The Renegade Billionaire

His intelligent eyes flickered with some unnamed emotion. “You weren’t wrong,” he admitted in his deep voice.

“Thank you for your honesty. I think we can both agree this is an ugly situation all the way around and no one is at his or her best. My boss is beside himself. He has to make the call to the teen’s family and explain that their son is missing. Hopefully they’ll supply him with a reason why he might have run off midtour.”

“Let’s hope he’s found within the hour.”

She nodded her blond head. “We all want that. Unfortunately, his disappearance happened on your company property and will put the Konstantinos name in the spotlight, bringing you adverse publicity. As for poor Mrs. Shapiro and Georgios, they’ll be in agony until Darren’s found.”

He raked a bronzed hand through his gleaming black hair. “I asked the lieutenant to keep this quiet for as long as possible.”

“I heard you. Let’s hope one of the officers doesn’t leak it for a while. That boy has got to be found!”

Her voice shook because she was remembering the long ten-day wait before her fiancé’s dead body had been spotted on the mountain ledge, dashing her dreams for their marriage. The thought of Darren’s parents having to wait that long for any news made her shudder, a reaction Kyrie Konstantinos observed while he studied her.

She tore her eyes from his in time to see the tour bus drive out of the parking area to the road. Her heart was heavy for the teacher and Georgios, who had to keep doing their jobs while they were dying inside. Andrea felt anxious over the situation too. Where was Darren?

“With only a three-and-a-half-hour head start, he can’t get too far.” The incredibly handsome Greek read her mind aloud.

Andrea folded her arms to her waist. “Did you know he has his backpack with him? I wonder if he’d been planning his escape long before today in order to survive while he was on the run.”

“If so, he picked the right spot. It’s true these mountains will give him cover and the forest is dense, but I’ve lived here all my life and know every inch of ground. If the search and rescue teams don’t find him, I will.”

Stavros Konstantinos instilled such confidence in her, Andrea had no doubts he could do anything. She was alarmed by her thoughts about him—considering he was a stranger, she shouldn’t have been thinking about him at all. “You’ll need his description and a picture. I can email the information in his file to your phone right now.”

He pulled out his cell and gave her his number. Within a minute, he’d received it. She watched him study the dark blond boy’s passport photo. “He’s nice looking with that Marine cut. It says he’s five-eleven with brown eyes. He’ll be easy enough to recognize.”

“Unless he was carrying a disguise in his pack. Maybe turn himself into a woman?”

He flicked her another searching glance that sent a curl of physical awareness through her. “That would definitely throw anyone looking for him off the scent. I’ll pass your idea on to the lieutenant in case he hadn’t thought of it. You never know.

“Perhaps you noticed Darren’s birth date on the passport. He turned eighteen yesterday, which makes him an adult.”

“I didn’t catch that.” This man’s mind was a steel trap.

“What else do I need to know about him?”

She sucked in her breath. “My boss found out Darren comes from a well-to-do Connecticut family, so he probably has enough money on him to last for a while. Maybe he planned this before leaving the States, possibly with someone else who’s waiting for him at another destination.”

“Anything’s possible.”

“My guess is he’ll try to leave the island by boat rather than ferry. I’ve been studying my map of Thassos. There are dozens of harbors. How hard would it be for him to pay a fisherman to take him somewhere else and escape under the radar, so to speak?”

His eyes narrowed on her features. “It sounds like you’ve had experience with this kind of thing before.”

“Some,” she admitted. But not while she’d been working for the tour company.

“If he tries to get away in a boat, the harbor police will be onto him. In the meantime, I’ll head back to my house to change and go after him. As I recall, your tour brochure mentioned the Dragon Cave near Panagia.”

“Yes. They would have toured it this morning.”

“Then he might have decided to go there to hide for the night.”

“You’re right.” She hadn’t thought of that. “You’d make an excellent detective if you hadn’t been born a Konstantinos.” The comment had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. What in heaven’s name was wrong with her?

After a pause his lips twitched. “There’s a thought.” His amused tone played havoc with her breathing.

