The Renegade Billionaire (8 page)

“I didn't know you were an engineer like my dad.”

Everything got down to her dad. Her hero worship of him meant they had a very strong bond. Ferrante had wanted her enough that he was willing to give up his own career to be with Andrea and her father. Had Andrea pressured him? Or had Ferrante loved her beyond reason and known it was the only way he could have a life with her?

“It was necessary if I hoped to build a business. Together, my engineering friends and I brainstormed about what could be done with the residue because no one was interested in the waste. In time, we came up with various products used to make dry mortars, glues and tile adhesives that are superior to those on the market because of their marble base. They're ideal for every application.

“After successfully testing the products with building contractors and architects, we saw the great potential and formed Mount Ypsarion Enterprises. From that moment on, I began negotiating with quarries all over northern Greece to buy their waste for a nominal fee and bring it here by the truckload to be processed. We house the finished products in bags and place them in those warehouses, ready for delivery by truck, train or ship.”

She shook her head. “That's incredible, Stavros. Utterly incredible and it's all brand-new. Can I see inside your office first?”

“You want to?”

“Of course.”

They both got out of the Jeep. Using the remote, Stavros let them inside the one-story office building. He walked her past the front desk of the main foyer to his own suite. “This is my secretary's office. Further down the hall my colleagues, Theo and Zander, have their suites with their own secretaries. If my projections are correct, this will be the first of other plants we plan to build in Penteli, near Athens, and in the Cyclades.”

She swung around and smiled at him. “You planned all this.”

“Along with my partners.”

“But you thought of it first. You're brilliant.”

He was touched by her earnestness, but he flashed her a dry smile. “A brilliant financial disaster, you mean, if my marketing projections for thirty thousand tons a year of product aren't met. Only time will tell. I and the two-hundred-plus workers we've hired could lose everything. I won't have anyone to blame but myself.”

“You won't fail. You
couldn't
.”

He'd needed Andrea in his life for a long time. Years, in fact...

“Such faith deserves a reward. I asked Raisa to have the hamper packed by the time we return. We'll go back to the house for it and our bathing suits. Then we'll drive to Thassos and take my speedboat. There's a secluded beach close by I know you'll love.”

“I can't wait, but could I see inside the plant first? My dad was pleased when I told him your company had given permission for the tours to visit your quarry. But he'll be more than impressed when I tell him about your brainchild. It's hard to impress him.”

With a work ethic like her father's, Stavros could believe it. But he was troubled by their conversation because her dad figured in it more and more. Stavros led her back outside and used the remote to activate the electronic lock. They walked to the plant in the distance and he let her inside.

One would have thought Andrea was a child on Christmas morning. But instead of exclaiming about the presents, she marveled over the up-to-date technology installed. “Would you mind if I took a few pictures with my phone to send to my father? Or would you think I'm an industrial spy?”

“I'll give you the benefit of the doubt like you gave me last night.”

He noticed she let that remark go. “Dad would enjoy seeing them.”

“You think?”

“I promise. He's taken me to gold mining refineries all over the world, many of them old and needing a lot of work. Trust me. This is the most elegant plant I've ever seen in my life.” She lifted a beaming face to him. “You must be ecstatic. I want a couple of pictures of you too. Smile.”

He did her bidding, but his patience had worn thin. “I think that's enough photos for now. Put your phone away.” Stavros had only one thing on his mind. Unable to resist, he cupped her flushed cheeks in his hands and kissed her warmly on that enticing mouth of hers. “Seeing this place through your eyes is my reward,” he whispered, then kissed her again, deeply this time.

A tiny moan escaped her throat as he pulled her into his body. She fit in his arms so perfectly, it was as if she were made for him. One kiss grew into more until he lost count. When he finally lifted his head so she could breathe, they were swaying together. “You have no idea how much I've wanted to do this. From the first moment we met, it's all I've been able to think about.”

“Don't say anything more.” He saw a tortured look enter those blue eyes as she eased out of his arms. “I was afraid this would happen if I flew to Thassos with you.”

“But you came with me anyway because you couldn't help yourself, so don't bother to deny it.”

