But as the afternoon wore on, she noticed that her son’s playing was different. Each time he did anything, he’d stop and ask her if it was proper Theakis behavior, which made her crazy. She left him playing to try to find Ari, but the older man’s secretary told her that Ari was unavailable…for the next few weeks.
She’d vowed to fight Ari, to ensure that she was in charge of Theo’s upbringing, but how could she when he wouldn’t talk to her? She was stymied, unsure how to deal with Christos’s father.
She didn’t have to, she thought. She and Christos shared responsibility for Theo. She’d give it a few days and if Ari didn’t come around, she go to Christos with her concerns.
Christos rubbedthe back of his neck and glanced at the clock. Damn, nine o’clock. Time had slipped away from him as he’d been in meeting after meeting. The last week had been completely crazy with meetings and catching up. Theakis Shipping wasn’t an easy conglomerate to run and Christos’s time was at a premium. He’d called Theo to talk to him before he went to bed but had been unable to get back to the house for dinner.
Theakis Shipping was suffering, thanks to his ignoring it for as long as he had. Everyone seemed to have stopped making decisions when Stavros had died and had been waiting for him to step in. Christos was willing to do just that, but not all in one week.
“We’ll finish this in the morning,” he declared, and the staff nodded and left the conference room. He left the office without glancing back, fighting the urge to get in his Ferrari and drive to the dock where he kept his yacht and then leave Mykonos and Theakis Shipping far behind.
The house was quiet when he entered it. He paused at the landing on the second floor, glancing to the wing on the left where he knew his father had assigned rooms to Theo and Ava. He needed to turn right and go to his quarters.
He scrubbed his hand over his face and forced himself to his rooms. The door leading to his balcony was open and a cool breeze flowed in. He dropped his briefcase on one of the chairs in the sitting area.
As soon as he stepped out onto the balcony he knew that he wasn’t alone.
“Good evening, Ava.”
She turned from the railing. She wore a long, flowing skirt that shifted around her legs with the breeze and a thin summer sweater that hugged the curves of her breasts. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Why?” he asked, trying to fight the urge to scoop her up in his arms and carry her into his bedroom.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“Can it wait until morning?” he asked.
“It could if I thought I’d see you at breakfast.”
He’d been out of the house before dawn every morning since they’d arrived on Mykonos. “My schedule is demanding.”
“I know,” she said. “That’s why I’m here.”
“What’s up?”
“It’s about Theo and your father.”
“Is he too sharp with Theo?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
“He’s just so Greek. He’s trying to make Theo into a miniature version of him. I don’t like it, but he won’t listen to me.”
Christos could well imagine what Ari was teaching his grandson. “Being a Theakis is an important part of Theo’s upbringing.Paterais probably just trying to catch him up on everything he’s missed in the last few years.”
She shook her head. “It’s more than that. Every time Theo does something now, he asks me if he’s living up to the Theakis name. He’s four, Christos. He should be playing, having fun and enjoying life, not worrying about keeping up your family image.”
“It will be your family, too, in a few weeks.”
“I can understand that, but he’s still just a little boy.”
“I’ll talk to my father and tell him to back off.”
“No. I don’t want you to do that.”
“What do you want then?” he asked.
