An Offer She Can't Refuse by Emma Darcy Read Free Book Online

mother shook her head in stunned disbelief. ‘I haven’t even met this Maximus Zavros.’
    It did not concern the manager one bit. ‘No doubt you will at the wedding, Mrs Savalas.’
    ‘I’m not sure I should accept this … this arrangement.’
    ‘Oh, but you must!’ The manager looked horrified at the thought of refusal. ‘Mr Zavros is a very wealthy, powerful man. He owns much of the real estate on Santorini. He would be offended if you did not accept his hospitality and I would be at fault if I did not persuade you to do so. Please, Mrs Savalas. I beg you to enjoy. It is what he wishes.’
    ‘Well …’ Her mother looked confused and undecided until a helpful thought struck. She shot Tina a determined look. ‘We can talk to Ari about this tomorrow.’
    Tina nodded, struggling with the death of any hope that Ari might disappear from her life again. She couldn’t believe this was simply a case of a rich powerful Greek extending hospitality. The words— family is family —had been like a punch in the stomach. She couldn’t dismiss the sickening suspicion that Ari had blabbed to his father. It was the only thing that made sense of this extraordinary move.
    ‘Let me show you to your rooms. A porter will bring your luggage.’ The manager bustled out from behind the reception desk. ‘I want to assure myself that all is as it should be for you.’
    Their adjoining rooms were charming, each one with a walled outside area containing a table and chairs for enjoying the ambience of the resort. Complimentary platters of fresh fruit and a selection of wines were provided. The gorgeous floral arrangements were obvious extras, too. Her mother was delighted with everything. Tina viewed it all with jaundiced eyes and Theo was only interested in how soon he could get into the children’s swimming pool.
    Their luggage arrived. Tina left her mother in the room Cassandra would share with her the night before the wedding and took Theo into theirs. Within a few minutes she had found their swimsuits in her big suitcase, and feeling driven to get out of the Zavros-permeated room, she and Theo quickly changed their clothes and headed for the water.
    She sat on the edge of the shallow pool while Theo dashed in and splashed around, full of happy laughter. Her mind was dark with a terrible sense of foreboding and it was difficult to force an occasional smile at her son. Ari’s son. Maximus Zavros’s grandson.
    Did they intend to make an official claim on him?
    People like them probably didn’t care how much they disrupted others’ lives. If something was desired, for whatever reason, they went after it. And got it. Like the rooms in this resort. Almost anything could be manipulated with wealth.
    She couldn’t help feeling afraid of the future. She was on this island—their island—for the next five days and it would be impossible to avoid meeting Ari’s family at the wedding. Ironically, throwing his fatherhood in his face in Dubai was no longer such a hideous mistake. He would have figured it out at the wedding. There would have been no escape from his knowing. She’d been on a collision course with Ari Zavros from the moment Cassandra had agreed to marry his cousin.
    The big question was … how to deal with him?
    Should she tell her mother the truth now?
    Her head ached from all the possible outcomes of revealing her secret before she absolutely had to. Better to wait, she decided, at least until after she’d spent tomorrow with Ari. Then she would have a better idea of what he intended where Theo was concerned and what she could or couldn’t do about it.
    Tomorrow … Theo’s fifth birthday.
    His first with his father.
    Tina knew she was going to hate every minute of it.

CHAPTER FIVE
    T INA and Theo were about to accompany her mother to breakfast in the nearby restaurant when a call from Ari came through to her room. She quickly pressed her mother to go ahead with Theo while she talked to the nice man about plans for