tugged her hand away from the flight attendant’s and sidled next to Savannah, taking a grip on the loose fabric of her crushed silk trousers. “Is he my family, Mama?”
Leiandros’s eyes blasted Savannah with sulfuric fury briefly as he straightened to stand at his full impressive six feet four inches. He seemed to be daring her to deny the link to her daughter, which she had no intention of doing.
She hadn’t been the one to deny her daughters’ family ties. “Yes, darling, your father was his cousin.”
“Does he look like my father?” Eva asked.
Leiandros speared Savannah with another look of censure.
“You’ve seen pictures, what do you think?” Savannah replied, letting her daughter draw her own conclusions.
She felt Eva’s head shift against her thigh as the little girl nodded her head. “But maybe he’s bigger.”
Eva put her hand on Nyssa’s small leg dangling over Savannah’s arm. “This is Nyssa. She’s four.”
He acknowledged the introduction with a devastating smile.
“Now that we are acquainted, it is time we left. Felix will take care of the luggage,” he said, indicating a short, stocky man standing several paces away near another very muscular man, only a couple of inches shorter than Leiandros.
Leiandros led them outside and Savannah blessed the lightweight nature of her crushed silk pantsuit when the hot Greek air blasted her as they stepped out of the air-conditioned environs of the recently completed airport. While the heat wasn’t so very different from Georgia, the sun’s impact felt stronger.
As they approached a black limousine with darkly tinted windows, the chauffeur opened the back door while another man stood sentry on the driver’s side. He and the man with Felix were no doubt part of Leiandros’s security team.
Savannah motioned Eva to climb in first. She did, taking Leiandros at his word and making herself comfortable for sleep on the far side of the seat, leaving enough space for Savannah to lay Nyssa’s dozing form down as well. Another wave of exhaustion rolled over her and Savannah wished she could join Nyssa in her peaceful slumber. Within fifteen minutes of leaving the airport, Eva had done so.
“Sleep if you wish. I will not be offended,” Leiandros offered. “The trip is a long one from the airport.”
Savannah swallowed a yawn. “I didn’t think it was that far from the city.”
“It is not, but there is road construction.” He shrugged. “It will take us at least two hours to reach the villa.”
She’d been relaxing against the seat, preparing to take him up on his advice to pass the time sleeping when he made that comment. She sat straight up and twisted her body until she could look him full in the face.
“What villa? I thought we were staying at a hotel.”
“You are family. You will stay with family.”
There was that word again, but Savannah had had enough experience her first time around in Greece with the dutiful ties of the Kiriakis family not to trust them.
“You promised me the girls would not have to see their grandparents until we discussed it,” she accused him in a fierce whisper, not wanting to wake her daughters to hear this particular argument. “I insist you take us to a hotel.”
“No.”
“No? No! How dare you do this? You promised.” She settled back against the seat with her arms crossed. “I knew I couldn’t trust a Kiriakis.”
That seemed to get him, because his hands curled into fists at his side and his face looked hewn from rock.
“You will not be staying with Helena and Sandros.”
“You said we’d be staying with family, at the villa.” As the words left her lips, an awful thought occurred to her. “You want us to stay at your villa on Evia Island? With you?”
His brows rose in sardonic challenge. “My mother is also staying at the villa. She will be sufficient chaperone.”
“Chaperone? I don’t need a chaperone. I need privacy. I need to stay in a hotel.”
“Relax, Savannah. There is no reason to shout about it. With two active children, you will find the villa much more comfortable than a hotel, I promise you.”
In that respect, she had no doubt he was right, but it wasn’t her daughters she was worried about at the moment. It was herself. She shuddered inwardly at the prospect of sharing living space with Leiandros.
“I suppose you still keep an apartment in Athens and spend most of your time there,” she said hopefully.
“Yes.”
She couldn’t quite stifle her sigh of relief.
“Of course, I’ve arranged to work from the villa for the next few days so I can spend time with my family.”
Savannah’s throat went tight in reaction to the threat in his voice, despite the innocence of the sentiments expressed.
“How long did you plan our visit to last?” It was something he’d refused to discuss on the phone.
If she’d been in her right mind, instead of riddled with worry over her aunt, Savannah would have forced the issue.
Leiandros looked at her as if trying to read her mind. “We’ll discuss that tomorrow.”
“I’d rather discuss it now.” She kept her expression purposefully blank.
“Very well.” He shrugged again, his face wearing a strangely watchful air. “Permanently.”
“Permanently?”
The grim line of his mouth went even more taut. “Yes. You’ve spent enough time running from your family. It’s time you came home, Savannah.”
Home? She wanted to shriek at him and pound her fists, but even with rage coursing through her veins like molten lava, she held onto her temper. She’d learned that lesson much too well to forget it, even with the current provocation.
She’d lost her control once with a Kiriakis male and opened herself to physical reprisal from her husband. She still had nightmares about her last meeting with Dion, the feeling of bruising male fists landing against her unprotected flesh.
“America is my home,” she said, spacing the words evenly, keeping her voice flat.
“It was your home before you married a Kiriakis, yes. But now Greece is your home, specifically my villa.”
“Your villa? You expect me to live in your villa permanently?” She was in a waking nightmare.
He reached out and opened the minifridge, pulling out a bottle of water, handing it to her before taking one for himself. “Yes.”
She stared at the cold plastic bottle in her hand, wondering
