Ari stared at Theo in surprise.
“You mean Mom, too?”
“She and I spent all our time outdoors. We must have walked all over Salamis Island. There’s no one I’d rather trudge up a mountain with. In fact, I’d like to see if she can still keep up with me.”
Theo moved around the other side of the car and opened the door for Stella, who looked at a total loss for words.
“I…I didn’t plan to come with you.” Her voice faltered.
“Please, Mom?” Apparently this idea pleased their son. With his mother along, he wouldn’t be so afraid. Theo couldn’t ask for more than that. She would have trouble refusing.
“I second the motion,” Theo murmured. “You know all the secret places around here. I remember you telling me about the deserted lookout on the mountain behind us where you once found an eagle’s nest.”
Again Ari looked surprised. He stared at Stella. “I’ve never seen it.”
“That’s because I’ve never taken you hiking up there, honey.”
Good. This would be a new experience for the four of them. “Let’s find out if it’s still there, shall we? I’ve brought enough goodies for all of us.”
Everyone was looking at her. She could hardly say no. Stella would walk through fire to protect their son. “Well, all right.”
While the boys got out, Theo assisted her. The sight of those long, elegant legs covered in khaki raised his blood pressure. When their arms brushed by accident, it sent a rush of desire through his body so intense he was staggered. To his chagrin, everything about her appealed to him more than ever.
“Ari? I bet you know how to put the top up on the car for your mother.” The boy nodded, but Theo could tell Ari hadn’t thought of it until it was mentioned. “That’s good. We want it to be safe while we’re gone. This car’s a beauty,” he said, eyeing Stella. She looked away.
“Will you let me do it, Mom?”
“I’ll help,” Dax volunteered.
“Yes. Of course.” She’d been outvoted and outmaneuvered. Nothing could have pleased Theo more. He helped the boys and made easy work of it.
Once she’d locked the car with her remote, Theo opened his pack. “Give me your purse.” Though he sensed she was fighting him every step of the way, she had to be careful in front of Ari. After she’d handed it to him, he zipped the compartment and eased it onto his shoulders a second time.
“If everyone’s ready, there’s a footpath beyond that copse of trees running up the side of the valley. Last one to the lookout is a girlie man.”
Both boys laughed. Dax asked, “What’s that?”
“A phrase I picked up while I was living in New York. It means wimp!”
Ari’s smile faded. He stared hard at him as they walked. “Mom and I used to live in New York.”
That was where she’d gone? Where she’d been for so long?
It was an astounding piece of news, despite the fact that he knew Stasio did business there on a regular basis. To think Ari had been living in the same city where Theo had worked…So close? It slayed him. “Did you like it?”
“Yes, but I like Greece better.”
“So do I.”
“Come on, everyone,” Stella urged. “At this pace we’ll never get there.” Theo wondered what had made her so nervous that she’d been a little short with Ari just now. A tight band constricted his breathing. By the end of their hike he intended to find out.
“I’ve never been to New York,” Dax muttered.
“It’s an exciting city.”
“I thought you lived in Greece.”
“I did until my twenties, Dax, then I moved to New York to earn my living. Now I have an office in Athens and am back to stay.” Stella walked ahead of him with Ari, but he suspected she was listening to make sure the conversation didn’t touch on things she wanted kept quiet.
“What do you do?”
“I deal in stocks and investments. Some real estate. What does your father do?”
“He owns a bank.”
Of course. Dax belonged to the approved sector of Greek society. “Does your mother have a job, too?”
“No. She stays home with my brother and sister and me.”
“You’re very lucky. Do you know my mother still helps my father run their taverna on Salamis? I can’t ever remember when they weren’t working. Sometimes I wished my mother could stay home with me and my brothers, but we were too poor. She had to work.”
“Is she a cook?”
Theo smiled. “She’s a lot of things. The other day I told her she and papa didn’t have to work anymore because I planned to take care of them from now on. Do you know what she said?”
Dax looked up at him. “What?”
“‘I’ve worked all my life, Theo Pantheras. If I didn’t have work, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.’”
Ari slowed down and turned around. “Do they know about me?” Stella looked back. The pain in her eyes as she reached for their son tore him apart.
“They know all about you and hope the day will come when you might like to meet them.”
To ease the moment, Theo pulled off his pack and opened a compartment. “Let’s see. I’ve got water, oranges, peanuts, hard candy. Who wants what before we race the rest of the way?” The relief on Stella’s face needed no explanation.
Once they’d refreshed themselves, Theo stood next to a pine tree. “I’m going to count to twenty while you two guys head up the trail first. Take my binoculars, Ari. If you see something exciting, shout.”
The second he started counting in a loud voice, they took off on a run. It was steeper in this section and the trail zigzagged up through the forest. “Twenty!” he called out at last, then eyed Stella. “Are you ready to try catching up to them?”
“Just a minute, Theo.”
“What’s the matter? Are you about to tell me I’ve done everything wrong?”
Her chest heaved with the strength of her emotions. “Don’t pretend you don’t know you’ve done everything right,” her voice shook. “Inviting Dax along made Ari feel comfortable.”
