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“Wait till you get a look at the Egyptian barge from Cleopatra’s time on loan for the event! Five days aren’t going to be enough for people to see everything.”
“I think five days is about all our fair city will be able to handle.”
“That’s what Vaso said. We had lunch with some government officials from the prime minister’s office who were looking around yesterday. They said they’d never seen anything like this in their lifetime. The praise for you is pouring in already and the fair hasn’t even started yet.”
“My secretary will be gratified to hear it. She’s the mastermind behind the entire concept.”
“You’re just saying that because you never like to take credit for anything.”
“No. If you don’t believe me, I’ll have Ms. Hamilton show you the contents of her portfolio after we get there.”
“I’m glad you’re coming home, Uncle.”
“Me, too. See you soon.”
Dimitrios clicked off.
One look at her artwork and Leon wouldn’t believe his eyes. The drawings were remarkable. When everything was over he intended to have the first sketch framed for his office.
As his private jet came into view, his cell phone went off again. “Leon? Obviously you forgot something important.”
“It’s Ananke.”
Dimitrios should have known better than to answer that way, but his mind had been on Ms. Hamilton.
“Yassou, Ananke.”
“It doesn’t surprise me my son reached you before I did,” she began without preamble. “I have to know—Is he willing to stay in school one more semester? Please tell me yes,” she cried.
Her desperation found a vulnerable spot inside Dimitrios. He wasn’t exactly enchanted by the bombshell his nephew had dropped on them.
“I’m still working on it.”
“How soon are you coming home?”
“Late tonight. I told Leon we’d all sit down and discuss this in the morning.”
“Thank you.” Her voice trembled.
“Ananke? Just remember, there’s only so much I can do.”
“You can stop him!”
Dimitrios heaved a sigh. “If this is his destiny, then no earthly power will make a difference.”
The sobbing on her end meant the conversation was over, for the time being, anyway.
He undid his seat belt. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he murmured before ringing off.
As the vehicle pulled to a stop, Dimitrios levered himself from the back of the limo and hurried up the steps of the plane.
“Kalimera, Kyrie Pandakis.”
Instead of his pilots or his steward speaking to him in Greek, it was Ms. Hamilton who greeted him in his native tongue as he entered the plane. It was a first for her. She never failed to surprise him.
“Kalimera,” he said back to her, relieved she was here.
“Hero poli.”
“It’s nice to see you, too.” He responded in Greek once more, impressed by this latest display of her many talents. She’d spoken with barely a trace of accent. Continuing in the same language he said, “Shall we carry on this fascinating conversation after we’ve fastened ourselves in?”
“I’m sorry.” She reverted to English. “I didn’t understand anything else you said after you told me it was nice to see me, too.”
Her honesty was so refreshing, he burst out laughing. For a moment it dispelled the cloud that had enveloped him since his nephew had confided in him.
The rest of his crew welcomed him aboard, but he was barely aware of them as he gave the nod to prepare for takeoff.
“What I just said to you, Ms. Hamilton, was that I was looking forward to a lengthy discussion in Greek, but thought it would be wise to strap ourselves in first so the pilot can do his job.”
“Oh.” She took the seat opposite him and fastened her seat belt. “I’m afraid you’ve heard my full repertoire until we reach Greece. Then I’ll impress you by asking where the post office is, how much does a stamp cost, that sort of thing.”
His chuckle got lost in the scream of the jet engines.
After a smooth liftoff it didn’t take long until the plane had attained cruising speed and they could unstrap themselves.
Out of the periphery he saw that she already had her nose in the notebook she called her bible. He noticed it went everywhere with her.
“Your friend didn’t mind bringing you to the airport so early?”
She lifted her head. “Yanni’s on his way to Athens, so it worked out fine.”
“To be with family?”
“That, and to attend the fair.”
The steward chose that moment to serve them tea. Dimitrios thanked him, then sat back in his seat, wondering why her answer mattered. It was none of his business if she planned to be with her lover in Thessalonica.
As soon as the brew had cooled, he took a long swallow. It was so delicious he drank the rest without pause, then requested more.
Speaking in Greek, he complimented his steward who murmured in the same language, “She brought it on board. Insisted on steeping it herself.”
Intrigued, Dimitrios flicked his gaze to his secretary. For once she had irritated him by being too absorbed with her work. “My compliments, Ms. Hamilton. This tea tastes like the proverbial nectar of the gods.”
She raised her head in his direction. “According to Yanni who won’t drink anything else, that’s the name of it in Greek. He says it comes from the sage that grows wild on the mountains of the Peloponnese. I told him you have a sweet tooth, so he said to add honey instead of sugar. I’m glad you like it.”
Dimitrios should have been appreciative of her desire to please him with a special treat. He was pleased. But for some reason it irritated him that Yanni had any part in her thoughtful gesture.
She opened her laptop computer. “Shall we go over the timetable of events now? I’ve made a hard copy for you. If there’s anything you want to change, I’ll enter it and print it out when we reach Greece.”
In an oddly rebellious mood Dimitrios adjusted the seat so he could fully relax and close his eyes.
