An Offer She Can't Refuse

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Ari said sympathetically.

‘I think people should be aware there’s a very real and lasting responsibility about becoming a parent,’ Tina quickly stated, hoping to ward off any impulsive act that would end up badly.

‘I agree with you,’ Ari said blandly.

‘Fly-by-night people shouldn’t even consider it,’ she persisted, desperately determined on pricking his conscience.

‘What are fly-by-night people, Mama?’ Theo asked curiously.

Ari leaned forward to answer him. ‘They’re people who come and go without staying around long enough to really be an important part of your life. They don’t stick by you like your mother does. And your grandmother. And your friends. Do you have some friends, Theo?’

‘I have lots of friends,’ Theo boasted.

‘Then I think you must be a happy boy.’

‘Very happy,’ Tina cut in, giving Ari a look that clearly telegraphed without you.

‘Then you must be a very special mother, Christina,’ he said in his soft, seductive voice. ‘It could not have been easy for you, bringing him up alone.’

She bridled at the compliment. ‘I wasn’t alone. My parents supported me.’

‘Family,’ he murmured, nodding approvingly. ‘So important. One should never turn one’s back on family.’

The glittering challenge in his eyes spurred her into leaning over to privately mutter, ‘You turned your back first, Ari.’

‘I never have to any blood relative I knew about,’ he shot back, leaning towards her and keeping his voice low enough for Theo not to hear his words. ‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Christina.’

‘Do what?’

‘Fighting over him is not in our son’s best interests.’

‘Then don’t fight. Let him be.’

‘You expect me to ignore his existence?’

‘Why not? You’ve ignored mine.’

‘A mistake. Which I will correct.’

‘Some mistakes can never be corrected.’

‘We shall see.’

The fight was on!

No avoiding it.

The rush of blood to her head as she’d tried to argue him out of it drained away, leaving her dizzy and devastated by his resolute counter to everything she’d said.

He straightened up and smiled at Theo who was tucking into a slice of watermelon. ‘Good?’ he asked.

Theo nodded, his mouth too full to speak but his eyes twinkling a smile back at Ari. Tina seethed over his charming manner to her son. He’d been so very charming to her once. It meant nothing! But it was impossible to explain that to a five-year-old boy.

Ari turned his attention back to her. ‘Cassandra told me you now manage a restaurant at Bondi Beach.’

‘Yes. It was my father’s. He trained me to take over when … when he could no longer do it himself.’ Another bad time in her life but she had coped. The restaurant was still thriving.

‘That surely means working long hours. It must be difficult, being a mother, too.’

She glared at him, fiercely resenting the suggestion she might be neglecting her son. ‘We live in an apartment above the restaurant. Theo attends a pre-school, which he loves, during the day. He can be with me or my mother at all other times. And the beach is his playground, which he also loves. As you remarked, he is a happy boy.’

And he doesn’t need you. For anything.

‘Mama and I build great sandcastles,’ Theo informed him.

‘There are lots of beaches on the Greek islands,’ Ari said.

‘Can anyone go on them?’ Theo asked.

‘There are public beaches which are for everyone.’

‘Do they have chairs in rows like we saw in Dubai?’

‘The private beaches do.’

‘I don’t like that.’

‘There’s one below where I live on Santorini that doesn’t have chairs. You could build great sand-castles there.’

‘Would you help me?’

Ari laughed, delighted he had won Theo over. ‘I don’t think we’ll have time for that,’ Tina said quickly.

‘Nonsense!’ Ari grinned triumphantly at her. ‘Cassandra told me you’re spending five days on Santorini, and Theo’s birthday is two days before the wedding. It would be my pleasure to give Theo a wonderful time—a trip on the cable-car, a ride on a donkey …’

‘A donkey!’ Theo cried excitedly.

‘… a boat-ride to the volcanic island …’

‘A boat-ride!’ Theo’s eyes were as big as saucers. ‘… and a trip to a beach where we can build the biggest sandcastle ever!’

