by Kim Baldwin
“Too bad you’re wearing shades,” Melina said. “I can’t see if my new outfit has blown you away, or blown you away.”
“You forgot the third option,” she replied with a smile, enjoying the look of confusion on Melina’s face as she walked away to help Manos secure the Zodiac.
The women spent an hour or so having drinks and chatting, then drifted off to do their own thing: Jo pronounced herself DJ with the portable CD player, Natasa got engrossed in her book, and Melina spread her towel by the water for some sunbathing.
Ariadne went for a walk along the beach.
Something was evidently troubling her. She was distant and preoccupied today, no matter how hard her friends tried to cheer her up. Maybe her father’s illness, together with her imminent future as head of the company, had started to weigh on her. Switch couldn’t blame her; taking over the Lykourgos empire was a big responsibility for a young woman, a woman who still needed the space to grow, discover, and live, before she chained herself to a desk and familial responsibilities.
“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”
Switch hadn’t heard Manos approach. “Ms. Lykourgos is very nice.” She tried to keep it professional.
“Her name is Ariadne,” Manos replied. “So use it. She prefers it.”
“She hasn’t given me permission to do so or complained about me using the polite form.”
“How peculiar,” he replied with a puzzled expression.
They watched Ariadne climb up onto a high rock and sit, staring out over the water toward the yacht.
Manos turned to Switch. “Fotis wants to kill you, by the way. According to him, if you hadn’t been asked along, he would have.”
“Desperate for a day at the beach, huh?” she asked.
“Desperate to be around Ariadne.” Manos laughed. “He’s had a thing for her since he started working for the family seven years ago. He was devastated when Ariadne couldn’t make it last summer because her dad sent her to the Maldives instead.”
“Poor guy.”
“I’d watch my back if I were you,” he said seriously.
“Oh?”
“Fotis has gotten it in his head that Ariadne is into you.”
“She’s gay.”
“Yeah, so? Gay women are different than us. They like to mix it up now and then.”
“That’s not true.”
“Most lesbians I know have been with a guy or two, or more.”
Then they’re bisexual, not lesbian, she wanted to say. But she wasn’t in a position right now to debate the issue. “I know plenty who haven’t.”
Manos smoothed back his hair. “Anyway, who cares what they put where? We guys are pretty set on our needs.”
Just then, Melina called Alex over.
“The busty one beckons.” Manos laughed again. “She’s fun, and a wild one. You should hit the clubs with her. You’re guaranteed to score.”
“I’m not interested in her.”
“Of course you’re not.” He slapped Switch on the stomach. “Or at least I should hope not, because I’m not getting a bisexual vibe off you. Besides, it would be a real shame to see you giving it to the wrong side for an extra tip.”
Manos thinking she was a gay dude wasn’t really a bad idea. Maybe she could use that to her advantage concerning Melina. “Yeah, that would be a shame.” She went to see what the busty one wanted.
*
Ariadne lost all track of time until her stomach grumbled, reminding her it was time for lunch. She headed back to her friends and spotted Melina draped around Alex’s neck. He was sitting next to her towel on the sand, looking uncomfortable.
“Jeez, take a hint, Melina,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Who’s hungry?” Natasa asked loudly when she spotted Ariadne.
“You’re clearly ready to devour everything we brought with.”
Melina was joking, and Natasa snapped back. “Keep it up and you’ll be on the menu, too.”
“You either got miraculously pregnant since yesterday, or you gained five pounds,” Melina said.
“She called you fat.” Jo chuckled.
“She’s jealous because I’m young and she’s decrepit,” Natasa replied.
“Play nice,” Ariadne said when she reached them.
“I am kinda hungry.” Melina moved closer to Alex. “But not for food.”
“Okaaay.” Ariadne turned back toward the beach. “I obviously returned too soon.”
Alex immediately got up. “Are you ready for lunch, Ms. Lykourgos?”
Manos joined him. “We can get a fire started.” He looked at Alex. “I, for one, am gifted when it comes to building up heat.”
“That’s great,” she replied, without enthusiasm. Just great. Now the gay guy is hitting on Alex, too. Ariadne wanted to hurt someone but didn’t know who. Why was everybody enjoying themselves except for her? Even Natasa, the hormonal mess, was being happily entertained between her book and Melina’s over-the-top effort to seduce the bosun.
“Well, I’m going for a swim first.” Melina had put on a shirt while she was gone, and she now made a big show of taking it off again. “I bought them so I can flaunt them,” she said to no one and everyone.
“They’re gorgeous,” Manos replied. “Aren’t they, Alex?”
“I…yes, they’re definitely impressive.”
“Care to join me?” Melina asked him.
“I…uh…I don’t swim.”
“Oh, and why is that?”
Alex looked away. “I didn’t bring anything with me.”
“Swim in your briefs.” Melina’s voice dripped with seductive intent. “I won’t mind.”
“I’d love to but…but…” He was clearly uncomfortable, and growing more so by the second.
Natasa cut in. “Just go for a swim already. He doesn’t want to.”
