LITMIR.BIZ

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and he shouldn’t have to pay for a mistake which was as much mine as his. I wanted you to see him so you’ll know what kind of genes the children have inherited. Now promise me you’ll forget everything.”

      Gabi understood how Thea felt and planned to honor her wishes. Besides the unsuspecting father, she realized that any news would be exploited if linked to the Simonides family. As they had recently lost the daughter of her father’s first marriage, Gabi wanted to save her parents any added grief.

      While she sat there deep in thought the rear door opened. Surprised they’d already arrived in front of the hotel, she gave a start before getting out.

      “Please thank your employer for me.”

      “Of course.”

      Once he’d gone, she hurried inside, anxious to eat something at the snack bar before going up to her room. Whatever Mr. Simonides intended to do, he was in the driver’s seat and would be the one to set the timetable for their next conversation. If there were to be one…

      She could only hope he would make the arrangements before morning. Tomorrow she needed to fly back to Heraklion on Crete and rejoin her family. On top of their sadness, they had their hands full with the twins who’d been born six weeks premature.

      When it had looked as if Thea was in trouble, Gabi had taken an undetermined leave of absence from the advertising agency in Virginia to fly to Heraklion. Since then she’d taken over the care of the babies because her busy parents’ demanding diplomatic position didn’t allow for the constant nurturing of the twins without full-time help.

      That was four months ago and Gabi’s job as public relations manager had been temporarily filled by someone else at Hewitt and Wilson, so she had a vital decision to make. If Mr. Simonides chose to claim his children, then she needed to get back to her work in Virginia ASAP.

      Her immediate boss had been made regional director of the East Coast market and hinted at an important promotion for her. But she needed to get back home if she wanted to expand her career opportunity with him. The only other career more important would be to become the mother to Thea’s children. But if she chose to do that, then it meant she would have to give up her advertising career until they were school age.

      Having been burned by Texas rancher and oil man Rand McCallister five years ago, Gabi had no intention of ever getting married or having children, but if the twins’ birth father didn’t want them, then she would take on the responsibility of raising them because they were her family. As such, she needed to go back to Virginia where she could rear them in familiar surroundings.

      Her family’s home in Alexandria was the perfect residence in a guarded, gated community with other diplomats’ families, some of whom had small children. Gabi had always lived in it with her parents when they weren’t in Greece on assignment. Since Gabi’s father owned the house outright, she wouldn’t have to deal with a mortgage payment.

      If she combined the savings from her job with her dad’s financial help, she could be a stay-at-home mom until they were both school age, then get back to her career. It could all work. Gabi would make it work because she’d grown to love the twins as if they were her own babies.

      In all likelihood Mr. Simonides wasn’t interested in the children and had only made certain she got a ride back to wherever she’d come from. Therefore she would fly the twins to Alexandria with her next week.

      After a quick meal, Gabi went up to her room on the fourth floor, reasoning that her mother would go with her to help the three of them settle in before returning to Crete. The consulate was no place for two new infants. Her parents would never admit it, but the whole situation had grown out of control.

      No sooner did she let herself inside with the card key than she saw the red light blinking on the telephone. Her mother could have left a voice message rather than try to get her on her cell phone. Then again…

      With an odd combination of curiosity and trepidation, she reached for the receiver to retrieve it.

      “Another limo is waiting for you in front of the hotel, Ms. Turner. It will be there until eight-thirty p.m.” Her watch said eight-ten. “If you don’t appear with your luggage by then, I’ll understand this isn’t a life and death situation after all. Your hotel-room bill has been taken care of.”

      Gabi hung up the phone feeling as if she were acting in a police procedural film, not living real life. He’d had her followed and watched. The fabulously wealthy Mr. Simonides inhabited a world made up of secrecy and bodyguards in order to preserve, not only his safety, but the privacy he craved.

      She imagined the paparazzi constituted a living nightmare for him, particularly when someone unknown like Gabi materialized. Her intrusion reminded him there were consequences for a night of pleasure he couldn’t remember because everyone partying on the yacht had been drinking heavily.

      Thea had confided he was a Greek god come to life. Unlike Gabi, who’d inherited her mother’s shorter height and curves, Thea had been fashionably tall and thin. Growing up, she could have any boy she wanted.

      She’d always had a man in tow, even the bachelor playboy Andreas Simonides touted in the press, now the crowned head of the Simonides empire. When he’d picked Thea out from the other women on board and had started making love to her in one of the cabins, she’d succumbed in a moment of extreme weakness.

      How tragic that in celebrating her divorce she’d become pregnant, the consequences of which had brought on her death…

      Gabi couldn’t imagine Mr. Simonides forgetting her sister no matter what. But if he’d been like Rand, then there’d been many beautiful women in his life. As both sisters had learned, they’d only made up part of the adoring horde. What a huge shock it must have been to discover he’d fathered baby boys whose resemblance to the two of them was nothing short of astounding.

      Gabi only had a few minutes to freshen up and pack her overnight bag before she rushed down to the lobby. It was a simple matter since she hadn’t planned to be in Athens more than a night and had only brought one other change of outfit with her.

      Through the doors she spied a limo with dark glass, but a different driver stood next to it. She assumed she would be driven to an undisclosed location where Mr. Simonides was waiting for her.

      “Good evening, Ms. Turner.” He opened the rear door to help her in with her case. “I’ll be taking you to Kyrie Simonides.”

      “Thank you.”

      Before long they were moving into the mainstream of heavy traffic circulating about the old Turkish quarter of Athens. Again she had the feeling she was playing a part in a movie, but this time she experienced a distinct chill because she’d dared to approach a complete stranger who had all the power.

      The sky was darkening into night. If she were to disappear, her family wouldn’t have a clue what had happened to her. Their pain at such an eventuality didn’t bear thinking about. In the desire to unite the babies with their only living parent, she’d been blinded to the risks involved. Now it was too late to pull out of a possibly dangerous situation she’d created.

      At this point she wasn’t quite sure what she’d hoped to achieve. Unless a bachelor who partied and slept with women without giving it a thought were to give up that lifestyle, he wouldn’t make the best father around. But for the sake of the twins who deserved more, she couldn’t just take them back to Virginia and raise them without first trying to let their father know he was a father. Would he want any part in their lives?

      She wanted him to be a real man and claim his children, invite them into his home and his life…be there for them for the whole of their lives. Give them his name and seal their legacy.

      But of course that kind of thing just didn’t happen. Gabi wasn’t under any illusions. No doubt he was convinced she’d approached him to extort money and was ready to pay her off. He would soon find out she wanted nothing monetary from him and would be leaving for the States with her precious cargo.

      Before Thea

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