She averted her eyes. “I'm not. But it scares me to have feelings like this so soon after meeting you. You're the first man since Ferrante. Our relationship took time to grow. Where you're concerned, I don't know if I can trust what's happening to me. I feel out of control.”

Andrea must have been reading his mind, but he could see it had cost her a lot to admit that. “I'm not going to apologize for kissing you. If you're afraid of being with me, then I'll ask my pilot to fly you back to Thessaloniki once we reach the house. I can't blame you after what happened last night with Tina. Are you ready to go?”

Without looking at him, she nodded and started for the entrance. He let them out, then set the lock and they walked back to the Jeep. A few minutes ago he'd had a little taste of heaven, but only a taste before everything had changed. Stavros couldn't put time back to the way it was before he'd given in to his desire and kissed her. Her passionate response had set him on fire. He was still burning.
Out of control
didn't cover it.

They rode back to the villa in silence. Before he got out of the Jeep, he reached for his cell phone. She turned toward him with an anxious expression. “Who are you calling?”

“My pilot.”

“Please don't, Stavros. I'm not afraid of you. You
know
I'm not.”

“Maybe you should be,” he bit out. “I can't give you proof that I never made love to Tina.”

“I've chosen to believe you. What I think we should do is go to the beach for a good swim. I could use the exercise.”

Relief swept through him that she didn't want to run away yet. “Then let's hurry. Last one to make it back to the Jeep has to pay a penalty.”

“It won't be me!” Stavros could almost hear a giggle as she darted toward the house in search of her swimsuit. He used his remote to unlock the door for her, then called out, “Want to make a bet?”

He'd come prepared and was already wearing his suit under his jeans. After bounding up the steps, he hurried into the kitchen and carried the hamper down to the Jeep. To his surprise, she wasn't far behind.

After he put the hamper in the backseat, he caught her in his arms so she couldn't climb in front. “I'm afraid you'll have to pay me now.”

He could feel her trembling. “You don't play fair.”

“I know,” he whispered. “Give me your mouth, Andrea. I'm aching for you.”

“Stavros—”

Her lips slowly opened to the pressure of his. In the next breath he was lost in sensation after sensation as she gave herself up to him. Never had he known hunger like this. She couldn't seem to get enough either.

He braced his back against the door and lifted her closer so there was no air separating them. In another minute, he was going to carry her into the house and not come out again. But he had to slow down or he really would scare her away.

Forcing himself to come to his senses, he broke off kissing her and removed his hands from her arms. Like him, she fought for breath and backed away. He turned to open the front passenger door for her. “It's a good thing one of us has to drive.” His voice sounded thick, even to him.

Andrea moved past him and climbed inside without saying anything. She didn't have to. Her eyes had glazed over and he could see the pulse throbbing at the base of her throat. If he put his lips to it, he wouldn't be able to stop. Summoning his willpower, he closed the door and walked around to his side of the Jeep.

“I'm glad it's you at the wheel, Stavros.” Her tremulous voice gave her away even more. “I couldn't possibly function the way I'm feeling.”

“I'm not sure
I
can.” He locked the house with his remote, then turned on the ignition and they were off. “You realize we have Darren Lewis to thank for our condition.”

“I was thinking the very same thing while we were inside your plant.”

He inhaled sharply. “When I got the call from Gus, I'd just come from the board meeting. His news was the last thing I needed to hear. If you want to know the truth, before I knew your identity, I was jealous of Georgios, who'd been traveling around on the tour bus with the gorgeous American schoolteacher.”

She stirred restlessly in the seat. “Georgios is happily married with a grown family.”

“When you introduced yourself, I was thankful that I was happily
unmarried
and could pursue you. After you asked to come with me, I took advantage of your gift. Otherwise I would have shown up at your tour company with an excuse that I needed to talk to you.”

She flicked him a glance. “It shocked me when I saw you in Sakis's office yesterday.”

“After what we shared, did you really think I would let you get away from me?”

Andrea lowered her head. “I didn't know.”

“Something extraordinary is happening to us. I know you feel it.”

“That's the problem. In ten days I'll be leaving for Brazil with Dad.”

