Panic gripped Alex in its vise.
“I—I didn’t bring any walking clothes to Greece.”
“No problem.”
Perspiration broke out on her hairline. “Why don’t you drop me off in Soufli to do my work? It will leave you free to visit your old haunt unencumbered. We can meet at the silk mansion in the morning for the trip back.”
“Have you forgotten your hotel room is gone?”
She shifted in the seat. “I’ll find something else.”
“It’s already noon. Too late in the day to make other arrangements.”
“Is it very steep in the forest?”
“I suppose that all depends on your definition of the word steep.”
“Can I explore it in this outfit and my sneakers, or are you talking about scaling walls?”
Deep-throated laughter rumbled out of him. “I’m not asking you to climb a mountain.”
“That’s good.” She could have wept in relief. “A picture of all those plaques and trophies in your closet flashed before my eyes. It almost gave me a heart attack.”
“So that explains why you took so long to find the garment bag.” He was still chuckling.
Heat filled her cheeks. “I admit I’m a bit of a snoop.”
“I prefer to call it an inquiring mind. It’s what makes you an irreplaceable secretary. If I haven’t said it before, you’ve redefined the word for me, and I’m indebted to you, Alexandra.”
Whenever he said her name, he made it sound so beautiful.
“Thank you,” she whispered in agony. A nagging voice cried, Is it worth it to be the bridesmaid, but never the bride?
“Tomorrow will be soon enough to inspect the exhibits. Today I’d like to reward you for all your hard work by showing you a national treasure. How does that appeal to you?”
Oh, Dimitrios. If you only knew. “That sounds lovely.”
Convinced she’d arranged to spend the night with her American boyfriend, Dimitrios should have felt guilty for thwarting her plans. But heaven help him, all he could feel was a sense of elation that they were going to be alone together far from the horde.
Since they’d been driving, he hadn’t heard her cell phone ring. For that matter, she hadn’t tried to use it. He was surprised she didn’t want to stop at a local shop, if only to excuse herself long enough to make contact with Michael.
Of course she could have planned to get in touch with him later in the day. Then again, maybe she was meeting her Greek boyfriend, and Michael didn’t have a clue.
Dimitrios grimaced at the thoughts assailing him.
Was it possible Yanni had flown up from Athens? Why not enjoy a private interlude with her before she had to return to Thessalonica where her other lover was waiting for her at the hotel.
Did both men resent the time Dimitrios demanded of her? The late nights at his office? The early-morning conferences?
He wondered how Michael felt about having to pick up the costume she’d had made for him, let alone be asked to bring it all the way to Greece on the plane.
Had it upset him to learn she’d be staying at the villa instead of the hotel? Or was he so sure of her, it would never occur to him to worry what she was doing with her employer.
If Dimitrios were in either man’s shoes, the thought of her making love to anyone but him caused a blackness to sweep over him. The feeling was so staggering, so powerful, it took him a minute to recognize it for what it was.
“Shouldn’t we have taken that turnoff for Dadia?” Her voice seemed to come from far away.
“There’ll be another one in a minute,” he muttered, still gripped by the sheer force of emotion too painfully raw for him to shake off. Jealousy had never touched his life until now.
“Oh, Dimi—listen to me. You’re barely twelve. Not quite old enough for a man’s feelings to have taken over inside you yet. When that day comes, your body will react when you see a beautiful woman. You’ll want to hold her, make love to her. The pleasure a woman can bring you is to die for.”
Dimitrios struggled to control his rapid breathing.
The night she’d brushed those magic fingers of hers across his forehead had brought him pleasure to die for. The thought of those same fingers on his body tonight…
Lord. He was already so far out of control where she was concerned, he didn’t know what in the hell he was going to do about the situation. He’d made reservations for two rooms, but the way he was feeling right now, one of them would be going to waste. Dimitrios couldn’t believe he’d reached this point.
“Your cell phone’s ringing,” she reminded him.
There was no way he could talk to anyone right now. He handed it to her. “When you answer it, tell whoever it is I’ll get back to them.”
“It’s coming from the villa. What if it’s your nephew?”
She knew him too well. But the question drew his attention to the generous curve of her lips with their flare of passion.
When he’d awakened the morning after the accident to find her face mere inches from his, he remembered thinking she had a mouth nature had made without flaw.
“Shall I let it ring?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “If it’s Leon, I’ll talk to him.”
Except that as he listened, it became clear someone else had called. The conversation was over so fast, he realized it had to have been Ananke. These days she was so upset over Leon, she’d forgotten her manners.
After his secretary had clicked off she said, “That was your sister-in-law. She told me to tell you her son is no longer a student at the university. He just left the villa with his backpack and indicated he wouldn’t be around for the family dinner tomorrow night.”
That didn’t surprise him. It was a knee-jerk reaction to punish Dimitrios for taking Alexandra into his confidence, or so Leon had thought. “What else did she say?”
“That was all, but she sounded…desolate.” Her head swerved in his direction. “I got the distinct impression she blames me that he’s gone away so upset.”
He changed into a lower gear so the car could begin its gradual ascent to the lodge. “My sister-in-law’s one dream has been to see her son rise to the head of the Pandakis Corporation. What she forgot to remember is that Leon is capable of dreaming his own dreams.
“Whether they have substance or not, he thinks he wants to be a monk on Mount Athos. She’s terrified of losing him.”
“Oh, dear God— I’m so sorry—” The voice of the woman next to him shook with pain.
“Don’t fall apart on me now, Alexandra. For him to run away because you happened to express an innocent opinion in his presence means he’s more childish and immature than I thought.”
She shook her head. “That’s not it. He must have believed you’d confided his dream to me, a mere secretary. He couldn’t help but think I was trying to influence him on your behalf. If I’d been in his shoes, I would have felt a trust had been broken, too.”
Dimitrios had to clear his throat, not only because of her understanding and sensitivity of the problem, but because of her earnestness in trying to make him understand how badly she felt.
“He worships you!” she cried. “I saw it in his eyes and expression the moment he boarded the plane and found you suffering. And later