“She gets cranky when she’s hungry. You know, all that feeding for two.” Melina waved Natasa off. “So…you know where to find me if you change your mind,” she said to Alex.
Ariadne was glad someone had stopped Melina’s desperate attempt to be all come hither. It was seriously beginning to get on her nerves. She lay on her towel and shut her eyes as Alex and Manos started lunch preparations.
The morning meeting with her father had been exhausting; it was as though he was trying to quickly cram as much information about the company down her throat as possible. His whole demeanor had been different since her return from Oxford, she realized. Once a hurried and impatient man, always preoccupied with business matters, he’d turned into a mellow and almost too-sentimental version of himself, spending much more time devoted to his family. He’d tear up now at the smallest thing and not be concerned about who witnessed it.
But his recurring cough really worried her. Although his GP had apparently said he was fine, it seemed to be getting worse. Could her father be lying about the results? Maybe she should just call the family doctor and plead for the truth.
“Mind if I sit?” Ariadne opened her eyes to find Alex hovering over her.
“Wouldn’t you rather swim?”
“I don’t know how.” He shrugged, as though embarrassed by the admission, and settled onto the sand beside her.
“You sail, but you can’t swim?” Ariadne sat up. “I find that hard to believe.”
Alex didn’t say anything for a long while. “Have I done something to offend you?” he finally asked.
“No, why?”
“It’s clear you don’t want me here.”
“That’s not true, it’s…it’s about Melina,” she lied. “I don’t like to see her making a fool of herself. I just wanted a girls’ day at the beach, and her hormones are getting in the way of that…again.”
“You shouldn’t worry about her so much,” he said. “She’s a grown woman and she likes to flirt. She’s harmless.”
Ariadne played with the sand. “I don’t know. I guess.”
“I think something else is bothering you.”
; Why was he pushing? “Listen, you’re a sweet guy, Alex, but I’m not in the market for a new friend. I can’t even handle the ones I have.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” he said gently. “It’s just that you look concerned. Worried, actually.”
Even her friends hadn’t noticed. Damn him. “Maybe because I am,” she blurted out.
“You’re too young to worry so much. But then again, you’re also your father’s daughter.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Why was she being so defensive?
“Everyone knows you’re being groomed to take his place. That’s not a light responsibility.”
“No, it’s not, and it’s also not age related. His shoes would be too big to fill even if I were twenty years older.”
“You’re right,” he replied. “It’s not going to be easy.”
Alex was the first person to openly tell her that. Until now, everyone stuck to the usual clichés: you’ll manage, you can do it, you were born for this, piece of cake, etc. But no one had acknowledged what really lay ahead for her.
“You’re going to have to sacrifice a big part of your life to maintain, let alone expand, your father’s legacy,” he said.
“I know,” Ariadne muttered. “I know.”
“Is it what you want?”
“I can’t remember ever wanting anything else. I love this company.”
Alex nodded. “Then it’ll be a bit easier to make sacrifices.”
“I’m not ready to think about all that. Not yet.”
“The sacrifices?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Losing my father. I can take any amount of work, sacrifice anything to make him proud, but I’m not ready to lose him.” Tears sprang to her eyes at the mere thought of her life without her father around. It was incomprehensible.
“I’m sorry about his—”
“I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to him. And now he has this cough, which he tells me, according to his GP, is nothing, but…” Ariadne kicked the sand at her feet. “I’m being paranoid, right?”
Alex didn’t say anything right away. He just stared out at the sea. “I don’t know,” he finally replied. “But either way, he won’t be around forever. Someday you’ll have to face your world on your own.” He remained gazing out at the water and sounded like he was talking to himself, rather than her.
“Have you lost a loved one?” Ariadne asked.
“Yeah. Before I got the chance to love them,” he replied cryptically, and got to his feet. “I’m going to see if Manos needs help.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“And I’m sorry if my presence here today bothers you. I can have Manos take me back after lunch.”
She put her hand to her eyes to shield against the glare as she looked up at him. “No. Please, stick around. It’s fine.”
Alex bowed. “As you wish.” He smiled.
“Manos is hitting on you, you know.”
“I’m aware.”
“Does everyone hit on you?” Ariadne feigned frustration.
“Not everyone,” he replied with a serious expression. “Not you.”
“You’re a guy.”
“And if I wasn’t?” Alex asked.
“I guess I…I’d…” Drag you to my bedroom. “It’s all hypothetical. Consider it impossible.”
“I agree with hypothetical.” Alex walked away.
Why the hell couldn’t she meet a woman like Alex?
Chapter Thirteen
Switch watched the rest of the group eat and chat for a while and then wandered off for a walk. A day on the beach was nice, especially in Ariadne’s company, but that also meant wasting time better spent searching for the icon. Lykourgos had remained on the yacht with his wife, but they certainly would’ve left the master suite for much of the day, and that was exactly where Switch needed to look again. If the Theotokos wasn’t in plain sight, then it must be in a safe, and she was sure any safe had to be hidden somewhere in that room.
