ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (61 page)

A little before six, they told him he could go. He thanked his lawyer who had stayed with him through the night and the on-again, off-again questioning, and was about to leave when one of the officers stopped him. “They’ve found her!” the young woman said.

“Is she all right?”

“She’s fine, apparently. They’re bringing her back now.”

He phoned Eirene again and explained that he had to stay until Athena arrived, only remembering after he told her that she didn’t know what had been happening. “I really will tell you everything when I get home,” he promised. “I’m sorry, I’m just very tired right now.”

Eirene arrived at the police station five minutes before Athena did. “I was tired of sitting at home waiting to hear what was happening,” she told Simon. “Worrying about you.” She reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. “Simon, I’m sorry I acted the way I did.”

“You were right,” he told her. The time he’d spent there had given him ample time to consider what he’d done. The sense of wrongdoing was still half-formed and he didn’t feel guilty, but he knew he’d made a mistake in willfully ignoring what Kosta was doing, in supporting it. He’d been wrong, he’d contributed to a crime, and he was willing to pay the price if it would make things right in his life, save his sister, and win back the love of his wife. “I shouldn’t have chosen that path. I didn’t need the money. I did it because it was easy to do.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

“Partly. Mostly it was to find Athena. I don’t know what happened to her, but they tell me she’s safe—”

Just then the door opened and Athena entered. She was dirty and bruised-looking but seemingly unharmed.

“Simon… Eirene… I’m sorry.”

Simon hugged her. “You’re safe. That’s all that matters.” He felt her stiffen, then relax in his embrace.

Eirene asked, “What happened?”

“We argued. We got to the hotel and I asked him what was going on. We argued and he told me that if he was a criminal, you were too. That’s when it got ugly.”

Simon bit his lip. “It’s the truth, Athena. He was my business partner.”

Athena nodded. “I know.”

“So… what happened? Where did the police find you?”

“Korinos. I’d hitch-hiked down the E75. That bastard had tossed me in the trunk of his car, but he forgot there was a crowbar in there. I popped the lock, and managed to escape. He was headed toward Thessaloniki, and from there he said we were going to Turkey.”

Just as Simon had thought. With any luck the police would pick Kosta up before he left the country.

Once reunited with Athena, Simon was ready to take her and Eirene home. He was so tired. He’d been awake for two days, and that, and the stress of not knowing what had happened to his sister had finally caught up to him. On the way back to Halithos, he fell asleep, leaning against Eirene’s shoulder.

The police picked Kosta up just outside of Komotini, less than a hundred miles from the Turkish border. It didn’t surprise him. He knew that Simon would turn him in.

That had been a misstep. The old Simon would never have done it, he’d have covered his own ass and Kosta’s with it. But ever since Simon had fallen in love with the Dimitrios girl, he’d changed, had become a better man, to Kosta’s eventual loss.

Athena had been a misstep too, a monumental one. If Kosta had stayed away from her, he’d be a free man now. And yet he couldn’t say he regretted marrying her. Athena was the brightest, funniest woman he’d ever known. She had a delicious temper, a wicked sense of mischief, and the sex? Astoundingly hot.

The crazy thing was that Kosta could have made her his mistress, could have carried on an affair with her for months, maybe for years without Simon ever knowing, but he got greedy and sloppy, and wanted to press his advantage.

No. That wasn’t true, or at least not wholly true. He liked the idea of marrying Athena. Though he resisted the idea, there was a part of him that knew he’d married her because he’d fallen in love with her. Not that he’d ever have admitted it to anyone, even Athena. And maybe that was one of his great regrets in all this, that he’d never said “I love you,” to her, no matter how many times she’d said it to him.

The trunk thing… that was an easy out for both of them. He’d provoked the argument, said things that weren’t very nice, and when she reacted as he knew she would, he’d dragged her out to the rental car and tossed her in the trunk. He knew there was a crowbar in there because he’d put it in there before they left the hotel. He also knew how to fix the latch so it wouldn’t catch properly. It would keep the trunk closed, but not locked securely. If Athena had half a brain, she’d get out easily. In fact it surprised him that it took as long as it did. He finally had to stop and walk away from the car in hope that she’d take the opportunity to escape.

