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He shot her glance. “What more do you expect to learn about that day by going there?”
“I’m curious to compare some facts with the Turkish accounts I’ve just gathered.”
Andreas shook his head. “Does that mind of yours ever turn off?”
She flashed him a radiant smile. “I hope not.”
After they reached Messolonghi, Zoe had booked a local hotel. After she’d checked in, Andreas walked her through the Garden of Heroes where Lord Byron was featured. According to his will, his heart was buried there beneath the statue and his body shipped back to England.
As she’d walked with Andreas, she knew she’d come close to losing her own heart. But it had happened so quickly! How could she be feeling this way after her last painful experience? Zoe was at the point where she didn’t trust her own judgment and was feeling so vulnerable, she was frightened.
Because you know that what you feel for Andreas is more than what you’ve ever felt for anyone before.
They had a meal of superb grilled eel at a nearby café. He was definitely a fish man, but this would be their last dinner together.
Zoe looked at her watch. “It’s getting late, Andreas. Don’t you think you’d better get back to Patras if you’re expecting to fly to Athens in the morning?”
“It’s only an hour’s drive. Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to get rid of me?”
She sucked in her breath. “That’s the first cruel thing you’ve ever said to me. I thought we were friends.”
“I’m sorry if it came off sounding that way.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I guess I worry that you’re a man with so many responsibilities. You’ve done everything for me since that accident.”
“It’s obvious that you’re not used to letting anyone help you.”
That was a plain fact. “You’re right. I need to learn to be more gracious. Thank you for this whole day and the dinner tonight.”
“You’re welcome. If you’re ready, I’ll walk you to the hotel and say goodbye for another week.”
Another seven days away from him. How would she be able to handle it?
He accompanied her as far as the hotel foyer. “I plan to come for you when you’re through here. I’ll call you.”
“I know you can’t wait for tomorrow to see Ari. It makes me happy just thinking about the two of you together.”
“Good luck with your research.”
They were talking around each other. She could see a little nerve throbbing at the corner of his mouth before he turned on his heel and walked out of the hotel.
Zoe hurried up to her room on the second floor and burst into tears. This had to end.
For the rest of the week she did as much research as she could. On the sixth day, she packed up and rented a car to drive back to Patras. From there she made a plane reservation for a night flight to Venice. For the rest of the day she got her laundry and packing done.
She couldn’t stay in Greece any longer. Zoe had been the first woman Andreas had turned to since filing for his separation. It was possible he and Lia might even reconcile given a little more time and no outside distractions. He’d told Zoe that Lia still wanted him back. Zoe didn’t doubt it and couldn’t help but wonder if that knowledge didn’t work on Andreas. If he wanted to try again with Lia, Zoe knew it would kill her.
Even if that didn’t happen, in time there would be more women when Andreas was finally free. Nate had found another woman before they were ever divorced. It was inevitable the same thing would happen with Andreas. Zoe wasn’t the kind of a woman to hold a man like him for long, not after she couldn’t keep even Nate interested.
No matter where they went, every female eye followed Andreas because of his looks and sheer charisma. Her legs went weak whenever she saw him waiting out in front of her apartment.
Here she was at twenty-six, on the verge of being swept away by the sheer male beauty and magnetism of Andreas Gavras. She’d learned he was the renowned hotelier of Gavras House Properties and an influential, fabulously wealthy business tycoon from the powerful Gavras family. Their name figured heavily in the economic future of western Greece.
Though she was madly attracted to him, she had to get away while she still could. It would be impossible to go on remaining just friends with him, not when deep down she wanted him in all the ways a woman wanted a man. And when his interest turned to someone else, then what?
After paying the bill, she left at eight that evening and sat in the airport waiting for the call to board her flight. That’s when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID. A moan escaped when she saw Andreas’s name. With a pounding heart, she clicked on. This was it.
“Andreas? How are you?”
“Looking forward to seeing you. It’s good to hear your voice. I thought I’d better call now to find out how soon you’ll be ready in the morning.”
She started to tremble. “I’m so glad you called when you did. I have something important to tell you.”
There was a definite pause before he said, “Does this mean you need to stay there longer?”
“No. I just received news from my two friends. They’re both in Venice right now and are begging me to come. One of them, Ginger, is being married to a Venetian on July 5, which is in less than a week. The three of us want to spend some time together before the wedding, so I’m on my way there now.”
“What do you mean you’re on your way?” His voice sounded fierce.
She gripped her phone tighter. “I’m at the airport and they’re calling for my flight right now. I have to go.”
“When will you be coming back?”
Heaven help me.
“I’m flying straight back to California after I leave Venice. I’ve been away a long time and need to get my affairs in order before I start teaching again this fall.”
“You can’t leave yet. There are things you don’t know. Things I need to tell you.”
“Andreas—I’m so sorry. I have to board the plane. But let me say this one last thing. You’ll never know what meeting you has meant to me. I’ll always be grateful to you for everything. You’re the finest man I’ve ever known. I guarantee that in time your life is going to be happy again. Take care, my good friend.”
CHAPTER THREE
ZOE STOOD NEXT to Abby and her husband, Raoul Decorvet, in front of the fabulous Palazzo Della Scala in Venice. Together with the other wedding guests, they watched Vittorio kiss a radiant Ginger before helping her climb in the flower-laden gondola in their wedding finery.
Off on a honeymoon and a heavenly future, and Zoe couldn’t have been happier for her, or for Abby, who’d also recently married her titled Frenchman and now lived in Burgundy.
