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“No.” Her voice shook. “He knows I’m leaving Greece with you.” She got up from the couch, unable to sit still.
“Does he know about Ferrante?”
“Everything.”
“Have you told Stavros you’re dying of love for him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you going to Brazil with me?”
She wheeled around to stare at her father. “Because I love you and don’t want you to be alone.”
He got a troubled look on his face. “Did you tell him that?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
Her father stood up. “Honey—I hope you’re not sacrificing your own happiness because you’re worried about me.”
“Of course I’m worried about you. We’ve never been apart.”
“I’m afraid that’s my fault. I think I’ve done a terrible thing to you without realizing it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Somewhere along the way you’ve decided you have to be my caretaker.”
“No, Dad. It’s not like that.”
“It’s exactly like that,” he countered. “So that’s why Ferrante was willing to move around with us. I thought it odd, but you seemed so happy about it, I never questioned it.”
She was shocked. “Dad—”
“Honey, this is the last thing I ever wanted to happen. I raised you hoping that one day you’d get married. It broke my heart when Ferrante was killed. Now that you’ve met another wonderful man, I don’t want to be the reason why you don’t stay here and really get to know Stavros. You’ve known each other, what? All of two weeks? You need more time together.”
She couldn’t believe he was saying these things. “But what will you do?”
“Without you?” He laughed. “I have my own life to lead, but we’ll always have each other. If you love this man heart and soul, then you need to stay here and give it a chance. I’d give anything if your mother were here right now. If she were alive, she’d give you the same advice. Honey—you and I will get together whenever possible, right? But you need to pursue your own life.”
Andrea had never loved her father more than at this moment. “Yes! Oh, yes!”
He held out his arms and she ran into them. The tears kept coming. Just a different kind. “I want you to meet him. He’s so wonderful, you can’t imagine.”
“I think I got a clue when you sent me those pictures. Now how about showing me a picture of him?”
“I will, but first you need to know he’s in trouble and I’ve been named codefendant because of that woman.”
“They mean business, don’t they?”
“I’m afraid so.” For the next little while, she told him everything. “His father has never shown him love.”
“Some people don’t know how, but he had to have loved him all these years, otherwise why would he let his son be the managing director of the corporation?”
She blinked. “You’re right!” Her dad could always make her feel better. “But I can hardly stand how much he’s been hurt. When you meet Stavros, you just won’t believe how fantastic he is. For this woman’s father to put pressure on Stavros’s father and take him to court just tears me apart.”
“Sounds like this woman’s father would do anything to have Stavros for a son-in-law.”
“He tried because Stavros is a breed apart from other men. But Stavros doesn’t see himself as exceptional.”
