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“How could I forget?”
“I’m going to show you another one of mine, although it’s in its embryo stage. Every bit of money I earned growing up, I invested so that one day I could be independent. You’d have to belong to a family like mine to understand where I’m coming from.”
“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to realize you want to be your own man.”
He breathed in deeply. “As you heard from my mother, last week I claimed my independence when I resigned at the board meeting. The Konstantinos family doesn’t own me anymore. Best of all, I don’t owe them.”
He felt her speculative gaze on him while he made a turn to the right and followed the mountain road to an area of cleared land. It housed a cluster of new buildings, flatbed trucks and other machinery.
Stavros brought the Jeep to a halt at the front entrance of the office building. “Welcome to Mount Ypsarion Enterprises.”
She looked all around. “This isn’t a quarry.”
“No. That’s my family’s business.”
Her eyes flew to his. “What’s your business?”
“That six-thousand-square-meter plant you see is putting out forty-five tons per hour of a new product I call Marma-Kon. It’s made from those mounds of marble waste dumps behind the buildings.”
“Waste?”
“Refuse from the cutting of the marble blocks. The idea came to me years ago when I visited the different quarries and saw the wasted marble. I began talking to a group of independent chemical engineers like myself from Kavala.”
“I didn’t know you were an engineer like my dad.”
Everything got down to her dad. Her hero worship of him meant they had a very strong bond. Ferrante had wanted her enough that he was willing to give up his own career to be with Andrea and her father. Had Andrea pressured him? Or had Ferrante loved her beyond reason and known it was the only way he could have a life with her?
“It was necessary if I hoped to build a business. Together, my engineering friends and I brainstormed about what could be done with the residue because no one was interested in the waste. In time, we came up with various products used to make dry mortars, glues and tile adhesives that are superior to those on the market because of their marble base. They’re ideal for every application.
“After successfully testing the products with building contractors and architects, we saw the great potential and formed Mount Ypsarion Enterprises. From that moment on, I began negotiating with quarries all over northern Greece to buy their waste for a nominal fee and bring it here by the truckload to be processed. We house the finished products in bags and place them in those warehouses, ready for delivery by truck, train or ship.”
She shook her head. “That’s incredible, Stavros. Utterly incredible and it’s all brand-new. Can I see inside your office first?”
“You want to?”
“Of course.”
They both got out of the Jeep. Using the remote, Stavros let them inside the one-story office building. He walked her past the front desk of the main foyer to his own suite. “This is my secretary’s office. Further down the hall my colleagues, Theo and Zander, have their suites with their own secretaries. If my projections are correct, this will be the first of other plants we plan to build in Penteli, near Athens, and in the Cyclades.”
She swung around and smiled at him. “You planned all this.”
“Along with my partners.”
“But you thought of it first. You’re brilliant.”
He was touched by her earnestness, but he flashed her a dry smile. “A brilliant financial disaster, you mean, if my marketing projections for thirty thousand tons a year of product aren’t met. Only time will tell. I and the two-hundred-plus workers we’ve hired could lose everything. I won’t have anyone to blame but myself.”
“You won’t fail. You couldn’t.”
He’d needed Andrea in his life for a long time. Years, in fact...
“Such faith deserves a reward. I asked Raisa to have the hamper packed by the time we return. We’ll go back to the house for it and our bathing suits. Then we’ll drive to Thassos and take my speedboat. There’s a secluded beach close by I know you’ll love.”
“I can’t wait, but could I see inside the plant first? My dad was pleased when I told him your company had given permission for the tours to visit your quarry. But he’ll be more than impressed when I tell him about your brainchild. It’s hard to impress him.”
With a work ethic like her father’s, Stavros could believe it. But he was troubled by their conversation because her dad figured in it more and more. Stavros led her back outside and used the remote to activate the electronic lock. They walked to the plant in the distance and he let her inside.
One would have thought Andrea was a child on Christmas morning. But instead of exclaiming about the presents, she marveled over the up-to-date technology installed. “Would you mind if I took a few pictures with my phone to send to my father? Or would you think I’m an industrial spy?”
