Doorstep Twins / The Cowboy's Adopted Daughter

The air seemed to have electrified around them. “If you’re telling me the truth, then you’re one of a dying species.”

His cynical remark revealed a lot. He had no qualms about using women. In that regard he and Rand had a lot in common. But Gabi suspected Mr. Simonides didn’t like women very much.

“One day when they’re old enough to understand, I wouldn’t be able to face them if I couldn’t tell them that at the very beginning I did everything in my power to unite them with you first.”

His eyes looked almost black as they searched hers for a tension-filled moment. “What’s in Virginia when your parents are here in Greece?”

“My life, Mr. Simonides. Like you, I have an important career I love. My parents’ responsibilities are here on Crete for the time being. Dad has always had connections to the Greek government. Every time they’re transferred, I make the occasional visit, but I live at our family home in Virginia.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I came a month before the children were born. They’re three months old now.” They’re so adorable you can’t imagine.

“What’s your routine with them?”

Gabi thought she understood what he was asking. “Between naps I usually take them for walks in their stroller.”

“Where?”

“Several places close by. There’s a small park with a fountain and benches around the corner from the consulate. I sometimes go there with them.”

“Let’s plan to meet there tomorrow, say three o’clock. If that isn’t possible, phone me on my cell and we’ll arrange for another time.”

“That will be fine,” she assured him.

“Good.” He wrote a number on a business card and handed it to her. In the next breath he pulled the phone out of his trouser pocket and asked Stavros to report.

Half a minute later the other man appeared. “Come with me, Ms. Turner, and I’ll show you to your cabin.”

“Thank you.” When she got up, she would have taken the envelope with her, but Andreas was too fast for her.

“I’ll return this to you later. Let’s hope you sleep well. The sea is calm tonight.”

She paused at the entrance. Studying him from across the expanse she said, “Thank you for giving me those two minutes. When I prevailed on your receptionist, she said you were already late leaving your office. I’m sorry if I interrupted your plans for the evening.”

He cocked his dark head. “A life and death situation waits on no man. Go to bed with a clear conscience. Kalinihta, Gabi Turner.”

His deep, attractive voice vibrated to her insides. “Kalinihta.”

As soon as Stavros saw her to her cabin, Andreas pulled out his cell phone to call Irena for the second time this evening.

“Darling?” she answered on the second ring. “I’ve been hoping to hear from you.”

“I’m sorry about tonight,” he began without preamble. “As I told you earlier, an emergency came up that made it impossible for us to join the family party on Milos.”

“Well, you’re free now. Are you planning to come over?”

He gripped the phone tighter. “I can’t.”

“That sounded serious. Something really is wrong, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” his voice grated. In the space of a few hours his shock had worn off enough for agony to take over.

“You don’t want to talk to me about it?”

“I will when the time is right.” He closed his eyes tightly. There was no right time. Not for this.

“Which means you have to discuss it with Leon first.”

What did she just say?

“Judging by your silence, I realize that came out wrong. Forgive me. Ever since we started seeing each other, I’ve learned you always turn to him before anyone else, but I said it as an observation, not a criticism.”

She’d only spoken the truth. It brought up a potentially serious issue for the future, but he didn’t have the time to analyze the ramifications right now. “There’s nothing to forgive, Irena. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Whatever’s disturbing you, remember I’m here.”

“As if I could forget.”

“S’agapo, Andreas.”

In the six months they’d been together, he’d learned to love her. Before Gabi Turner had come to his office, he’d planned to ask Irena to marry him. It was past time he settled down. His intention had been to announce it at tonight’s party.

“S’agapo,” he whispered before hanging up.

Chapter Two

THE next afternoon Gabi’s mother helped her settle the babies in their double stroller. “It’s hot out.”

“A typical July day.” Gabi had already packed their bottled formula in the space behind the seat. “I’ve dressed them in their thinnest tops and shorts.” One outfit in pale green, the other pastel blue. “At least there’s some shade at the park. We’ll have a wonderful time, won’t we?”

She couldn’t resist kissing their cheeks. After being gone overnight, she’d missed them horribly. Now that they were awake, their sturdy little arms and legs were moving like crazy.

“Oh, Gabi…they’re so precious and they look so much like Thea.”

“I know.” But they also looked like someone else. That was the reason they were so gorgeous. She squeezed her mother around the shoulders. “Because of them, Thea will always be with us.”

“Your father’s so crazy about them, I don’t know if he can handle your taking them back home to Alexandria to live. I know I can’t. Please promise me you’ll reconsider.”

“We’ve been over this too many times, Mom. Dad can’t do his work the way he needs to. It’s best for both of you with your busy schedules. At home I’ll be around my friends and there’ll be other moms with their babies to befriend. We’ll see each other often. You know that!”

Right now Gabi had too many butterflies in her stomach at the thought of meeting up with Andreas to concentrate on anything else. She slowly let go of her. “See you later.”

Making certain the twins were comfy, she started pushing the stroller away from the Venetian-styled building that had become a home to the consulate with its apartments for their family. From her vantage point she could look out over the port of Heraklion on the northern end of Crete, an island steeped in Roman and Ottoman history.

