For the Greek Tycoon's Pleasure
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Maybe not all, but at least some. He just didn’t understand why.
“How old were you?” she asked, after several moments of somber quiet between them.
“Four, almost five.” He looked down at her to gauge his tenderhearted lover’s reaction.
She did not disappoint him. Her pretty blue eyes glazed over in shock. “I thought you were a baby, or something.”
“No. My mother was a prostitute.” Again, a sense of utter unreality that he should be telling Piper these things assailed him. “One of her clients fell in love with her and wanted to marry her, but he didn’t want a living reminder of the life she’d led before they met.”
As an adult man, he could almost understand that. Not forgive, but understand. As a child who had adored his mother, the only bright constant in his short life, the one he had relied on entirely for acceptance and love, he hadn’t been so wise. Neither his child’s mind, nor the heart he’d later encased in impenetrable stone, had been able to comprehend his mother’s actions, or even her husband’s attitude.
The man had been kind enough to the small boy the few times they met before he decided to buy Leda’s freedom from her procurer, Zephyr’s father.
“But you were her child!” Piper’s obvious shock nearly ripped her hand from his grasp.
He tightened his grip, unwilling to let her go. “My mother visited. Once a month, but I learned to wish she wouldn’t.”
“Because she never took you with her when she left.”
“No.” No matter how he’d begged at first.
“When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“Last month.” But he hadn’t seen her since he’d run away from the orphanage with Neo, this time by Zephyr’s choice.
Piper stared up at him, her eyes swimming with emotion, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out.
He took pity on her clear inability to fathom this state of affairs. “I contacted her after I made my first million. She was glad to hear from me.”
“You sound like that surprised you.”
“It did. Even though I was now wealthy, there was no guarantee she would want the reminder of her past.”
“You thought money was all you had to give her.”
Naturally. He’d never met a woman who didn’t appreciate financial gifts, his mother setting that precedent early for his young mind. “Why would I believe anything else?”
“She was glad you were safe, though, wasn’t she? I bet she cried that first time you called her.”
That time and almost every one since. “You are right.” Not that he understood why.
If his disappearance was such a hardship on his mother, surely she would not have dumped him at the orphanage in the first place? Nevertheless, she had not abandoned him entirely.
“She paid the orphanage to care for me.” He had discovered that when he made his first donation to the home long before he amassed his first million.
It was the reason he had contacted her later. Without the knowledge she had attempted to provide for him in some way, he did not think he ever would have. But nothing could have altered the path he had taken with his father.
“Are we going to see her while we are here?” Piper’s voice dripped with the emotion clouding her expression.
“No.”
“Of course, I’m sorry.” From looking on the verge of tears, Piper went to embarrassment in a single breath. “There’s no reason to take your friend to visit your mother.”
“It’s not that. She would like you.” How could she not? Piper was a very likable woman. “However, I have no intention of seeing my mother.”
“What? Why not? Surely we have time. Even if she lives on one of the islands. We can skip the sightseeing.”
“She lives in Athens. I bought her a house in Kifissia.” The distance between that district and the one he had been born in was measured in more than kilometers, though.
Piper’s brow furrowed. “According to the guidebook in our suite, that’s the elite part of town.”
“Is that what it said?”
“Well, as good as.”
“The book is right. The wealthy have inhabited Kifissia for generations.”
“And you bought your mother a house there.”
He shrugged. What did Piper want him to say? He had wanted to give his mother a physical break from the past.
“Yet you are not going to visit her.”
“No,” he confirmed.
“But…”
“I have not seen her in more than twenty years, Piper.”
“But you said you spoke last month.” The confusion on Piper’s face was adorable.
He kissed her. Not passionately, but he could not resist the innocent incomprehension covering her features.
“It was her birthday. So, I spoke to her.”
“You call her once a year, on her birthday?” Piper guessed.
“Yes.” The year after he first reconnected with Leda, he had made the mistake of asking what she would like for her birthday.
