Tiana (Starkis Family #3) (3 page)

Ornery old bastard.
I rolled my eyes. “Have you considered the possibility that Tiana is interested in someone else, an American?” I thought of my brother’s best friend, Blake. The chemistry between him and my kid sister was so off-the-charts hot even I’d noticed. I knew Blake wasn’t the type of man to honor old-world traditions. That was another reason my father despised him.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he scoffed. “An American could never understand our culture or—”

“Deacon is marrying an American girl,” I reminded him. “You don’t seem to have a problem with that.”

“Mia is different,” he said, smoothing a hand over his Armani golf shirt. “She is a good girl and keeps your brother grounded. He needs that. Besides, she’s agreed to convert, so there won’t be an issue.”

I thought of how much he would like Eleni. He would claim she was a good Greek girl who would fit into our world seamlessly, in spite of the fact she hadn’t lived the privileged life I had. The only thing that prevented her from being perfect in my eyes was my father’s guaranteed acceptance.

“Your mind is wandering,” he said, eyeing me carefully. “Why? What are you thinking about?”

I had to hand it to him—even though he’d just celebrated his seventieth birthday, he was as sharp and perceptive as ever. I couldn’t tell him I’d been thinking about a woman though. We’d never had the kind of relationship where the lines between parent and confidante got blurred. My business was my own, whether Demetrius liked it or not.

“Just thinking about my agenda for this afternoon.” I scanned his clothes. “It looks like you have plans as well, so I’ll let you get to it.” I gestured to the door as I planted my feet on the floor.

“You’re up to something,” he said, leaning on the edge of the desk as he looked me in the eye. “I’ve known you your whole life, gotten you out of more trouble than I care to remember. When you’re knee-deep in something, I’m among the first to know.”

He was bluffing. He had to be. There was no way he could know about Dalia. If he did, he’d be camped out on Andra’s doorstep, demanding to spend time with his firstborn grandchild.

“I’m not sixteen anymore, in case you haven’t noticed,” I said, trying to relax my clenched jaw. “If I’m having a problem, I’m more than capable of handling it on my own.”

“Then you admit there is something,” he said, pointing at me. “I knew it. You’ve been too sedate since your return from Greece. Not of whiff of discord in your world. We both know that’s not like you.”

“I thought that would make you happy.” I shrugged. “Mother reminded me you’re not getting any younger. I wouldn’t want to be the reason your ticker finally gave out.”

He glared at me as if he were seriously considering whether to throttle me. If there was one thing my father hated being reminded of, it was his mortality. Not that I was counting the days or anything. He was still my father. In my own twisted way, I loved and respected the man, even if he gave new meaning to the word tyranny on a good day.

“You think I will be so offended by your slurs that I will ignore that familiar look in your eye?”

I purposely shifted my gaze and picked up a folder. That earned me a hearty chuckle from him, as though I’d played right into his hands. Anything I said from this point forward would be used against me in the court of his opinion. He would talk about it with his buddies at the course, asking their opinions on what his “problem child” could be hiding this time. Demetrius was a powerful and suspicious man with an army of private investigators on speed dial.

I had to toss him a bone to throw him off the trail. “If you must know, there’s a woman.”

His sigh was deep and foreboding, as though he was amassing energy to unleash another tirade. “Isn’t there always a woman with you? What have you done this time?” When I didn’t respond, he said slowly, “Do not tell me you got some girl pregnant. I swear to God if you—”

My heart nearly gave out, but I couldn’t let him see me sweat. “You really do have an overactive imagination.”

Many said I bore a striking resemblance to the man my father had been thirty-plus years ago, and when he looked at me like that, I could almost believe it. When no one was around to judge me, I studied my reflection, chastising and swearing at myself for the mess I’d made of my life. I had a child who didn’t know me. I had fallen for a woman I could never have… all while living a year of quiet desperation that consisted of near celibacy and outrageous lies.

“Then you need to tell me what’s going on because I can promise you I will find out, with or without your help.”

My father was always true to his word, so I heard myself say the only thing I could. “Deacon introduced me to Eleni shortly after I returned from Greece.”

