Chapter 12
Two days later, Theo was twirling in his ergonomically designed chair in his office still thinking about what Tiffany had told him on the sky deck. About where she came from and her brother’s art. And her parents and the divorce.
Her father’s emotional blackmail. Her mother scapegoating.
Even now, the slow simmer of rage that fizzed to life in his gut wasn’t far from boiling over.
Tiffany had been twelve. And everything she’d believed about her life had been ripped out from under her.
Dark as it had been, he’d seen the devastation in her expression and heard it in her voice.
A faint streak of disbelief, like even all these years later, she couldn’t comprehend how it had all gone so badly, so quickly.
Sure, in the grand scheme of shitty things that can happen to people, a messy divorce at a pivotal age with parents who’d abdicated the blame onto their kid was very much a first-world problem.
But that didn’t make the experience of being made piggy in the middle by her parents any less cutting for Tiffany.
Yet she’d somehow managed to put it behind her and become a functioning adult, forging her own way and giving her brother a hand up as well.
And he admired the hell out of her for it – more than that, he wanted to make things right for her.
Slay her dragons even though she’d proven she was more than capable of her own dragon-slaying.
Tossing the pen he’d been idly twirling, Theo rose and strolled to the windows, shoving his hands in his pockets, clenching his fists as he thought about how much he’d like to plant one square in the middle of Marshall Wainwright’s philandering face.
Theo may well have slept his way around Europe – and a few other continents – but he’d never put a ring on anyone’s finger.
His thoughts slid to Angelika before they slid hastily away.
Fidelity and honour in marriage – as in business – had not only been ingrained by his father and grandfather but it had been all around. Marriage was sacrosanct in the Callisthenes family and he need look no further than his elders to see it on display.
That was not to say that Theo wasn’t a realist. He understood that a lot of marriages didn’t work out and ended, oftentimes for the better of both parties.
And he knew people strayed in relationships for a variety of reasons and that things were rarely black and white, but there were no excuses for crossing any fidelity lines as far as he was concerned.
And for damn sure he took that judgement with him into business dealings.
A man who could screw around on his wife/partner/significant other wouldn’t think twice about screwing around on a deal. If he couldn’t be trusted to honour the most sacred vow a person could take, then why would Theo ever trust that person in business?
That didn’t mean he hadn’t done deals with people who’d failed the honour test. It just meant that contracts were airtight and there was zero wriggle room.
Theo’s gaze zoomed over the urban sprawl of the city to the sea, a deep dazzling blue stretching all the way to the horizon, wishing he was there already instead of waiting on this one last meeting.
But it freed him up for the next couple of weeks and tomorrow they were setting off to Crete, and he was already impatient to be on board.
It had been too long since the Nerida had been out, and using her as a glorified crash pad was an insult to her true purpose in life.
And then there was Tiffany. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit the thought of seeing her every day for more than a few minutes here and there wasn’t just as alluring as time on the water.
Even if putting temptation right in his path was like playing sexual chicken with that ridiculous dare.
‘I thought you were gone?’
Theo glanced over his shoulder to find his brother – the instigator of the ridiculousness – crossing the office. ‘Just one more meeting,’ Theo murmured as he turned back to the windows, Ari joining him in several long strides to also stare at the view.
‘I have news,’ Ari said, eventually rousing himself from the hypnotic pull of the Athens skyline.
Theo side-eyed his brother. That sounded ominous. ‘Oh?’
‘Dimitri Kouris is back on the hook.’
‘Really?’
Theo hadn’t been convinced that keeping his face and other parts of his body out of the tabloids would have any effect on the stubborn old coot, but maybe Ari had been right.
It happened, occasionally.
‘Yep.’ Ari nodded. ‘He’s ready to sell.’
‘That’s…’ Theo grinned at his brother. ‘Incredible.’ He pulled his brother in for a backslapping hug. Neither of them had wanted to let their grandfather down, and Ari had been beavering away determinedly to get things back on track for a couple of months now.
‘Uh huh,’ Ari agreed. ‘There’s just something he needs first.’
Oh, for the love of… Theo unhanded his brother. ‘You’re shitting me?’ They were going to put more money in the man’s pocket and save his damn company from going under. What else could he possibly need? ‘A mariachi band? A kidney? A fucking unicorn?’
‘He wants to spend some time with you.’
