Safe. It almost didn’t seem possible after the days they had.
“And what about Andreas? Is he going to be okay?” Theo asked.
“Oh yeah,” Christos said, waving his hand as if it were nothing. “He figured they might try to find him, but this way, he can play dumb. And hopefully they won’t be able to trace you since you’re with me.”
Maybe Christos should have brought a more inconspicuous car, Dani thought, though she kept her opinions to herself.
Theo rested his head back for a moment and then immediately shot back up. “A phone? Do you have a phone so we can alert our families and the authorities?”
“Sure,” Christos said, pulling his phone out of the side pocket of his pants. But when he tried unlocking it, the screen was black. “Shit…the battery is dead. Don’t worry, we’ll find you another one. For now, just try to get comfortable. Err…” he murmured, glancing at the two of them in a single seat, “or at least as much as possible.”
“What kind of car is this, anyway?” Dani asked.
“This baby is a Keraboss Super K,” Christos said, proudly tapping the dashboard. “First car entirely built in Greece. You know, all the best things were born in Greece. The Olympics. Showers. Gyros. Vending machines…”
As he continued listing off various Greek inventions, Dani glanced at Theo and smiled. Yeah, all the best things certainly were born in Greece.
* * *
By the time they gotto Christos’s house, it was already the afternoon, but the adrenaline hadn’t worn off. The small home sat high on the hill above the rest of the town. Fortunately, the place was quiet and secluded. Unfortunately, there was no cell or internet service. They would have to wait until they drove back to town to call home. At least the chances of Maurice and Louis finding them were slim to none. But Christos parked around back just in case.
Theo and Dani climbed out of the car and stepped over to the patio and looked out at the city in the distance while Christos covered the car with a tarp.
“Can you believe it?” Dani said, staring straight ahead.
“After spending the last thirteen months no more than twenty feet from Maurice and Louis at all times, no, I can’t believe it,” he responded. “Did that really happen?” he then asked turning his head to look at Dani. “Are we really free?”
“You’re free,” someone said from behind them.
Dani and Theo spun around to see who, finding a man around Theo’s age emerging from the house.
This man was gorgeous with a capitalG. A Triple G of a different sort: Gorgeous Greek Guy.
He wore dark gray slacks that strained over his thick thighspaired with a loose light blue shirt with the top three buttons undone, revealing his dark chest hair and clearly fit physique. He was a quintessential Greek Adonis: slightly wavy medium-length hair, golden-brown skin, chiseled jaw (and by the looks of it, chiseled everything else), perfect smile with pearly white teeth, and glistening brown eyes staring straight at Dani.
He was looking at her as if she were the Hera to his Zeus. The Persephone to his Hades.
“I’m Dr. Andreas Demetrious,” he said, walking up to them and taking Dani’s hand first. “You must be Daniela.”
He said her name like it was a song. Not the title, but the verse and the chorus, all wrapped into a single word.
“I…I am,” she managed to eke out.
“And I’m Theo,” Theo said, reaching his hand in front of Dani. She noticed a quick glare from him…and something else mixed in his voice.
Was he annoyed that she didn’t introduce him?
“It is nice to meet you,” Andreas said. “I’m sorry for the theatrics earlier. But my yayá was concerned, so we couldn’t afford to be leisurely. Seems her instincts were right, Dr. Galanis.”
“You know who I am?” Theo asked.
“You’re not part of this field and unaware when a fellow explorer goes missing, especially in your own country. After you left, my yayá called back and said she thought you looked familiar. Possibly the Greek American archaeologist who’d disappeared months ago, so I sent her your picture from an online newspaper article and she confirmed it had been you.”
Theo nodded his head, taking it all in, but was speechless.
“So, you’re an archaeologist, too, right?” Dani jumped in to give time for Theo to process. “That’s what your grandmother said.”
“Yes. She’s very proud of me and loves to tell anyone who will listen about me,” Andreas said, putting his hands in his pockets and flashing her what might have been the sexiest smile she’d ever seen.
