The Mediterranean Tycoon

“Mr. Papdakis, living with you is the last thing I want. Ben and I are happy as we are. I love my little house. Why should I give it up? And, for that matter, where’s your wife? Why can’t she bring up her own child?”

Andreas’s eyes shadowed as his thoughts raced back to the blackest day of his life. “My wife’s dead,” he told her bluntly. “And you wouldn’t need to give up your house—you could lease it.” He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and pressed home his faint advantage. “Sit down. Think again about the benefits.”

Born in the industrial heart of England, MARGARET MAYO now lives in a Staffordshire countryside village. She became a writer by accident, after attempting to write a short story when she was almost forty, and now writing is one of the most enjoyable parts of her life. She combines her hobby of photography with her research.

The Mediterranean Tycoon

Margaret Mayo

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER ONE

PETA’S chin had a determined thrust as she knocked on the door. Many tales had travelled around the company about the dynamic new owner. He was the literal clean-sweeping new broom.

Already, in the space of a few weeks, many employees had left; no one wanted to work for the Tyrant, as he’d promptly been nicknamed. And now she had been promoted to his personal assistant. His third one in as many weeks! He hadn’t asked whether she would like the job, oh, no. A directive had been sent to her. It implicated that she either take the job or leave the company.

It had put Peta’s back up. She had disliked him immediately and intensely, but the fact was that she needed the job and couldn’t afford to turn it down.

‘Come!’

The voice was deep and resonant. She’d seen Andreas Papadakis when he’d stalked the corridors of Linam Shipping, when he’d swept through the offices, dark eyes seeing all. They’d rested on each employee in turn, reading and assessing, causing several of her female associates to swoon.

Peta had seen only a tall, arrogant man, who would have been handsome if his face wasn’t creased into a permanent scowl. He’d projected a tough, invincible image, and she hadn’t been impressed. She liked men with humanity and warmth. This man certainly hadn’t the right disposition to warm himself to his employees. He was simply here to turn an already profitable company into a much bigger money-spinner.

She took a steadying breath before opening the door, her back ramrod-straight as she walked across the oatmeal carpet towards the huge, dominating desk. It was the first time she’d been in this holy sanctum and the oak panelling, the original oil paintings and the antique furniture were very impressive, though she somehow guessed they weren’t what this man would have chosen for himself. He’d already installed a whole bank of computers and other high-tech office equipment, and they sat uneasily in what had once been old Mr Brown’s office.

Andreas Papadakis stood to one side of the fine desk, his hair brushed uncompromisingly back, black brows beetled together, brown eyes narrowed and assessing. He looked the very picture of intimidation and Peta squared her shoulders. ‘Good morning, Mr Papadakis,’ she said evenly.

‘Miss James.’ He inclined his head. ‘Sit down—please.’ The please seemed to be an afterthought as he indicated the chair in front of his desk.

Peta sat, then wished she hadn’t when he remained standing. He had to be at least six foot four, broad-shouldered and powerfully muscled, and those rich chestnut eyes watched every movement she made, making her feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Not that she let it show. She lifted her chin and fixed a bright smile to her lips, pencil poised above her notebook.

The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind of note-taking and meetings, of barked orders, of booking appointments and sending dozens of e-mails. Peta’s opinion of Andreas Papadakis didn’t change one iota; if anything she thought him even more arrogant and over-bearing. But she nevertheless felt quite pleased with the way she had handled herself, sure that she’d passed her induction with flying colours, and was on the verge of putting on her jacket when her new employer flung open the connecting door between their two offices.

‘Not so fast, Miss James. There’s still work to be done.’

Peta glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘I thought my hours were nine till five,’ she said, her wide blue eyes fixed challengingly on his. ‘It’s already two minutes past.’ Adding beneath her breath, And if you think I’m going to work late you have another think coming. I have a home life even if you don’t.

‘I couldn’t care less if it’s twenty past,’ he lashed out. ‘I need you.’

