Chapter Twenty-Seven #3
“Katerina told me this morning who he is. His name is Nikos, and he’s the son of the people who used to own the house. Well, his brother Stavros was the seller I bought from, but their parents owned this place before him.” She looked back up at the house.
“Doesn’t matter who it used to belong to, Bea. It’s yours now.” He bit down on his lip. “Sorry. Go on.”
“I know, but that’s the thing. Apparently, their parents left the house and the land that came with it to Stavros, and the rest of the land—a much larger piece, from what Katerina told me, and of course, the other half of the field”—she rolled her eyes—“to Nikos. And Nikos never thought any of it should have been sold. Especially…” She pointed toward the field. “You know the shepherd’s hut?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, apparently it used to be the family home. Nikos was born there.”
Blane frowned. “So? My parents sold the house I was born in. When I was a kid, I didn’t go harassing the new owners.”
“I know, Blane. I know, but…” She sighed. “I feel awful.”
“Don’t. You have no reason to. It’s not your fault.”
“I know it isn’t. But anyway, back to the part that will hopefully stop you worrying. Katerina really believes he isn’t dangerous. She said he’s a little shy.”
Blane scowled. “Shy is no reason to go wandering around someone else’s field, even if your family used to own it. And it sure as hell isn’t a reason to come walking around in your courtyard at night.”
“No, I know, but…” She shrugged. “I’m only telling you what Katerina told me, and I’m telling you how I feel about it.”
He nodded slowly. The only part that really mattered was how Bea felt about it. “And how does Katerina know all this?”
“Apparently the whole village knows.”
“Jesus.”
“I know, I know. But now at least I know as well. Who he is, and that he’s not some random murderer.”
His arm tightened around her at that. “Yeah. That’s something, I guess. But what do we do from—” He caught himself as soon as he said it. “What do you plan to do?”
She smiled and sent a shiver down his spine when she traced her fingers over the back of his neck.
“Well, since he’s already filed the land dispute with the lawyers, Katerina is going to talk to him and see if we can set up a meeting with the lawyers present.
Honestly, Blane, I wish he’d just talked to me in the first place. ”
“Why? What difference would it have made?” He didn’t like the way she stared out toward the shepherd’s hut for a few moments before answering.
“I really don’t know yet. But I think it might have helped.”
When she turned back to him, she was wearing that bright smile—the one that told him she wanted to stay away from the difficult stuff for now.
As much as he wanted to dig further, to understand what the hell was going on—and, if he were honest, to go hunt down this Nikos and deal with him himself—he smiled back and waited to see where she wanted to go.
She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. “And anyway, I have a question for you as well.”
“Fire away.”
She pointed toward the little white SUV. “How on earth did you manage to rent the same car again?”
He had to smile. “I couldn’t believe it myself when I saw that thing sitting outside the airport.”
“So how did you?”
“Turns out Cash didn’t rent it the first time.”
She gave him a puzzled look.
“Nope. I called him as soon as I saw it waiting for me. Asked him if it was some kind of joke.” Blane shook his head, smiling as he remembered the conversation. “Turns out he bought the damn thing.”
Bea’s eyes went wide. “Why on earth did he do that?”
Blane shook his head again. “Cash being Cash. Told me he had a hunch.”
Bea brought a hand up over her heart, and he knew exactly how she felt. He’d ended the call before Cash could explain exactly what the hell he meant by that, and Bea glanced over at the Vitara again before letting it go too.
They stayed there for a long while. Blane would happily have sat for hours with her on his lap like that, but eventually she insisted he needed a drink.
When she got up to go inside, he followed her.
In the kitchen, he came up behind her and gripped the counter on either side of her while she poured them each a glass of water.
When she set the jug down, he blew gently against the back of her neck.
“Blane?” she asked with a laugh.
“Yes, Bea?”
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t know what you mean.”
She turned within the circle of his arms and leaned back against the counter, tipping her head up to smile at him. “Yes, you do.”
“Yeah. I do.” His hands came to rest at her waist.
“I can’t believe you’re really back.”
His fingers tightened against her. “Believe it, Bea. I’m here.” He winked. “I can even prove it to you if you want.”
“And how exactly might you do that?”
He slid one hand around her back and down over her ass. “I could remind you why you need an extra set of hands around here.”
She laughed, caught hold of his hand, and started toward the stairs. “Oh, I think you should absolutely do that.”
He didn’t need telling twice.