“True,” Tristan said. “I’m scheduled back in Paris in three weeks, on the thirtieth. I can be at your place on Mykonos on the twenty-third.”
An electronic beeping noise came through the line. “Me, too.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“We know,” Gui said. “I want to meet her for myself.”
“Gui, she’s not like?—”
“I’m not saying she is. I just want a chance to see what kind of woman is the mother of the Theakis heir.”
“So do I,” Tristan said. “You and Stavros are so different.”
“Wereso different…hell, I guess we still are,” Christos said.
Emptiness buzzed on the line. “Are you sure you don’t need us?”
“Yes,” he said, and tossed back another shot of tequila.
There was a rap on the library door. “I must go.” He hung up the phone. “Enter.”
“Sir, there is a Ms. Ava Monroe to see you.” Antonio Montoyo was his butler and traveled with Christos wherever he went. Though Antonio was only fifteen years older than Christos, their relationship was closer to father and son than the one he shared with Ari Theakis.
“Is she alone, Antonio?”
“Ah, no. She brought along the boy, Theo.”
And there was the rub. No matter what the truth was, the world was going to believe that Theo was his son. Nikki, hissister-in-law, had done too good a job of hiding all of Stavros’s affairs.
“Send them back.”
“Ah, sir?”
“Yes, Antonio?”
“You aren’t dressed for receiving.”
He arched one eyebrow. He’d just come in from swimming in the sea and was dressed in trunks and no shirt. Granted, it was winter in Florida, but the daytime temperature still wasn’t cold. And he’d be damned if he’d change for Ava. He couldn’t explain his feelings for her, hell, wouldn’t even try, but she held a lot of cards with that small boy of hers and he wasn’t going to give an inch otherwise.
“I’m fine. Better that she see me as I really am now.”
“And that is, sir?”
“A playboy masquerading as the head of a Greek shipping line, a man of the sea like my father and brother.”
“I’ve known you a long time, Christos, and you are nothing like either of those men.”
“Enough,” he said.
Antonio left the room with a small nod of his head. The butler’s disapproval was something he’d deal with later. He respected Antonio. Despite Antonio’s insistence on keeping up appearances, Christos knew he wouldn’t fail to drop him some advice.
The doors opened a few seconds later and Ava stepped into the room. She’d changed. Dammit. She now wore a pair of faded old jeans that clung to the slim length of her legs and a cashmere sweater that matched the blue of her eyes. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders.
Theo stood next to her dressed in a pair of baggy navy sweat pants and a matching fleece top. They both thanked Antonio as the older man left.
“Have a seat,” Christos said.
“Thank you for seeing us,” Ava said.
