AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nice.” Lena chuckled.
“The villa’s gorgeous,” Raegan said, her pink hair flapping in the wind. “Four bedrooms, a hot tub, a pool and the most gorgeous view…I’ve never stayed any place this beautiful.”
“Santorini is nice,” Lena admitted. “I’ve been here several times, though there are so many wonderful islands in Greece, we always have a hard time choosing.”
“You and your boyfriend?” Raegan asked.
Lena shook her head. “Not anymore. Kosta and I broke up last year.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you together a long time?”
“Since we were 15 and 16, but we’d broken up a dozen times over the years. We called it quits before I went away to college but somehow wound up back together when I got back. It took forever for us to end it for good, but I think he understands it’s over this time.”
“That’s a long time to be with someone,” Raegan said.
“It’s hard to make big changes when you’re comfortable,” she admitted. “But now that it’s really over, I feel free. It’s nice.”
“I thought you two were in it for the long haul,” Mick said, his eyes on the road ahead so she couldn’t see if his face looked as grouchy as his voice sounded.
“Things fell apart a long time ago,” she murmured in response. “But it’s easy to go back to someone when it’s comfortable.”
“No kidding,” Raegan nodded, launching into a story about one of her ex-boyfriends.
Lena was grateful for the distraction.
3
Mick Laughlin stood on the edge of the precipice and observed the view with satisfaction. From where he stood, the swirling waves rolling up onto the picturesque mountainside were absolute perfection, and patrons who would be staying here at the resort that was being built would probably be as mesmerized by it as he was. Of course, he was responsible for the whole damn project, so he didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it, but this had become his thinking place. The property ended here, and when the resort was finished there would be a low cement fence to keep people from tumbling over the cliff and into the sea.
Until then, he planned to sneak out here any morning he was free so he could be alone, get ready for his day and think. Thinking was sometimes problematic, he thought with a half-hearted smirk. God knows, he didn’t do much deep thinking if he could help it. Unless it had to do with work, of course, but that wasn’t what was on his mind the last two days. Right now there was a woman on his mind, and it wasn’t his spunky, pink-haired assistant, either.
Being in Greece hadn’t been good for him so far. Professional issues aside, it had also rubbed his nose in the memory of the only woman he’d ever loved and how she’d dumped him for no apparent reason. He’d been forced to be casual and polite with her during her brother’s wedding a few weeks ago in Las Vegas, but he’d hated every minute of it. It didn’t help that her brother was his closest friend. He and Apollo had been inseparable in college and the thousands of miles between them since graduation hadn’t altered that. Mick was 26, a year older than Apollo, and they’d met when Apollo had been a freshman and he’d been a sophomore.
Mick had been attending Yale University on a basketball scholarship but his focus had always been architecture. Since he’d already had a job waiting for him at his family’s architectural firm as soon as he finished his undergraduate degree, he’d been working full-time while finishing his Master’s and simply hadn’t had the time or energy to chase after Lena. That was probably his only regret. That and not coming clean with Apollo, who’d undoubtedly suspected something anyway.
Yeah, nothing about this situation had been good for him. Professionally, this was the biggest project of his career and he was letting his personal life completely overshadow it. It needed to stop but he couldn’t seem to focus on anything else. Being away from her for almost four years hadn’t dulled his feelings; if anything, they were more acute. He didn’t get it. He wanted to move on. He was a decent looking guy, came from a wealthy family and there was no shortage of women available to him. He just didn’t want any of them beyond a romp in the bedroom; sometimes, not even then.
The sun was getting higher in the sky and he had a lot to do today, so he reluctantly started back towards the road. He ran this route almost every morning, both for exercise and because it was relaxing, but he didn’t know how much longer he could continue. The early phase of the project was done, the foundations of the buildings had been poured, and things would be ramping up when they actually started putting up walls. This was a huge undertaking, and he was essentially in charge of making sure the construction company did the right things, the inspectors and legalities involved were handled correctly, and that they didn’t go over budget. He was scheduled to be here for approximately two years, and while it had sounded exciting in theory, now he wasn’t so sure.
He’d figured since he would be in Santorini and Lena lived in Athens, the chances of running into her were slim. Unfortunately, he hadn’t factored a fire on the site into his plans. There hadn’t been any way he could refuse once Apollo had offered to send Lena to help him since he genuinely needed someone he trusted who also spoke the language. He was grateful for the assistance but wished it hadn’t been Lena who’d come to the rescue. The last thing he needed right now was for the only woman he’d ever loved to come back into his life and distract him from this project. It was pivotal to his career and with Lena underfoot he wouldn’t be concentrating on his work; he’d be thinking about the girl who’d stolen his heart four years ago.
Spending time with her was going to be tough, but he needed her. The fire had done a lot of damage and though everything could be replaced, getting copies of permits, blueprints and all the information on their computers would be time-consuming. Luckily, his and Raegan’s laptops contained copies of almost everything of any significance, and hadn’t been on site during the fire, but it was still going to be a big task for someone to make sure they had everything and Raegan couldn’t do it by herself. In the three short weeks she’d worked for him, she’d become invaluable and he couldn’t afford to put her on a side project like that. With Lena involved, she could take over that kind of thing while Raegan continued to assist him with the regular tasks that would hopefully keep them at least somewhat on schedule.
Thoughts racing with everything he needed to do today, he called the junior architect on the project, Loren Severence. The phone rang five times before he picked up, his voice thick and raspy from sleep.
“Yeah?”
“It’s almost 8:30—are you still asleep?” Mick demanded, scowling.
“Had a late night,” Loren rumbled. “I don’t come in till nine…whazzup?”
Mick gritted his teeth. “The project is falling weeks behind because of the fire and you think you should come in at the regular time—get your ass down here now!” He disconnected with a muttered curse. He’d never really liked Loren, but Loren was the nephew of one of the firm’s founding partners, Pat Rosenthal, so Mick had always been forced to walk a fine line with him. Loren would report anything and everything to his uncle—and use any opportunity to make Mick look bad.
Mick had hated bothering Apollo—he was a newlywed trying to spend time enjoying his wife—but he hadn’t had much choice. Attending their wedding ceremony in Las Vegas just over a month ago had been fortuitous because that was how Mick had met Paige’s best friend, Raegan. He’d wound up hiring her as his virtual assistant and now she was here in Santorini with him. It had been immensely helpful overall, but she didn’t speak Greek and with police and other government officials involved in the investigation of the fire, he needed a native speaker he could trust. That was the only reason he’d broken down and called Apollo. He just hadn’t expected Lena to be the one who’d come.
By the time he got to the construction site, he was already sweaty and tired, and the condition of everything was frustrating. Because they were so close to the sea, the wind had dispersed most of the smoke from the fire, but the carnage was even worse now that the air was clear. The three trailers they’d been using as on-site offices had been reduced to nothing but rubble and even the dumpsters were covered in thick black soot. Whoever had done this had burned everything from the trailers to the porta-potties to the signs displaying their building permits. Someone really didn’t want this project to proceed because there was no way in hell this was an accident.
The project had barely started and they were already behind. It would take weeks, maybe longer, to clear the debris, receive new permits, and get new office trailers set up, all while the authorities conducted their investigation. They’d told him yesterday it wouldn’t take too long to collect any evidence but this was Greece, and he had a feeling nothing that involved bureaucracy would move that fast. This was where Lena would hopefully be able to help. As a native speaker, she would be able to ask detailed questions and translate everything the detective in charge told them. The only definitive answer he’d gotten so far was that there was essentially no information yet.