If this was the way he’d spoken to his previous secretaries then it was no wonder they’d walked out, decided Peta. What was wrong with asking politely instead of yelling and demanding? Unfortunately, if she wanted to keep the job, it looked as though it was a case of holding the candle to the devil.

‘Very well,’ she answered calmly, while seething inside as she hung up her jacket again. ‘What is it you want me to do? I’ve finished all the work.’

He threw a tape down on her desk. ‘I want this report by six. Make sure you type the figures correctly; it’s very important.’

I bet it is, Peta said to herself, as soon as he’d closed the dividing door between them. Everything is important, according to you. She’d tied her thick auburn hair back this morning, but during the course of the day it had come loose and she tossed it back angrily now.

Picking up the phone, she called her neighbour. ‘Marnie, I have to work late. Do you think you could look after Ben a while longer?’ She hated having to leave her son a minute more than was necessary, felt guilty about it, even, but there was no way round it. Ben was very special to her. She wanted him to have the best possible start in life, and if that meant going out to work then that was what she had to do.

‘Of course I will, love,’ came the immediate reply. ‘Don’t worry about him. I’ll give him his supper, shall I?’

Marnie loved looking after Ben. Her grandchildren were now teenagers and she missed having a small child around the house. She was a treasure. Peta didn’t know what she’d do without her.

It was almost seven by the time she finally left the office. Andreas Papadakis was a workaholic and expected everyone else to be the same, heaping work on her that would surely have waited until the next day. She’d heard that some mornings he was at his desk by six.

She had no idea whether he was married or not. He didn’t wear a ring and he protected his privacy fiercely, although all sorts of rumours floated around the company. Rumours of strings of attractive girlfriends, of a wife in Greece and a mistress in England, of properties in New York and the Bahamas, as well as in Europe and his homeland. How he had time for all this Peta wasn’t sure.

When she arrived for work at ten minutes to nine the next morning he was waiting for her. ‘I wondered when you were going to show up,’ he muttered tersely, brown eyes glaring. His tie was hanging loose, top button undone, and his thick, straight hair looked as though he’d constantly raked agitated fingers through it. In fact he looked as though he’d spent the night in the office wrestling with insurmountable problems.

‘I need coffee, strong and black, and half a dozen muffins. Blueberry. See to it, will you?’

The day had begun! Peta nodded. ‘I could order you a proper breakfast if you’d—’

‘Just do as I ask,’ he cut in impatiently. ‘And bring in your notebook. There’s lots of work to get through.’

He was in a foul mood for the whole day but Peta stubbornly refused to give in, remaining pleasant, polite and helpful, no matter what harsh thoughts she entertained beneath the surface, and there were plenty of those.

By the end of the week she began to feel complacent; she felt that she now totally understood her employer and hopefully he was happy with her. His moods were legendary but Peta chose to ignore them—and on the whole it worked. It was not until he once more asked her to work late that it all began to go wrong.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ she said firmly. Why did he have to choose today of all days?

The famous frown dragged his brows together, beetling them over glittering chestnut eyes. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘It’s impossible for me to stay on today.’

‘I presume you have a good reason?’ he barked.

‘Yes, I do as a matter of fact,’ she announced, her chin just that little bit higher. ‘It’s my son’s birthday.’

He looked thunderstruck. ‘You have a son? Why the hell wasn’t I told? You’re no good to me if you’re constantly taking time off.’

Peta’s eyes flashed a deep, defensive blue. ‘What do you mean, constantly? This is a special occasion, Mr Papadakis. Ben’s eight today and he’s having a party at McDonald’s; I refuse to let him down. The only other occasion I couldn’t work was when he had appendicitis. And even then I counted it as my holiday.’

She saw the flicker in his eyes, the faint doubt, then the grim nod. ‘Very well. Can you manage a few hours in the morning?’

He was asking, not telling! A faint victory! It was Saturday tomorrow, and Ben’s football practice. But under the circumstances Peta felt that it would be unwise to refuse him again. Marnie would take Ben; she’d love it. ‘Yes, I can do that.’