Brazil? He almost went off the road. “What do you mean? You said you were leaving for Indonesia in two months!”

“Dad's plans were changed. You were right about the unrest there. After this weekend, I don't plan to spend any more time with you. So if you'd rather I went back to Thessaloniki tonight, I would understand.”

He'd been ready for that. “I have a much better idea. Why don't we enjoy the rest of this day and forget everything else, including deadlines. I haven't had a true vacation in ages and would like to celebrate the end of my career at the Konstantinos Corporation with you. Is that too much to ask?”

His question was met with silence.

He realized she was trying to stop things before they went any further, but it was too late. It had been too late from the moment they'd met. The thought of her leaving Greece, leaving him, was too horrendous to imagine.

CHAPTER FIVE

“W
E
'
RE
IN
LUCK
,
A
NDREA
. The tourists haven't come to this secluded stretch of beach yet. Those with boats will arrive later in the day in droves, but for now they prefer umbrellas and drinks available on the other side of that headland.”

Andrea was delighted. A quick five-minute ride from the marina in Thassos and they had this island paradise to themselves with its backdrop of lush vegetation. Once he cut the engine, the blue-and-white boat drifted onto fine white sand.

After peeling off her clothes to reveal a two-piece white bathing suit, she jumped off the rear of the boat into aqua-blue water. Eighty-degree weather had warmed it close to bathtub temperature.

“This is heavenly, Stavros!”

While treading water, she tried not to be obvious as she watched him strip down to his black suit. It rode low on his hips. Without clothes, he could be Adonis come to life, perfect in coloring and form.

Like lightning he entered the water and reached her in seconds. A brilliant white smile was the first thing she noticed when he lifted his head close to her. With his black hair slicked back, he was so dangerously appealing, her breath caught.

Beguiled by the sight of him, she ducked beneath the water and started swimming away from him. But when she came up for air, he was right there in front of her. From then on began an hour game of hide-and-seek with him the hunter and her the prey.

“Stop!” she begged, laughing, every time she surfaced to find him blocking her way. “It's my turn to chase you.”

“Come right ahead,” he challenged, but stayed where he was.

“You have to try to get away.”

“What if I don't want to?” He was waiting for her to swim right into him.

“You're impossible.” Exhausted by so much exertion, she did an about-face and started to head for shore when she saw a roundish shape moving beneath the water. “Stavros!” she cried. “I think a stingray is out here!”

Somehow, she didn't know how, he was right there beside her, putting himself between her and the menace. “Keep swimming like hell for the beach and shuffle your legs hard.”
His
legs moved like pistons, churning the water.

They hadn't been swimming that far out. But it felt like an eternity before her feet touched sand and she collapsed on the beach out of breath. Stavros knelt down next to her and turned her over. “Are you all right?” His voice sounded unsteady.

Andrea would never forget the anxiety in his eyes. “I'm fine. What about you?”

“We got out of the way in time. Thank God you spotted it and are an excellent swimmer, or you'd be on your way to the hospital. I haven't seen a stingray in these parts for at least four years. Their sting isn't fatal, but it can make you sick.”

“I know. My dad got stung in the foot by one—years ago at Kourou beach in French Guiana. He was in bed for several days. I was so worried about him, I stayed home from school so I could take care of him.”

He traced the shape of her mouth with his finger. “I'm sure that helped him get well in a hurry. Now that you've brought his name up, I'm curious to know something. Why did you and Ferrante plan to live with your father once you were married?”

“Because he's alone and doesn't have anyone else. Ferrante came from a big family and understood why I felt the way I did. Dad and I had never been separated. Stavros, I'll never be able to repay him for everything he's done for me throughout my entire life. But let's not talk about me.

“You put yourself in danger by shielding me just now.” Her heart was in her throat. “How am I ever going to thank you?” She sat up and kissed his strong jaw. But what started out to be an outpouring of her gratitude turned into something else as he lowered her to the sand. Once he'd found her mouth, he began kissing her in earnest.

