“Glad I’m not there, then. We’ll be back in two weeks, by which time I expect the papers will all be insulting me again. Anything else?”
“That Brooklyn apartment building has been purchased as you requested. Your father-in-law—”
“Never call him that again,” Darius said tersely.
She cleared her throat. “Um, Mr. Spencer has been advised that he will be allowed to remain in the apartment for as long as he wishes, free of charge.”
“Good,” he said, already bored with the subject.
She paused. “There’s something else you should know.”
“Well?”
“The investigator following him says Spencer has been visiting an oncologist. Apparently he’s sick. Maybe dying.”
Darius’s eyes widened. Then he gave a snort. “It’s a trick.”
“Mr. Green didn’t think so. He managed to get his hands on the medical records. It seems legit.”
“Spencer must have paid the doctor off.”
“Maybe.” Mildred sounded doubtful. “But if it were my father, I’d still want to know.”
Yes, Darius thought. He looked back at the shadowy form of Letty sleeping in his bed. She would want to know. But there was no way he was telling her. Not when the old man was probably just trying once again to cause trouble between them.
At worst, Spencer probably had a cold and thought he could use it to get out of his well-deserved punishment. Darius was not going to let it happen.
“I won’t have my wife bothered,” he said shortly. “Spencer must have known he was being followed.”
“As you say, Mr. Kyrillos.”
He set his jaw. “I called you for another reason. I want to buy my wife a wedding gift.”
“Beyond the billions you’re already putting in trust for her father’s victims? We’ve had a whole team of accountants coming through here, by the way, working with the Feds to determine accurate payments, including those for third-party clients. We’re not really staffed for this...”
“You’ll sort it out. And at the end, I’ll send you and your husband to Miami for a week of well-deserved rest.”
“Rome,” she said firmly. “For three.”
He grinned. Mildred knew what she was worth. He respected that.
“Three,” he agreed. “But I need you to do something first. I want to buy a home.”
“Your penthouse is too small?”
“I have a special place in mind. Find out what it would cost.”
He explained, and she gave a low whistle. “All right, boss. I’ll call you soon as I know. What’s your ceiling?”
“Whatever it takes.”
After he hung up the phone, Darius went back to the king-size bed he shared with his pregnant bride. Joining her under the blankets, he wrapped his arm around her as she slept. He heard the birds singing as, outside the window, the sun started to rise.
Holding Letty in his arms, he suddenly saw the reward for everything he’d done right in his life. He had Letty. He’d have the rest. Home. Children. Joy. All the things he’d stopped dreaming about long ago. He would have it all.
And nothing, especially not her criminal of a father, would come between them.
* * *
As their private jet began its descent through the clouds toward New York City, Letty felt a mixed sense of relief and regret.
She was glad to be returning closer to her father. Darius had assured her that Howard was fine and living rent-free in their old apartment with a stipend to supply his needs. “Your father is spending his days playing chess with friends down at the park,” he’d told her irritably. She could only assume Darius had someone watching him, but she didn’t even mind because she was glad to know he was all right. It felt so wrong never to see him, never to call him.
But at least now she’d know her dad was only a quick drive away, if needed. And soon she hoped he’d be back in their lives for good.
The heart attack that had caused the death of Darius’s father was a tragic accident. But surely he couldn’t hate her dad forever? She loved Darius too much to believe that. Soon they would all be a family again.
And family was all Letty cared about. As she’d promised her husband in Greece, she would always put her family above everything else.
She already felt wistful for the tiny Greek island where she’d been immediately accepted into Darius’s extended family. Their honeymoon had been the happiest two weeks of her life. She’d loved everything about Heraklios. The village. The beach. The vivid colors and bright sun. The villa. The people. Her eyes met Darius’s across the airplane cabin.
The man.
He was sitting in a white swivel chair and had spent much of the flight typing on his laptop, with some idea he’d had for a new business venture. But as his gaze caught hers, she felt every bit of his attention. She always felt it to her toes when he looked at her.
Lifting a dark eyebrow, he teased, “We could still turn the plane around.”
“I loved our visit,” she said wistfully, then glanced out the window. “But it’ll be nice to be back home.” She paused, biting her lip. She knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help it. “Now we’re back in the city, maybe you could talk to my dad. Then you’d see his side...”
“Forget it,” he said flatly.
“He never meant to hurt anyone, he—”
Darius closed his laptop with a thud. “Stop.”
“Forgiveness frees the soul. You never know—” her voice sounded desperate even to her own ears “—you might have to ask someone for forgiveness one day!”
He snorted. “I don’t intend to commit any crimes, so I think I’m safe.”
“Darius—”
“No.”
Disappointment filled her heart. Clenching her hands, she told herself she’d just have to be patient. She forced herself to take a deep breath and change the subject. “I loved spending time with your family. Maybe your great-aunt could come visit us in New York.”
His expression relaxed and he smiled. “Theia Ioanna hates planes. She thinks of them as newfangled machines, a dangerous fad. She’s waiting for everyone to come to their senses. But after our baby’s born we could go back to Heraklios.”
“I’d like that.” Outside the window, the plane was descending through clouds that looked like white cotton candy. “In the meantime, I’m going to start learning Greek.” She looked at him coyly beneath her lashes. “You’d like to teach me your native tongue, wouldn’t you?”
His eyes darkened with interest. He started to rise from his seat, but as the plane broke beneath the clouds, the pilot announced over the intercom that they should buckle their seat belts for landing. Letty smiled.
Then she looked through the porthole window. “That’s not Teterboro.”
Now he was the one to smile. “No.”
Staring down, she suddenly recognized the airport. Long ago, her family had landed here every time they went on a trip. She looked up with a frown. “Long Island? Is there a problem?”
“Wait and see.”
After