“Of course ‘tis a no. My word is my honor.” He muttered some more.
“Then why are you calling me? I’d hoped maybe you were going to say you would join me here, and we could do a family vacation. I’d love you to take me around.”
For a second there was silence. “You’ve never said before that you wanted us to visit Scotland together.”
“Because you made it perfectly clear that you’d never come. I have no wish to send you to an early grave by making you so angry you have a stroke.”
Darius approached, carrying a couple of plates of food while Joe had the drinks. Eve signaled that they should sit at a table that had just been vacated. She mouthedmy dadand Darius nodded.
“Since you’re already in Scotland, I’m needing you to visit my father.”
Something in her expression must have alarmed Darius because he was on his feet and at her side in a flash.
“What is it?” he asked softly.
Eve muted her phone. “My dad wants me to visit his father while I’m here.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Have you heard anything I’ve said about my dad’s relationship with his father?” Eve unmuted the phone and put it on speaker so Darius could hear. She said, “Who are you and what have you done with my father?”
“I told you she wouldn’t believe you,” her mother’s voice came from the background.
“’Tis important, Evie.” Her father’s voice was low, full of emotion again.
“If it’s this important then why aren’t you coming to see him?” Eve had grown up with stories about a crotchety, authoritarian, unreasonable man. She wasn’t sure she wanted to meet someone who’d throw away a child.
“I told you. My word is my honor.”
“Dad, you have to tell me more.”
“I believe my father is dying, and he’s trying to decide who to leave his estate to.”
“Do you want it?”
“I want it for you.”
“What doIwant with a farm in Scotland?” Eve looked at Darius and shrugged. For some reason he seemed amused, which irritated her. “Look, Dad, if there’s someone else who’s eligible to inherit, let them.”
“No. ‘Tis my home and I’ll not have it in the hands of a buffoon.”
“Interesting family dynamics,” Darius’s whispered in her ear.
“You have no idea,” she muttered.
“What was that?” her father demanded. “Who are you talking to?”
“Darius Dimitriou. Do you remember him from my high school days?” she asked.
“Do you mean Damien Dimitriou’s boy?”
Eve glanced up at the tall man beside her and grinned. “He’s definitely not a boy anymore.”
“What’s that? Why is he there?”
She closed her eyes and let out a breath. “He’s the one running the charity that I’m here with.”
“Thebillionaire?”
