“I’ll call her. After we drive Gavril back to the house tomorrow, we’ll slip away to my apartment above the office for a few hours. That’s one time when no one will be around to notice.”
“Let’s hope.” Just the thought of being in his arms again created so much excitement, her heart thumped too hard to be healthy.
When they drew up to the house, she saw no sign of Kristos’s car. Nico walked her to the door and checked his watch. “It’s ten to eleven. Our daughter probably isn’t home yet.”
“I’m not sure.”
Nico pulled her in his arms and kissed her passionately before letting her go. “I’ll be by for you at noon. I don’t know about you, but it’s going to be an endless night for me without you.” On that note he walked back to the car and drove off.
You don’t know the half of it, Nico Angelis.
* * *
Later Nico had only just entered his apartment when his phone rang. He grabbed it, thinking it had to be Alexa. Their wedding day had been cut short by having to leave the villa. To be forced to say good-night at her grandfather’s door when he’d needed the rest of the night to make love to her had come close to killing him. If she felt the same way, maybe she’d changed her mind and wanted him to come and get her right now. With a pounding heart he checked the caller ID.
Disappointment flooded his system before he clicked on. “Giannina? What’s going on?” She’d never called him this late, and this was definitely not the time for a conversation.
“Can I drive over and talk to you in private?”
She sounded on the verge of panic. It was totally unlike her. “Can’t we do this over the phone?”
“No. I have to show you something. It’s an emergency.”
He frowned. “All right. How soon can you get here?”
“Five minutes.”
“I’ll wait for you out in front and we can talk in your car.”
“Thank heaven for you, Nico.”
“Giannina, whatever is going on, it couldn’t be that bad.”
“You want to make a bet?” The line went dead.
Nico needed a glass of water, then he rode the elevator down to the lobby. He nodded to Gus and walked outside to wait for his sister. She drove her dark red Lexus LC overspeed most of the time. Tonight was no different as she screeched to a halt in front of the entrance.
He opened the door and got in. “Drive around the side where we won’t be noticed.”
Within a minute Giannina pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. She reached in the backseat and handed him a mock-up copy of the Halkidiki News. “This will be out in the morning. Read the headline. It has been at
tributed to me of course.” She turned on the map light for him.
Lost Royal Heir of Hellenia Found Alive!
Nico’s head reared. “You broke this story? With civil war close to breaking out in Hellenia, this has to be the biggest news to hit Europe in years.”
“It’s a lie of the worst kind, Nico. You know as well as I do Prince Alexandros disappeared a long time ago and has never been seen again. Since I’m the managing editor, I’ll be blamed for spreading a story that has no proof. Someone on the inside wants me gone from the newspaper and caused it to be printed without my authority. I know who it is.”
Nico was afraid he did too. “You’re talking about Uncle Ari.” The man held dual citizenship and spent a lot of his time in Hellenia. Who knew what was going on inside him?
“He has staffers who are loyal to him and would do something this monstrous behind my back.”
“You’re right. Where is Ari now?”
“Probably at the newspaper.”
“Then I’ll go over there now. After I get a confession out of him, I’ll force him to print a disclaimer before I fire him. Our father should have done it years ago.”