“Eleni?” His mouth tipped up on one side. “Is she the reason you’ve been, how you call it, ‘laying low’ since your return?”

I was amused by my father’s turn of phrase. He had worked hard to not only learn but command the English language when he’d moved to this country decades ago, and he prided himself on always being grammatically correct. He claimed it was a sign of good breeding and intelligence.

“She’s one the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen,” I said, shaking my head slowly. Confiding in my father about my attraction to Eleni felt strange since I’d never opened up to him about anything of importance. Since he’d forced my hand and seemed genuinely interested, I reached into my desk and produced one of Alabaster’s latest catalogues. I held up the cover for my father to see. “You tell me. Am I wrong?”

Demetrius’s eyes widened fractionally before he smirked. “You have good taste, my boy. But then, it was never your taste I questioned. It was always your judgment.”

Ignoring the well-placed barb, I said, “I can’t deny she’s the reason I’ve been distracted lately, but she’s not the reason for the change, at least not entirely.”

Demetrius opened his hands. “Continue. I am listening.”

Having my father’s undivided attention was rare, so I told him something I’d only shared with my brother. “I decided to make some changes before I returned to the States. I didn’t like where my life was headed.” I’d had the epiphany after Andra had walked out of the café and left me alone to contemplate my future.

“I’ve been trying to tell you for years that you were on a dangerous slope.”

He spoke the truth, but it was the last thing I wanted to hear. “I looked in the mirror one day and realized I didn’t really like the man I’d become.” Of course, it hadn’t been a literal mirror. It was a figurative mirror Andra had held up and forced me to look at.

His eyes narrowed as though he was trying to gauge my sincerity. I’d never said those things to Demetrius before, never apologized for my mistakes, no matter how heinous or embarrassing. I couldn’t blame him for being skeptical. That was why I hadn’t returned home claiming to be a changed man. I was determined to show, rather than tell, him I was different. It had taken my self-absorbed father a while to notice, but I was somewhat gratified to hear him finally acknowledge the change, even if it was wrapped in a veiled threat to uncover the reason behind my sudden transformation.

“Go on,” he said.

“I behaved badly to get attention, believing I was above the law and rules didn’t apply to me.” I wasn’t proud of that truth, but there it was. I wasn’t someone a driven, self-made billionaire like my father would be proud to call his son. “I was wrong. Rules do apply to me, and there are consequences to actions.”

“What made you realize this?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest. He seemed to believe me, or at least he was open to considering the possibility I was telling the truth.

“I was going through another reckless phase, drinking too much, sleeping around…” My voice faded, but I forced myself to look Demetrius in the eye. “I felt out of control. I knew I needed help.” Granted, seeing my daughter had been the catalyst for change, but he could never know that. “So I got it.”

“You got help?” he asked, raising a groomed eyebrow. “What does that mean? Surely you didn’t open up to a stranger about your problems, about your childhood, our family’s private business. Tell me you are not that stupid, Damon.”

I should have known he would react that way. My father was old-school. He believed in handling problems the old-fashioned way—behind closed doors—and when his children had been young enough for corporal punishment, with a belt strap or a firm hand.

“I did what I had to do. This is my life,” I said, flattening my palm against my chest. In spite of my strong words, my heart was hammering at the sight of the disgust, rage, and maybe even a touch of fear I saw flash in his eyes before he shut me out again. “I wanted to get better, so I did. I took a long hard look at the reasons why I was behaving the way I was. I stopped playing the blame game and admitted I was an adult who was responsible for his own decisions.”

“I cannot argue with that,” Demetrius said, seeming relieved. “This person you talked to…” He cleared his throat. “I assume he was a highly qualified, discreet professional?”

I barely suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “No, Dad, I found him in the yellow pages under shrink.”

“You cannot blame me for being cautious. We are a very high-profile family. The gossip rags would love to sensationalize a story like this. They would say you’d been seeing a psychiatrist because you had some break with reality prompted by an abusive childhood or—” His eyes locked with mine, his voice failing him. Many professionals would claim he had been abusive—if not physically, then verbally. He gestured to the catalogue I held. “You were saying something about this woman. What about her? How does she play into this? Are you dating her? Is it serious? Is that what this is about?”