So she probably hated him now, and that was just as well since he was going to spend some time in prison. Well it couldn’t be helped. He’d fucked up. What surprised him was that Athena came to visit him while he was in jail.

“Hello you jerk.”

“Nice way to talk to your husband.”

“I’m going to fix that.”

“Good. It was a stupid thing to do. I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” he told her. God but he wanted her.

“Why did you marry me, Kosta? Was it the money?”

“Of course!”

She stared at him. “You broke my heart.”

“Oh come on, Athena, it wasn’t love for either of us, not really,” he lied. If she believed that, severing all ties would be simpler for her.

“It was. For me.”

“No, it was an adventure, and you wanted to stick it to your brother.”

Athena’s jaw set in that lovely, stubborn way Kosta had come to cherish. She was annoyed with him, but he was willing to bet that any moment she’d see the humor in what he’d said and… yes, there it was, the ghost of a smile. “You’re a shit.”

“Count on it. We had a good time though, yes?”

“Yes, she replied grudgingly.”

“Good sex,” he said, voice pitched low.

The smile betrayed her. “Yes,” she admitted. “Very good.”

“Well then.”

“You shouldn’t have put me in that trunk.”

“I made sure you could get out. Do you think rental cars come with crowbars?”

She stared at him in surprise then laughed out loud. “You absolute shit.”

“I would never have hurt you, Athena. I just wanted to get out of the country before you raised the alarm. I never expected your brother to do it for you.”

Athena shook her head. “I don’t know why, but you still get to me.”

“Same here,” he told her just before the guard hustled him back to his cell.

He was going to miss that woman.

Christmas was a bit late that year. Between the legal issues and the upheaval in the family and business, holiday spirit got put on hold. Not long after Simon made his confession and turned Kosta in, he was asked to resign as CEO of Katsaros Corp.

“The thing is,” the Chairman of the Board said as he spoke to Simon on the phone, “We can’t be seen to have a felon in charge of the company.”

“I’ve been working on a formal resignation,” Simon assured him. “It will be in your hands by the end of the week.”

“You’ll retain your seat on the Board, of course. That’s a given.”

“We’ll see.” Simon wasn’t at all sure he wanted to deal with corporate issues. Athena, on the other hand… She’d be good as a board member and even, eventually, CEO. She had that kind of brain.

As for himself, Simon had begun to think longingly of Eirene’s plan to travel the world. It would be a good thing to travel with a purpose, to see what was what, instead of the aimless movement he’d been guilty of for much of his life. Maybe it was time to connect with life. Since he already knew that his confession and the information he’d given the authorities would keep him from doing prison time — though he was going to be paying some stiff fines — he could make some plans for the future.

When he told Eirene that he was resigning, he expected her to be disappointed, and tried to cushion the news by saying, “I thought you and I might spend some time traveling. I’m hoping you’ll show me the world through your eyes. I need to see it clearly.”

Oddly, she smiled at him. “That would be lovely. But we’re going to have to do some planning.”

“Why not just go?” he asked. He caught hold of her and danced her around the room. “Let’s be footloose! Let’s travel the Silk Road, trek in the Himalayas, do photo safaris in Africa!”

Eirene squeaked with laughter. “I want all those things too, but we have to be realistic.”

“Why?”

“Because parents need to be responsible.”

It took him a moment to understand what she was saying to him. “Parents? We’re going to be parents?”

She nodded. He squeezed her tight and she squeaked again.

“How? When? I—”

“Darling I think you know the how part,” she told him as she disengaged from his grip. “The when is in about six-and-a-half months.”

Simon was overwhelmed by emotions that he could barely put names to. There was joy, of course, but a terrible fear that he wasn’t worthy and that he wouldn’t do a good job of being a father. There was a sense of having a job to do, a job so important that it made being a CEO look like nothing. It was possibly the most important job in the world… next to Eirene’s, of course.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“That you’re happy?”

“I couldn’t be happier. Oh my darling Eirene, I couldn’t be happier if someone handed me the world tied up with a ribbon. It feels like that’s what you’ve just done. I hope I’m worthy.”