‘Good.’ With a nod he dismissed her.

It never ceased to amaze Peta how good Andreas Papadakis’s English was. He had scarcely the trace of an accent. If it hadn’t been for his dark Hellenic looks she would have taken him for an Englishman any day. She could see why most girls in the office fancied him. What they hadn’t experienced were his flashes of temper, his holier-than-thou attitude. It made you instantly forget how good-looking he was, how sexily he moved.

He was without a doubt a lethally attractive man—she had felt his physical presence many times; she’d have had to be made of ice not to—but in the main all she ever saw was the face of a tyrant. And she disliked him as much now as she had in the beginning. She found it hard to believe that he’d backed down over her working this evening.

‘Mum, this is the best party ever,’ Ben announced, munching his way through his second burger.

Peta grinned. The noise was deafening, every one of his eight friends talking at once, all happy and excited. To them this was a million times better than having a party at home with jelly and ice cream.

‘And which one of you lucky young fellows is Ben?’ asked a deep voice behind her. A familiar voice! Peta twisted in her chair, gasping in amazement when she saw Andreas Papadakis just a couple of feet away, a huge parcel tucked under one arm and an amazing twinkle in his eyes. He looked a very different man from the one she had left a couple of short hours ago.

‘Mr Papadakis,’ she gasped. ‘What are you doing here?’ She stood up then, felt her heart hammering a thousand beats a minute.

‘I’ve brought a present for the birthday boy. Which one is he?’

By this time all eyes were on Ben, whose face had flushed with embarrassment. ‘Who are you?’ he asked, his chin jutting in the same way as his mother’s. There was no mistaking their relationship. Although his hair was darker, he had the same wide-spaced blue eyes and an identical jawline.

‘I’m your mother’s employer. She told me it was your birthday. I thought you might like this.’ And he handed Ben the giant parcel.

Peta was too shocked for words. This wasn’t the same man. The Andreas Papadakis she worked for would never have thought about buying a birthday present for an employee’s child, let alone personally delivering it.

‘You’re—very kind,’ she murmured. ‘You didn’t have to do that.’ There came the faint notion that perhaps he was checking on her, finding out for himself whether she’d been telling the truth when she said it was Ben’s birthday, but no sooner had the thought flitted into her mind than she dismissed it as disloyal. She really didn’t know the first thing about this man—except that he was the devil incarnate to work with.

‘I can’t stay,’ he said now, ‘I have other things to do. Enjoy the party. I’ll expect you at nine in the morning, Miss James.’

‘Yes,’ said Peta faintly. ‘And thank you again.’

No one else noticed him leave, everyone was watching Ben open his parcel, and there was a collective ‘Oooh!’ when the colourful wrapping fell to the floor revealing a magnificent Scalextric set. And when the lid came off the box there was so much track and so many cars that Peta felt sure it would take up the whole floor area of Ben’s bedroom and spill out onto the landing as well. It was every boy’s dream.

Her first instinct was to say that he couldn’t accept such an expensive gift and that he must give it back, but seeing the look of sheer pleasure and amazement on Ben’s face made her think again. It wasn’t as if Andreas Papadakis couldn’t afford it.

Maybe it was a thank-you for all the hard work she’d put in. Or—her mouth twisted wryly—maybe it was a sweetener so that she wouldn’t say no to him again when he asked her to work late! She couldn’t really believe that her boss had a big enough heart to buy her son a present when he hadn’t even met him. She wasn’t even sure he had a heart. But whatever his reasons it had pleased Ben, and he was her main concern.

When she went in to work on Saturday morning she fully intended thanking Mr Papadakis again, but gone was the man of yesterday evening. He was in his head-of-the-firm mode and it brooked no personal conversation. Nevertheless when he stood over her, one hand on the back of her chair, one on the desk, watching the screen as she typed a letter he was waiting for, she was aware now that a warm human being existed behind that harsh exterior. And because of that she began to feel his primal sexuality, the sheer physical dynamics of the man.

‘You’ve missed out a word.’

