The Renegade Billionaire (HQR Romance) Read online

  “Not everyone is as forgiving as you.”

  As Andrea had already come to find out, Stavros was no ordinary man.

  “I’ve brought you two together to get your opinion about continuing the tours to the quarry. Another incident like this one might not turn out so well next time.” He eyed Stavros. “Would you prefer we cancel future tours? It’s up to you.”

  “I’m afraid it won’t be up to me any longer,” Stavros stated. “I’ve resigned from the Konstantinos Marble Corporation. I suggest you phone the company immediately and ask for Dimitri.”

  Sakis’s eyes rounded. “You resigned?”

  “That’s right. Life is full of surprises and difficulties. Hopefully the new CEO won’t stop these tours because of one troubled teenager.”

  Sakis looked genuinely upset. “We’re very sorry to hear this, aren’t we, Andrea?”

  “Yes,” she said, aware of Stavros’s gaze. “To see the resources of the earth up close gives you a new reverence for the whole plan of creation. Mounds and mounds of marble here from the beginning of time for men to use.”

  “I believe you’re wasted in this office,” Sakis said. “You should be a publicist out selling Greece to the world.”

  “You’re full of it,” she teased, but was pleased by the rare compliment, especially in front of Stavros.

  He extinguished the last of his cigarette. “All right. I’ll make the call. In light of this information, thank you for coming in person, Kyrie Konstantinos. Nothing would have been possible without your generosity.” Stavros was a generous man. Andrea had firsthand knowledge. “We’re honored that you would allow our tours to come on your property.”

  “It has been my pleasure.”

  Sakis stood and shook his hand. “The arrangement worked well for everyone.”

  “Perhaps it will still work. Good luck.”

  But Stavros’s father hadn’t approved, not according to his mother. With Andrea’s heart racing now that this meeting was over, she got to her feet. It was imperative she get away from Stavros. “Have a good weekend, Sakis.”

  “You too. See you on Monday.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  She left the office first, hoping to lose Stavros by going down in the elevator. But when she found she had to wait for it, she opted for the stairs.

  Stavros caught up to her at the landing, not the least winded. “Where’s the fire, despinis?”

  Andrea darted him a glance. “I have a bus to catch.” She knew she was behaving like an idiot, but she was afraid of her feelings for him.

  “You don’t own a car?”

  “I don’t need one in town. When Dad comes home, I use his.” She kept going until she came out into the foyer.

  “I’ll drive you home.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but it isn’t necessary.”

  “I’m afraid it’s of vital importance to me.”

  Something in his tone made her realize he wasn’t toying with her. She stopped walking and looked at him. “That sounded serious.”

  “At last I’ve gotten through to you. Do you have plans for this evening?”

  Andrea could lie, but was resigned that he would see through it. “No.”

  “You do now. The limo is waiting out in front. I’ll run you home so you can change into something comfortable and pack an overnight bag. Bring a bathing suit. I want to spend the weekend with you. Surely that couldn’t come as a surprise—or am I wrong and you have no interest in me?”

  That meant two nights alone with him. Her body started to tremble. “I think you’re an exceptional man.”

  He studied her through veiled eyes. “Yet you don’t trust me?”

  “That’s not the point.” I’m the one I don’t trust.

  “Then there’s no problem, is there?”

  She lifted her head. “If Sakis hadn’t asked you to come to his office, this wouldn’t be happening.”

  “Contrary to what you believe, I would have gotten hold of you earlier in the week. But certain business matters prevented me from doing what I wanted to do. I purposely arranged this meeting with your boss at the end of your work week so we could be together.”

  Oh, Stavros, she moaned inwardly. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

  “My mother’s interruption upset you, but she won’t do it again.”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with your mother. I’m just not ready to get involved with another man.”

  “You’re still mourning Ferrante, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. I may not be actively grieving for him, but I have a full plate with my work and can’t handle anything else.”

  “Up until today you’ve been honest with me. Why can’t you be truthful now?”

  “Because I don’t want to get hurt again!” she blurted in exasperation.

  “I don’t plan to hurt you,” he said in that velvety voice she couldn’t ignore.

  “Mother died. Ferrante died.”

  “I don’t plan on doing that anytime soon,” came the wry reply. “What happened to the girl who takes risks traveling around to third-world countries and was willing to spend the night in a forest with a near stranger? Where did that girl go?”

  “You know what I meant,” she murmured.

  “No. I don’t. Do you think I’m some kind of womanizer?”

  Andrea couldn’t look at him. “I have no way of knowing, do I?”

  “Did you give Ferrante this much trouble when he showed interest in you?”

  “Let’s not bring him into this.” To care about Stavros meant going through more heartache again. After Ferrante, she couldn’t handle it.

  “Why not? Afraid to give me an answer?”

  “No.”

  “He was a mountain-climbing guide and would have been around beautiful women all the time. Did you accuse him of using them?”

  “Of course not.”

  “So how come you’re having trust issues with me when you don’t really know me yet? I thought you liked me a little.”

