Ultimate Romance Collection. Rebecca Winters

of three months’ time.”

      Those words brought her close to a faint.

      “Think about it and give me your answer tomorrow when I come to get you.” In the next breath, he walked down the hall to the elevator, leaving her totally bereft.

      She didn’t want him to go. “Takis?”

      He turned.

      “Please don’t leave yet.”

      “You’d better think hard about what you’re asking. If I cross over your threshold, I won’t leave till morning. Is that what you want after everything Nassos did to protect you from moments like this?”

      For once in her life she was going to be honest and throw caution aside. “Yes.”

      “Why?”

      “Because—because I need you and don’t want to be alone tonight.”

      He moved closer, causing her heart to leap. “I need you too, but that’s not a good enough reason to break all the rules.”

      “We’ve already broken several.”

      “But not the most important one.”

      “In my office earlier you said you wanted to be with me day and night.”

      “I do, once we’re married.”

      His moral strength astonished her. “Nassos is no longer alive.”

      “Which leaves me to watch out for you. Weren’t you the one who told me he probably gave me half ownership of the hotel to help keep you from making a mistake?”

      “He didn’t mean the kind of mistake we’re talking about right now and you know it!” Her cheeks had grown warm. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you.”

      “Say what?” he murmured. “That you love me? That you can’t live without me?”

      The blood pounded in her ears. “You’re a man who didn’t plan to marry right away. I wonder what you’d do if I said those words to you.”

      His eyes gleamed an intense green. “Why don’t we find out?”

      He was toying with her, not helping her out. If he truly loved her, he wouldn’t be so cruel. “To hear them would scare the living daylights out of you.”

      Takis cocked his head. “If you don’t say them, we’ll never know.”

      You’re a fool, Lys. He was the most aggravating, incredible, beautiful man alive. “So you’re really going to leave.”

      “It’s your call. I dare you to sleep tonight, agape mou.”

      Two words that meant beloved. Was she his beloved?

      “Kalinikta, Lys.”

      “Good night!” she snapped at him in English.

      She heard his chuckle clear down the hall until he disappeared. He was driving her crazy.

      Takis, feeling pure joy, headed for the garage to get his car.

      After saying good-night to Elias, he’d waited another couple of minutes outside Lys’s office until she’d hung up from her phone call. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but it had been clear she’d been talking to Danae. That’s when he’d heard the truth come from her own lips.

      I love him so much.

      Tomorrow evening they’d be with family and the answers to all questions would come straight from their hearts. There’d be no deception, no regrets.

      * * *

      Early Friday morning Lys’s phone rang. Excited because she knew who it was, she reached for her cell on the bedside table. “Takis?”

      “No, Lys. It’s Danae.”

      She sat up in bed. “What’s wrong? You sound worried.”

      “If you haven’t seen a newspaper or turned on television, then don’t.”

      Alarmed by her words, Lys slid off the bed and got to her feet. “Tell me.”

      “The paparazzi have taken pictures of you and Takis together. One of the write-ups reads: ‘Lys Theron, heiress to the Rodino fortune, sets her sights on marrying billionaire New York hotelier Takis Manolis. Is there nothing this gold digger won’t do for money?’”

      Lys’s thoughts reeled. Though she’d been used to this kind of coverage after Nassos’s death, she hadn’t imagined that it would continue. How had the press discovered their relationship? Could it have been that car she had seen following her a couple of times. It must have been! But what concerned her was the impact it would have on Takis’s parents.

      “Thank you for telling me. I love you and am indebted to you. Now I’ve got to phone Takis and warn him in case he hasn’t seen the paper yet.” She hung up and rang him. Pick up. Please pick up.

      To her chagrin the call went to his voice messaging. She left the message for him to call her immediately. Without hesitation, Lys took a quick shower and got dressed in a black sweater and skirt. Once she was ready, she hurried to the garage for her car.

      Maybe he was painting and had turned off his phone. All she knew was that she had to find him. If the paparazzi were still following her, she didn’t care. What mattered was tonight’s get-together with Takis’s family.

      They would have seen or read this new barrage of sensationalizing information linking the two of them. Her desire to protect him from any pain had her pressing hard on the accelerator all the way to Tylissos.

      Lys spotted his car at the house before she pulled up behind it. After getting out she ran to the door and knocked. When there was no answer, she tried opening it, but he’d locked it.

      “Takis?” she cried out and knocked harder.

      Maybe he was over at his parents’ hotel. If Danae had seen the news, there was no doubt he’d seen it too. Possibly his brother might have come over to the house to talk to him and they were out somewhere. Or maybe he’d driven Takis over to the hotel.

      She simply didn’t know, but she intended to find out and dashed to her car. It didn’t take long to reach the hotel. She parked near the front entrance and hurried inside. An attractive dark-haired woman manned the front desk.

      “May I help you?”

      Lys took a deep breath. “My name is Lys Theron. I need to speak to Takis Manolis. Is he here by any chance?”

      “You’re Lys!”

      “Yes.”

      “I’m Doris, Lukios’s wife.”

      “Oh—I’m so happy to meet you.”

      “We’re all very excited about tonight.”

      If Takis’s sister-in-law had seen the news this morning, she was hiding her reaction to it well.

      “So am I, but I need to find Takis. Do you have any idea where he might be? I went over to the house and his car is there, but he didn’t answer the door.”

      “Let me check with Hestia. She’ll know.” Lys waited while she made a phone call. When Doris hung up she said, “After breakfast he went to the village with his father and hasn’t come back yet. If you’ll wait just a minute, she’s going to phone him and find out when he’ll be back.”

      Lys held back her groan. “Thank you.” The poor darling was probably trying to defend her reputation the best way he could, but it didn’t look good.

      Doris’s phone rang and she picked up. Their conversation didn’t last long before she clicked off. “They may be gone for a while. Hestia would like you to come back to their apartment. She wants to talk to you. Their door is at the end of the left hall.”

      “I