The Greek Bachelors Collection. Rebecca Winters
made him feel ill.
“It’s little wonder you’ve displayed such indifference to Natasa. What do you intend to do?”
Just when Nikos thought life couldn’t get worse, it had.
He stared at his father. “Nothing.” He handed him back the photos. “Give Ari instructions to tell her I’m out of the country and won’t be back.”
“No personal message?”
“None.” He bit out the word.
A gleam of satisfaction entered his father’s eyes. His parent still had this sick fantasy about Nikos and Natasa. “I’ll take care of it.”
* * *
Stephanie sat in the chair, actually stunned that her intuition had paid off. The second she’d shown the photographs to the man in reception, she’d seen the way his eyes had flared in surprise.
The next thing she knew, he’d made a phone call and said something in Greek she couldn’t understand. Before long he’d escorted her to an office down the hall filled with pictures of ships of all kinds, almost like a museum of navigational history. The man told her they were trying to locate Kyrie Vassalos.
Until that moment she’d believed this trip had been in vain, and that something might be wrong with her mentally to have gone this far to trace a man who didn’t want to be found. But a voice inside said he still had the God-given right to know a child of his was on the way.
She’d been waiting close to an hour already. But the longer she waited, the more she expected to be told he wasn’t available. If so, she would leave Egnoussa and not look back. He was a member of the Vassalos family. That was all her child needed to know.
One day years from now, it was possible Dev—or whatever he called himself—would be confronted by his son or daughter. That would all depend on whether or not her child was like Stephanie, and wanted to meet the man who’d given him or her life. Some children didn’t want to know.
No matter; Stephanie planned to be the best mother in the world. She loved this baby growing inside her with all her heart and soul, and would do everything possible to give it the full, wonderful life it deserved.
After another ten minutes had passed, she couldn’t sit there any longer, and decided to tell the man in reception that she would come back. The weather was beautiful, with a temperature in the mid-eighties. The island was so tiny she could walk around the port and then return. The doctor had told her mild exercise like walking would do her good and help bring her out of her depression.
As she got up to leave, the man who’d been at the desk walked into the room. “Ms. Walsh? I’m sorry I took so long. It seems Kyrie Vassalos is out of the country and won’t be back in the foreseeable future. I’m sorry.” He gave her back the snapshots.
So, it was just as Stephanie had thought. She would have handed him one of her business cards from Crystal River Water Tours, where she took tourists and groups on swimming tours. But at the last second she thought better of it. For their unborn child’s sake, she hoped Dev would be curious enough to find her on his own.
“Thank you for your time.”
“You’re welcome,” he said with a smile.
After putting the pictures in her purse, she left the office and walked down the hallway to the entrance of the building. If she hurried, she’d be in time to make the next boat going back to Chios. Her trip hadn’t been wasted. She’d done her duty for her child. That was all that really mattered.
She made her way through picturesque winding streets paved with slabs. En route she passed mansions and villas with tiled roofs built in the Aegean island architectural style. Dev lived in one of those mansions, but she feared she’d never see the home where he’d grown up, and they’d never share anything again.
Stephanie kept going until she arrived at the landing area, where she sat on a bench and raised her face to the sun. This island was its own paradise. Evidently the lure of scuba diving had caused Dev to leave it. Being born here, he would have been a water baby, which explained his natural prowess above and below the surface.
Was he a true playboy? Or maybe a hardworking shipping tycoon who took his pleasure on occasion where he could find it around the world, as in the Caribbean? She knew nothing about him. He might even have a wife and children.
Stephanie shuddered to think she could have been with a married man. If that were the case, she would never forgive herself for sleeping with someone else’s husband. If he had a wife, it could only hurt her to see Stephanie’s business card. She was glad she hadn’t left it.
Face it. You took a huge risk being with him at all.
Disturbed by her thoughts, she reached in her purse for some food to help abate her nausea. She ate a sandwich and drank some bottled water she’d brought with her. The doctor told her she needed to eat regularly, to maintain her health. For once she was hungry, probably because she finally knew Dev Harris was a Vassalos and could be reached here.
After finishing her sandwich, she pulled out a small bag of grapes she’d purchased in a fruit market. On impulse she offered to share them with an older woman who’d just sat down by her.
The woman smiled and took a few. “Thank you,” she said in heavily accented English.
“Please take more if you like.”
She nodded. “You are a tourist?”
“No. I came to visit someone, but he wasn’t here.”
“Ah. I wait for a friend.”
“Do you live here?”
“Yes.”
Stephanie’s pulse raced. “Do you know the Vassalos family?”
“Who doesn’t! That’s one of their boats.” She pointed to a beautiful white boat, probably forty-five to fifty feet long, docked in the marina. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s their son I came to see.”
“They have two sons. One works here. The other I never see. He’s always away.”
Did that mean he was always doing family business elsewhere?
Unable to sit there after that news, Stephanie got to her feet. Maybe all wasn’t lost yet. “It’s been very nice talking to you. Keep the grapes. I think I’ll take a walk until the boat gets here.”
Without wasting another second, she headed in the direction of the moored craft. Maybe one of the crew would tell her where she could reach Dev. She’d come this far....
Closer now, she realized it was a small state-of-the-art recreational yacht, the luxurious kind she occasionally spotted in Florida waters, but she saw no one around. After walking alongside, she called out, “Hello? Is anyone here?” But there was no answer.
Upon further inspection she took in the outdoor lounge with recliners and a sun bed. Beyond it was the transom, with water skis, a rope and scuba gear. The sight of the equipment brought back piercingly sweet pain.
She stepped closer and called out again. Still no answer. Since the boat that would take her back to Chios wasn’t in sight yet, she decided to wait a few more minutes for someone to come.
Praying she wouldn’t get caught, she sat down facing the open sea and hooked her arms around her upraised knees. Before long she spotted the boat in the distance, headed toward the harbor.
Time to go.
Her spirits reached rock bottom because she’d come to the end of her journey. With her head down, she retraced her steps along the pier. “Oh—” Stephanie cried out in surprise as a hard male body collided with hers. She felt a strong pair of hands catch her by the upper arms to prevent her from falling.
Through the wispy cotton of her white blouson top the grip felt familiar. But when she lifted her head, nothing