Alexa? Since when?
It amazed him that Mara Tito, who’d supposedly returned to France after her vacation was over, could look him straight in the eye without flinching...unless she’d developed a serious case of amnesia.
The last thing he wanted to do was ruin this evening for Kristos and the attractive young woman seated across the table from him. He would play Mara’s game for now. After nineteen years, Nico could be patient until he got answers he’d assumed would never see the light of day in this lifetime. But soon there would be a reckoning.
“Kristos has been anxious for us to meet, Kyría Remis. He’s told me you’re teaching English at the university.” His thoughts reeled while he stared at her. To think she was back here in Salonica. A professor. The mother of the young woman Kristos loved. Nico was incredulous.
“Yes. I’m on vacation now but will be starting a full load in the fall. Dimitra is taking classes this summer,” she said in a quiet voice, at this point avoiding his eyes.
No doubt she was terrified he was going to expose her. He had every right to destroy her in front of all of them. The way she was trembling, he could tell she was waiting for him to unmask her.
What in the hell had happened to the supposedly guileless young woman he’d met years ago and instantly adored? How could he have been so wrong about her? “I’ve learned you’ve been living in Ottawa, Canada, since your daughter was born.”
She nodded, still afraid to meet his gaze. So much for the fictional woman living in France. Canada was where she’d been all these years? Nico couldn’t comprehend it, let alone the fact that he was seated a few feet from the woman he’d loved to distraction.
She was more gorgeous than she’d been at seventeen, and she’d given birth to another man’s baby. But there was no ring on her finger. Had she not loved the father of her baby either? It was possible, given she’d made up the fiction that they’d been unavoidably separated. Nico couldn’t fathom any of it, especially the letters she’d never opened. The fact that she had sent them back to him to make certain he got the message she wasn’t interested had exhibited a cruelty he hadn’t known her capable of.
He sat back, studying her through narrowed lids. “Our university is fortunate to have a teacher of your talents who’s fluent in English and Greek.”
“I’m the one who’s fortunate, Kýrie Angelis.”
Nico eyed Dimitra. “Are you going to follow in your mother’s footsteps and become a foreign-language teacher too?”
She shook her head. “I’m looking at a degree in orthopedic engineering. It develops therapies to treat musculoskeletal disease.”
“What would make you choose a field like that?”
“My papoú has arthritis, but he’s also afflicted by the disorder. I’d love it if I could do something to help others like him one day.”
“I told you Dimitra was intelligent,” Kristos interjected. “Her math skills are off the charts.”
Nico smiled. “I’m impressed, Dimitra.” He was touched by her love for the grandfather Nico had never known existed. But she had a long, hard road of studies ahead of her. To combine it with marriage at this stage wouldn’t be easy. He flicked his glance to Mara. “You must be proud of your daughter.”
“She’s wonderful.”
“Mama is wonderful too, Kýrie Angelis. I do wish I’d known my father, but I’ve been lucky to have my papoú all my life. He’s brilliant and a sweetheart.”
Nico got the feeling Dimitra was a sweetheart too. But he’d been fooled before and worried that one day Kristos could be hurt after falling under Dimitra’s spell. “I understand your papoú became the ambassador for Greece in Ottawa a long time ago.”
“All my life, actually. Mama and I lived with him and my great-grandmother Iris until she died. Then we moved back here.”
“I guess there’d be no point in asking how you like living here in Salonica, Dimitra.”
She blushed while Kristos chuckled.
Just then sixteen-year-old Yanni came out on the patio and kissed his mom. With Nico’s emotions in total chaos, Yanni’s appearance gave him the perfect excuse to leave. He needed to get out of there. “Take my place, Yanni.”
“Hey, Uncle Nico.”
“I’m sorry I have to cut this short. I’ve got to go back to the office to deal with a situation that will keep me there half the night.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Irena murmured, “but I understand.”
No, she didn’t. No one but Mara had any idea what he was feeling as he walked around to give Irena a kiss.
“Thank you for a delicious dinner. We’ll talk later,” he whispered before glancing at her guests. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Dimitra, Alexa. Kristos is a lucky man.”
Dimitra beamed. “Thank you, Kýrie Angelis. I feel lucky too.”