Andrea had visited the Dragon Cave months ago. It contained amazing stalactites and stalagmites. She’d seen the stalactite shaped like a dragon. “The literature says the cave hasn’t been fully explored.” Fear clutched her heart to think Darren might be foolish enough to penetrate a danger zone.

“I’ll check there first. There’s no time to waste.”

“Kyrie Konstantinos—” She thought he was about to walk away and wanted to stop him. He eyed her with such a penetrating gray gaze, she felt he could see right through her. This important man was ready to drop everything to look for a boy he didn’t know. With the police already doing a search, he didn’t have to do it and no one would expect it of him.

On top of his overwhelming male attributes, there was a goodness in him she could feel. The combination startled Andrea. She felt drawn to him in ways she couldn’t explain and would have to analyze later. “I’d like to go with you and help.”

He looked stunned. “Why would you want to get involved?”

“Because in a sense this is my fault. I’m the one who asked the quarry manager if we could bring our tours here. These quarries have been worked for a thousand years, yet many tourists still aren’t aware of their existence. I find them fascinating and convinced my boss to agree to the idea of a tour here in the first place.”

His head reared back in surprise. “Your idea?”

“Yes. I can only imagine how much you wish your quarry manager had said no to me. I realize everything is a risk, but you could have no idea how responsible I feel now that this has happened on your company’s property. And to be honest, there’s another reason...”

She felt his gaze travel over her. “What would that be?”

“Eighteen months ago I lost my fiancé. He was a mountain-climbing guide who’d gone up on Mont Blanc with some other climbers. They were caught in a terrible storm. When it was discovered he was missing, I was told I couldn’t assist in the search because it would be too dangerous.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Immediately, his eyes softened with compassion. She could feel it.

“I had to wait ten agonizing days until they found his body on a ledge. When I think of this boy’s parents hearing the news that their son is missing, I can’t stand by and do nothing.” Her eyes smarted with unshed tears. “Even if I’m not able to do any good, I want to help in the search for him.”

She heard him inhale sharply. “You can add me to that list of people who feel responsible because I’m the person Gus appealed to for permission to allow tours here.”

A small cry escaped her lips. “I knew he would have to go through channels. What a surprise to find out it was you.” Incredible.

“I’d say today has brought several surprises. But I don’t regret giving permission, not even under these circumstances.”

She took an unsteady breath. “Neither do I. Hundreds of students and teachers have benefited from what they’ve learned here.”

“That’s been my hope too.”

His words warmed her. She sensed he was a man she could trust. It was her own unexpected attraction to him she didn’t trust. “Whatever the outcome, please don’t worry that you’ll be liable. The tour company will take full responsibility.”

In the silence that followed, she took it to mean he was thinking about a possible lawsuit from the boy’s family once their attorney found out the Konstantinos family’s worth was in the millions. She wouldn’t blame this man for having no use for today’s litigious society. It was also apparent he wasn’t keen on her help.

Disappointed that she couldn’t be of help, she started to walk around his car to get to hers.

“Despinis Linford?”

Andrea whirled around.

“You’re welcome to come with me. But we could be out all night.”

All night alone with him? Her heart thudded for no good reason—except that wasn’t true. She knew exactly why it was thudding. She wanted to be with him. “I don’t care about that. If we can find Darren, that’s all I ask.”

“Then we’ll have to go back to my house for a few provisions.”

“Thank you. I’ll follow you.”

She got back in the rental car. En route, she called her boss and told him what was going on. Then she phoned Georgios and explained that she was going to help in the search for Darren and would keep in close touch. He thanked her in a shaken voice before they hung up.

The fact that Darren was now eighteen meant he was no longer a minor. Maybe his parents had given him this tour for a birthday present. To Andrea, his disappearance was more troubling than ever. As an adult, he could do what he wanted.

Andrea didn’t think she could handle it if anything happened to him before he was reunited with his parents. It hadn’t been that long since Ferrante’s death. Being hired by PanHellenic Tours had saved her life and she was doing better these days. But Darren’s disappearance triggered remembered pain from that terrible ten days when she’d waited for word.

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