LITMIR.BIZ

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Crete periodically, we’d discuss business on my yacht, where we could be private.

      You’ll know where to find him when the time comes. The two of you will share ownership for six months. After that time period, you’ll both be free to make any decisions you want.

      By the time you read this, he’s probably married with children and grandchildren too. I’ve thought of him as the son I never had.

      The son Nassos never had?

      “What’s wrong, Takis? You’ve gone pale.”

      He must have read the whole letter half a dozen times before he realized he wasn’t alone in the room. His head swung around. Takis had gotten it all wrong. He could throw the idea of pity out the window. Nassos had looked at him as a son. More than that, he’d looked on Lysette, his French nickname for her, as his daughter.

      This letter explaining the reason for the Rodino divorce helped him understand why Lys had been hurt for Danae’s sake. It showed his love for Lys and hinted of the affection and regard Nassos had felt for him.

      Takis sucked in his breath. Nothing about the hotelier’s actions where Takis was concerned had been the way he’d thought!

      His friends had tried to convince him that the gift of the hotel had been Nassos’s way of honoring him for making a success of his life. They’d been right. But without this letter, he’d have gone on threshing around for reasons that had no basis in truth.

      He handed it back to her. “Thank you for letting me read it.” His voice throbbed. “It’s a gift I didn’t expect. Because of your generosity I was allowed to see into Nassos’s mind. Bless you for that, or I might have gone through the rest of my life being...unsettled.”

      Those heavenly purple eyes played over his face in confusion. “Why?”

      “It’s a long story.”

      “I’d like to hear it. Won’t you sit down?”

      He couldn’t. Takis was too wired. If anyone deserved to know what had been going on inside him, she did. Her honesty and willingness to share something so private humbled him.

      “Let me just say I thought Nassos pitied me because of my poor background.”

      She got to her feet. “I’m sure he did. The grandfather who raised him was ill and so poor, Nassos had to sell the fish he caught from a rowboat so they could live.”

      Takis’s head reared. “I didn’t know that.”

      “I’m not surprised. It pained him to talk about it. My own father’s parents died in a ferry accident and a near-destitute aunt took him in, but sadly she too died early. My father and Nassos joined forces and started catching fish to sell so they wouldn’t starve.”

      What she’d just told Takis blew his mind.

      “No doubt when he discovered you were working at the hotel and showed such amazing promise after coming from a similar background as himself, he was glad to help you. He was always kind to people.

      “If he’d known he was going to die this soon, I have no doubt that he would have given the hotel to you outright. He knew I’d be coming into my inheritance soon and would be able to make my way in the world just fine.”

      The more she talked, the more ashamed Takis felt for being so far off the mark. These revelations changed everything for him. He cleared his throat. “Do you like running the hotel?”

      “Yes, but I haven’t known anything else. When I flew to Italy to find you, I thought I might have to track you all the way to New York. My mother’s best friend still lives on Long Island. When she came to the funeral, she invited me to stay with her for a while. I’ve toyed with the idea that if you wanted to work here and be by your family, I’d find a different kind of job in New York.”

      The thought of her not being here in Crete disturbed him more than a little bit. “You think I need breathing room?”

      She cocked her head. “I don’t know. Do you?”

      What Takis needed was to put his priorities in order. His family took precedence over every consideration. Nassos’s gift had opened up a way for him to have a legitimate reason to be on Crete for the next six months. But it was vital that as co-owner, she be the visible owner on duty while he was the invisible co-owner who helped behind the scenes.

      “I’m going to share something I’ve never shared with anyone but my two best friends and business partners. Except for visits to my family, I’ve been gone from Crete for eleven years. On my last visit here when I attended Nassos’s funeral, my mother begged me to come home for good.”

      “That sounds like a loving mother,” Lys said softly. Her genuineness made him believe she was truly happy for him.

      “But they’ve never asked me for anything, or wanted anything from me, whether it be financial or something else. Now I’m worried about them and their health. Maybe I’m wrong about that. Nevertheless I’m planning to sell my hotels in New York and move here permanently to be near them all the time.”

      “I suspect they’ve been hoping for that for years.”

      “If that’s true, I’m the last to know.” Lys was easy to talk to. She made it comfortable for him, but the warning bells were going off that he was getting in over his head.

      “Then you should move here and find out. It would be perfect for you and me. While you run the hotel and live around your parents, I can leave. If I find a new career in New York, then I might not want to buy out your half. In that case, when the six months are up, I’d rather you invested my half of the money from the hotel. Nassos’s trust in you is good enough for me.”

      “I’m flattered that you have more faith in me than I do.” But he shook his head, not liking that idea for any reason. Takis didn’t want her to leave. It stunned him how strongly attracted he was to her. She was in his blood and he hadn’t even kissed her yet. But that day was coming.

      “In truth I don’t want or need another hotel. The last thing I want is for anyone to know I’m co-owner. Yet for another half year that’s the way it has to be and I plan to live out the rest of my life here. So unless your heart is set on going to New York, I’d prefer it if you would call the staff together and tell them you’re the new owner of the hotel.”

      She got to her feet. “But that isn’t the truth.”

      How strange that a few weeks ago he hadn’t wanted this gift. Yet in just a short period of time everything had changed. Takis knew himself well and wondered if he could fallen in love with her in such a short space of time. He was overjoyed that for the next six months they’d be forced to remain joined at the hip so to speak.

      “No one else needs to know that. I’ll explain to Kyrie Pappas why I don’t want any mention of me as the co-owner.”

      Her arched brows knit together. “I don’t understand. You’re being so mysterious.”

      “My family must never know my name is tied to the hotel.”

      She moved closer. “Why?”

      “Because I’m a Manolis and there’s only room for one Manolis hotel owner on Crete.”

      A long silence ensued. “You mean your father.” She’d read his mind.

      “If he knew the kind of gift Nassos had deeded to me—the kind only a father would give to his son—it would hurt him in a way you couldn’t comprehend.”

      “Are you so sure about that?”

      “Not entirely, but I love my father.”

      Tears filled her eyes. “I loved mine too. It’s the only reason I went to Crete with Nassos at the age of seventeen when I didn’t want to.”

      “That had to have been very hard.”

      “It was in the beginning.

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