She’d been surprised, almost shocked, to learn that Ariadne had no idea her father was sick. Did that mean that no one in the family knew? Could that be one of the reasons he’d sought out American doctors and hospitals? Was it even possible for his wife not to have figured it out? His wife had to suspect something. Only someone completely self-involved could overlook the clues that something was wrong with him: the guy coughed half of the time, and when he didn’t, he looked pale and weak. Then again, she concluded, people often saw what they wanted to and could convince themselves of anything.
And then there was the mystery of why Ariadne didn’t want her around. Although she seemed to enjoy their talks, she often seemed uncomfortable in Switch’s presence, and even more so when her friends were around. Why?
A new possibility occurred to her. Maybe Melina was indeed the problem, but for different reasons than the obvious. Maybe Ariadne found the attention Switch was getting from Melina frustrating because she had feelings for the older woman. Jeez, why hadn’t she thought of that before? It would explain the jealous outbursts and the way they were always teasing each other. Ariadne had feelings for her straight friend and couldn’t bear to see Melina throwing herself at men.
Switch’s cell went off. The caller ID told her it was Pierce. “Go ahead. I can talk.”
“I have Allegro stationed outside Rothschild’s hotel. She followed her yesterday and got some very useful information.”
“Okay.”
“TQ plans to steal the icon from the Greek. Apparently she has someone on the inside to help her.”
“And we don’t know who.”
“No,” he said. “Only that it’s a guy.”
“I have to find the icon before he does, or we’re screwed.”
“You are not going to let that bitch get away,” Pierce shouted. “I don’t care what you have to do, but I do not want that woman leaving Greece.”
She’d never heard him so wound up, as if all of this was deeply personal, somehow. “I’ll make it happen, Pierce. Relax.”
“Do not tell me what to do.”
“What’s going on? There’s more, isn’t there?”
He was silent for a long time.
“Pierce?” Switch asked. “You there?”
“She said she’s going after Jack.”
“The woman really has letting-go issues.”
“I cannot allow that.”
“We won’t let that happen. I’ll do everything in my power to put her behind Greek bars.”
“And if that doesn’t work, then you…” Pierce sounded so angry he could barely talk. “You do what you have to, to make sure she never leaves Greece.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” he shouted.
“Yes.”
Pierce was giving Switch permission to off Rothschild if she couldn’t have her arrested. “Wouldn’t it save us all time if I began with the second scenario?”
“Nothing would give me more pleasure than to dance on her grave,” he replied.
“But?”
“If she can rot in a Greek prison, publically humiliated before we terminate her, even better.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Switch tried to sound upbeat.
“Let me know when you have news.”
“Will do.”
“Allegro is on call in Thessaloniki. If you need backup, Reno will patch you through.”
“Got it.”
*
“Where’s Alex?” Melina asked.
“Over there,” Ariadne said. She’d been watching him talk on the phone, and from the look of it, it wasn’t a pleasant call.
“Hey! The party is over here,” Melina shouted, and waved.
Alex turned to look at them and waved back.
“So, are you going to make a move, or what?” Natasa asked Melina.
“I was kind of hoping he would,” Melina replied.
“I don’t see that happening any time soon.” Jo got up to stretch.
“You don’t crap where you eat, so I can’t blame him.”
“Yes, well, my summer vacation is quickly coming to an end, and I’m not going to sit around and wait for him to get over his moral hang-ups.”
“You go, girl,” Natasa said. “Show him what a desperate housewife is capable of.”
“Damn right. I…” Melina did a double take. “What did she just call me?”
“Hey, Alex!” Jo said loudly, to signal to the rest he was close enough to hear them talking about him.
“Hey, Jo. Where’s Manos?”
“Sleeping somewhere under a tree.”
“Slacker,” Alex said.
Jo had been playing some upbeat dance-club music on the CD, and just then a new track started, one with highly provocative lyrics.
Melina jumped to her feet and immediately began to dance, her eyes hungrily fixed on Alex. “Dance with me,” she said as she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him away from the others to an open stretch of beach. Her tone was more demand than request, and though initially hesitant, he soon joined in, laughing at her unbridled flirtation and twirling her around in the sand.
Ariadne tried to tell herself Alex was just doing his job, complying with his guest’s requests with charm and enthusiasm. She’d be angry with any Pegasus crewmember who didn’t do the same, wouldn’t she? But as the dance continued, her irritation grew. Melina had her arms draped around Alex’s neck now; she whispered something in his ear that made him smile and lean closer, near enough for Melina’s ample breasts to be pressed tightly against his chest.
The song seemed endless, and when it finally finished, Alex took a step back and said something to Melina she couldn’t hear. The pair rejoined the others, and Melina plopped back down on her towel. “Would you please put some lotion on my back, Alex?” she asked as she lay facedown.
“Sure.” Alex knelt next to her and picked up her tube of suntan lotion.
“You can undo my top.” Melina’s voice oozed with sexual intent. “I want you to get me everywhere.”
Alex unclasped it with a quick flip of two fingers.
“I see you’ve had plenty of practice.”
