“Because I’ve been forced.”
“Your grandmother Iris has to be cheering. She’d hoped for this day long before she passed away.”
“So have you, Papoú,” she said in a broken voice.
“When he gets here, I want him to come in so I can shake his hand. He never stopped trying to do the honorable thing where you were concerned. These letters prove it.”
“I—I need to freshen up,” she stammered and hurried to the bathroom.
Alexa looked and felt like death. The doorbell rang while she finished putting on lipstick. She still had to give her hair a brushing. When she walked back to the living room, Phyllis had already let Nico inside.
He’d changed out of his business suit and wore casual pants with a white crewneck cotton sweater. Her breath caught at his virile, masculine appeal.
Nico darted Alexa a glance. “It’s an honor and privilege to meet your grandfather.” She caught no hint of anger in his voice just now. “Gavril Filo has given remarkable service to our country, but even more, he has helped you raise our daughter. For that I’ll be eternally grateful.”
Moved by his kind words to her papoú, she walked over to the wheelchair and slid an arm around her grandfather’s shoulders. “After my parents died, he and my grandmother raised me too. No one will ever know what they mean to me.”
“I can only imagine.”
Her grandfather lifted his head. “I can only imagine how much you two need to talk, even if it should have happened nineteen years ago. You go on, honey. Phyllis is here.” He patted Alexa’s hand.
Tears slid down her cheeks. She hugged him hard. “There’s no one like you. I’ll be back soon.”
She and Nico left the house. With a sense of déjà vu, he helped her into a new black Mercedes and walked around to get behind the wheel. “The only place we can talk without interruption is my cruiser. It’s not the same one. After I returned from military service and couldn’t find you, I traded it in for a new one. You’re the only person who would understand why.”
“I do,” she whispered. “That was the most wonderful night of my entire life.” He’d said the same thing in his letter.
“And our beautiful daughter was the result.”
“Yes.” Her voice throbbed.
He drove them toward the pier where he’d docked his boat in the past. “She has traits that remind me of my sister Giannina, but now that I think about it, her smile is all yours.”
Alexa bowed her head. “Whenever I look at her, I see you.” She struggled for breath. “How you must despise me.” Her voice shook.
“To be sure, my anger over Monika Gataki’s malicious actions is white-hot. As for my feelings of anger, frustration, hurt and disappointment where you’re concerned, I’m trying to sort them out. But my first instinct after you left the monastery was to phone Kristos with the truth.
“He wants his mother’s blessing and mine to marry Dimitra before long. That dinner at Irena’s was meant for me to meet her and her mother. Now that I’ve learned she’s our daughter, I felt it necessary that he know everything immediately.”
“I’m glad you did. She loves him very much and will turn to him for comfort. I’ll be lucky if she ever speaks to me again.”
Nico’s silence told her he agreed, causing her to shiver.
When they reached the pier, she got out and walked along the dock to a sleek blue thirty-foot cruiser. He helped her aboard and undid the ropes. After tossing her a life jacket, he started the engine and moved them out at wake speed. She sat across from him. In another minute they took off for open water.
* * *
Before long he shut off the engine and lowered the anchor. A hot sun shone down on them. Nico got up and walked over to one of the padded benches. “Come over here and help me put all this together.”
She moved to the other bench opposite him. “It started with Monika.”
“First off, tell me why she was so jealous. I’m still trying to get my head around it.”
“Oh, Nico...” She made a sound. “You’d have to be a woman to understand.”
“Try me.” Wanting answers, he hadn’t slept since the dinner at the Papadakis mansion.
“It began the day you and I met. When I swam back to the beach, I told her I’d met a guy named Nico Angelis, and that he wanted me to go on a boat ride with him. I didn’t want her to worry while I was gone. It surprised me when she immediately flew into a rage about you.”