the news of our wedding reaches them.”
The surprising revelation filled Stephanie with ambiguous feelings, of relief that their secret would be out, and anxiety because she wanted to make a good impression for Nikos’s sake. “I’ll wear the long-sleeved blouse with one of my new skirts.”
He nodded his dark head. “Stephanie...” The way he said her name made her think he was dead serious. “Follow my lead and don’t let my father intimidate you.”
After Nikos left the galley, she put their plates in the dishwasher, already feeling intimidated. She wished she knew what kind of deep-seated trouble lay between Nikos and his father. If he’d just given her a hint...
She dressed for the evening, then waited up on deck as the yacht pulled up alongside the dock on Egnoussa. Fairyland at night. Few people were out.
Nikos joined her, looking fabulous in a silky black shirt toned with dark gray trousers. To her surprise he’d brought his cane. This was a first. Using it for support, he reached out with his free hand and grasped hers. They left the yacht and started walking along the pier, toward a black car she could see waiting in the distance.
It appeared the ordeal he was about to face had drained him physically. Stephanie would do everything in her power to help him. As they reached the car, she gave his hand a squeeze. But whatever his reaction might have been was lost when a stunning dark blond woman with appealing brown eyes opened the door and stepped out of the driver’s seat.
“Nikolaos. It’s been such a long time.”
“Natasa.” He let go of Stephanie’s hand long enough to kiss the woman on both cheeks. “I didn’t know you were on the island.”
Stephanie felt de trop. This was the woman he would probably have married if Fate hadn’t stepped in to change his life.
“When I heard you were coming, I arrived early and asked your parents if I could meet you at the dock so we could talk in private. They assumed you’d be alone. Who’s your friend?”
Nikos turned to Stephanie. “This is Stephanie Walsh from Florida, in the States. She arrived a few days ago. Stephanie? This is Natasa Lander, an old friend.”
“How do you do, Ms. Lander.”
In the semidark, Natasa’s face lost color. “Ms. Walsh,” she acknowledged. “How is it you know Nikos?”
Stephanie groaned inwardly for this poor woman, who’d carried a torch for him all these years. It was no wonder. How could any other man compare?
“I was on a scuba diving vacation in the Caribbean months ago and we met.”
“Why don’t I drive?” Nikos offered. “When we reach the house, we can all catch up on each other’s news at once.”
Nikos... This was a terrible idea, but what could she do? While he helped Natasa into the backseat, Stephanie grabbed his cane and hurried around to the front to get in. As far as she was concerned, this was worse than any nightmare.
En route, Nikos chatted with Natasa the way you’d do with an old friend, drawing her out, until they reached the impressive Vassalos mansion with its cream-and-beige exterior. His ancestral home stood near the top of the hill next to equally imposing ones Stephanie had seen on her first day here. The burnt-orange-tiled roofs added a certain symmetry that gave the town its charm.
He pulled the car around to the rear and parked. Both Stephanie and Natasa moved quickly, not waiting for his help. Natasa went in the rear entrance first. Stephanie handed Nikos his cane, but he put it back in the car, then reached for her hand.
“Ready?” he asked under his breath. That forbidding black glitter in his eyes had returned. It was clear he hadn’t been expecting Natasa. Stephanie suspected the other woman’s appearance had been orchestrated by Nikos’s father. Yet unseen, the older man made an adversary that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.
When she nodded with reluctance, she heard his sharp intake of breath. “Maybe this will help.” He pulled her into his arms and found her mouth, kissing her with a fierceness she wasn’t prepared for, almost as if he was expecting her to fight him.
Stephanie clung to him, helpless to do anything else, and met the hunger of his kiss with an eagerness she would find embarrassing later. At last he was giving her a husband’s kiss, hot with desire, the one she’d been denied last night. Whether he was doing this to convince himself he was glad he hadn’t married Natasa, she didn’t know. But right now she didn’t care.
The way he was kissing her took her back to that unforgettable night on the island, when they’d given each other everything with a matchless joy she couldn’t put into words. He pressed her against the doorjamb to get closer. One kiss after another made her crazy with desire. Stephanie was so in love with Nikos that nothing existed for her but to love him and be loved.
All of a sudden she heard a man’s voice delivering a volley of bitter words in Greek. It broke the spell. Gasping for breath, she put her hands against Nikos’s chest. He was much slower to react. Eventually, he let her go, with seeming reluctance.
Still staring at her, he said, “Good evening, Papa. Stephanie and I will be right in. Give us a minute more, will you?”
Another blast of angry words greeted her ears.
“She doesn’t speak Greek, Papa.”
“How dare you bring this gold digging American into our home!”
That was clear enough English for Stephanie, who was thankful Nikos was still holding her. She eyed his father covertly. Except for their height, the formidable older man with gray hair didn’t look like Nikos.
“I dare because she’s my wife. We were married in a private church service yesterday. I wanted you to be the first to know.”
“Then we’ll get it annulled,” he answered, without taking a breath.
“Not possible, Papa. Father Kerykes officiated. Naturally, I expect you and Mother to welcome Stephanie into the family. If you don’t, then you’ll never be allowed to see your grandchild.”
Stephanie could hardly breathe. Nikos was claiming their child as his own even though he didn’t have proof?
“So you are pregnant!” his father virtually snarled at her. “I told Nikos I suspected as much when I heard you’d come to Egnoussa to track him down. Trying to pass off your baby as my son’s? There’s a word for a woman like you.”
The man had just provided part of the source for Nikos’s basic distrust of her. She eased away from him and stared at his dad without flinching. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Mr. Vassalos. I’ve been anxious to meet the father of such a wonderful, honorable man. You’re both very lucky. I never knew my father.
“But I have to say I’m sad you’re on such bad terms. Our baby is going to want to know its grandparents. I can only hope that one day you’ll change your mind about me enough to allow us into your life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to wait in the car while Nikos spends some time with you and your wife. Kalinihta.”
Good night was one of the few words in Greek she’d picked up, from listening to Nikos and Yannis.
No