“I thought that was why you brought him with Ari.”
“No. I was going to take Dax on a little tour of the island while we waited for you, but your idea was much better.” She wouldn’t make eye contact with him.
“Then you’re angry because I got you involved in the hike. When I saw Ari’s face stripped of animation, I made an impulsive decision hoping it would help our son.”
She wiped the palms of her hands against her womanly hips in a gesture of nervousness he’d seen many times years ago. He would always be touched by her vulnerability.
““Your instincts were dead on,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect him to have a good time today. Instead I…1 have the feeling he won’t be averse to seeing you again,” she stammered. “That’s what I need to talk to you about.”
He chewed on some more peanuts. “Go on.”
She cleared her throat. “We’re here on vacation for two and a half more weeks.” After a pause she leveled a guarded brown gaze with its hint of pleading on him. “Before you ask to see him again, would you wait until we’re back in Athens?”
Two and half weeks sounded like a lifetime. “Of course I will,” he answered in a husky tone without hesitation, “provided you tell me why you’re so frightened for any more visits to take place here.”
“I’m not frightened.” Yet her whole trembling demeanor told him otherwise.
“Yes, you are.” Without conscious thought he grasped her cold hands. “I take it your family is here and you haven’t told them about me yet.” Stella tried to pull away, but he drew her closer. “They’re going to find out through Ari or Dax. You can’t keep something of this magnitude a secret.”
“Maybe not, but I’m hoping to deal with everything after we’re back home in the city.”
He grimaced. “It’s like déjà vu, the two of us sneaking around to see each other without your family knowing what
’s going on. Nothing’s changed has it.”
“Please let me go.” She tried to get away, but he still had questions.
“It wouldn’t be because you’re afraid to see me again, would it?”
“Theo—”
“Do my scars repel you so much?”
“Your scars have nothing to do with anything!” Her anger sounded genuine enough to satisfy him on that score.
“Then stay here with me for a little while.”
“I can’t!”
“That isn’t what you used to say to me.”
“You mean until you left me waiting at the church?”
“We’ve already been over this, Stella. I told you I came for you, but I was accosted. When I was able to search for you, you’d disappeared on me.”
A strange cry escaped her throat.
His hands slid up her arms where he could feel the warmth of her skin through the thin material of her blouse, seducing him. He gave her a gentle shake. “Do you honestly believe I wouldn’t have come to the church unless a life-and-death situation had prevented me? You and I talked marriage long before I found out I’d made you pregnant.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to talk about it. The boys might see us.”
“They’re at least a kilometer away by now. We have to discuss this at some point.” He slowly relinquished his hold on her.
She shook her head, backing away from him as if the contact had been too much for her. “I don’t know what to believe about anything. If you’ll please give me my purse, I’m going back to the car while you join the boys.”
He took several deep breaths to calm down while he got it out for her. The fact that she needed to run away from him meant it was possible his logic was getting through to her. His heart leaped. “Will you be all right going back alone?”
“That’s an odd question to ask when you haven’t been around in years. Please go and catch up to the boys. This is unfamiliar territory to them.”
“I’ll bring them back safely.”
She darted away like a gazelle, leaving him bereft. He watched until he couldn’t see her anymore, then he hurried up the mountain filled with new energy.
The Stella he’d loved to distraction was still there beneath her defenses, breathing life back into his psyche. He’d forgotten he could feel like this. In time he would get answers to why she never tried to get in touch with him again. She wasn’t going anywhere now. Neither was he.
Before long he discovered the boys at the outlook. Dax had the binoculars trained on something. When he saw Theo, he pointed to an area along the ridge, then handed them over. Theo raised them to his eyes.
“You have a sharp eye, Dax. That’s an Elenora falcon having fun with a friend.”
They weren’t thirty meters away. He handed the field glasses back. “Just like you and Ari.”
Dax laughed, but there wasn’t a glimmer of a smile from Ari’s lips. Theo hadn’t expected much positive reaction from his son yet and he wasn’t getting it. To make progress he was going to have to practice infinite patience if he hoped Ari would let him into his life, let alone show him love.
Stella had received his promise that he wouldn’t try to see Ari again until they were back in Athens. He had to honor it, but he didn’t have to like it.
“I hate to break this up, but your mother is waiting for us.” He opened his pack. “Finish off whatever’s left and we’ll go.”
The boys needed no urging to eat the snacks. Theo packed the binoculars and they took off down the mountain.
Stella had already put the top back down. She looked as composed and untouched as before. Much to his satisfaction Theo could see the little nerve throbbing madly at the base of her throat, giving him irrefutable proof to the contrary.
When they reached the car, he checked his watch. The outing had taken three hours. More time with his son than he’d expected. He studied Stella’s profile while he fastened the boys’ seat belts and shut the door. “You guys were great sports today. I had one of the best times I’ve ever had. Maybe we can do it again some time.”
Dax high-fived him. “It was awesome.”
Ari squinted at him. “Is that your helicopter over there?”
His son didn’t miss much. “Yes.”
“Who’s that man walking around?”
“My bodyguard. His name is Boris.”