He’d become too ingrained in American customs. And he’d wanted the excuse to give her something nice, something to show her and the man she had married that Zephyr wasn’t such a dead loss after all. He wasn’t a lame puppy to be abandoned.
But his mother hadn’t asked for a designer handbag, or a new television. She’d only wanted one thing. For Zephyr to call her once a year on her birthday, so she could know he was doing all right. She could follow his success in the papers now, but he still made that call.
Once a year.
“Does she call you?”
“I have asked her not to, unless there is a problem with my brother or sister.” Keeping his mother at a distance was necessary and he could not change that.
“You have a brother and sister?”
He had expected some kind of criticism for his coldness toward his mother, but Piper hadn’t focused on a situation he could not change. She’d zeroed in on the one reality he found truly important. His sister and brother.
“They are half siblings, but I feel a responsibility toward them nonetheless.”
“How old are they?”
“Iola is twenty-nine. She is married to a good man and has three children of her own.”
Six years younger than him, his sister had been born a year and a half after he went into the home.
His mother had missed her visit with him that month and the one after. He’d thought she’d finally grown tired of coming to see him and wasn’t coming back. But she’d returned and she’d had a beautiful baby with her when she did.
“Have you met the children?”
“Yes, Iola insisted.”
“You sound like you don’t understand why.”
“I’m the bastard child her mother gave birth to when living a life they would all rather forget happened. My sister doesn’t even remember meeting me. She was too young the last time I saw her.”
“Your mother brought her to visit?”
“Yes.”
“That was cruel.”
He shrugged. To his way of thinking, it had been much more cruel when his mother stopped bringing Iola. Some might have thought he would be jealous of the baby, but Zephyr had adored Iola from the very beginning. He had been heartbroken when his mother’s husband had insisted Leda stop bringing his sister to visit when she was two.
But just like when he had begged to be taken with her, his mother turned deaf ears to his pleas to see the little girl he had allowed himself to love.
“I thought she was the most amazing being ever. I was in awe of her.”
“What did she think of you?”
“I don’t know. Her father did not want her to wonder about me, so my mother stopped bringing her on the visits when she was old enough to begin remembering them. My mother only brought my brother a handful of times as an infant for the same reason.”
“Clearly, they don’t want to forget you. Not if your sister insisted you meet her children.”
“I take care of them.” And even his stony heart could be moved by the little ones who called him Uncle Zee.
“You think that’s the only reason they want you in their lives?”
“Why else?”
“Maybe for the same reason I’d want you in my life even if I didn’t work with you.” How could he be so unaware of his own true worth? she wondered.
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t believe her, but he appreciated the sentiment.
“Does your brother-in-law work for you?” Piper asked.
“How did you know?”
“You said you take care of them. Does your brother work for you as well?”
“No. He’s academically brilliant. He’s finishing his doctoral thesis in physics right now.”
“Let me guess, you’ve paid for his education.”
“Naturally.”
She threw her arms around him and kissed him, far more exuberantly than he had kissed her just a moment ago. “You are an amazing man, Zephyr Nikos.”
He shook his head, but he was no idiot. He kissed her back and enjoyed the moment while it lasted, all the while wondering what in the hell was wrong with him that he had shared so much with Piper.
Maybe this friends-who-shared-sexual-intimacy wasn’t such a good idea after all. He couldn’t give her love and this openness was bound to give her the wrong impression.
CHAPTER THREE
HE TOOK her to the Plaka after she’d soaked in all the history she could from the Acropolis ruins. That, and the fact that visiting hours were over. He could have arranged for special dispensation but wanted to take her shopping in the ancient marketplace.
It was a tourist’s paradise and Piper in tourist mode was completely charming. It also put them back on the kind of solid ground he understood. They found a shop that made authentic reproductions of ancient Greek jewelry and he bought her a necklace that would not have looked out of place on the neck of a senator’s wife.
Piper had balked at the cost, but he had stood firm. If he wanted to buy her a souvenir of their time in Athens, he would.