Peta silently groaned. She’d do more than that if he didn’t move. He was wearing a musky sandalwood cologne that was essentially male and would remind her of him for evermore. It took a supreme amount of will-power to carry on typing the letter and she made more mistakes in that one page than she normally did in a whole day.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked sharply. ‘Not got it together yet? Did the party tire you out?’

Hardly, when it had been finished by eight. Had he no idea that he was the one making her nervous? ‘I’m all right,’ she answered. ‘And by the way, thank you again for buying Ben that Scalextric. It was much too expensive a present, but he’s absolutely delighted with it. He had me up at six this morning helping him put it together.’

‘Good, I’m glad he liked it. Bring the letter in to me when you’ve printed it. And I’d like Griff’s report next.’

He strode away, clearly not interested in discussing Ben’s party or his gift. And she’d thought he had a heart after all. How wrong could she have been?

The morning fled. No mention had been made of how long he wanted her to work, though Peta had assumed she’d finish about one. But one o’clock came and went and there was no sign of him letting up.

His voice came through the open doorway. ‘Miss James, get some lunch sent in.’

Peta groaned inwardly; surely he wasn’t expecting her to remain here all day?

Then he strode into her office. ‘After that you’d better go home and spend some time with your boy.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, wondering at his sudden generosity. ‘And if you don’t mind me saying so, you work far too hard yourself. Mr Brown didn’t used to do the hours you do.’

‘That’s why the company was running downhill fast,’ he retorted.

‘What do you mean, downhill?’ Peta asked quickly. ‘It was extremely successful.’ She’d always counted herself lucky to be working for such a flourishing firm.

Andreas Papadakis shook his head. ‘That’s the impression he wanted you to have. He didn’t want unhappy employees, but a few more months and you’d have all been out of work.’

She looked at him with a disbelieving frown. ‘Is that true?’

‘Of course it’s damn well true. I bought a sinking ship, Miss James, it’s what I do. But I sure as hell make sure they never capsize.’

Peta supposed she ought to have known from the content of his correspondence that there were problems, except that she’d thought he was simply sweeping clean all the old methods and installing new ones of his own. He’d drummed up an awful lot of new business as well. She had privately accused him of rubbing his hands at all the extra money he was generating, not realising for one second that if he hadn’t she’d have lost her job. It looked as if she’d wrong-footed him every step of the way.

Only once in the days that followed did he ask her to work late. ‘I appreciate that you want to spend time with your son,’ he said, ‘but this really is important.’

How could she refuse when he asked her like that? But when on Friday afternoon he said that he wanted her to attend a conference with him on the following Monday and that it would mean a very late night she looked at him sharply. ‘I don’t think I can do that.’

She had never in the whole of Ben’s life let anyone else bath him and put him to bed. It was a pleasure she looked forward to. It was their special time of day; it eased the guilt of her leaving him while she went to work. Marnie would be in her element, and Ben would probably enjoy it too if the truth were know because he adored her as much as the older woman adored him, but Peta knew that she would feel truly awful.

In any case, what conference went on into the early hours? He had to be joking. ‘I can’t promise anything,’ she said.

‘Can’t or won’t?’ he demanded, mouth grim all of a sudden. ‘I can easily find someone to step into your job, Miss James.’

This was the first time in ages that she had seen a flash of his old self. She ought to have known that his understanding behaviour was too good to last. ‘I doubt it,’ she replied, adding with great daring, ‘No one else has been able to put up with your impossible demands.’

Fierce black brows jutted over narrowed eyes. ‘Is that why you think my other PAs left?’

She nodded. ‘It’s what everyone believes.’

He perched himself on the edge of her desk, too near for comfort, causing an alarming flurry of her senses. They were becoming too frequent for her own good. She was joining the others, seeing him as a sexually exciting male instead of an impossible boss.

‘Then I think I should put the matter straight,’ he announced. ‘They didn’t leave because they couldn’t work with me. I fired them because of their inadequacies.’