‘Can we, Mama? Can we?’

His voice was so high-pitched with excitement, it drew her mother’s attention. ‘Can you what, Theo?’ she asked indulgently.

‘Ride a donkey and go on a boat, Yiayia. For my birthday!’

‘I said I would take him,’ Ari swiftly slid in. ‘Give him a birthday on Santorini he will always remember.’

‘How kind of you!’ Her mother beamed at him—the man gorgeous enough to be a movie star, giving his time to make her grandson’s stay on Santorini so pleasurable!

The trap was shut. No way out. With both her mother and Theo onside with Ari, Tina knew she would just have to grit her teeth and go along with him. Being a spoilsport would necessitate explanations she didn’t want to give. Not at this point. He might force her to make them in the very near future but she would keep it a private issue between them as long as she could.

Cass didn’t deserve to have her wedding overshadowed by a situation that should never have arisen. With that one crazy urge to slap Ari with the truth in Dubai … but the damage was done and somehow Tina had to contain it. At least until after the wedding.

With the whole family’s attention drawn to them, she forced herself to smile at Ari. ‘Yes, very kind.’

‘Cassandra mentioned you’ll be staying at the El Greco resort,’ he said, arrogantly confident of her agreement to the plan. ‘I’ll contact you there, make arrangements.’

‘Fine! Thank you.’

With that settled, conversation picked up around the table again and Theo plied Ari with questions about Santorini, which were answered with obvious good humour.

Tina didn’t have to say anything. She sat in brooding silence, hating Ari Zavros for his facile charm, hating herself for being such a stupid blabbermouth, gearing herself up to tolerate what had to be tolerated and savagely vowing that Ari would not get everything his own way.

Eventually Cass and George excused themselves from the party, saying they needed to catch up on some sleep. To Tina’s huge relief, Ari stood up to take his leave, as well. She rose from her chair as he offered his hand which she had to be civil enough to take in front of company.

He actually had the gall to enclose her hand with both of his with a show of enthusiastic pleasure. ‘Thank you for trusting me with Theo’s birthday, Christina.’

‘Oh, I’m sure I can trust you to give the best of yourself, Ari,’ she answered sweetly, before softly adding with a touch of acid mockery, ‘For a limited time.’

Which told him straight out how very little she trusted him.

He might have won Theo over—for a day—but he’d won nothing from her.

‘We shall see,’ he repeated with that same arrogant confidence.

General goodnights were exchanged and finally he was gone.

But he’d left his presence behind with her mother raving on about him and Theo equally delighted with the nice man.

No relief from the trap.

Tina had the wretched feeling there never would be.

CHAPTER FOUR

MAXIMUS Zavros sat under the vine-covered pergola at one end of the vast patio which overlooked the Aegean Sea. It was where he habitually had breakfast and where he expected his son to join him whenever Ari was home. Today was no exception. However he was taking no pleasure in his surroundings and none in his son, which was obvious from the dark glower of disapproval he directed at Ari the moment he emerged from the house.

‘So, you come home without a woman to marry again!’ He folded the newspaper he’d been reading and smacked it down on the table in exasperation. ‘Your cousin, George, is two years younger than you. He does not have your engaging looks. He does not have your wealth. Yet he can win himself a wife who will grace the rest of his life.’ He threw out a gesture of frustration. ‘What is the problem with you?’

‘Maybe I missed a boat I should have taken,’ Ari tossed at his father as he pulled out a chair and sat down, facing him across the table.

‘What is that supposed to mean?’

Ari poured himself a glass of orange juice. This was going to be a long conversation and his throat was already dry. He took a long sip, then answered, ‘It means I’ve met the woman I must marry but I let her go six years ago and somehow I have to win her again. Which is going to prove difficult because she’s very hostile to me.’

