“Do you know I’m getting more indebted to you by the minute?”
“What if I told you I like the odds?”
Avoiding those penetrating gray eyes, she said, “Well, as you can see, I’m not complaining.”
She followed him through an alcove to the patio with a lattice covering and was greeted with a breathtaking view of the Aegean. They sat down to a glass-topped round table. He’d provided iced tea and rolls, along with a salad of olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and chunks of succulent chicken.
They both ate with a healthy appetite. “This is delicious.”
“Again, I can’t take the credit.”
Andrea put down her fork. “You’re talking about your housekeeper.”
He nodded. “Raisa.”
“Does she live with you?”
“No. She and her husband live in Panagia. She comes twice a week to clean the house and keep my fridge stocked.”
“You’re an interesting man, Stavros. Every time I want to talk about you, you somehow change the subject, but this time it won’t work. There is something for which you can take full credit.”
His eyes swerved to hers. “What’s that?”
“When you discovered Darren lying there between the boxes, you could have come down hard on him with every right, yet the opposite happened. Maybe if his own father treated him the gentle, reasonable way you did, the two of them wouldn’t have a problem. One day, you’re going to make a terrific father.”
Something seemed to flicker in those pewter depths. “I was just about to pay you a similar compliment. Instead of berating him, you asked if he needed food or water. Under the circumstances, your compassion was refreshing.”
“Surely not. Anyone could see he was just a teenager, even if he’d just turned eighteen. You could tell he was frightened.”
“Not everyone would have responded the way you did.”
Her mouth curved into an impish smile. “Then that must make both of us exceptional human beings.”
Except for his smiling eyes, she didn’t know how Stavros would have reacted because a female voice had called out from the interior of the villa. In the next instant, he got to his feet in time for an attractive woman with silver in her cap of black hair to appear at the patio entrance. She looked maybe early sixties and was stylishly dressed in a summer suit.
“Mama—I didn’t hear the helicopter.” He walked over and gave her a kiss on both cheeks. “Why didn’t you call to tell me you were coming?”
“I didn’t want you to know, o gios mou. When I heard the news yesterday that you’ve left the company, my heart failed me.”
Andrea was stunned. Stavros had left the Konstantinos Corporation?
“I’ve been planning it for a long time. You know that.”
“I never believed it would really happen.” She shook her head. “When I couldn’t find you at your condo, I decided to pay an unannounced visit to the island to find out what has possessed you to do this. You’ve caused an explosion in the family that has shaken it to the very foundation.”
“It’ll run smoothly without me.”
That was Stavros’s modesty talking. Andrea was still trying to comprehend it.
“Why have you done this?” his mother cried. “I don’t understand. Neither does your father. He’s livid that you chose the board meeting to make an announcement that has hurt him to the core.”
“He’ll live.”
At his response, Andrea’s hand gripped her glass tighter.
“How can you be so cold?”
“I’ve always gone my own way. This is nothing new.”