LITMIR.BIZ

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did his bidding, but it was but a few seconds before they could hear Demi cry. Fran felt like the biggest meanie on earth, but she kept going. Once inside the compartment set up as a den with a computer, Nik closed the door and invited her to sit in one of the club seats opposite him. They could still hear Demi’s cries though they sounded fainter. Fran knew the baby’s uncles would take care of her, but the sound of her distress tugged at her.

      Nik sat back in his club chair with that unconscious aura of a CEO at home in his world. His dark eyes seemed to scrutinize her as if he were looking for secrets she might be hiding. Her pulse quickened in response.

      “Before we reach Mykonos, I wonder if you’d answer some personal questions for me.”

      Personal? “If I can.”

      “Are you a full-time employee at the hospital?”

      “Yes.”

      He cocked his head. “What would happen if you needed more time off? Would they give it to you without it causing you problems?”

      “I think so, but it would have to be because of an emergency.”

      “Of course. One more question. Are you involved with another man right now?”

      She blinked. He obviously had a reason for all this probing. “No.”

      “And your friend Kellie. Would it disappoint her terribly if you didn’t spend your vacation with her?”

      “Yes,” Fran answered honestly. “Why?”

      Her question caused him to lean forward with his hands clasped. His intelligent dark eyes fused with hers. “Because I have a great favor to ask of you. I know I don’t have the right, but Demi’s needs are going to be top priority for my family in the days ahead.”

      “I can understand that.”

      “Judging by her behavior around you in the hospital, and including the fact that she started crying the minute we walked away from her a few moments ago, it’s clear Demi has formed a strong attachment to you. I dread what things are going to be like when you leave on your vacation with Kellie. She’ll not only be looking for her parents, but for you. That’s what’s got me worried.”

      Fran had been worried about it, too, but she would never have brought it up. “Surely when she’s surrounded by your family again, she’ll get through the transition.”

      He inhaled sharply. “I would have thought her seeing me and my brothers would have been all she needed. We’re a close family and get together often. But this experience has traumatized her in some way we don’t understand. If she isn’t clinging to us, then I don’t expect she’ll want anyone else, not even the staff who are familiar to her.”

      “What about your parents? Your mother? Does she look like Melina?”

      “They shared certain traits.” His eyes stared into Fran’s. “But I don’t know if Demi would cling to them the way she does to you. I’m very interested to see what happens when she’s with them again. Something tells me it won’t be enough to make the baby feel secure.”

      “You’ll have to give Demi time.”

      “That goes without saying. Nevertheless, I plan to consult a child psychiatrist after the funeral is over. Depending on what he or she says, I’ll go from there. But for the time being, I’d like to hire you to take care of Demi until you have to get back to Philadelphia. By then I’ll have some idea of how to proceed.”

      Fran stirred in the chair. While trembling with excitement at the prospect of loving that little girl for a while longer, she knew how painful it would be when she had to say a final goodbye. She’d known a lot of pain in her life. First the death of her brother, then the death of a dream that had ended in divorce. She might not have lost Rob in death, but it felt like one.

      No brother, no husband, no child of her own after three years of marriage. Fran knew herself too well. Another twenty-four hours taking care of that precious baby would be hard enough. But ten more days? She couldn’t risk the inevitable pain. It would come and she wouldn’t be able to stop it.

      “When she’s been with your parents, or one of your brothers’ families, she’ll eventually adapt.”

      One black brow dipped. “I don’t know. It’s too soon to work all that out and I want a doctor’s opinion first. The one thing I do know is that Demi wants you. If you could bring yourself to help us out here, you’ll be handsomely compensated. Anything you want.”

      She shook her head. “That’s very generous, Nik, but I wouldn’t do it for the money.”

      He sat back again. “If Kellie doesn’t mind a change in your plans, would you consider it? You’ll stay in an apartment at the villa. There’s a guest room and another smaller room we’ll set up as a nursery. Kellie is welcome to be with you any time you want. But I guess I haven’t asked the most important question. Is this something you wouldn’t mind doing?”

      Mind? If he had any idea…Demi had climbed into her heart where she would always stay. Discovering the baby in that garden was as if providence had set the baby down in those bushes at the precise moment for Fran to find her.

      But the flags had gone up, warning her that if she told him she wouldn’t mind at all, she could plan for rivers of anguish down the road when she had to tear herself away from that baby. It was a trauma she’d never get over.

      “Fran?” he prodded. His smoky-sounding tone defeated her.

      Although the youngest, Nik clearly carried the weight of the Angelis family on his shoulders. She had noticed how his brothers looked to him. This was a problem none of them had faced before. At the moment she recognized he needed a different kind of help and wanted Fran’s.

      But for her own self-preservation, she needed to remain firm. “It isn’t a case of minding. It’s just that I know what Kellie’s answer will be when I ask her. We’ve been planning this trip for a long time. It will upset her too much and I can’t disappoint her. I’m sorry. But until the funeral is over, I’ll be happy to help out.”

      “Then I’m grateful for that much.” He got to his feet. “Shall we get back to Demi before my frantic brothers come bursting in here with her?”

      Fran had hated disappointing him, but her first priority had to be to herself.

       CHAPTER FOUR

      AT THREE THE NEXT afternoon, Nik left Fran holding the baby while he walked out to meet Leandros and his wife at the helicopter pad behind the villa. They’d been paying their respects to the other family, the ones who had lost their parents in the tornado and who couldn’t get away before now.

      “Fran will be relieved you’re here now. It’s all that matters.” He led them out to the patio of the Angelis family villa where everyone had congregated to talk and eat. More tears ensued while Leandros and Kellie commiserated with his family.

      Incredibly, the pain of losing Melina and Stavros was softened by the joy of having found Demi alive, a blessing no one had expected. Nik was heartened to see his family’s spirits had lifted despite their loss.

      “It’s all over the news,” Sandro spoke up. “Demi is known as the Miracle Baby. Did you know the hotel in Leminos has become famous overnight?”

      “So has the hospital,” Cosimo declared. “They even interviewed Demi’s doctor on the noon news.”

      Though the whole family was eager to hold her, Demi clung to Fran just as Nik had suspected she would. The only time she didn’t cry was when his parents held her. But after a few minutes, Demi was looking for Fran and making sounds that indicated she didn’t want to be with anyone else.

      Nik knew his parents were hurt,

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