‘Hostile? Why hostile? You were taught to have more finesse than to leave any woman hostile. And why must you marry her? To saddle yourself with a sourpuss will not generate a happy life. I credited you with more good sense than that, Ari.’

‘I left her pregnant. Unknowingly, I assure you. She gave birth to a son who is now five years old.’

‘A son! A grandson!’ The tirade was instantly diverted. His father ruminated over this totally unanticipated piece of news for several minutes before speaking again. ‘You’re sure he is yours?’

‘No doubt. The boy not only has a strong resemblance to me but the birth date places the conception during the time I was with Christina.’

‘Who is this Christina? Is it possible she could have been with another man?’

Ari shook his head. ‘I can’t even entertain that as a possibility. We were too intimately involved at the time. And she was a virgin, Papa. I met her when I was in Australia. She was at the start of a promising modelling career … young, beautiful, utterly captivating. When I concluded my business there I said goodbye to her. I had no plans for marriage at that point in my life and I thought her too young to be considering it, either. I thought her life was just starting to open up for her.’

‘Australia …’ His father frowned. ‘How did you meet again? You haven’t been back there.’

‘George’s wife-to-be, Cassandra … when they stayed overnight in the apartment at Athens, I discovered that she was Christina’s sister. Christina is to be bridesmaid at the wedding and her son, Theo—my son—is to be page boy. They were already in Athens en route to Santorini and I went to a family party to meet them.’

‘Is it known to the family that you are the father?’

‘No. They were obviously in ignorance of my involvement. But I cannot ignore it, Papa. Christina wants me to. She is appalled to find herself caught up in a situation with me again.’

‘She wants to keep the boy to herself.’

‘Yes.’

‘So … her mind-set against you has to be changed.’

It was a relief that his father had made a straight leap to this conclusion, although it had been fairly predictable he would arrive at it, given the pull of a grandson.

‘I intend to make a start on that tomorrow. It’s Theo’s fifth birthday and I managed to manipulate an agreement for the two of them to spend it with me.’

‘She was not a willing party?’

‘I made it unreasonable for her to refuse. The fact that she doesn’t want to reveal to her family that I’m Theo’s father gives me a lever into her life. At least until after the wedding. I suspect she doesn’t want to take any focus off her sister at this time.’

‘Caring for her family … I like that. Will she make you a good wife, Ari?’

He made an ironic grimace. ‘At least she likes children which cannot be said for Felicity Fullbright. I still find Christina very attractive. What can I say, Papa? I’ve made my bed and I shall lie in it. When you meet the boy you’ll know why.’

‘When do they arrive on Santorini?’

‘Today.’

‘Staying where?’ ‘The El Greco resort.’

‘I shall call the management personally. All expenses for their stay will be paid by me. Fresh fruit and flowers in their rooms. A selection of our best Santorini wines. Everything compliments of the Zavros family. They need to be acquainted with our wealth and power. It tends to bend people’s minds in a positive manner.’

Ari kept his own counsel on this point. His father could be right. Generosity might have a benign influence. However, he was well enough acquainted with the Australian character to know they had a habit of cutting down tall poppies. However high people rose on their various totem poles, it did not make them better than anyone else. Apart from which, Christina had already demonstrated a strong independence. He doubted she could be bought.

‘The mother might be favourably impressed,’ he commented. ‘Her name is Helen and she is a widow. It might help if you and Mama pay her some kind attention at the wedding.’

His father nodded. ‘Naturally we will do so. As a grandparent she should be sympathetic to those who wish to be. I will make my feelings on the subject known.’

‘She is Greek. So was her husband. The two daughters were born and brought up in Australia, but she would be familiar with the old ways … arranged marriages between families. If she understands it could be best for Christina and Theo to have the support and security our family can give them.’

‘Leave it to me. I shall win over the mother. You win over the daughter and your son. It is intolerable that we be left out of the boy’s life.’

That was the crux of it, Ari thought.

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