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Naturally Raina would bring out a protective instinct in the older man. She was their honored guest. Akis swam to the deep end. After levering himself over the edge, he headed for the cabana to shower and get dressed.
As he was pulling on his crew neck, his cell rang. He drew it from his pant pocket to look at the caller ID and clicked on. “Vasso? Did you get my message?”
“Yes, but we’ve got an electrical problem at the number ten store I’ve got to see about. I’m leaving the penthouse to take care of it now. Before you go away on vacation, I’ve left some papers for you to look at in the den.”
“About that new property we were thinking about on Crete?”
“No. It’s something else. Talk to you later.” He hung up before Akis could question him further.
Something else? What exactly did that mean? Curious over it, Akis left the cabana in a slightly different mood than before and walked around the pool to the covered portion of the patio. Everyone was seated at the table waiting for him. Raina looked a golden vision wearing a pale yellow beach robe over her beautiful body.
“Ah, there you are,” Nora exclaimed. “Now we can eat.”
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. My brother called me about a business problem. After dinner, I’ll have to get back to the penthouse to deal with it.” His gaze darted to Raina whose eyes were asking questions not even he could answer yet. “I’ll phone you later about our plans for tomorrow.” The night he’d planned with her would have to wait.
* * *
Raina watched Akis’s tall, powerful body disappear from the patio in a few swift strides. Disappointment swept over her. She despised her weakness for remaining silent when he announced in front of Chloe’s parents he’d call her later about plans for the next day. To them the silence on her part meant agreement and she’d be staying in Greece longer.
After the two of them had come close to kissing each other senseless out in the pool, he would naturally assume she couldn’t wait to be with him again. Socus had seen them kissing and had been left in no doubt what was going on between them.
That kiss had been her fault for taunting Akis. In some part of her psyche she’d wanted him to pull her into his arms. Otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten into the pool. She knew she’d come to the edge of a cliff like the kind they’d flown over earlier in the day. One more false step and she’d fall so deep and hard for this man, she’d never recover. Raina couldn’t forget a certain conversation with him.
What will your wife say?
She doesn’t rule my life.
That would be the worst fate for you, wouldn’t it? To be ruled by your passion for one woman? To be her slave forever?
Not if she’s the right woman.
Raina didn’t believe there was a right woman for a man as exciting and virile as Akis. In time he would tire of his latest lover and be caught by another woman who appealed to him. In an instant he’d go in pursuit.
The bitter taste of Byron’s betrayal still lingered. It was time to end this madness with Akis. But she’d promised Chloe’s parents she’d wait to leave Greece until after Chloe and Theo got home from their honeymoon.
Once dinner was over, she went to her room. Though it was early, she took a shower and got ready for bed. She knew Akis would phone her.
If you know what’s good for you, don’t get in any deeper with him, Raina.
CHAPTER FOUR (#u065cae28-6dd8-51d4-a1e5-f75126899cdb)
AKIS LET HIMSELF in the penthouse and walked back to the den. He saw some papers placed on the table next to the computer. They looked like printouts. His brother had handwritten him a note he’d left on top of the keyboard. Akis sat down in the swivel chair and started to read.
Don’t get mad at me for what I’ve done. You’re so damn honorable, I knew you’d let your questions about Raina Maywood eat you alive. So I decided to put you out of your misery and play PI so she can’t accuse you of stalking her. For what it’s worth, you’re going to bless me for what I’ve done.
Start with the printout of the article from a California newspaper, then work through the rest.Any worry you’ve been carrying around about her intentions has flown out the window. There’s so much stuff about her, it’ll blow your mind.
When you told me her last name was Maywood and that she was a friend of Chloe’s from California, it got me thinking about the two helicopters we purchased. No wonder Chloe’s parents allowed her to stay with Raina, the granddaughter of a man who was one of the pillars of the American economy.
Dazed at this point, Akis picked up the top sheet dated nine months ago.
An American icon of aerospace technology is dead at ninety-two. Joseph Maywood died at his estate in Carmel-by-the-Sea after a long bout of stomach cancer. At his side was his beautiful granddaughter, Laraine Maywood, twenty-six, now heiress to the massive multibillion-dollar Maywood fortune. His wife, Ginger Moss, daughter of famous California seascape artist Edwin Moss, passed away from heart failure several years earlier.
Kaching, kaching, kaching.
Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place faster than Akis could absorb them. Nonplussed, he sat staring at the ceiling. She was an heiress...
Adrenaline gushed through his veins.
