Read The Greek's Long-Lost Son for Free Online

couldn’t ask for more than that. She would have trouble refusing.
    “I second the motion,” Theo murmured. “You know all the secret places around here. I remember you telling me about the deserted lookout on the mountain behind us where you once found an eagle’s nest.”
    Again Ari looked surprised. He stared at Stella. “I’ve never seen it.”
    “That’s because I’ve never taken you hiking up there, honey.”
    Good. This would be a new experience for the four of them. “Let’s find out if it’s still there, shall we? I’ve brought enough goodies for all of us.”
    Everyone was looking at her. She could hardly say no. Stella would walk through fire to protect their son. “Well, all right.”
    While the boys got out, Theo assisted her. The sight of those long, elegant legs covered in khaki raised his blood pressure. When their arms brushed by accident, it sent a rush of desire through his body so intense he was staggered. To his chagrin, everything about her appealed to him more than ever.
    “Ari? I bet you know how to put the top up on the car for your mother.” The boy nodded, but Theo could tell Ari hadn’t thought of it until it was mentioned. “That’s good. We want it to be safe while we’re gone. This car’s a beauty,” he said, eyeing Stella. She looked away.
    “Will you let me do it, Mom?”
    “I’ll help,” Dax volunteered.
    “Yes. Of course.” She’d been outvoted and outmaneuvered. Nothing could have pleased Theo more. He helped the boys and made easy work of it.
    Once she’d locked the car with her remote, Theo opened his pack. “Give me your purse.” Though he sensed she was fighting him every step of the way, she had to be careful in front of Ari. After she’d handed it to him, he zipped the compartment and eased it onto his shoulders a second time.
    “If everyone’s ready, there’s a footpath beyond that copse of trees running up the side of the valley. Last one to the lookout is a girlie man.”
    Both boys laughed. Dax asked, “What’s that?”
    “A phrase I picked up while I was living in New York. It means wimp!”
    Ari’s smile faded. He stared hard at him as they walked. “Mom and I used to live in New York.”
    That was where she’d gone? Where she’d been for so long?
    It was an astounding piece of news, despite the factthat he knew Stasio did business there on a regular basis. To think Ari had been living in the same city where Theo had worked…So close? It slayed him. “Did you like it?”
    “Yes, but I like Greece better.”
    “So do I.”
    “Come on, everyone,” Stella urged. “At this pace we’ll never get there.” Theo wondered what had made her so nervous that she’d been a little short with Ari just now. A tight band constricted his breathing. By the end of their hike he intended to find out.
    “I’ve never been to New York,” Dax muttered.
    “It’s an exciting city.”
    “I thought you lived in Greece.”
    “I did until my twenties, Dax, then I moved to New York to earn my living. Now I have an office in Athens and am back to stay.” Stella walked ahead of him with Ari, but he suspected she was listening to make sure the conversation didn’t touch on things she wanted kept quiet.
    “What do you do?”
    “I deal in stocks and investments. Some real estate. What does your father do?”
    “He owns a bank.”
    Of course. Dax belonged to the approved sector of Greek society. “Does your mother have a job, too?”
    “No. She stays home with my brother and sister and me.”
    “You’re very lucky. Do you know my mother still helps my father run their taverna on Salamis? I can’t ever remember when they weren’t working. Sometimes I wished my mother could stay home with me and my brothers, but we were too poor. She had to work.”
    “Is she a cook?”
    Theo smiled. “She’s a lot of things. The other day Itold her she and papa didn’t have to work anymore because I planned to take care of them from now on. Do you know what