Those powerful legs of his entwined with hers. She clung to his hard, muscled body, craving the contact of skin against skin. One long kiss grew into another. His lips roved over her face and throat, filling her with rapture she'd never known before.

“Do you have any idea how much I want you?” He kissed her again with almost primitive force. It unleashed passion in her she didn't know herself capable of. Andrea felt on fire and kissed him back just as hungrily. He was fast becoming her addiction.

Before she lost complete control, she buried her face in his neck. “We need to slow down, Stavros. It frightens me because I've never felt this way before, not even with Ferrante.”

He was a beautiful specimen of manhood, but there was so much more to him than the physical. For Stavros to find her attractive enough to want a relationship with her constituted something of a miracle. She was no femme fatale
,
yet he'd kissed her as if she was the most important thing in his life.

But the truth had to be faced. There was no good time for them. He'd launched a new multimillion-dollar business here on the island. She'd be leaving Greece shortly. The situation with Tina wasn't going to go away. Besides a ton of work at the office in Thessaloniki, she had packing to do and still needed to talk to her landlord and Sakis.

To go on trying to work things out with Stavros when they could find the time to fit it in made absolutely no sense. All it would do was prolong the agony. After losing Ferrante, she couldn't go through that kind of pain again. Better to cut things off now before they became any more involved. Soon they'd be on opposite sides of the world.

It was a long time before Stavros spoke. “Fear is the last emotion I want you to feel.” She felt energy shoot through him before he rolled away from her and got to his feet. “What we need is to enjoy the lunch Raisa packed for us.”

The moment was bittersweet because she didn't want him to stop kissing her. At the same time, she marveled over his self-control because she didn't have any. Slowly, she sat up, but it was difficult because the desire she felt for him had dazed her. “We look like we've been bathing in sand.”

“We'll wash off next to the boat. Come on.” He reached for her hand and helped her all the way up. Together, they walked across the sand into the shallows. The next thing she knew, he'd swung her up in his arms as if she were a bride.

“No—Stavros!” Her protest came out on a nervous laugh as he waded deeper. “What are you going to do?”

“Give us a proper bath.”

“No—” she squealed again, but by then they were both immersed.

“There.” He smiled broadly after bringing them back up. “That wasn't so bad. Now our sandwiches won't taste of grit. Let's see if we've gotten all of it off your lips.” Once again, Stavros started kissing her as if his life depended on it and carried her to the boat. She moaned when he finally relinquished her mouth and lowered her onto a banquette.

“I don't know about you, but that swim for our lives gave me an appetite. Kissing you has made me even more ravenous.” In one deft masculine move, he levered himself inside the boat. “We're safe here, Andrea. The only thing that's going to take a bite out of you now is me.”

After kissing her thoroughly once more, she felt exposed with his all-seeing eyes roving over her figure. Better put on her T-shirt. It wouldn't hurt to fix her hair either. She reached in her purse for a comb while he opened the hamper. Soon, they dug in to tasty finger food and fruit.

When Andrea had eaten all she could, she sat back and lifted her face to the sun. “This is one of those moments I'll treasure forever. Out of all the islands I've visited in the Aegean, Thassos is my favorite. Think of all the conquerors and invaders who have left their mark here. I can see why you wanted to make your home here. You have it all. Mountains, beaches, the sun, the perfect climate. It's like your own fairyland nestled in the greenery.” After a pause, she said, “I have a confession to make.”

He darted her a curious glance. “What's that?”

“One of the commandments says, ‘Thou shalt not covet.' As I was standing on your patio, looking out over this glorious spot of earth, I understood its meaning for the first time. When you climbed the mountain, no wonder you claimed this place for your own. To live where you live really is paradise on earth. Your mythical Greek gods must be jealous of you.”

Stavros stared out at the water. “I haven't needed the gods to cause me trouble. The family I was born into has made enough mischief.”

“At one time or other I think most people have said that about their families.”

“But there are degrees of mischief.”

“Stavros? Was it always hard for you?”

He nodded. “Pretty much from day one. I didn't want to do things the way my father did. He wanted me in private school. I wanted to go to public school. He didn't like my close friends who weren't good enough for him. He didn't like me dating a lot of girls. I went through them like water.”