  “You know I do,” she whispered fiercely.

  “Then spend the weekend with me. If you discover I’m not worth knowing, then so be it.”

  Andrea couldn’t find fault with his logic. It was her heart she was worried about. He might decide she wasn’t worth knowing.

  “We’re wasting time. What’s your address?”

  He’d broken her down so fast she couldn’t think. When she answered him, he cupped her elbow and walked her out to the limo. “Let’s hurry. We’ll take the helicopter from the airport and eat dinner on Thassos.”

  That meant they were going back to his fabulous villa. Andrea hadn’t thought to ever see him again, let alone stay in that heavenly place. She closed her eyes, full of questions and incredulous this was happening.

  She still had time to tell him no, but her self-control had deserted her. Throughout the week she’d done everything possible to put him out of her mind. But her heart had leaped the second she’d seen him sitting in Sakis’s office. It was still leaping. Andrea was terrified it might always remain in that state.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  STAVROS SAT IN the copilot’s seat, but looked over his shoulder at Andrea, who, from her seat behind the pilot, was devouring the lush scenery of Thassos Island. This was the first time he’d seen her wearing jeans. An ivory linen jersey top with sleeves pushed up to the elbow covered her womanly figure. Between that and her honey-blond coloring, he had trouble not devouring her.

  A trip like this would never be wasted on her because she was a female of exceptional intelligence and she had an interest in everything. “Is this the first time you’ve seen Thassos from the air?”

  Andrea nodded. “I’m glad it’s not too dark yet. The green of it is almos
t unreal.”

  His gaze locked with her azure-blue eyes. “It has different looks, but twilight is the most beautiful time to see it.”

  “Were you born on the island?”

  “No. Thessaloniki. All my family lives there, but I fell in love with Thassos the first time my father brought me to one of the quarries. When I climbed to the top of Mount Ypsarion for the first time, I knew I wanted to live here and planned exactly where I would build my house one day.”

  “You’re very fortunate to have realized your dream. Not all of us can do that.”

  “It was only one of them, Andrea. Since then I’ve had more. What was yours?”

  “That’s easy to answer. When I was little, I used to play dolls with my friend and pretend my mommy was alive. I would dream that she came back to life and lived with me and Daddy. By the age of six, I realized that dream would never be realized in this life. I haven’t dreamed since.”

  The pathos of the moment produced a lump in his throat. “Do you have a picture of her with you?”

  She blinked. “A couple.”

  “When we reach the house, I’d like to see them. Are you hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  “My housekeeper has our dinner waiting for us.”

  “Oh, good. I’m thankful we don’t have to cook anything. I don’t think I could wait that long.”

  He laughed. Her honesty was one of the many traits he admired about her. “We’ll be at the villa within a few minutes.”

  His gaze traveled to her practical duffel bag stowed on the other seat. No designer luggage for her. She’d traipsed around the world with her father and had discovered that less was always better than more.

  The pilot dipped them down to the landing pad. It had been built on the west side of the villa with steps leading up and around the foliage to the front entrance. Stavros had planned it that way so it would be out of sight.

  When he was in the house, he could usually hear the rotors. But last week he’d been so enthralled with Andrea, he hadn’t realized his mother had arrived in his father’s helicopter until she’d walked out on the patio.

  So much had happened in a week. Through Leon, he’d found out their older cousin Dimitri had been promoted to CEO. Dimitri had wanted to be in charge for a long time. As for the state of affairs between Stavros and his parents, they couldn’t be worse. There’d been only one brief phone call from his mother since she’d left the villa.

  He’d known how disappointed she was that he’d stopped seeing Tina, but he’d never dreamed she’d show rudeness in front of Andrea. Tonight he wanted to make it up to Andrea and planned to concentrate on the two of them.

  Once they were on the ground, he thanked the pilot and helped Andrea down from the helicopter. After grabbing her duffel bag, he climbed out and ushered her up the steps to the front door of the house. To his surprise, Raisa opened it before he could use his remote. He’d thought she would have gone home by now.

  “Kyrie...” she said in a hushed voice. “You have a visitor. Despinis Nasso arrived an hour ago by car and insisted on staying until you returned. I showed her into the living room.”

  He couldn’t believe this had happened right after the conversation with Andrea about other women. Stavros decided he was cursed and ground his teeth.

  Tina must have parked around the back. With the exception of Andrea, he’d never brought another woman to his house. The only way Tina could have found out where to come was through his mother.

  When she had finally called earlier that day, his mother had begged him to come to dinner at the house with her and his father. No doubt she’d been contriving a small party that included Tina. He’d told her he would have to miss it because he had important business back on Thassos.

  For Tina to show up here meant his family had declared war on him and wouldn’t hesitate to use Tina to achieve their objective.

  “Thank you, Raisa.”

  He turned to Andrea. “I apologize for another unexpected interruption. Please make yourself at home in the guest bedroom while I deal with this. I’ll only be a minute.”