A short silence ensued. “Stasi has one, too.” And his own hit men who included Nikos, but Ari wouldn’t know that. “Are you going back to Athens now?”
Theo thought about his question. Ari probably couldn’t wait to get rid of him. But fool that Theo was, he’d dared hope he detected a forlorn tone in his son’s question. Then again it was possible Ari was just being curious. Hell—Theo didn’t know what to think.
Ari was his son, a boy he’d only known for three hours. The horror story of the past shouldn’t have happened. His pain was starting all over again in a brand new way. “Actually I’m flying to my home on Salamis Island.”
“Do you live with your mama and papa?” Ari asked quietly.
They are your grandparents, Ari. “No. They live in Paloukia, upstairs above the taverna.” Ari wouldn’t know what that would be like to live with so many bodies thrown together in a small space. So little privacy. The walls thin. Hand-me-down clothes. The smells from the kitchen permeating everything. “My house is on the beach about ten minutes away from them.”
“Oh.”
“Thank you for a fun hike, guys.”
“It was cool!” Dax cried with enthusiasm. Nothing from Ari of course. Stella had averted her eyes.
Theo wheeled away from them and strode toward the helicopter. He didn’t dare look back or he wouldn’t want to leave.
CHAPTER THREE
FOR one crazy minute a sense of loss swept over Stella, the kind she used to feel every time she had to leave Theo and hurry home.
No—This couldn’t be starting all over again. She wouldn’t allow it.
Like the other day she found herself speeding toward the villa while Theo’s helicopter flew overhead. But there was one difference. This time she didn’t stop to give in to her emotions or relive feeling Theo’s hands on her again. Today he’d caught her off guard. Never again.
“When we get back and anyone asks, remember that we drove around, got some treats and stopped at Batsi to do some paddle boating. Do you guys think you can handle that?”
Dax nodded. Ari didn’t say anything, but she knew he’d keep quiet. She wasn’t surprised he was in a state of shock. A full dose of Theo Pantheras for three hours would awe any child, especially when the bigger-than-life man was his own father.
Once they reached the villa and the boys hurried to Ari’s room to change into their swimsuits, Stella went straight to hers to call Dax’s mom and assure her all was going well. This was the boy’s first trip away from his parents with her and Ari. It was an experiment of sorts. So far Dax seemed perfectly happy. Theo had made the outing so exciting she doubted the boy had given home a thought.
She sat down on the side of her bed to phone her. As soon as they talked, maybe she’d be able to enjoy the holiday she’d been looking forward to before Theo had burst on the scene like one of those UFOs they’d talked about earlier.
That particular conversation had been a natural icebreaker in ways Theo couldn’t possibly have imagined. For his age Ari showed an interest in science fiction on an adult level. After the talks with his aunt Rachel, he was determined to be an astronomer when he grew up and search for new galaxies with life on them.
All this time Stella had thought he’d picked up this passion from his aunt, but now she was convinced he’d come by it through his Pantheras genes. Ari had several of the Star Trek series on DVD. Who could have guessed Theo was a Star Trek junkie too? It only showed Stella how little she knew about Theo.
“Stella?”
“Hi, Elani.”
“How’s it going with my boy?”
“They
’re having a terrific time. We just got back from a hike, and now they’re going to swim.”
“No problems yet?”
She smiled. “Not one.” For the next few minutes she told her everything they’d been doing, only leaving out the details that Theo had been along. After Stella got back to Athens, she would confide in Elani about him. For now the episode on the mountainside when she’d been alone with Theo would be her secret. That was a mistake she wouldn’t be making another time.
“Promise to let me know if there’s any trouble with him and we’ll come for him.”
“So far so good, my friend. I’ll make certain he calls you tonight before he goes to bed. I’m sure he’ll want to.”
“You’re an angel, Stella. Talk to you later.”
They both hung up.
Stella sat there in a daze, her thoughts on Theo. Though he might have killed her love long ago, the way he’d treated their son today convinced her he didn’t want to make any mistakes with Ari.
She went over the day’s events in her mind. He hadn’t tried to influence Ari unduly or put fear in him with underlying threats of any kind. The truth was, he hadn’t done one thing wrong. Not in front of their son.
The other part had been her fault for not telling Ari to go hiking alone with his father. Instead she’d let his apprehension persuade her to join all of them for the hike.
Except that wasn’t the whole truth, and this was the part she hated admitting to herself. When Theo conned her into going with them, it hadn’t been Ari she was thinking about.
Her curiosity over the man he’d become had been her Achilles’ heel. In that moment of weakness she had given in and it had almost cost her her soul all over again. Would she never learn her lesson when it came to Theo?
She jumped up and hurried into the bathroom to put on her bathing suit. Amazing that on the way to meet Theo in Batsi, she’d imagined the outing would end in disaster, but nothing could have been further from the truth.
Stella was in shock. A new Theo had risen from the ashes, yet in all the ways that counted, she found him to be remarkably similar to the younger man. That Theo had stolen her heart before hurling it into the void where it could never be recovered.
The Greek's Long-Lost Son Page 4