“Why don’t you read it out loud instead. I’ll interrupt if I think of something you haven’t.”
He sounded tired, bordering grumpy.
Alex had thought the tea might sweeten him up. Normally he was very even-tempered for a man who shouldered so much responsibility.
But she’d worked closely with him over the last six months and had started to notice a pattern to his change in mood. It only came on when he was getting ready to fly home to Greece.
If her mother was right about his past, he probably had hidden demons still to be conquered.
It happened to a lot of people. Alex’s only unmarried sister chose to feel like a victim. Except for the occasional visit, she preferred to remain in California rather than come home and deal with family on a more frequent basis.
Deciding it would be best to humor her boss, Alex began reading the countdown of the first page out loud. Halfway through, she detected a change in his breathing. He was asleep.
Zeus at rest.
That’s how she thought of him.
This was only the second time she’d flown in the Pandakis jet with its eagle emblem. As on her first flight with him to San Francisco, she had the feeling she was being spirited away by the legendary Olympian god to his private kingdom in the sky.
Through her lashes, she studied his long, powerfully built body stretched out in his seat opposite her, his piercing black eyes closed for the time being.
She wished she were a painter so she could capture him on canvas. He had the bold facial structure of his Macedonian ancestors, and that beautiful olive skin born from the kiss of a hot Mediterranean sun. Yet there was something childlike in the quiet way he slept.
More handsome than the young god Adonis. The paparazzi claimed he was the lover of many women, yet faithful to none. Alex could vouch for a goodly number of females who called the office anxious to talk to him.
However, she really had no idea what he did after she left for her apartment at the end of the day. Presumably there was a certain amount of truth to the gossip in the tabloids.
But Alex regarded him in a different light. To her, raven-haired Dimitrios Pandakis could well be the supreme ruler of the gods who shaped the corporate world below. One word of displeasure from his sensuous lips was like the proverbial thunderbolt hurled at those who lied or broke oaths.
The experience nine years ago had already provided her with firsthand knowledge that he was the god of justice and mercy and a protector of the weak.
After saving her from the unwanted attentions of his cousin, he’d shown her kindness before removing the other man from her sight. But he’d taken away a lot more than that. He’d gone off with her young girl’s heart.
Quite simply, his intervention changed the course of her life.
As her eyes took their fill of him, the ache to touch him intensified. More than ever she realized it would never be enough to be just his private secretary. Reason declared that the end of the fair would have to be the end of the road for her. The cessation of all fantasy.
Exhausted from too little sleep and her emotional struggle, she put her things away and lay back, willing oblivion to come if only for a little while.
It was a shock to finally wake up to her surroundings and discover that the interior lights had come on. Outside the plane they were cloaked in darkness.
She checked her watch. Heavens. How could she have been asleep seven hours?
Though alone for the moment, she was conscious of the sound of male voices coming from the cockpit area. Judging by their chuckles, someone was telling an amusing tale.
Probably she’d snored, or her stomach had growled so loudly they’d all heard it. Either possibility was so humiliating, Alex shot out of her seat and used the time to freshen up in the bathroom.
While she was repinning her hair to secure it better after her long sleep, she noted that the plane had started to encounter some turbulence. She didn’t pay much attention to it until the Fasten Seat Belts sign flashed overhead.
Alex put in the last pin, then left the bathroom and hurried to her seat. As she strapped herself in, she saw Dimitrios emerge from the cockpit, his expression sober.
“I was about to do that for—”
But she wasn’t destined to hear him say anything else because the plane hit an air pocket, sending him flying. He crashed against the wall. By the position of his body, he’d been knocked unconscious. She saw blood.
“Dimitrios!”
They were dropping out of the sky as if being pulled toward a giant lodestone.
Please, God. Don’t let anything happen to him.
CHAPTER THREE
“HE’S coming around.”
“Don’t let him move his head.”
“No. I’ve got him.”
“An AirMed helicopter will meet us when we land.”
“The bleeding’s stopped.”
“That’s good. Keep that compress over the wound.”
“Do you think his arm is broken?”
“No. Nothing’s broken that I see, but he’s going to have an ugly bruise on his shoulder for a while.”
Dimitrios had been hearing voices for the last few minutes. Now he was aware of stinging at the crown of his head. Slowly his body was coming back to life.
Mingled with the smell of alcohol was a delicious scent, like pears, that permeated his nostrils. It came from a smooth, cool hand cupping his jaw along the side of his face. He seemed to be resting on something soft and warm. His eyelids fluttered open.
Waves of dizziness assailed him. He blinked several times until his gaze focused on a pair of soulful green eyes staring down at him. They seemed to take up her whole face.
Good Lord. What were they both doing on the floor of the plane with his head in her lap?
“Ms. Hamilton?”
“Thank heaven you know me,” she whispered emotionally.
“Welcome back,” came the voice of his copilot. Both he and the steward had to be standing somewhere near his feet.
Dimitrios blinked again. Maybe it was the angle of the recessed lighting that made him think moisture clung to his secretary’s long, silky lashes. He’d never seen her without her steel-rimmed glasses. She had flawless skin and a beautifully shaped mouth.
“What happened?”