  But the second the words left his mouth, Tina appeared in the front hallway. She looked fashionably turned out in a pale pink suit that highlighted her long black hair. “I’m sorry, Stavros. I heard the helicopter, but I had no idea you’d be coming home with company. You didn’t answer my phone calls or my texts. I need to talk to you privately.”

  Even if she had his mother’s permission, her effrontery appalled him. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. We said our goodbyes over three months ago. You weren’t invited here. Please have the courtesy to leave.”

  With a sangfroid that chilled him, her gaze swerved to Andrea and the duffel bag. “You must be the American woman who works for PanHellenic Tours. Stavros forgot to introduce us. I’m Tina Lasso.”

  Ice filled his veins. He opened the door for her. “Goodbye, Tina.”

  She walked toward him. “I’ve just come from your parents and thought you’d want to know I’m pregnant with your child.”

  The oldest lie in the world. Tina had sunk to an all-time low.

  “I never slept with you, Tina.” The words came out like a quiet hiss. “If you are pregnant, it isn’t mine.”

  “Oh, darling,” she said after stepping outside. “ Do you really expect Despinis Linford to believe that?”

  “I have no expectations, Tina, only sadness that you’ve let our parents’ wishes rule your life. Once you start thinking for yourself, you’ll never have to be desperate again.”

  Spots of red filled her cheeks. “How dare you—”

  He closed the door in her face, attempting to gain control of his anger. Not so much at her. She was a puppet. This kind of behavior happened to the insecure offspring of parents who didn’t know what life was all about, yet were determined to impose their will at any cost.

  Out of the stillness came a voice. “If she is pregnant with your baby, then you should run after her. Don’t let my being here stop you.”

  Stavros wheeled around. “It couldn’t be my baby.”

  Andrea’s solemn eyes stared straight into his. “The same thing happened to Dad one time in Venezuela after he’d decided not to see this one woman anymore. As it turned out, she wasn’t pregnant, but she’d hoped he would believe the lie and marry her. Is this Tina that kind of woman? Or could she be telling the truth?”

  He sucked in his breath. “Tina comes from a good family and is the woman my parents have expected me to marry. We spent some time together, but I couldn’t love her. Once again, I’ve disappointed them by preferring to choose my own wife when the time comes.

  “I haven’t seen her for over three months. She could be pregnant, but not with my baby. We were never intimate. Naturally you have no way of knowing if I’m telling the truth or not. If you want to leave now, I’ll ask the pilot to fly you back to Thessaloniki.”

  Her answer was a long time in coming. “My father never lied to me, so I had no reason not to believe him. So far, I don’t believe you’ve lied to me about anything either. Under the circumstances, I prefer to reserve judgment. On that note, do you think we can eat now?”

  “Andrea—”

  Without conscious thought he crushed her against his chest. Holding her was all he’d been able to think about since the moment they’d met. Losing track of time, he rocked her in his arms while he clung to her. As he started kissing her hair and cheek, her stomach rumbled. He not only heard it, he felt it, and they both broke into laughter.

  “You probably think I’ve got a baby inside me.”

  Drowning in her smile, he was on the verge of covering her mouth with his own when he heard, “Kyrie?”

  His housekeeper’s voice had sounded on cue.

  “Your dinner is on the table in the dining room.
I’m leaving now.”

  Andrea eased herself away.

  “Thank you, Raisa.” He grasped Andrea’s hand and drew her toward the dining room off the other end of the kitchen. For the time being, she was willing to trust him. It was a gift beyond price. He felt as if he’d been let out of a dark prison where he’d been chained for years and years and had suddenly emerged into blinding sunlight that filled his whole being.

  His housekeeper had prepared oven-baked lamb and crab salad. For dessert, she’d fixed his favorite grape must pudding. Between him and Andrea they made short work of it.

  When they’d finished, she let out a deep sigh of contentment. “That has to be the best meal I’ve ever eaten. How did you find her? She’s worth her weight in gold.”

  “Her husband worked at the quarry until retirement. He became ill last year and I often dropped by to visit him.”

  “What a kind thing to do.”

  “I had an agenda. Raisa always forced food on me. One day, I told her I’d pay a king’s ransom if she’d be my cook. They needed the money, so she took me up on it.”

  “Is he still sick?”

  “He gets bouts of pneumonia, but so far he’s managing.”

  While he sat there drinking his coffee, she got up to clear the table and clean up the kitchen. She’d probably been in the habit of waiting on her father. As Stavros was discovering, old habits died hard.

  “Andrea? Come back in the dining room and bring your purse so I can see those pictures of your family.”

  “I only have three in my wallet.”

  She returned and pulled them out so he could picture her parents. One of the photos showed her mother pregnant. She’d been a lovely blonde woman. “You strongly resemble her.”

  “Dad says the same thing.”

  Andrea’s lean, chemical engineer father had rugged features with light brown hair and blue eyes. “To a Greek like me, your parents represent the handsome American couple.”

  She smiled and sat down to drink the rest of her coffee. “Why do we look American?”

  “I don’t know. Your mannerisms maybe. The way you hold yourself. I really can’t explain it.”