‘Okay.’ Theo’s brow furrowed. That would be excruciating but he’d be willing to do it for the sake of the deal.
‘Like, dinner? I could squeeze that in tonight.’ It would delay him getting on the boat but it’d be worth it if it helped allay Dimitri’s concerns about Theo’s moral character.
‘Or we can arrange something for when I get back from Crete?’
Ari shook his head. ‘No. He wants to spend a couple of days with you.’
Theo blinked. ‘What?’
‘What can I say?’ Ari shrugged. ‘The man wants what he wants.’
Theo knew exactly what Dimitri wanted. He wanted to look Theo in the eye and get his measure. Because Dimitri Kouris, like Yannis Callisthenes, was an honourable man who believed that a man’s word was his pledge.
But Theo didn’t want to spend days pretending he was a changed man when he had every intention of getting back on the one-night-stand circuit when the four months was up.
An image of Tiffany flicked through his brain like a cloud skittering across the sky.
Yeah – she’d be his first call.
‘Did you say yes?’ he demanded.
Ari snorted. ‘Of course I did.’
‘Ari.’ Theo almost choked. ‘You know he’s going to ask me to keep my pants zipped.’ Something he probably wouldn’t have said at a restaurant.
‘And you’re going to tell him you will.’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Yes, you are.’
It was irritating how much his brother didn’t give a rat’s ass that he was the CEO of the company, and older. ‘You want me to lie to him?’
Ari crossed his arms and let out a long-suffering sigh. ‘I think if these past two months have taught you anything, it’s that your life has been much less complicated without the tabloid drama, right?’
Theo had to admit not being followed around by paparazzi and reading utter malakies about himself online had been a very pleasant by-product of this dare.
‘So,’ Ari continued, ‘if you’re not out there flaunting a different woman each night on your arm at all the cool places, if you’re just more discreet, for fuck’s sake, I think Dimitri will call that a win.’
The cool places. It had been so long since he’d been out he’d forgotten all about them. He wasn’t sure when the clubs of Athens or Milan or Barcelona had started losing their appeal, but all Theo could think about now was what was waiting for him on the Nerida .
Another image of Tiffany fluttered through his grey matter, and he stomped on it. The sea. Adventure. Crete. That was what was waiting for him, damn it.
‘Fine,’ Theo huffed. Being more discreet wouldn’t kill him. ‘But it’s going to have to wait until I get back from Crete.’ No way was he delaying that for anyone. Not for Dimitri Kouris or his grandfather.
‘About that…’ Ari said, trailing off as he turned back to the window.
Theo narrowed his eyes at his brother’s profile. ‘What about that?’
‘He and his wife are going to be in town tomorrow on their way to Mykonos so I extended an invitation to them on your behalf to spend a couple of days with you on the Nerida doing some island-hopping, and you could drop them off there.’
Gaping was all Theo was capable of right now. This could not be happening.
‘What?’ Ari said, a smile tugging at his mouth as he glanced at Theo. ‘It’s on the way. Also, they’re delighted.’
Theo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d been looking forward to this trip for the past two weeks so he could relax and get away from it all. Enjoy this amazing playground of islands and sea that were entwined into the fabric of his life and he got to call home.
And now he was going to have to entertain an old curmudgeon who’d wouldn’t know a good time if it sat on his face.
‘You know I’m your boss, right?’
Ari raised an eyebrow. ‘You know I pay you, right?’
Neither was strictly true, but it was familiar patter for them. ‘Fine,’ Theo huffed. ‘Two days.’
Ari grinned. ‘Good. They’ll be on board tomorrow afternoon at five to get settled in for dinner. Dimitri expressed a desire for calamari.’
Theo glared at his brother. Dimitri Kouris would get whatever the hell Maria put down in front of him.
Grinning, Ari slapped his brother on the back. ‘Let me know how it goes,’ he said, backing away as Theo turned his glare on the view. ‘Theo,’ he called as he got to the door.
‘Fine,’ he snapped, not looking at his brother. ‘He can have the damn calamari.’
‘No, it’s not…’ Theo heard the seriousness in Ari’s tone and half turned. ‘I’ve done all I can but he’s still a little hesitant. You need to be on your best behaviour. It’s up to you to convince him now. For Pappou.’
Theo sighed at the not so subtle turning of the screw. ‘Yeah, yeah. I’ll play nice.’
Ari grinned. ‘I kinda wish I was going to be there now.’