Using Eleni as a cop-out would have been easy, but I wouldn’t, not entirely. “I knew as soon as Deacon introduced us that she was special. Clearly she’s very beautiful, but it’s much more than that.”

“How so?”

“For starters, she’s not the least bit interested in me.”

Demetrius raised an eyebrow before flashing a rare smile. “That is different. You usually have the opposite problem with women—figuring out how to get rid of them without a restraining order.”

I acknowledged my father’s statement with a rueful smile. “We’ve been taking things slow, building a solid friendship first.”

Friendship was the only thing I could offer her until I sorted things out with Dalia and her mother, and I had to wonder if it would be enough. Eleni was nothing like Mia. My brother’s fiancée was sweet and innocent. Eleni was wild, daring, sexy, and impetuous. Just the way I liked my women… David’s words came back to haunt me, reminding me that Eleni could provide the ammunition Andra needed to keep me from my daughter.

“You have changed,” Demetrius said, shaking his head with a look that could only be categorized as begrudging respect. “The old Damon wouldn’t have cared whether the woman sharing his bed was a pole dancer or a first grade teacher. Morals were irrelevant, life stories unnecessary. I knew you could never build a lasting relationship with that attitude.”

I thought it was ironic that my father, a notorious womanizer, was giving me relationship advice, but I bit my tongue in favor of maintaining our temporary truce. “Like I said, I like Eleni. A lot.”

He took the catalogue, staring at Eleni’s image with renewed interest. “I can certainly see why. Mia has told me a bit about her. She is Greek, no?”

“She is,” I said tightly, knowing I could very well be sealing my own fate. My parents would start a crusade to marry us off.

“Maybe there is hope for you yet, my boy.” He tossed the catalogue on my desk as he made his way to the door. He was whistling, something I hadn’t even been sure he knew how to do, when he twisted the knob. “If you want me to come with you to have a look at the building you’re thinking of buying, just let me know when and where. I happen to know a thing or two about buying commercial real estate.”

“Sure,” I said, thinking he was the last person I would ask to weigh in on my decision.

I waited until I heard the elevator doors close before I allowed myself to breathe. I’d thrown him off the trail. For now.

Eleni

“Hey, beautiful.”

I cursed when Barbara stuck me in the thigh with a straight pin, though I couldn’t blame her. Damon’s voice always made me jumpy.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” I asked, giving Barbara a tight smile in the mirror. “I thought you said you had a crazy day today.”

After our dinner last night to discuss Mia and Deacon’s upcoming wedding, I hadn’t thought I’d see Damon again for a while. As the wedding drew closer, we would see more of each other since we were both in the wedding party, but I’d thought I would have more time to temper my reaction, to perfect my game face. While I should have been immune to his charm by now, I wasn’t and didn’t know if I ever would be. When he’d first made it obvious he was into me, brushing him off had been easy. His own brother had said he was bad news. Since then, Damon had shown himself to be different than I’d expected. He was sexy, funny, considerate, yet wicked… all the qualities I loved in a man.

“It was a crazy morning, and I’ll undoubtedly be burning the midnight oil, but I have an appointment downtown. I wanted to know if you’d like to come with me, keep me company.”

The thought of spending time with him alone made thrill bumps rise on my skin at the same time I felt myself break out in a cold sweat. Did I want him? I still wasn’t sure where this was going or where I wanted it to go. He flirted with me shamelessly whenever we were together, yet he’d never crossed any lines. Hell, he’d never even tried to kiss me!

Barbara must have noticed my reaction because she winked at me in the mirror. “You go on ahead, Eleni. We’re all done here.”

“Come on,” he said, sensing my hesitation. “I’ll even buy you lunch.”

For the first time since he walked in, I turned to face him. I didn’t know who was more mesmerized: me at the sight of him in a dark designer suit with a white shirt and silver tie or him at the spectacle of me in an ice blue lace thong, bustier, and sheer gown hanging open to reveal the delicate undergarments. I was used to parading around in sexy lingerie. It was my job. But something about the way Damon looked at me made this feel like a private show. In the bedroom. Where we both knew the lingerie wouldn’t last ten seconds before hitting the floor.