Peta shot him a flashing blue glance. ‘Maybe what you call inadequacies and what we girls consider to be unfair requests are two different things.’

His eyes narrowed still further until they were no more than two glittering slits. ‘I think I’ve been more than reasonable, but if you think it unfair that I occasionally ask you to work extra hours, for which I might add you are handsomely paid, then I suggest you put your coat on and walk, too.’

Peta couldn’t believe she had landed herself in this situation. She really oughtn’t to have spoken to him like that. He was her employer after all. ‘It’s all right, I’ll do it,’ she said hastily.

‘Good,’ he clipped, and returned to his office.

She was walking out through the door at the end of the day, her thoughts already running ahead to her darling son and how she could make it up to him, when Andreas Papadakis’s voice arrested her.

‘The conference starts at two on Monday. Wear your smartest suit, Miss James, and it might be advisable to pack a cocktail dress for the evening.’

Warning bells rang in her head. She lurched round and stared at him. ‘A cocktail dress?’

‘That’s right.’

Something was seriously wrong here, she decided as she headed towards her car. It sounded as though he needed a partner, not a personal assistant. And she wasn’t sure that she wanted to be that person. The trouble was she had already promised.

CHAPTER TWO

ON SUNDAY afternoon Peta took Ben to the park to feed the ducks. She’d wound down from her hard week at work and was feeling happy and relaxed, enjoying Ben’s company—until, on their return, she saw Andreas Papadakis’s sleek black Mercedes parked outside her cottage. Her heart-rate increased a thousandfold and she couldn’t even begin to think why he was here.

‘Wow!’ exclaimed her son. ‘Whose is that?’

There was no time to answer because, as they approached, her employer levered his long frame out of the car and leaned nonchalantly against it, arms folded, legs crossed, a faint smile softening his all-too-often austere features. His casual pose emphasised his dynamic sexuality and Peta felt a tightening of her muscles. Her smile in response was little more than a grimace.

It was the first time she’d seen him in anything other than a collar and tie. In a blue thin-knit half-sleeved shirt, grey chinos and loafers he looked far less formidable. But infinitely more dangerous! She was scared of the sensations he managed to arouse in her these days.

Ben broke the awkward silence. ‘You’re my mummy’s boss, aren’t you? Thank you for my Scalextric; I love it. Me and Mummy put it together. Would you like to come and play?’

Andreas Papadakis smiled briefly. ‘Some other time, perhaps. I need to talk to your mother.’

Somehow Peta couldn’t see this indomitable man getting down on his knees and playing racing cars with an eight-year-old boy. ‘Mr Papadakis is here on business, Ben. He hasn’t time to play,’ she consoled him, at the same time wondering exactly why he had come calling.

She unlocked the door and Ben ran straight up to his room, and as her boss was standing right behind her she had no alternative but to invite him in, even though she would have preferred to talk outside.

It wasn’t really a cottage, although it went under that name. It was a small, old town house on the outskirts of Southampton. She would have liked something grander but it was all she could afford, and it was home. It was clean and tidy and the furniture she’d renovated suited the house. She was happy here.

In her sitting room she turned to face him. ‘This is quite a surprise, Mr Papadakis. Is the conference off tomorrow? Is that what you’ve come to tell me?’

‘No, indeed,’ he stated emphatically. ‘I simply wanted to make sure that you’d come prepared. You looked somewhat shocked when I suggested a cocktail dress.’

‘I was,’ she claimed. ‘I still am. You make it sound as though we’re going to a party. And I—’

‘It’s no party, I assure you,’ he interjected swiftly.

‘Then why the cocktail dress?’ She wondered whether she ought to suggest he sit down. But no, he might stay too long, and that was the last thing she wanted.

‘Because after the conference we’re having dinner,’ he explained with exaggerated patience. ‘Naturally we’ll go on talking business, but it’s not the sort of place where you can underdress.’

Peta narrowed her eyes speculatively, her head tilted to one side. ‘And in what exact capacity would I be going?’ It was something she needed to get very clear in her mind right from the beginning.