“When are you planning to leave?” she asked.
“Next week. I’m waiting for the paperwork—and your decision, of course. The lawyers think they can have the papers to officially make Theo the Theakis heir done on my timetable.”
“I don’t think I can leave next week. I can’t leave the school in a bind.”
“Does that mean you’re coming with me?” he asked. The breeze stirred her hair and a strand blew across her face. She tucked it back behind her ear only to have it blow forward again.
He reached out and captured it, wrapping the strand around his finger. It was fine and soft like the sea mist when he was on his speed boat racing across the Aegean.
“Yes. I…I don’t want Theo raised the way you were, Christos.”
He liked the sound of his name on her lips. Always had. He dropped his hand from her hair and leaned forward, facing the fountain. The pounding of his heart and the racing of his blood through his veins made a mockery of his lauded self-control. How the hell could he still be so affected by her?
He stood up to give himself the position of power. She was just a girl, he thought, looking down at her. And he’d slept withmany more sophisticated than she was. Why then was she the one he longed to hold again?
“How do you mean?” he asked. He’d had a great childhood, once he’d adjusted to living away from home. And ithadbeen an adjustment, coming on the heels of his mother’s death. But Tristan and Gui had been there from the beginning and he’d found a home away from home in their friendships.
“In boarding schools, away from home all the time. I know that’s what the Theakis family does with their children.”
Yes, she was intimately acquainted with how Stavros had raised his daughters, having been the Theakis nanny that summer long ago. He felt the quick burn of anger in his gut. “I won’t discuss my brother with you.”
“I wasn’t talking about Stavros, but his daughters.”
Remembered little-girl giggles made him turn away from her as tears burned his eyes. Little Vennie had always hugged him so tightly whenever she’d seen him. And Althea, ah, her kisses had been so sweet. God, he missed those two. Despite the feud with Stavros, he’d still seen his nieces once a month and they’d been close.
“I will of course consider your opinion in the matters of Theo’s schooling, but the ultimate decision will be mine.”
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Be that arrogant Greek male.”
“That’s who I am. Get used to it.”
She shook her head. “I can make it more difficult for you to leave.”
“You are welcome to try. I’m sure that yourpro bonolawyers will have some ideas as to how to help you, but they’ll be playing out of their league. I’ve hired the best family law attorneys available here in the States. And I do have that agreement you signed for Stavros.”
“What makes you think I can’t afford a lawyer?” she asked.
“You’re a teacher, living off your weekly paycheck,” he said, stating the simple facts he’d read in the report his detectives had made.
“Stavros sent me some money when Theo was born,” she said. “That was part of the agreement I signed.”
“Are you going to use my brother’s money to fight me on this issue?”
It made him feel like the worst sort of bully when she shrank back. Dammit, what was it about Ava that made him act like…an arrogant Greek male. He’d spent a good portion of his life trying to distance himself from that part, but she brought out his primal instincts.
“Maybe I will. I think there are a lot of benefits to Theo and I moving to Greece with you, but if you act like a jerk, I’m going to make it difficult for you.”
“Ajerk?”
“Yes, a jerk. You do know what that word means, don’t you?”
“Yes, Ava, I’m familiar with it. I’m not sure why you are calling me one.”
“You just asked if I’d use your brother’s money to fight you. It’s my money now, Christos. Mine and Theo’s. I accepted it for his sake.”
