“When I bought it, I had no idea I would ever meet him. He sounds like a typical child.”
“Besides toys, Ari loves games, especially hide-and-seek.”
Before long they reached the airport and he helped her up the steps of the jet. Andreas asked the steward to serve them breakfast once they were in the air. The flight lasted only forty-five minutes and there were things he needed to talk to her about before they landed.
After the trays had been removed, he walked her to one of the couches and pulled her down next to him. “I have a fear greater than yours, Zoe. I’m taking you into what could be a difficult situation, but I despise secrets.”
“You’ll get no argument from me there. I imagine this has to do with Ari’s birth father.”
“You told me I was intuitive, but I think it’s the other way around. Lia wouldn’t talk about it, so through the PI I hired, I learned he comes from a well-known French shipping family from Marseilles, but I don’t know his name.
“Depending on what kind of a man he is and his circumstances, he might want to share custody of Ari. Or there’s the possibility he might fight for full custody of him. Then again, he might not be interested at all. That’s what Lia believes—or would like to believe, anyway.”
Zoe lowered her head. “I can’t imagine a father not wanting to claim his own flesh and blood, but there must be thousands of cases where we know it happens.”
Andreas nodded. “The point is, Lia doesn’t want him to know anything. She’s terrified of scandal and how it will affect her parents, who are well-known in Athens society. She has begged me to take her back.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second, Andreas. I’m sure she does regret what she did.”
“Obviously. But what she needs to realize is that he has a right to know he has a son.”
“He does!” Zoe blurted with all the emotion in her.
“When I warned Lia I’d discovered Ari’s father’s identity and would let the man know the truth if she didn’t, she threatened again to sue for full custody.”
Zoe turned to him. He could feel her body trembling. “She couldn’t take him away from you.”
“True. The law wouldn’t allow it, but she turned the situation ugly when she left for Athens. She knew my headquarters were in Patras.”
A sigh escaped Zoe’s lips. “If she thought to defeat you by making it harder for you to be with Ari, then she didn’t know you at all.” Those blue eyes darkened with pain for him. “Did this Guion know she was engaged to you?”
“Lia said she took her ring off at the party, but I can’t imagine him not knowing.”
“I can’t either, not when she was going to be married to someone as renowned as you. Everyone in her circle of friends who attended the party had to know she was playing with fire. What kind of a man would do that?” Zoe sounded angry.
“I don’t know what he’s like,” Andreas muttered. “He had to have been acquainted with Lia’s best friend, Eliana, who held the yacht party. I asked Lia if she thought Eliana knew Ari wasn’t mine. She said she probably did, but Eliana would never say anything. You and I both know she could tell him at any moment.”
“But if that were true, don’t you think you would have heard from him by now?”
“I don’t know, but I refuse to live my life worrying that one day down the road, I’m going to get a phone call from his attorney because Lia kept the truth from him. She doesn’t realize that if she stays silent and he finds out anyway, it could turn on her.”
Zoe moaned. “If handled wrong, it would be traumatic for all three of you, not to mention the turmoil on the birth father’s side.”
“That’s why he needs to know the truth right away.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Andreas. The news might bring him joy, even if it’s tearing you apart.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “I knew you’d say that. You’ve had your whole life to wade through the depths of not knowing your parentage. Don’t worry about me. I’ve had time since the day of the operation to consider the fact that I might have to share Ari’s love.”
“Do your grandparents know?”
“Yes. They’re devastated, but they understand it has to be done. Naturally when Ari is old enough to comprehend, he’ll be told. Maybe by me or Lia, or by the father himself. After hearing your heart-wrenching story, I want Ari to know everything he can about the blood flowing through his veins when he’s ready. He has grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, maybe half brothers or sisters he isn’t aware of.”
Zoe hugged him, but he had to let her go. The fasten seat belt sign had gone on. Andreas kissed the side of her face before helping her buckle up. “We’ve started our descent.”
“I didn’t even notice the sign.”
“That’s because you were too busy comforting me.” Zoe’s compassion was a revelation to him.