He could afford to spoil her and she deserved to be spoiled. Especially after the way that bastard of an ex-husband had treated her. Zephyr would not pretend to give her love as Art had, but he could afford to give her gifts. And he would.
Later that night, on the terrace of an exclusive restaurant, Piper found herself enjoying the understated, elegant décor that managed to still convey the flavor of Athens. Like most Greek restaurants, the majority of the seating was outside. However, this restaurant did not have the crowded, noisy ambiance of the cafés in the Plaka.
As much as she had enjoyed the historic shopping district closed off to automobile traffic, she appreciated the relative quiet of their current setting. Very much.
“Is this a favorite haunt of yours when you are in the country?”
“It is actually.” Zephyr’s brows furrowed. “How did you know?”
“I don’t imagine the staff know most American businessmen by name, no matter how rich and powerful.”
Looking oh so sexy in a light Armani sweater and body-hugging designer jeans, his lips quirked in his signature wry smile. “Point.”
She was glad to see his smile. He’d seemed to draw back emotionally after opening up to her on the Acropolis. It was as if he regretted sharing so much about his past and needed to bring their focus firmly back to the present.
She could understand that. Zephyr was not a guy to wallow in emotion. Heck, he wasn’t a guy to feel emotion a lot of the time, as far as she could see. But she’d realized something as they shopped in the Plaka—she felt plenty toward Zephyr. In fact, she was drowning in emotion for him and that emotion only had one name. Love.
“Thank you for sharing this place with me.” She brushed her fingers over the gorgeous necklace he’d bought her earlier that day. “Thank you for everything.”
The stones were warm from her body, but her heart was even warmer. He had insisted a kiss would make the purchase fully worthwhile. Since her kisses were free, she’d thought nothing of giving him one. Right there, in front of the proprietor, who had grinned and said something in Greek that made Zephyr chuckle.
Piper wasn’t just feeling spoiled, she was feeling cherished and that was dangerous, she knew.
“It is my pleasure.”
“You say that a lot.” She smiled up at him.
“And it is true. You are an easy companion, Piper.”
“I’m glad you think so. I don’t hate your company, either.”
“That is a relief. I would not like to think you’d been giving me pity sex all this time.”
She couldn’t help laughing at that bit of ridiculousness. “Right. Pity sex. I don’t see it.” Or feel it. No woman would pity this man. Desire him? Yes. Crave his kisses? Definitely. Hunger for his touch? Without doubt.
But pity? Nope. No way.
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
She felt heat climb her cheeks and she shook her head. “Stop teasing me and eat your appetizer.”
Surprisingly, her tycoon listened and did exactly that.
They were halfway through the appetizer when she asked something she’d been curious about for a while. “Are you going to be Neo’s best man in the wedding?”
“Naturally.”
“Are you looking forward to it?” she teased, sure he would grimace and give a negative.
But he smiled instead and said quite decisively, “Yes.”
“You are?” She had not expected that.
“Of course. I worried that Neo had forgotten his dreams of home and family under the pressure of building our empire. When we first left Greece, that was all he’d talk about, how he was going to make something of himself and then make a proper family. He stopped talking about it maybe two years after we settled in Seattle.”
“But you didn’t want him to forget it entirely?” Wow, that was not an ambition she could picture Zephyr encouraging.
“No. He deserves a family, a home that is more than a place to live.”
“Those are some pretty traditional sentiments for a self-admitted playboy.”
“What can I say? I am a traditional guy.”
That made her laugh. “I don’t think so.”
“What? Just because I am not married does not mean I never desire to enter the state.” He didn’t look like he was kidding.
But she couldn’t get past the feeling he had to be pulling her leg. Zephyr was the original no-commitment guy. He’d made that clear from the very beginning of their sexual relationship. So much so, that she had assumed the first time had been a one-off.
He’d shocked her by coming back for more when they worked together on the next project, and continuing to see her in Seattle after that. But he’d been smart to give her the time to accept the change in their relationship, so she was ready to accept the new “friends with benefits” nature of it.
