The Renegade Billionaire

They’d neared the trail that led to the cave. It was getting too dark for tourists to be out. Stavros had been watching for anyone walking along the winding stone road bordered by heavy underbrush.

He pulled to a stop. “We’ll have to go on foot from here. Grab one of the parkas. I know it’ll drown you, but it will also keep you warm. The temperature inside the cave is always cooler, especially at night. Darren might not be here. If he isn’t, then let’s whisper once we get inside while we wait and turn off the flashlights. In case he does show up, we don’t want our voices and lights to scare him off before we approach him.”

“Understood.”

Andrea understood about a lot more things than he could have imagined.

They both got out and put on a coat. She reached for two bottles of water she could carry in the pockets of her parka.

He handed her the smaller flashlight, making sure it worked, then turned on the big one. After throwing a blanket over his shoulder, he locked the Jeep. Before he knew it, she’d gone down the path ahead of him. Because of the overgrowth of mountain foliage, it grew so narrow in spots that they had to proceed single file. So far, they hadn’t seen anyone.

Soon, they came to the large mouth of the cave. It looked like a dark hole. He moved past her, flashing his light around the interior for any sign of the teen. They went deeper, until the shaft of light lit up the dragon-like stalactite. Though it was always dark in the cave, the night gave it added menace.

If Darren intended to hide in here, Stavros doubted he’d go much farther for fear of getting lost. He turned to Andrea and put his lips close to her ear. Again, he was assailed by the delicious scent of her. Maybe it was the shampoo from her wavy dark blond hair, which fell loose to her neck. “Let’s sit here awhile and see if he comes.”

* * *

Andrea nodded and edged away in order to counteract the feel of his warm breath against her skin. He hadn’t touched her, but he didn’t have to for her to be intensely aware of him. After he spread out the blanket, she sat down cross-legged. In the next moment he’d taken the same position facing her.

The last thing she saw before they turned off their lights was the bone structure of his striking eastern Macedonian features. He was fiercely male, all of him.

Just thinking about all of him made her swallow hard. She felt the cool darkness enshroud them. If she was nervous and disturbed, it wasn’t because they were in a cave that was black as pitch. Something had happened to her from the moment Stavros Konstantinos had alighted from his car looking like a Greek statue come to life. It was so strange because she hadn’t been interested in any man since Ferrante.

“Do you know what a rare creature you are?” His whisper came out of the darkness.

Her body trembled in reaction. “Why do you say that?” she whispered back.

“Because your behavior is so perfect, you’ve forced me to break the silence in order to tell you so.”

Andrea couldn’t help but smile. “I learned early in life that most men don’t like chatter. Of course, my father isn’t like most men. I loved him and always wanted to go with him wherever he was sent.”

“Is he waiting for you in Thessaloniki?”

“No. He stays in a village near the Skouries mine for three weeks at a time. Then he comes to our furnished apartment in the city to see me for a week. While I’m at the office, he cooks up a storm for us. I take time off when he arrives so we can explore the sites together.”

“Your father never married again?”

“I once asked him that question because he’s had his share of girlfriends. He told me that because he has to move around the globe every so often, he decided it would be too difficult to be married. Plus, he said, I was the only child he wanted.”

“I can understand that. Both his reasons make perfect sense. Would you have liked a stepmother?”

No one had ever asked her that question. “I don’t know, since I never grew up with my own mother. To be honest, I didn’t care for some of his girlfriends and they didn’t care for me, so I’m glad he didn’t marry one of them.”

She could hear a change in his breathing. “How old are you, Andrea?”

“Twenty-six. And you?” she fired back, growing more curious to know everything about him.

“Thirty-two. Tell me about the man you were going to marry.”

He’d changed the subject fast.

“Ferrante was Italian-Swiss from Ticino. He came from a large family with five brothers and sisters of whom he was the eldest. I’ve never met anyone so happy and friendly. Some people have a sunny spirit. He was one of them.”

In the silence that followed, a warm hand reached out and found one of hers to squeeze. “I’m sorry you lost him.”

His sincerity reached the deepest part inside her, but Andrea wished he hadn’t touched her. Still, she didn’t pull away because she didn’t want to offend him when he was trying to give her comfort.

“I’m much better these days. What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?”

He removed the hand that had spread warmth through her body. “Like your father, I’ve had my share.”

“But so far you’ve stopped short of marriage.”

“Yes.”

“That yes sounded emphatic,” she observed. “With a last name like yours, I guess you can’t be too careful.”

“Your perceptiveness must be a gift you were born with.”

“I think it’s the influence of my rather cynical father.”

“So he does have one flaw...” His response sounded almost playful. “I was beginning to worry.”

“Why?”

“A perfect father is hard to live up to.”

“Are we talking about mine?”

She was waiting for his answer when she heard a faint noise. Andrea supposed it could be a rodent running around, but she hoped it was Darren and jumped to her feet. In the process, her body collided with Stavros, who was also standing, and he wrapped her in his strong arms.

“Don’t make a sound.” This time his lips brushed her cheek while he whispered. Instantly rivulets of desire coursed through her bloodstream.

While she stood there locked against his well-honed frame, there was more noise, a little louder than before. Whatever made the sound was getting closer to them. Stavros must have been holding his flashlight because he turned it on in time to see a ferret scurry away.

Andrea relaxed against him, but Stavros still held on to her. No longer whispering, he said, “It’s past eleven o’clock. If Darren had planned to come here tonight, he would have arrived by now, don’t you think?”

She eased out of his arms and turned on her flashlight so he couldn’t tell how much his nearness had turned her body to mush.

“I do.” Until she got herself under control, Andrea wasn’t capable of saying anything else.

“Since the lieutenant hasn’t phoned me with news yet, that means Darren’s still out there, but I doubt he’ll do any more hiking before first light.” He scooped up the blanket and folded it. “Since he’s not here, it’s possible he took the trail leading away from the quarry that eventually goes down the mountain. There are firebreaks that crisscross it. We’ll take one, then another. Hopefully we’ll locate him.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” Together they left and made their way back to the Jeep. The slightly warmer air outside the dank cave felt good, but she kept the parka on. Once they’d climbed inside, he started it up and they took off at a clip. He turned on his brights to help them in their search. Andrea drank some of her water, thankful he knew where to drive.

“Are you hungry, Stavros?”

“Another gyro sounds good.”