LITMIR.BIZ

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from Mr Zavros to make you most welcome, Mrs Savalas. I understand you are here for a family wedding.’

      ‘Yes, but …’ She threw a puzzled look at Tina whose fists had instinctively clenched at the name that spelled danger all over this situation. ‘It’s very kind of Ari Zavros to.’

      ‘No, no, it is Maximus Zavros who has given the orders,’ the manager corrected her. ‘It is his nephew marrying your daughter. Family is family and you are not to pay for anything during your stay at El Greco. All is to be charged to him, so put away your credit card, Mrs Savalas. You will not need it here.’

      Her mother shook her head in stunned disbelief. ‘I haven’t even met this Maximus Zavros.’

      It did not concern the manager one bit. ‘No doubt you will at the wedding, Mrs Savalas.’

      ‘I’m not sure I should accept this … this arrangement.’

      ‘Oh, but you must!’ The manager looked horrified at the thought of refusal. ‘Mr Zavros is a very wealthy, powerful man. He owns much of the real estate on Santorini. He would be offended if you did not accept his hospitality and I would be at fault if I did not persuade you to do so. Please, Mrs Savalas. I beg you to enjoy. It is what he wishes.’

      ‘Well …’ Her mother looked confused and undecided until a helpful thought struck. She shot Tina a determined look. ‘We can talk to Ari about this tomorrow.’

      Tina nodded, struggling with the death of any hope that Ari might disappear from her life again. She couldn’t believe this was simply a case of a rich powerful Greek extending hospitality. The words—family is family—had been like a punch in the stomach. She couldn’t dismiss the sickening suspicion that Ari had blabbed to his father. It was the only thing that made sense of this extraordinary move.

      ‘Let me show you to your rooms. A porter will bring your luggage.’ The manager bustled out from behind the reception desk. ‘I want to assure myself that all is as it should be for you.’

      Their adjoining rooms were charming, each one with a walled outside area containing a table and chairs for enjoying the ambience of the resort. Complimentary platters of fresh fruit and a selection of wines were provided. The gorgeous floral arrangements were obvious extras, too. Her mother was delighted with everything. Tina viewed it all with jaundiced eyes and Theo was only interested in how soon he could get into the children’s swimming pool.

      Their luggage arrived. Tina left her mother in the room Cassandra would share with her the night before the wedding and took Theo into theirs. Within a few minutes she had found their swimsuits in her big suitcase, and feeling driven to get out of the Zavros-permeated room, she and Theo quickly changed their clothes and headed for the water.

      She sat on the edge of the shallow pool while Theo dashed in and splashed around, full of happy laughter. Her mind was dark with a terrible sense of foreboding and it was difficult to force an occasional smile at her son. Ari’s son. Maximus Zavros’s grandson.

      Did they intend to make an official claim on him?

      People like them probably didn’t care how much they disrupted others’ lives. If something was desired, for whatever reason, they went after it. And got it. Like the rooms in this resort. Almost anything could be manipulated with wealth.

      She couldn’t help feeling afraid of the future. She was on this island—their island—for the next five days and it would be impossible to avoid meeting Ari’s family at the wedding. Ironically, throwing his fatherhood in his face in Dubai was no longer such a hideous mistake. He would have figured it out at the wedding. There would have been no escape from his knowing. She’d been on a collision course with Ari Zavros from the moment Cassandra had agreed to marry his cousin.

      The big question was … how to deal with him?

      Should she tell her mother the truth now?

      Her head ached from all the possible outcomes of revealing her secret before she absolutely had to. Better to wait, she decided, at least until after she’d spent tomorrow with Ari. Then she would have a better idea of what he intended where Theo was concerned and what she could or couldn’t do about it.

      Tomorrow … Theo’s fifth birthday.

      His first with his father.

      Tina knew she was going to hate every minute of it.

CHAPTER FIVE

      TINA and Theo were about to accompany her mother to breakfast in the nearby restaurant when a call from Ari came through to her room. She quickly pressed her mother to go ahead with Theo while she talked to the nice man about plans for the day. As soon as they were out of earshot she flew into attack mode, determined on knowing what she had to handle.

      ‘You’ve told your father about Theo, haven’t you?’ she cried accusingly.

      ‘Yes, I have,’ he answered calmly. ‘He had the right to know, just as I had the right to know. Which you denied me for the past five years, Christina.’

      ‘You made it clear that you were finished with me, Ari.’

      ‘You could have found me. My family is not unknown. A simple search on the Internet.’

      ‘Oh, sure! I can just imagine how much you would have welcomed a cast-off woman running after you. Any contact from me via computer and you would have pressed the delete button.’

      ‘Not if you’d told me you were pregnant.’

      ‘Would you have believed me?’ she challenged.

      His hesitation gave her instant justification for keeping him in ignorance.

      ‘I thought I had taken care of contraception, Christina,’ he said, trying to justify himself. ‘I would certainly have checked. However, we now have a different situation—a connection that demands continuation. It’s best that you start getting used to that concept because I won’t be cut out of my son’s life any longer.’

      The edge of hard ruthlessness in his tone told her without a doubt that he was intent on making a legal claim. A down to the wire fight over Theo was inevitable. What she needed to do now was buy time. Quelling the threatening rise of panic, she tried bargaining with him.

      ‘You said in Athens we could do this the easy way or the hard way, Ari.’

      ‘Yes. I meant it. Is there something you’d like to suggest?’

      ‘You messed up my life once and I guess nothing is going to stop you from messing it up again. But please … don’t make a mess of my sister’s day in the sun as a bride. That would be absolutely rotten and selfish, which is typical of your behaviour, but … I’ll make it easy for you to get to know your son over the next few days if you hold back on telling everyone else you’re his father until after the wedding.’

      The silence that followed her offer was nerve-wracking. Tina gritted her teeth and laid out the hard way. ‘I’ll fight you on every front if you don’t agree, Ari.’

      ‘When was I ever rotten or selfish to you in our relationship?’ he demanded curtly, sounding as though his self-image was badly dented.

      ‘You made me believe what wasn’t true … for your own ends,’ she stated bitingly. ‘And may God damn you to hell if you do that to Theo.’

      ‘Enough! I agree to your deal. I shall meet you at the resort in one hour. We will spend the day happily together for our son’s pleasure.’

      He cut the connection before Tina could say another word. Her hand was shaking as she returned the telephone receiver to its cradle. At least Cass’s wedding wouldn’t be spoiled, she told herself. As for the rest … the only thing she could do was deal with one day at a time.

      It took Ari the full hour to get his head around Christina’s offensive reading of his character. Anger and resentment

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