Read The Greek's Stolen Bride for Free Online

just repeating the message."
    Aries looked undecided, but then he shrugged himself and turning the engine off and pocketing the key, he stepped off the boat. Ariana stood on the dock, her whole body stiff with tension--terror--as Aries glanced at her.
    "Miss Leotokos, you should return to the house." He spoke with authority; all of the servants had been given the liberty to boss her around.
    Ariana didn't answer. If she agreed, her slim chance of freedom disappeared. If she disagreed, Aries would suspect something. Maybe even forcibly take her back to the house--
    She wet her lips, her mind spinning and blank. "I--"
    "Actually," Theo broke in, his tone still conversational and light, "she'll stay here."
    Aries's gaze narrowed and he reached for his phone. In a movement so quick Ariana almost missed it Theo made a chopping motion aimed at Aries' neck and the man fell at her feet like a stone.
    She gasped, the sound tearing from her lungs. "What did you--"
    "You'd better get in the boat," Theo said calmly, and numbly Ariana watched as he reached for Aries's phone and keys. He tossed the phone into the water and jumped into the boat, holding a hand out to her.
    "Coming?"
    "Why did you do that?" she demanded as she half-stumbled into the boat. She glanced back at Aries who still lay crumpled on the ground. "Did you--did you kill him?"
    "Rendered him unconscious only," Theo replied. He slid the key into the ignition and the boat thrummed to life. "You'd better sit down."
    Ariana practically collapsed into the seat across from Theo. The wind ruffled her hair and sent it streaming behind in a long, dark ribbon as he maneuvered the boat away from the dock. Within seconds they were cruising through the wind-ruffled waves, her eyes stinging from the salty breeze.
    Free . She was free.
    "You shouldn't have done that," she said, shaking her head, but with the roar of the engine and the waves and the wind Theo couldn't hear it. She said it again, louder, and then she shouted it.
    He shrugged. "You wanted off the island, didn't you?"
    "Yes, but not like that."
    "Then how?"
    "You realize my father will report his boat missing? He'll have the Hellenic Police Air Force mobilized in minutes. We'll never get away--" She stopped, shaking her head, desolation sweeping through her. Theo didn't seem to understand her father's power, or the need for secrecy. How could she have trusted him?
    "I think you're overreacting just a little," he shouted back at her. He stood confidently at the wheel of the boat, the wind ruffling his hair, his eyes narrowed against the sun's glare. The wind also pressed his polo shirt and khakis close to his body, outlining every sleek, sculpted muscle. Ariana yanked her gaze upwards. She had no business looking--gaping, really--at his body, especially at a moment like this. "Given your history," he added, "it's understandable."
    "You obviously don't know my father."
    "And you, Ariana, don't know me." He flashed her a quick, knowing smile. "Fortunately, we can remedy that situation."
    Ariana just shook her head, knowing there was no point in arguing with him. Piraeus was at least five hours away by speedboat. There was absolutely no way they could evade the police for that long.
    The police would come, she acknowledged bleakly, by helicopter or by boat, it didn't matter which, and force them to stop. They'd arrest Theo and return her to her father. It seemed horribly, unbearably inevitable.
    They rode in silence for awhile, and Ariana could not keep herself from scanning the skies and seas, looking for an ominous black speck that would turn into an enemy. The law.
    All they saw were a few pleasure boats bobbing along the water, and then a rocky landscape bloomed on the horizon. Another island.
    Ariana watched as Theo headed straight towards it. "Where are you going?"
    "Naxos."
    "Naxos?" Her voice rose in a shriek. It was the island nearest to her father's. "My father will have informed the police there first. They'll be