”
A nerve throbbed at the corner of his mouth. “Then you’re saying you want this handled through the court?’
“No,” she blurted in agony. For a moment she reminded him of the vulnerable girl he had once known. “I have to know what you plan to do. Ari keeps a lot of things to himself. Naturally he’s frightened about things.”
“So am I,” his voice grated. “Do you have a sense of how he truly feels?”
&nbs
p; A groan escaped her throat. “I wish I could tell you he despises the idea of you and would prefer you didn’t exist, but the truth is, I have no idea how he feels deep inside.”
In other words, Ari knew his mother hated Theo.
“Today he was probably reacting the way he did to please me. He always tries to please,” she explained. “Maybe more than is healthy at times.”
He had little doubt that Ari hated the man who’d fathered him and then had promptly rejected him even before he was born. A six-year-old could hate just as vehemently as a fifty- or an eighty year-old. Theo was under no illusion that this would be easy. In this case the hatred would be worse because Ari would have been indoctrinated by his uncles who’d wished Theo dead long ago.
He realized he needed to be prepared for hostility from Ari that might last a lifetime. A lot of factors would enter in, beginning with the atmosphere in which Ari had been raised, the amount of hate built up against Theo on the part of Stella’s family. Her parents had been against him from the beginning.
Taking into account that the Athas brothers considered Theo the underbelly of Greek society and had done everything short of killing him to keep him away from Stella, Theo was starting off with an enormous minus handicap.
“Thank you for that much honesty, Stella.” He hadn’t expected it. “Since I already love him more than life itself and know you do, too, let’s meet somewhere this evening to discuss him. A public place or not, whatever you prefer. Can you arrange for someone to watch him while we’re together?”
“Of course, but it’s not possible. I’m on Andros right now.”
In other words, she assumed he was in Athens and that any plans he had for tonight were out of the question. He had news for her. “I can be there in an hour. Just tell me where you’ll be exactly.”
He counted a full minute while she was forced to realize he had a helicopter at his disposal. That put him in the same league with the way her family moved around. “There’s a paddleboat concession on the beach in Batsi. I’ll wait for you there in the parking lot at seven-thirty.”
The Greek's Long-Lost Son Page 2