Abby and Raoul had invited Zoe to stay with them until she had to fly back to California. That was her plan. But later in the day when she went up to the guest room in the palazzo, she ended up calling her friend.
“Abby? There’s something I have to tell you. If you can’t talk now—”
“Raoul is still downstairs with Vittorio’s family discussing the lawsuit being waged against him. What’s wrong?”
Zoe broke down and told her about Andreas. “Do you think I’m crazy to want to go back when nothing can come of it?”
“You’re asking me a question like that? The woman who left for France with a virtual stranger who might or might not have been on the level about showing me a poem of Lord Byron’s?”
She laughed through the tears. “But Raoul wasn’t just working his way through a troubled separation. I don’t know any details about Andreas’s marriage and don’t want to, but I’ve seen the pain in his eyes. Sometimes he seems miles away. Whatever he’s holding back, he hasn’t shared it with me. I can’t handle it.”
“At least this Andreas told you up front he was separated from his wife and had a child, but it sounds like he’s being careful. I’m sorry you left before he could explain more. It might have been important.”
Zoe wiped the moisture off her cheeks. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter because I’m afraid to get in any deeper. Like Nate, he’s no more ready for a lasting relationship than a fly. That’s the only kind I want and probably won’t ever experience. I’ve been through one divorce and have no desire to be used or hurt because he’s looking for temporary comfort.”
“It doesn’t sound like he’s using you, Zoe. Quite the opposite, in fact, considering his attention to you and the help he’s given you.”
“I’ll admit he’s been incredible.”
“That’s honest at least,” Abby murmured. “Look—I hear what you’re saying, but I can tell you’re really torn up at leaving him. I never thought I’d see you in this condition. Driving off into the sunset with Raoul after what Nigel did to me was close to lunacy, except that I felt something for him I had to explore. Now look what’s happened!”
“Your story is like a fairy tale.”
“Ginger’s is, too. She’d adored her husband who’d died and thought she could never find that happiness again. Then she met Vittorio, who won her heart. Now she’s the wife of a fantastic, important Venetian. Maybe it’s your turn.”
My turn for more regrets.
“Much as I’d selfishly hoped you would stay at the chateau with me for the rest of the summer, my advice is to go back and hear him out.”
She sucked in her breath. “Abby? I can’t believe you’re telling me this. Do you remember the conversation the three of us had at the vineyard in Geneva at the start of our vacation? When you told us about the French Realtor you’d met, Ginger and I were fearful for you. Something that sounded so good couldn’t possibly be true.”
“But it was, Zoe, even though he turned out not to be a Realtor.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“What could it hurt to see him one more time and hear what he has to say? You were pretty abrupt to cut it off on the phone with him when he had no idea you’d been planning to leave. It isn’t as if he did something you couldn’t abide. Or did he?”
“Of course not. If anything—”
“He hasn’t even kissed you?” Abby broke in on her.
Her face went hot. “I told you. It hasn’t been that kind of a relationship. I don’t know what you’d call it.”
“Then go back and find out. If I’m wrong and seeing him again only causes you more pain and frustration, then come to Burgundy. My invitation is always open. As for tomorrow, on our way home Raoul and I will drive you to the airport in the morning, if that’s what you want.”
Zoe’s hand squeezed the phone tightly. “I’m afraid it is what I want. You’re the greatest friend in the world, Abby.”
After they hung up, she booked a flight to Patras. Abby had given her the courage. She needed to see Andreas again one last time and tell him the truth. That she’d started to develop feelings for him but it was wrong to act on them while he still wasn’t free.
Andreas stared gloomily out the window of his private jet as it headed to Patras airport from Athens, where he’d spent a couple of days on business. After Zoe had said goodbye to him a week ago, he’d almost gone out of his mind. Ari was the only constant in his life and he didn’t see enough of him. Knowing Zoe was on her way to California was killing him.
When he wasn’t with Ari at Gavras House in Athens, Andreas wanted to spend every free minute with Zoe. He’d thought she’d felt the same way until that phone call. Her goodbye had gutted him. He’d experienced a staggering sense of loss and asked her to listen to him, but she’d hung up. He hadn’t had the opportunity to tell her what was on his mind.
The next time he went to Athens, he’d had plans to take her with him so she could meet Ari. Ever since he’d met her, Andreas had sensed something earthshaking was happening to him and she was the reason.
Whatever had frightened her off, he vowed this wasn’t going to be the end. He knew where to find her, even if it meant flying to California.
All these thoughts and more bombarded him as the jet landed and he got in the back of the limousine. He told his driver to take him to the Gavras building complex in the city center. His office manager, Lukas, needed his signature on new construction contracts that would take time to study.
When he walked into his inner sanctum, Lukas followed him inside. “Welcome back. Before we get started, I received a phone call from a woman who is most anxious to talk to you. The number is on your desk.”
“Was she calling from Yorgos Zika’s office?” He supposed it was something to do with Lia asking for more money to finalize the purchase of the Athenian villa she’d chosen. He would pay it. The sooner she was settled, the sooner he would change the temporary terms of visitation.
“No. This woman is an American and asked to speak to you if you were available.”
His heart hammered wildly. Zoe? Why did she call his office instead of reaching him on his cell phone? Was she still in Italy? Andreas was incredulous.
“What did you tell her?”
“That you were flying in from Athens sometime today.”
“Thank you, Lukas. I’ll make the call, then we’ll go over the contracts.”
He nodded and left, shutting the door.
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