The X Jet Explorer, built by Pacificopter Inc., was a company owned by the Maywood Corporation in California, USA. Suddenly pure revelation flowed through him. Akis jumped to his feet, incredulous. She was that Maywood.
Absolutely stunned, he reached for the next printout dated four years back.
Scandal rocks world-renowned Carmel-by-the Sea, a European-style California village nestled above a picturesque white-sand beach and home to beautiful heiress-apparent Laraine Maywood Wallace of the Maywood Corporation.
Wallace? He swallowed hard. She’d been married.
He looked back at the paper and kept reading.
Reputed to be a lookalike for the famous French actress and beauty Catherine Deneuve in her youth, she has divorced husband Byron Wallace, the writer and biographer involved in a sensational, messy affair with Hollywood would-be starlet Isabel Granger who was also involved with her director boyfriend.
Akis groaned.
Only now could he understand Raina’s brittle laughter during an earlier conversation. What are you saying? That the stress of having a mistress and keeping his wife happy at the same time was too much, even for a god? He could feel his gut twisting.
Vasso had left a postscript on his note.
You’ve got a green light, bro. No more worry. She’s interested in you, not your money.
He scanned the other sheets, astonished over the two charities she’d started in California in honor of her grandparents, including all she’d accomplished as CEO of the Maywood megacorporation.
These revelations had turned him inside out. It shamed him that he’d been so hard on her in his own mind when she’d suffered such pain in her life. The loss of her parents and grandparents...the betrayal by a man who had never deserved her...
“I hoped I’d find you here. How come you don’t seem happier?”
Akis had been so absorbed and troubled, he hadn’t heard his brother enter the den. He turned in his direction. “I didn’t think you’d be back this soon.”
“There was a power-grid failure, but it was soon repaired. I’m going to ask you again. What’s wrong?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I feel like I’ve trespassed over her soul.”
Vasso shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“This information changes everything.” It had been a humbling lesson that had left him shaken.
“Of course it does, but your reaction doesn’t make sense.”
“I can’t explain right now.” He squeezed Vasso’s shoulder. “You’re the best. I’ll get back to you.”
He left the printouts on the desk and hurried out of the penthouse, calling for his limo. Before he left for Chloe’s house, he phoned Raina. She picked up on the third ring.
“Akis? I’m glad you phoned. We were all worried. Is everything okay?”
How strange what a piece of news could do to change everything. She was no longer a mystery in his eyes and the tone in her voice reflected genuine anxiety. The fact that he’d doubted her and had assumed she had an agenda, shamed him. It caused him to wonder how many women he’d falsely labeled when they were as innocent as Raina.
“That all depends on you.” He gripped the phone tighter.
“So...there was no emergency with your business, or—or your brother?” Her voice sounded shaky.
Touched by her concern he said, “No. The problem was a power-grid failure that was soon put to right.” This emergency was one closer to home. One so serious, he could hardly breathe. “I’m on my way over to talk to you.”
“No, Akis. I’ve gone to bed.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll do whatever we feel like. I promise not to touch you unless you want me to. I’ve never met a woman remotely like you. I want to get to know you better, Raina. It would be worth everything to me.”
Silence met his question.
“I’m not a god. As you found out in the pool, I’m a mortal with flaws trying to make it through this life. By a stroke of fate you were at the reception when I needed a woman who would dance with me. I haven’t been the same since you lifted those violet eyes to me and told me you didn’t speak Greek.”
“I lied,” she murmured. “I know about ten words.”
His eyes closed tightly. “If you want nothing more to do with me, then say no in Greek and I’ll leave you alone.” It would serve him right. He didn’t deserve her attention. He held the phone so tightly while he waited, it was amazing it didn’t break.
“Neh,” he heard her say.
“That means yes, not no.”
“I know. I’ll be here in the morning when you come over. I admit I’d like to get to know you better, even if it goes against my better judgment. Good night.”
An honest woman.
Akis released the breath he was holding. “Kalineekta, thespinis.”
* * *
Raina spent a restless night waiting for morning to come. After hearing from Akis last night, she’d had trouble getting to sleep. She turned on television just as the news came on. All of a sudden she saw herself and Akis leaving the Grand Bretagne to get into the limo. It was already old news, but still playing because he was so gorgeous.
She shut off the TV, but couldn’t shut out the memory of their kiss in the pool. When Akis had called her, she’d sensed a change in him. That edge in his voice had gone. There was a new earnestness in the way he spoke that compelled her to give in. Not only for his reasons, but for her own.
