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“Samuel mentioned that and Rhea confirmed it.”
At least Rhea had been forthright with Chloe. Perhaps the sister wasn’t using his ex-wife quite as ruthlessly as her father had done.
“What could you possibly expect me to do at this point?” Ariston asked, wondering if she would be as truthful with him as her sister had been with her.
“Expect? Nothing.” She sighed again, looking more defeated than anything else. “But hope? I guess I’m an irrepressible optimist, because I can’t seem to give that commodity up entirely where you are concerned.”
Again with the hope issue. What was it that she’d hoped for from him before and not gotten?
“And what is it you hope?” If she was as unwilling to answer this time as she had been the last, they would be at an impasse. For now.
“I’m not lending investment capital to a man who has no more business sense than to have kept the majority of his liquid assets in our home country’s toppling banking institution,” he said before she had a chance to answer his question.
Eber was a business dinosaur and his once thriving company had no chance with him at the helm in the new world economy, even without a powerful enemy like Ariston.
Chloe waited for their plates to be set before them before saying, “No, I can see that would be a mistake.”
“If you do, you’ve gained business acumen you never had when married to me.” He took a bite of his dinner, hoping it would encourage her to do the same and feeling triumphant when it worked.
The aged steak, seared but not cooked through, was one of the restaurant’s specialty dishes he had always enjoyed. It did not disappoint, but Chloe looked equally pleased with her blackened salmon.
“I do understand some things,” Chloe said after enjoying several thoughtful bites of her dinner. “Like the fact that Spiridakou & Sons Enterprises has weathered the current financial crisis in a way businesses in countries with much more stable economies than Greece have not.”
“Though it may have started in Greece with my great-grandfather, SSE is now a fully functioning multinational corporation with headquarters in New York and Greece.” He was proud of that fact.
His grandfather had made their company a multimillion-dollar concern. Ariston had taken it into the billions.
At thirty-two, he was one of the youngest billionaires living. Not entirely self-made, he’d nevertheless brought the company started by his great-grandfather to a level far beyond anything the Spiridakous that came before him had been able to achieve.
“Yes, with a brilliant businessman at its head.” Chloe’s voice was laced with unexpected approval and respect.
“You believe I am brilliant?”
“In business, there is no question.” There was a caveat there in her voice.
He got the distinct impression, though, that if he asked about it, she would say it was nothing.
Or none of his business.
“So, what do you want?” he asked instead.
For a moment something poignant and vulnerable flared in her emerald gaze, but then it was gone. “My father signed over his principle interests in the company to my sister.”
“Yes?” This was not news to Ariston.
Eber’s health had deteriorated right along with his company. His move to make his daughter chairman had not been welcome, but Ariston had been determined to follow through with his plans no matter who spearheaded the Dioletis empire.
“You already knew that. Even so, you brought my father up. Twice.” She shook her head. “You are such a shark.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“GUPPIES do not survive in my world.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“You saw yourself as a guppy?” he couldn’t help asking.
“Wouldn’t you have, if you were me?”
When he just looked as if he couldn’t imagine himself as anything but a predator, no matter the scenario, she went on. “Toward the end of our marriage, I came to realize how truly ill prepared I was to operate in your world, or that of my father for that matter.”
“And yet, here you are again.”
“Two years older and hopefully wiser.”
“Did you know your father’s health is not what it once was?” Ariston asked, realizing that if she hadn’t spoken to the man in such a long while, she might not.
He couldn’t be sure how far Rhea’s honesty extended when dealing with Chloe.
“We’ve already established he’s no longer at the helm of Dioletis Industries.”
“That is not my point.”
Chloe pushed her dinner away, having eaten about half of it. “What is your point?”
“I merely wished to make certain you knew of his ill health.” Ariston frowned at the unfinished plate.
