Realizing she’d stumbled on to something significant when he already felt vulnerable she said, “Akis? At the pool when I told you to talk to someone of your own kind and background, you thought I was being condescending. Admit it.”
“The thought did cross my mind.”
“Since I knew nothing about your upbringing until just now, will you believe me when I tell you I only said what I did because—”
“Because you sensed I was extremely attracted and it made you nervous.” His dark eyes devoured her as he spoke.
She squirmed on the wooden chair. “You’re right. Please go on and finish telling me your life’s story. I’m riveted. The food is delicious, by the way.”
“Thank you.” He leaned forward. “The widow we worked for started to suffer from poor health and gave us more and more responsibility. One day an American came in and told us the place reminded him of the convenience-store chains in America. He said they were all over the country. We looked into it and started to make innovations.”
“Like what?”
“To keep the shop open twenty-four hours, which we took turns manning. Besides stocking it with a few other items tourists needed, we let patrons cash checks and provided free delivery for those living or staying nearby. In time we’d saved enough money to buy half the store. When she had to stop working, we bought her out.”
“That’s amazing! How old were you?”
“I was eighteen. Vasso had turned nineteen and had to serve nine months in the army. While he was gone, I ran things. After he got back, it was my turn for military service. We both served in the peacekeeping forces and undertook the command of Kabul International Airport.”
“It’s a miracle neither of you was injured, or worse.”
He shook his head, dismissing it too fast for her liking. What was it he wasn’t prepared to share? “The real miracle was that overnight we started making real money. After the early years when most nights we went to bed hungry, it was literally like manna falling from heaven.
“After selling the hut, we moved to an apartment in Loggos right along the harbor. When the widow died, we purchased the property and undertook renovations. In time we’d made enough money to buy failing shops of the same type in Gaios and Lakka, the other towns on the island. We patterned them after the chains we’d investigated and called them Alpha/Omega 24.”
She looked at him in amazement. “When I think of two brothers who had the will to survive everything and succeed, I’m in absolute awe over what you accomplished. How did you end up in Athens?”
“You really want to hear?”
“I can’t get enough. Please. You can’t stop now.”
* * *
Not immune to her entreaty, Akis brought some plums to the table for their dessert before he spoke. “When our staff was in place at all three stores and we felt confident enough to leave, we took a ferry to Corfu. From there we flew to Athens, our first commercial plane trip.”
“Late bloomers on your way to do big business.” The warmth of her smile melted him. “Were you excited?”
“We were so full of our plans for future expansion, not much else registered. Without the backing of an established bank, we didn’t have a prayer. After two days we found a shop for sale we wanted to buy and started talking to bankers. We were turned down by everyone.”
Her eyes reflected the hue of a lavender field. “Obviously that didn’t stop you.”
“No. At the last bank on our list we met Theo Chiotis in the loan department. He was working his way up in his family’s banking business. Maybe it was because we were all the same age and he could tell we were hungry, or maybe we just caught him on a good day, but he was actually willing to examine the books.”
“Bless Theo,” she murmured.
Akis nodded. “He asked a lot of questions and went with us to look at the property the next day. As we explained how we would remodel and showed him pictures, he said he would take the matter up with the bank director and get back to us. We had no choice but to return to Paxos and go about our business.”
“How long did you have to wait?”
“A week.”
“It must have felt like an eternity.”
Unable to resist, he covered her hand resting on the table and squeezed it before letting it go. “He told us the bank would give us the loan for the one store. If it turned a profit, they’d consider loaning us more money for other stores in the future. But the loan was contingent on our offering our other stores as collateral.”
“Of course. Akis—you had to have been overjoyed!”
He sat back in the chair. “Yes and no. Athens was a big city, not a little village. We had to gamble that Athenians as well as tourists would patronize us. In no time our number four store was up and running. Vasso and I took turns manning it. Literally overnight we started making a profit we hadn’t even imagined and we never looked back. We call it our lucky store. Would it interest you to know that’s the store where you fell?”
A gentle laugh escaped her lips. “The concierge at the hotel recommended it so I could buy some headache medicine. After spraining my ankle, I didn’t think I was so lucky.”
“Fate definitely had something in store for us.”
“Certainly for you since you and Theo became best friends.”
“Theo had the good sense to fall in love with Chloe. If there’d been no Theo, you and I would never have met.” Akis didn’t even want to think about that possibility. “While I clean up, why don’t you go in the living room so you can stretch out on the couch? There’s an evening breeze coming in off the terrace.”
“What’s that other smell besides thyme?”
“It’s the woody scent of the maquis growing here mixed with rock rose and laurel.”
“I think you’ve brought me to the Elysian fields where Zeus allowed Homer to live out his days in happiness surrounded by flowers.”
Everything she said reminded him that she was highly educated and had seen and done things only experienced by a privileged few. She knew things you only learned from books and academic study. That was part of what made her so desirable. What could he give her in return?
That question burned in his brain as he cleared the table and put things away. “I take it you don’t mind being whisked here.”
Her mouth curved into a full-bodied smile, filling him with indescribable longings. “Your only problem, Akis Giannopoulos, will be to pry me away when it’s time to leave. I love this island where you come to fill your lamp with oil.”
The things that came out of that beautiful mouth.
He took a swift breath. “Raina Maywood? Before it’s time for bed, it’s time I heard the story of your life.”
