Adonis in Athens - Page 35

She was still looking into his mesmerizing green eyes. “I, um…I love cheesecake and my favorite bands are Rise Against and Nickelback. I want children too, but they scare the crap out of me, and visiting Australia is at the top of my bucket list.”

“Do you like sushi?”

“No.”

“Good. Me either.” He cocked his head. “What else is there, baby? I think that covers the important stuff.”

“Apollo?” She was on the verge of tears again, overwhelmed by everything she was feeling and how fast things were moving.

“You said you loved me and the feeling is mutual. Can we please go upstairs and make love?”

“It’s not that simple!”

“But it is.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to bed.

Apollo was sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee when his phone rang just after seven. He’d let Paige sleep—they’d made love until late in the night—but he’d needed to mentally prepare himself for the day. His father would be the first obstacle, but with the deal with the Italians finalized, he wasn’t too worried about it. His mother and Sophia would be another story, but luckily, it was his father who was calling now.

“Kalimera.” Good morning.

“Apollo!”

His father’s voice held a booming passion Apollo hadn’t heard in months, and it made him happy, though he didn’t say anything about it. “I hear you were in the office yesterday meeting with the Italians,” was what he said instead.

“With Pio, not Fabrizio.”

“Did you not trust me to handle it?”

Dimitri Lakkas laughed, long and deep.

“I’m glad you’re amused,” Apollo said dryly.

“Apollo. I was involved in every aspect of this deal—did you really think I would leave something this big to chance?”

Apollo frowned, his heart rate picking up as he tried to read between the lines. “Wait a minute—was this fake? Did you set this deal up as a test?”

“It wasn’t fake! Don’t be ridiculous! But yes, this was a test of sorts.”

“A test.” Apollo clenched the phone in one hand and made a fist in the other. “So it wasn’t really a deal.”

“Yes, yes, it was a deal! You just solidified a multimillion-dollar contract for us! You’ve done an incredible job. I’m proud of you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” It took all his self-control not to yell, but even though he was angry, he hadn’t raised his voice to his father since the stroke and he wouldn’t start now.

“The deal was already in the works before I got sick. Pio had a heart attack just two weeks after my stroke and things fell to the wayside. We spoke about six months ago, out of genuine concern for each other, and discovered that each other’s companies had been taken over by family members. We decided we would set up a little test to see how they worked when the stakes were high. You passed with flying colors. With a little help from your pretty friend.”

Apollo snorted. “I’ve been busting my ass seven days a week, 12-hour days most of the time, and you thought I needed to be tested?!” His voice got a little louder.

“Son, I trust you with my life, but not everyone loves you as I do and—”

“And you made a fucking fool out of me!”

“Apollo.” Dimitri’s voice dropped. “That’s not true. You need to—”

“I don’t need to do shit. I can’t talk to you right now. I’m sorry, Baba, I have to go.” He disconnected and realized his hand was shaking. “Sonofabitch!” He threw the phone across the balcony where it bounced against the wall and a piece of the protective casing snapped off.

“Good thing you have a cover,” Paige said softly, kneeling beside him. “What happened, babe? You sounded so upset.”

He took a deep breath and repeated the discussion with his father.