“You look flummoxed.”
“I feel a little flummoxed,” she admitted.
“I do not know why. It is the American dream, not just the Greek one, is it not? One day, I will find the right woman.” He gave a self-deprecating smile that gave her butterflies. “Hell, I may even fall in love as Neo has done.”
Those words felt like an arrow to her heart, because they implied he had not found that woman, therefore that woman could not be her. After finally coming to terms with her own feelings, that was a double blow to her heart. Her hand went to her necklace again, this time gaining no sense of comfort from the feel of the precious metal and stones. You had to love someone to cherish them.
So, what did that make this gift and all the other gifts he’d given her?
Unfortunately, after hearing his story earlier she feared she knew. This was Zephyr’s relationship currency. Gifts and money. Not love. Not for the mother who had hurt him and not for Piper, either.
“You don’t seem like the home-and-hearth type, Zephyr,” she couldn’t resist saying. “You live in the ultimate bachelor pad and you’ve dated far and wide. And deep and long besides.”
Besides which he saw his relationships with his mother and siblings as monetary transactions.
“As was Neo before he met Cass. Me? I am as desirous of making my mark on the world in that way as any other man.”
“You’re serious?” The words were just a formality, though. There could be no doubt from his tone or his expression.
He was dead serious.
“Why wouldn’t I be? Regardless of what I just said, I do not anticipate falling in love like Neo, but one day I will marry and procreate. Why build an empire if I have no intention of leaving it to someone?”
She didn’t mention his nieces and nephew. Clearly, that wasn’t what he meant. Zephyr wanted his own family. “But you don’t think you will ever fall in love?”
“No.”
That made more sense, even if it hurt enough to make it difficult to breathe.
“But…”
“But what? You loved your ex-husband, yes?”
She grimaced. “Yes.”
“And did that bring you happiness?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think love can happen, or make me happy when it does.”
“Perhaps it will happen for you again one day.”
“Maybe it will.” It already had—with him—and his revelations on the Acropolis had only cemented that fact.
However, she could see it wasn’t a truth he would be pleased if she shared. No matter how much that situation hurt her, she could not change it. She suddenly realized she was very likely to pay the price for another woman’s actions. Actions that were decades old, but had not lost the power to hurt or mold Zephyr’s actions.
But Zephyr’s heart was not available to her and might never be.
His lips twisted in distaste. “Love is a messy emotion.”
“No question, but it’s good, too.” Surely he could see that, especially now that Neo was so happily in that state?
“You don’t regret loving Art?” Zephyr asked with calculated cool.
“No. I regret that he was a cheater and a liar and that his love was more words than substance.”
“How is that different from regretting loving him?”
“My love was a good thing.”
“That ended up causing you pain,” he observed wryly.
She couldn’t deny it. Loving Art had nearly destroyed her on every level. And loving Zephyr didn’t look like it was going to be a much better prospect. At least she knew where she stood with him, though.
That was something, wasn’t it?
Zephyr gave one of those self-deprecating smiles he used when negotiating and it made her stomach clench to have him use it on her. “Look, I’m not trying to be the Scrooge of happily ever after, but you and I both know someone loving you is no guarantee they won’t betray you.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t open yourself to love at all.” She tried to keep the desperation his attitude evoked out of her voice. It wasn’t his fault she’d been dumb enough to fall in love with the wrong man. Again.
“It works for me.”
And she couldn’t fault him for his attitude. Now that she knew his mother had abandoned him to build a better life for herself, Piper couldn’t help understanding Zephyr’s distrust of love.
“But Neo loves Cassandra and vice-versa. Or so you said.”
“Cassandra is one woman in a million.”
The pain those words caused took Piper by surprise, making her heart cramp and her whole chest cavity hurt. Because they implied she was not such a woman. Who was she kidding? Certainly not herself. This whole conversation put Zephyr’s attitude toward her in stark relief.
