Emma Darcy - Ruthless Milllionaire, Indecent Proposal

It was a Lego train station, much to Theo’s delight.

‘He loves Lego,’ her mother remarked, finding even more favour with the Greek God.

‘I thought he would,’ Ari answered. ‘My nephews do. Their rooms are full of it.’

‘Talking of family,’ her mother quickly slid in. ‘Your father has apparently insisted on paying for all our accommodation here and …’

‘It is his pleasure to do so, Mrs Savalas,’ Ari broke in with a smile to wipe out her concern. ‘If you were staying on Patmos, George’s family would see to it. Here, on Santorini, my father is your host and he has asked me to extend an invitation to all of you for dinner tonight at our family home. Then we will not be strangers at the wedding.’

Her mother instantly melted. ‘Oh! How kind!’

Tina glared at Ari. Had he lied about keeping the deal? And what of his parents? Had he warned them not to reveal their relationship to Theo? He was pursuing his own agenda and she wasn’t at all sure he would respect hers. Far from melting at his kindness, every nerve in her body stiffened with battle tension.

Ari kept smiling. ‘I’ve told my mother it’s your birthday, Theo. She’s planning a special cake with five candles for you to blow out and make a wish. You’ve got all day to think about what to wish for.’

All day to worm his way into Theo’s heart with his facile charm, Tina thought grimly. She knew only too well he could be Mr Wonderful for a while. It was the long haul that worried her—how constant Ari would be as a father.

‘Are you coming with us today, Mrs Savalas?’ he asked, apparently happy to have her mother’s company, as well, probably wanting the opportunity to get her even more onside with him.

‘No, no. It sounds too busy for me. I shall stroll into the township in my own time, take a look at the church where the wedding is to be held, do a little shopping, visit the museum.’ She smiled at Tina, her eyes full of encouraging speculation. ‘Much better for you young people to go off together.’

Tina barely stopped herself from rolling her own eyes at what was obviously some romantic delusion. Gorgeous man—unmarried daughter—Greek island in the sun.

‘I shall look forward to the family dinner tonight,’ her mother added, giving whole-hearted approval to Ari’s plans for the whole day.

Tina smothered a groan.

No escape.

She had agreed to letting him into their lives in return for his silence until after the wedding, but if he or his parents let the cat out of the bag tonight, she would bite their heads off for putting their self-interest ahead of everything else.

After a brief return to their room to put the Lego gift on Theo’s bed, refresh themselves, and collect hats and swimming costumes, they re-met Ari and set off for the five-minute walk into the main township of Fira. Tina deliberately placed Theo between them. He held her hand, and unknowingly, his father’s. She wondered how she was going to explain this truth to him—another nail in her heart.

‘Are your parents aware of our deal?’ she asked Ari over Theo’s head.

‘They will be in good time,’ he assured her.

She had to believe him … until his assurance proved false, like the words he had spoken to her in the past. Would he play fair with her this time? She could only hope so. This wasn’t about him. Or her. It was about the life of their child.

The view from the path into town was spectacular, overlooking the fantastic sea-filled crater with its towering cliffs. Two splendid white cruise ships stood in the middle of the glittering blue harbour and Theo pointed to them excitedly.

‘Are we going to ride in one of those boats?’

‘No, they’re far too big to move close to land,’ Ari answered. ‘See the smaller boats going out to them? They’re to take the people off and bring them to the island. We’ll be riding in a motor-launch that can take us wherever we want to go. You can even steer it for a while if you like.’

Theo was agog. ‘Can I? Can I really?’

Ari laughed. ‘You can sit on my lap and be the captain. I’ll show you what to do.’

‘Did you hear that, Mama? I’ll be captain of the boat.’

‘Your boat, Ari?’ Tina asked, anxiously wondering what other goodies he had up his sleeve, ready to roll out for Theo’s pleasure.

‘A family boat. It will be waiting for us at the town wharf.’

His family. His very wealthy family. How could she stop the seduction of her son by these people? He was a total innocent, as she had been before meeting Ari. He was bound to be deeply impressed by them and the outcome might be a terrible tug-of-war for his love.

Tina suffered major heartburn as they strolled on into town. It was so easy for Ari to win Theo over. It had been easy for him to win her over. He had everything going for him. Even now, knowing how treacherous it was, she still had to fight the pull of his attraction. After him, no other man had interested her, not once in the years since he had left her behind. While he, no doubt, had had his pick of any number of beautiful women who had sparked his interest. Like the blonde in Dubai and probably dozens of others.

It was all terribly wrong. He had been the only man in her life and she’d meant nothing to him. She only meant something to him now because she was the mother of his child and he had to deal with her.

On the road up to the beautiful white church dominating the hillside, a statue of a donkey stood outside a tourist shop displaying many stands of postcards. The donkey was painted pink and it had a slot for letters in its mid-section. Over the slot was painted a red heart with the words POST OF LOVE printed on it.

‘I didn’t get to sit on the camel, Mama. Can I sit on this donkey?’ Theo pleaded.

‘You’ll be sitting on a real donkey soon. Won’t that be better?’ Tina cajoled, mentally shying from anything connected with love.

Theo shook his head. ‘It won’t be pink. I’d like a photo of me on this one.’

‘Then we must do it for the birthday boy,’ Ari said, hoisting Theo up on the donkey and standing beside him to ensure he sat on it safely.

They both grinned at her, so much a picture of father and son it tore at Tina’s heart as she viewed it through the camera and took the requested shot.

‘Now if you’ll stand by Theo, I’ll take one of the two of you together,’ Ari quickly suggested.

‘Yes! Come on, Mama!’ Theo backed him up.

She handed Ari her camera and swapped places with him.

‘Smile!’ he commanded.

She put a smile on her face. As soon as he’d used her camera he whipped a mobile phone out of his shirt pocket and clicked off another shot of them. To show his parents, Tina instantly thought. This is the woman who is Theo’s mother and this is your grandson. It would probably answer some fleeting curiosity about her, but they would zero straight in on Theo, seeing Ari in him—a Zavros, not a Savalas.

‘You have a beautiful smile, Christina,’ Ari said warmly as he returned her camera and lifted Theo off the donkey.

‘Stop it!’ she muttered, glaring a hostile rejection at him. She couldn’t bear him buttering her up when he probably had some killing blow in mind to gain custody of his son.

He returned a puzzled frown. ‘Stop what?’ Theo was distracted by a basket of soft toys set out beside the postcard stands, giving her space enough to warn Ari off the totally unwelcome sweet-talking. ‘I don’t want any more of your compliments.’ His gesture denied any harm in them. ‘I was only speaking the truth.’

‘They remind me of what a fool I was with you. I won’t be fooled again, Ari.’

He grimaced. ‘I’m sorry you read more into our previous relationship than was meant, Christina.’