Besides his exceptional male beauty and the desire he’d aroused in her, she’d never met such a dynamic man. He’d gone to great lengths to entertain her while she had to stay off her leg. Only a resourceful person would give her a tour of Athens through a telescope and a sightseeing tour by helicopter, making sure she was comfortable.
He’d been generous with his time and was obviously successful in business with his brother. If she didn’t know anything else about him, she knew that much. Chloe’s parents seemed very fond of him. When it came right down to it, the big problem was the fact that he was Greek and lived here. Before long she had to go home.
But until that day came, she had to admit to a growing excitement at spending time with him. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken a true vacation. Not since before her marriage to Byron.
Yes, it was taking a big risk to be with Akis, but she was tired of the continual battle to protect her heart. Before her grandfather had died, he’d warned her not to stay closed up because of Byron. She was too young to go through life an old maid because of one wretched man who didn’t know the first thing about being a husband.
“Oh, Grandfather—I wish you were here. I’ve met a man who has stirred me like no other. Maybe he’ll hurt me in the end, but I’ll hurt more if I don’t go with my feelings for him and see what happens.”
If she let Byron win, then she was condemning herself to a life without love or children.
Raina had listened to her grandfather’s wise counsel, but it wasn’t until she’d been with Akis that his words had started to sink in.
Until the other night when he’d taken her back to the hotel, she’d felt old beyond her years, incapable of feeling the joy of falling in love or anything close to it. But being with Akis had made her forget the past and live in the moment for a little while. To date, no other man had been able to accomplish that miracle.
Akis thrilled her. He did. For once, why not go with those feelings? She wasn’t about to walk down the aisle with him, but she could have a wonderful time for as long as this vacation lasted.
Without wasting time, she sat on the side of the bed and phoned the Maywood jet propulsion lab in Salinas where she worked. She asked to be put through to Larry.
“Raina! Great to hear from you. Are you back?”
“No. That’s why I’m calling. I’ve decided to stay in Greece for a couple of weeks. Is that going to present any difficulties for you? I’ve got my laptop. If you need some problem solving done, I can do it from here.”
“No, no. It’s about time you took a long vacation. I take it you attended your friend’s wedding.”
“Yes. It was fabulous.” Akis was fabulous.
“You sound different. Happier. That’s excellent news.”
“It’s because I’m having a wonderful time. By the way, I was given a tour of the Ionian Islands in our latest X Jet Explorer. Take it from me, it’s a winner in every aspect.”
“Wait till I tell everyone! The Giannopoulos Company was our first buyer from Greece. They took delivery of two of them just a month ago.”
Raina sprang to her feet in surprise. She’d assumed Akis had chartered a flight through one of the helicopter companies. “Giannopoulos?”
“Yes. Two brothers—like Onassis—who came from nothing and have become billionaires. How did you happen to meet up with them?”
Chloe had never mentioned a word. She’d been too caught up in her wedding arrangements. “Very accidentally,” Raina’s voice shook as she answered him.
“I’ve heard they have several thousand stores all over Greece.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. You sprained your ankle in one of them, Raina.
Stunned by the news, Raina sank back down on the bed. The knowledge that Akis had his own money meant he was the antithesis of Byron, who couldn’t make it on his own without living off a woman’s money. Her grandfather’s shrewd brain was instrumental in making certain Byron’s extortion tactics for alimony didn’t work.
As for Akis, whether he knew about her background or not, it didn’t matter. Finances would never get in the way of her relationship with him. For the first time in her adult life she had no worry in that regard. Akis had his own money and was his own person.
“Thanks for letting me take more time off, Larry.” Once she hung up, Raina felt so light-hearted she wanted to whirl around the room, but that wouldn’t be a good idea yet. She couldn’t risk taking a chance in delaying her recovery.
After getting dressed in a clean pair of jeans and blouse, she took time with her hair and makeup, wanting to look her best for him. Once ready, she left the bedroom on her crutches and headed out to the patio where the family always gathered for meals.
Her senses came alive to see Akis at the table with Chloe’s parents while they ate breakfast. He wore a simple T-shirt and jeans. All she saw was the striking male who’d swept into her world, moving mountains to find out where she was hiding.
Well, maybe not mountains above the sea, she smiled to herself, remembering that he wasn’t Poseidon. Right then she discovered him staring at her. The longing in his jet-black eyes told her he wanted her for herself. No other reason. He got to his feet and came round to relieve her of the crutches.
“Good morning, thespinis.” His deep voice sent curls of warmth through her body.
“It’s a lovely morning,” she said as he helped her to sit. The soap tang from his body assailed her with its fresh scent.
