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But, though Anna see to be a father, she didn’t seem at all inclined to fall at his feet for that alone
At least the time had made a difference at his hoone, sorted and filed His appointanized to better suit his schedule, with no s In nine short days Anna had mended Lindsey’s ineptitude with efficiency and poise
He looked around his office A ht with satisfaction Then he stopped hiet used to this He couldn’t let himself After the ten days was over Anna would return to full-time motherhood Her place was at ho their son
It had been nice working fro to his office at the casino as usual He’d seen a lot of Michael, too, since Anna was still feeding him every three hours She usually had hiht now the baby was in the nursery, taking his afternoon nap, but just a fewat the dangling toys of his playgy, a smile formed on Nikos’s lips
He shook himself What kind of work environanization, his work habits were slipping His usual sixteen or eighteen-hour days just weren’t possible when he was constantly being distracted by the laughter of his son and the gorgeous vision of Anna in a sli her killer legs while she took dictation
No, he had to stick to his plan Anna would be free of the burden of work, and he’d find some other secretary He’da happy childhood, and return to his eighteen-hour work days He’d shown his son the empire that would soon be his; he couldn’t slack off on the job now
But he was leaving toht to apore, and, while he still believed he’d achieve his goal, it et creative He’d soon have no choice but to…ugh…talk s He had no idea how to do that, but he’d improvise How hard could it be? He’d talk about his childhood Didn’t women swoon over stories of poverty and misery?
“What are you doing?” he asked, suddenly distracted by the vision of Anna’s sweet backside in the for black skirt as she knelt near the trash can and leaned forward on her hands Wild ih him
“This must have bounced off the rim” She picked up the cru behind the can Nikos groaned inwardly as she saw the pale blue envelope that he’d tossed there early this
Leaning back on her haunches, she picked it up and read the envelope “It’s postmarked from Greece”
Nikos grabbed a new résumé “Have you looked at this one?”
She refused to be distracted, and held the blue envelope a little higher “When did you get this letter?”
“Yesterday,” he said, grinding his teeth
She pushed back a long tendril that had escaped fronon “It hasn’t been opened, but it was in the trash”
“And your point is?”
“Aren’t you going to read it?”
“I think my actions are self-explanatory”
“But if your father’s rote all the way from Greece to try to mend the breach in your family…”
“There is no breach, because there is no fa to me, and now he’s dead, so why should I care about his ? She can write me or not That is her choice I’ her letters in the trash without your advice”
He still remembered all too well the first letter he’d received from the Greek woman She’d broken the news of his father’s death, and infor business—the sa business that Nikos had tried to crush as an adult Worse, she’d told him that his father had been the secret investor who had helped Nikos create Stavrakis Resorts His father had been the one to help Nikos build his very first hotel
Shaken, Nikos had still refused to go to the funeral, or s He’d also refused the shares in the company He hadn’t wanted any part of the family who’d been more important to his father than he and his mother had been
But it was the kindness in her letter that had shocked hientle, when he’d expected only hate The confusion and pain had driven hiht her comfort, her arms, her bed, and they’d conceived Michael…
Anna gave hihts “But how can you still hate your father now that you know that he helped you?”
“If I’d known he was the investor behind the venture capital firm that financed my first hotel, I would have tossed the money back in his face”
“But—”
“He was a nant, then sent her packing to New York Theto me”
“But your stepmother—”
“Don’t ever call her that again”