He didn’t love her. Not even a little. He didn’t anticipate loving her, either. Not ever. Which was really not what she wanted to hear. The pain coursing through her mocked all the promises she’d made to herself after walking away from Art. She wouldn’t lose her livelihood when she and Zephyr’s sexual relationship ended, but she wasn’t sure her heart would survive, even if her business did.
Piper was head over heels in love with a man who did not believe in the concept for himself, and moreover he looked forward to marrying one day. Only Zephyr clearly did not intend that woman to be her. Not when he so blithely told her maybe she would find love again one day.
He’d reneged on his own words of maybe finding love and she felt like retracting hers as well. Was the prospect of love worth the possibility of this pain again?
She remembered the last time she had felt this awful inability to breathe. It had been when she realized once and for all that Art did not love her and never had. And once again, for her pride’s sake and maybe even for Zephyr’s sake, she had to hide the devastation going on inside her.
“I think you might be right,” she said, trying not to choke on the words.
“About what?”
“I do a pretty sucky job deciding who to fall in love with.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
She laughed, but felt no humor. “Thanks.”
“I’ve no interest in talking about Art Bellingham anymore.”
“Trust me, this whole conversation is leaving me cold.”
His eyes narrowed, but he smiled. One of his “armor smiles” again and she wanted to be sick. “So, tell me what you want to do tomorrow.”
She needed to do a better job of hiding her emotions. Starting now. “I’m a museum freak. I’d really like to see the National Archaeological Museum, the Acropolis Museum and maybe the Benaki Museum.”
“That’s quite a list considering you did not plan to sightsee on this trip.”
“I spent the time you were in the shower pouring over the guidebook in our hotel suite.”
“Ah. So, tomorrow is to be a gluttony of museums.”
“If you’d rather do something else, I can find my own way to the museums.”
His brow quirked at this suggestion. “There is nothing I would rather do than spend the time with you. I grew up in this city. I have seen it all.”
She couldn’t see him visiting the Acropolis when he was living on the streets, but she didn’t say anything. It was taking all her wherewithal to tamp down emotions she had not fully acknowledged before today, feelings that would be unwelcome to their intended recipient and would cause her nothing but aching heartbreak.
“As long as we are planning our schedule, what would you like to do the day after tomorrow?”
“I thought we were flying out to the island.”
“I’ve got a helicopter booked for late afternoon. I wanted to maximize your off time.”
“You spoil me.” And he did. He might not love her, but he was her friend and he cared enough to want her to be rested and happy. “This isn’t supposed to be a vacation.”
“Yes, in fact, these days are intended as exactly that. Surprise to you though they were.”
“But the day after tomorrow was supposed to be work.” She wasn’t sure which would be worse, spending more time sightseeing or being stuck in close proximity with him on a private island paradise.
“So, I changed the schedule a little.”
“Whatever you want.”
He frowned. “I want you to enjoy yourself.”
“I am in Greece, what is not to enjoy?”
“Then you will approve of a visit to Sounion and the temple ruins for Trident there?” he asked.
“Sure, that would be fine.”
“Would you prefer to do something else?”
“No, not at all.” It really didn’t matter. She needed to come to terms with her own inner revelations and his as well. The setting for doing that hardly mattered.
“Then, Trident’s Temple it is.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. I knew it had to bother you to be visiting Greece and only see a small barely developed island the whole time you were here. You’ve got far too curious and adventurous a nature to be content with that.”
“You know me well.” On the surface anyway.
He’d be shocked out of his Gucci leather loafers to discover she was in love with him. And not in a good way.
That night, their lovemaking was slow and intense. Zephyr unwrapped her like a fragile gift of immeasurable value, and she tried to take it at face value, unable to deal with the pain of dwelling on emotions she could not change. On either of their parts.
They did not join until he had reacquainted himself with every inch of her skin. But his behavior was so at odds with his implication at dinner—that she was not a special woman in his life—that as wonderful as it was, a curious sense of dissonance flavored their intimacy for Piper.