want to see them,” he declared without hesitation, sending Gabi into mild shock that he’d become curious about these children who could be his offspring. She felt a grudging respect that he’d conceded to the possibility that his relationship with Thea, no matter how short-lived, had produced them. “How soon are you due back in Heraklion?”
“When I left this morning, I told my parents I was meeting a former work colleague from the States in Athens and would fly home tomorrow.”
“Will they send a car for you?”
“No. I told them I wasn’t sure of my arrival time so I’d take a taxi.”
He shifted his weight. “Once I’ve delivered you to Heraklion, there’ll be a taxi waiting to take you home. For the time being Stavros has prepared a room for you. Are you susceptible to the mal de mer?”
They were going back by sea?
“No.”
“Good. I’m assuming your parents are still in the dark about the twins’ father, otherwise you wouldn’t have needed to lie to them.”
“Thea never wanted them to know.” She hadn’t wanted anyone to know, especially not Thea’s ex-husband Dimitri. For the most part their marriage had been wretched and she hadn’t wanted him to find out what she’d done on the very day she’d obtained her divorce from him. Dimitri wouldn’t hesitate to expose his ex-wife’s indiscretion out of simple revenge.
“Yet she trusted you.”
“Not until she knew she might die.” Thea hadn’t wanted to burden anyone. “Though she admitted making a mistake she dearly regretted, she wanted her babies to be taken care of without it being Mom and Dad’s responsibility. I approached you the way I did in order to spare them and you any notoriety.”
“But not my pocketbook,” he inserted in a dangerously silken voice.
“You would have every right to think that, Mr. Simonides.”
“Andreas,” he corrected her.
She took a deep breath. “Money isn’t the reason I came. Nor do you have to worry your name is on their birth certificates. Thea refused to name the father. Though I promised to find a good home for the twins with another couple, I couldn’t keep it.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re alive. I’ve looked into the law. No one can adopt them unless you give away your parental rights. In truth, Thea never wanted you to know anything.”
He shrugged his elegant shoulders. “If not for money, then why didn’t you just spirit them away and forget the legalities?”
Gabi stared hard at him. “Because I plan to adopt them and had to be certain you didn’t want to claim them before I take them back to Virginia with me. You have that God-given right after all.” She took a fortifying breath. “Being their aunt, I don’t.”
Her lids prickled, but she didn’t let tears form. “As for the twins, they have the same God-given right to be with their father if you want them. If there was any chance of that happening, I had to take it, thus my presence in your office today. Naturally if you do want them, then I’ll tell my parents everything and we’ll go from there.”
The air seemed to have electrified around them. “If you’re telling me the truth, then you’re one of a dying species.”
His cynical remark revealed a lot. He had no qualms about using women. In that regard he and Rand had a lot in common. But Gabi suspected Mr. Simonides didn’t like women very much.
“One day when they’re old enough to understand, I wouldn’t be able to face them if I couldn’t tell them that at the very beginning I did everything in my power to unite them with you first.”
His eyes looked almost black as they searched hers for a tension-filled moment. “What’s in Virginia when your parents are here in Greece?”
“My life, Mr. Simonides. Like you, I have an important career I love. My parents’ responsibilities are here on Crete for the time being. Dad has always had connections to the Greek government. Every time they’re transferred, I make the occasional visit, but I live at our family home in Virginia.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I came a month before the children were born. They’re three months old now.” They’re so adorable you can’t imagine.
“What’s your routine with them?”
Gabi thought she understood what he was asking. “Between naps I usually take them for walks in their stroller.”
“Where?”
“Several places close by. There’s a small park with a fountain and benches around the corner from the consulate. I sometimes go there with them.”
“Let’s plan to meet there tomorrow, say three o’clock. If that isn’t possible, phone me on my cell and we’ll arrange for another time.”
“That will be fine,” she assured him.
“Good.” He wrote a number on a business card and handed it to her. In the next breath he pulled the phone out of his trouser pocket and asked Stavros to report.
Half a minute later the other man appeared. “Come with me, Ms. Turner, and I’ll show you to your cabin.”
“Thank you.” When she got up, she would have taken the envelope with her, but Andreas was too fast for her.
“I’ll return this to you later. Let’s hope you sleep well. The sea is calm tonight.”
She paused at the entrance. Studying him from across the expanse she said, “Thank you for giving me those two minutes. When I prevailed on your receptionist, she said you were already late leaving your office. I’m sorry if I interrupted your plans for the evening.”
He cocked his dark head. “A life and death situation waits on no man. Go to bed with a clear conscience. Kalinihta, Gabi Turner.”
His deep, attractive voice vibrated to her insides. “Kalinihta.”
As soon as Stavros saw her to her cabin, Andreas pulled out his cell phone to call Irena for the second time this evening.
“Darling?” she answered on the second ring. “I’ve been hoping to hear from you.”
“I’m sorry about tonight,” he began without preamble. “As I told you earlier, an emergency came up that made it impossible for us to join the family party on Milos.”
“Well, you’re free now. Are you planning to come over?”
He gripped the phone tighter. “I can’t.”
“That sounded serious. Something really is wrong, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” his voice grated. In the space of a few hours his shock had worn off enough for agony
