this the right way, but she wasn’t getting through to him. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Nassos hoped to leave a lasting legacy. Since none of us knows when we’re going to die, he took precautions early to preserve that legacy when the time came, whenever that was.”
“I still can’t believe he’s gone.” His mournful comment touched her heart.
“Neither can I. Because he didn’t have children, it meant putting the hotel in the hands of someone who understands and shares his vision.”
Takis was listening. “That was you.”
She took a deep breath. “I worked for him, yes. But I think this decision was made because he’d been my guardian and was always protective of me. He probably felt I needed someone to share the responsibility so I wouldn’t make a serious mistake.”
His brows dipped. “Mistake?”
“Yes. He loved the myth of King Minos, who forgot to rule wisely. Because of his mistake, he was killed by the daughters of King Cocalus, who poured boiling water over him while he was taking a bath. I notice you have a little statue of him.”
“The story of King Minos intrigued me as a youth too.”
Lys smiled sadly. “It proves you and Nassos had minds that thought alike. More than ever I’m convinced there was only one other person he could think of who would honor what he’d built.”
She opened her handbag and pulled out the sealed envelope she handed to him. “That person is you, Kyrie Manolis. His attorney instructed me to give this to you. Any explanations are inside. I don’t know the contents.”
If Nassos had another flaw besides his pride, it was his secrecy, which had left Lys at a loss.
After clearing her throat she said, “In case you’re not aware, it made Nassos happier than you could ever imagine to know that the little help he gave you in the beginning was the only thing you needed to go all the way. It means a lot to me to have met you after all this time. Not everyone could accomplish what you’ve done in so short a time. I’m truly impressed.”
She moved to the door while he stood there in a trancelike state. “I have to get back to Crete. Please don’t take long to let me know your plans. I wrote my private cell phone number on the back of that envelope. I live at the hotel and will meet with you at your convenience. Now I must get going. My limo is waiting in the front courtyard. Kalimera.”
She hurried down the hall. To stay in that room with him any longer wasn’t a good idea. They’d only just met, yet she’d felt a strong, immediate attraction to Takis that had rocked her world. It had gotten its start in the long-ago conversations between her father and Nassos, and the impression she’d created of the younger man who’d been hungry to better his life.
She knew she had to get away from him and leave the castello before she didn’t want to leave. Lys had never felt these kinds of initial feelings about any man in her life.
Those playboys who’d passed in and out of her life couldn’t touch this extraordinary man, who’d earned the highest praise from her father and Nassos. The intense way he was looking at her, the emotions he’d aroused, had caused her bones to melt.
TAKIS KNEW HE HADN’T dreamed up this meeting with the woman Nassos had helped raise. When she left his office, her flowery fragrance lingered, providing proof she’d been in here.
He’d seen tears in her eyes when she’d heard him enter the room. She’d just been looking at Nassos’s picture. The exquisite woman who’d walked down the aisle at the funeral had been his ward at one time. Shame on Takis for wondering if she could have been the mistress talked about in the news.
How old was Lys Theron? Twenty-five, twenty-six? And now she was half owner of the hotel, with Takis owning the other half.
Several emotions bombarded him, not the least of which was the attraction to her he’d felt at the funeral. He looked at the envelope his hand had squeezed without his being aware of it. According to her, this was Nassos’s gift to him.
Utterly incredulous, he opened it and pulled out a letter and a deed. To his shock it was official all right, signed with Nassos’s distinctive signature, stamped and dated. There it was in bold letters.
Takis Manolis, half owner of the Rodino Hotel in Heraklion.
The letter indicated he should get in touch with the attorney Xander as soon as possible. Once Takis returned to Heraklion, he could sign the deed in front of witnesses so it could be recorded and filed for the court.
He read more. Neither owner would be free to do what they wanted with the hotel until six months had passed.
Aghast, he shook his head. What on earth had possessed Nassos to do such a thing?
Once Takis’s hotels in New York had started making money, he’d paid the older hotelier for the help he’d given him. No amount could really be enough. How did you assign goodness a monetary value? He’d tried, but to his chagrin Nassos was now gone and there’d be no last time to thank him for everything.
This unimaginable development had thrown him.
For Nassos to turn around and simply give him half the hotel in Heraklion made no sense whatsoever. Takis didn’t want the hotel! He’d paid him back generously.
What in the hell was Nassos thinking? Now that he’d passed away, there was no way to confront him about this. The inconceivable gesture made him feel as if he’d always be the boy who’d come from near poverty. The thought hurt him in a way that went soul deep.
To add to the hurt, this deed had been delivered by special messenger in the form of Nassos’s beautiful former ward. Why would he force Takis’s hand by making him a co-owner with her?
She was too damn beautiful. The kind of woman he never imagined to meet. Didn’t want to meet. Only one other woman had touched his heart and she’d died. He didn’t want to experience those kinds of feelings again. Yet a few minutes with this woman and a fire had been lit.
How did she feel about being half owner with a stranger, even if she knew a lot about him from Nassos and her father?
His thoughts centered on what she’d told him about the way the press had labeled her in the cruelest of ways. With her kind of unforgettable looks, she was an easy target. Was Nassos’s divorce the result of his taking on Kristos’s lovely teenage daughter to raise?
What business is it of yours to care, Manolis?
Unfortunately it was his business until he could fly to Crete and clear up this whole mess with the attorney of record.
Adrenaline surged through his veins. He wished to hell none of this had happened. He still couldn’t believe Nassos was gone. Worse, he didn’t want to know anything about her. Takis wished he’d never laid eyes on her. He didn’t want this kind of a complication in his life. Loving a woman made you vulnerable.
A violent epithet flew from his lips. In his rage he tossed the deed across the room. It hit Cesare in the chest as he walked inside Takis’s office.
With