“You are.”

“One trip I want to make before the baby comes,” he told her. “I want to go to Cape Soúnion, to the temple there.”

“Poseidon’s temple?”

He nodded. “I’ve always felt a pull to that spot,” he explained. “So, I think it’s time to take my family there and introduce them to Poseidon.”

Eirene didn’t respond immediately and Simon was worried that he’d upset or offended her. “Eirene?”

She looked up, and there was something in her eyes that made him feel as if she was his home. “You are the most remarkable man I’ve ever known,” she told him. “I’ll get my coat.”

Simon watched her climb the stairs, his heart more full than he had ever thought possible. How had he been so fortunate? How had a foolish wastrel like himself become a decent man?

There were no real answers, he supposed, so no reason to search too hard. For now, it was enough to thank the universe for his good fortune, and promise to be a better man with every opportunity he was given.

Before they left, Simon went down to the wine cellar and snagged a bottle of champagne to share with the sea.

Norah Quinn drained the last her coffee and waved a goodbye to the very patient barista who had opened the coffeehouse for her a half hour early.

“Interview,” she had croaked, putting on her most beguiling expression. Geoff had rolled his eyes and opened the door.

“Only for you, Quinn.”

“I’ll give you my first born. Instant is fine.”

Geoff looked her up and down, taking in the dark gray power suit that was only a little creased from where Norah had dragged it from the back of her wardrobe. Norah’s dark, tumbling hair was pulled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck and was already escaping its clip.

“You’re unusually smart this morning, Miss Quinn.”

Norah sighed and checked her watch. “Like, I said, interview.” She named the media company and Geoff whistled. “Very nice.”

Norah swallowed a too hot sip of coffee and coughed violently. “I had to beg and scrape to get it. According to the very uppity woman I spoke to, Mr. Harrington isn’t in town much longer so it’s in a half hour or never. Also, he’s all about experience so my
Summa Cum Laude
from Harvard means nothing to him.”

Geoff pushed another cup of coffee to her. “You’ll do fine.” He didn’t think he ought to mention the large spot of coffee that had landed on her shirt. You couldn’t see it unless she moved. Norah waved the coffee away.

“Only got enough for one.”

Geoff pushed it back. “On the house — can I get you something to eat?”

Norah smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you but no. I need to get across town — and it’s the bike race thing today so I need all the time I can get.”

“You go get ‘em, killer.”

Ten minutes later and seventeen blocks later, Norah skidded to a halt, breathless. Somewhere, somehow she’d taken a wrong turn. She pulled out her phone to check the directions, cursing softly under her breath. She turned and then the world went haywire. Screeching brakes, screeching tires and all the air in her lungs seemed to disappear. The Mercedes that had almost hit her seemed like it had grown out of all proportion, towered above her until she realized she was lying on the ground. Her head spun as a man, a very tall, dark man sprung from the car and bent over her. He was talking but she couldn’t quite understand what he was saying. All she could see was the vivid green of his eyes, ringed with the darkest lashes, the beautiful classical angles of his man, his maleness. She must be dead. Damn, and she wasn’t even a believer but if this was what angels looked like then…

“Hey, space cakes? I don’t think she can understand me. Let’s just get to a doctor.”

Not an angel then. Norah fought the dark spots that were crowding in at the corners of her eyes.

“No…I’m fine, just let me down.” He had her in his arms by them and was moving towards the death car.

“No way, baby girl. I’m not having a million dollar lawsuit on my hands.”

Norah felt a jolt of anger. “I’m fine, I just got shocked, is all. Let me down, I’m all good, I have to go.”

The angel —
no, definitely not an angel, more like a pain in the butt
— ignored her and Norah thought up a million ways to kick and bite her way free, or to cuss him out. Instead, she did the most humiliating thing possible.

She fainted.

***

Norah opened her eyes and stared up an unfamiliar ceiling. By the smell filling her nostrils and the mechanical beep and the irritating i.v. line in her arm, she guessed the angel/ass had brought her to the hospital. She raised her head and groaned. Yep, this wasn’t the local emergency room. A private room and nurses in exquisitely fitted uniforms, the hushed, serene atmosphere.