“Was there one you fell hard for?”

“All of them.”

“Be serious.”

“I am. I never went with someone I wasn't crazy about.”

“For a time, you mean.”

He grinned.

“How long did the attraction last?” she asked.

“Maybe two dates.”

“I was the same way,” Andrea confessed. “I never had myriads of boyfriends, but I liked guys a lot better than girls.”

“Your only problem was that none of them measured up to your dad except Ferrante.”

“It wasn't like that, Stavros. I never compared him to Dad. What I loved about Ferrante was his gentle nature, and that's one of Dad's best qualities. But in other ways they were completely different.”

Stavros made an odd sound in his throat. “My father has never kept his opinions to himself. He didn't like my doing jobs for anyone but him. I was happy for any job that would help me save money and get away from him micromanaging me. He had his mind made up I would go to college in London for a business degree. I decided I wanted to be an engineer and went to MIT. He wanted me to live in Thessaloniki with the rest of the family. I wanted to live here on Thassos.

“We disagreed on every issue. He let me know when he thought it was time for me to get married. I told him I wasn't sure that day would ever come. He'd picked out Tina to be the woman I should marry. The Nassos came from the right bloodline with all the important connections and affluence.”

“Does your mother have no say in how you conduct your life?”

“She mostly goes along with my father, especially where Tina is concerned. But I think that of all my decisions, choosing to live on Thassos has caused her the most grief. Mother sees us like a clan, all closely knit. I'm afraid I'm a person who needs more breathing room.”

Andrea pondered everything, almost afraid to ask her next question. “Has there ever been a time when you and your father agreed on something important?”

“Yes. He supported me when I played soccer. When the board proposed new names for vice president of the corporation, we both felt that my brother, Leon, had the stability and wisdom to be the best choice over my two cousins.”

“That's it?”

“I'm sure there were a few other times, but not many. That's something you can't comprehend, can you?”

“No...but then I'm not a man.”

His smile was devilish. “I'm happy to say you're the personification of femininity.”

“Be serious for a minute.”

“I'm trying, but it's hard when I'm looking at you.”

It was hard on her when his eyes seemed to devour her. “Did your brother pick his own wife?”

“Yes, but she had the right breeding and family history to satisfy my parents. Leon gets along without making waves. He's a terrific father to their children. I manage to do things that get under my father's skin. It's not on purpose. I love my father because he's my father. But I don't like him very much. Can you understand that?”

“I guess I can, but it makes me sad. Dad and I just click.”

Stavros nodded. “Otherwise you wouldn't be leaving Greece with him.”

She averted her eyes. “How does your father treat Leon's children?”

“He's still dictatorial, but a little nicer.”

“Then there's hope. I've told you before that I think you'll make a wonderful father, Stavros. Maybe it'll take giving your dad some grandchildren to soften him.”

In the midst of their conversation Andrea heard music. She turned her head and saw that a cabin cruiser had discovered their special spot. People were on board playing loud music, disturbing the tranquillity. In the far distance, she saw a sailboat coming closer.

She and Stavros hadn't come back to the boat any too soon. A little earlier and the sight of the two of them wrapped in each other's arms on the sand would have provided unexpected entertainment for anyone watching. Heat swept through her body as she remembered how expertly Stavros had brought her alive. Andrea still felt alive and he wasn't even touching her.

“Our paradise has been invaded,” Stavros murmured. “No more isolation for us.” All of a sudden, he closed the hamper and got up, unaware of her private thoughts. He stood there shirtless in the hot sun while the breeze blew his black hair away from his forehead. There couldn't be a more fabulous man alive.

“It's time to leave. Besides the overcrowding, you've gotten enough sun. Put your life jacket back on, Andrea.” She'd forgotten, but he never forgot anything to make her comfortable or safe. “I'll jump out and push us off.”

Something was bothering him, but she couldn't read his mind. Already she regretted he was bringing this glorious outing to a close. With what looked like effortless male agility, Stavros got out to move the boat into deeper water. It took a lot of strength, though he made it look like child's play. In a minute, he came around the driver's side to climb back on.