Normally she daydreamed about its past during her walks with the children, but this afternoon her gaze was glued to the harbor. Somewhere down there was the cabin cruiser that had brought her from Piraeus.

The trip had been so smooth, she could believe the sea had been made of glass. She should have fallen into a deep sleep during the all-night crossing, but in truth she’d tossed and turned most of it.

That was because the man she’d labeled bloodless and selfish didn’t appear to fit her original assessment. In fact she had trouble putting him in any category, which was yet another reason for her restlessness.

As a result she’d slept late and had to be awakened by Stavros, who’d brought a fabulous breakfast to her elegant cabin with its cherrywood décor. She’d thanked him profusely. Following that she’d showered and given herself a shampoo. After drying her hair, she’d changed into white sailor pants and a sleeveless navy and white print top.

Once her bag was packed, she’d applied lipstick, then walked through to the main salon before ascending the companionway stairs in her sandals. She’d expected to find Andreas so she could thank him for everything, but discovered he was nowhere in sight. Somehow she’d felt disappointed, which made no sense at all.

Since Stavros had let her know her ride was waiting, she’d had no choice but to leave the cruiser from the port side. He’d carried her overnight bag to the taxi and wished her a good day. After thanking him again, she’d been whisked through the bustling city of close to a hundred and forty thousand people. Further up the incline they reached the consulate property and passed through the sentry gate.

After her arrival, she’d made some noncommittal remarks to her parents about having had an okay time in Athens, but she’d missed the children too much and wanted to come straight home. The babies had acted so happy to see her, her heart had melted.

Closer to the park now, she felt her pulse speed up. Though the heat had something to do with it, there was another reason. What if Andreas took one look and decided he did want the children? Though that was what she’d been hoping and praying for, she hadn’t counted on this pang that ran through her at the thought of having to give them up.

The park held its share of children, some with their mothers. A few older people sat on benches talking. Several tourists on bikes had stopped to catch their breath before moving on. It was a benign scene until she noticed the striking man who sat beneath the fronds of a palm tree reading a newspaper.

There was an aura of sophistication about him. A man in control of his world. One of the most powerful men in Greece actually. Everywhere he went, his bodyguards preceded him, but she would never know who they were or where they were hidden.

Today he’d dressed in a silky blue sport shirt and tan trousers, a picture of masculine strength and a kind of rugged male beauty hard to put in words.

She glanced at the twins. They didn’t know it, but they were looking at their daddy, a man like no other who wasn’t more than ten feet away.

His intelligent eyes fringed with inky black lashes peered over the newspaper at them before he put it aside and stood up.

Gabi moved the stroller closer until they were only a few feet apart. Hardly able to breathe, she touched one dark, curly head. “This is Kris, short for Kristopher. And this…” she tousled the other gleaming cap of black curls “…is Nikos.”

Andreas hunkered down in front of them. Like finding a rare treasure, his eyes burned a silvery gray as his gaze inspected every precious centimeter, from their handsome faces to the tips of their bare toes.

He cupped their chins as if he were memorizing their features, then he let them wrap their fingers around his. Before long both his index fingers ended up in their mouths.

Gabi started to laugh. She couldn’t help it. “He tastes good, huh. You little guys must be hungry.” She undid the strap and handed Nikos to him. “Sit down on the bench and you can feed him.” In a flash she supplied him with a cloth against his shoulder and a baby bottle full of formula.

“If you’ve never done this before, don’t worry about it. The boys will do all the work. Let him drink for a minute, then pat his back gently to get rid of the air bubbles. I’ll take care of Kris.”

For the next little while, she was mostly aware of the twins making noisy sounds as they drank their bottles with the greatest of relish. Afterward they traded babies so he could get to know Kris.

Every so often the sounds were followed by several loud burps that elicited rich laughter from Andreas. When she’d approached him in his office yesterday, she hadn’t thought he was capable of it.

Any misgivings she’d had about starting up this process fled at the sight of him getting acquainted with the boys. It was a picture that would be impressed on her heart forever. Wherever Thea was, she had to be happy her sons were no longer strangers to their father, even if he’d never sought her sister out again.

Gabi didn’t know the outcome, but this meeting was something to cherish at least.

“We’ll have to make this fast because I don’t want to keep them out in the sun much longer.” She flashed him a quick glance. “Next time—if you want there to be a next time—you can take them for a walk on your own.”

He made no response. She didn’t know what to think. Another five minutes passed before she said, “There now. They’re as sated as two fat cats.” Again she heard laughter roll out of him.

Together they lowered them back into the stroller. Her arm brushed his, making her unduly aware of him. She put the empty bottles and cloths away. When she rose up, their glances collided. “I have to go,” she said. Maybe she was mistaken, but she thought the light in his eyes faded a trifle. “If you want to see them again, call me on my cell.”

Pulling out his phone, he said, “Tell me your number and I’ll program it into mine right now.”

Maybe that was a good sign. Then again maybe it wasn’t. A small shiver ran down her spine in fear that when he contacted her next, he would tell her that, cute as the boys were, he was still signing his rights away and they were all hers with his blessing.

After she’d given him her number, he pushed the stroller toward the path leading out to the street. One of the older women caught sight of the twins and shouted something about them having beautiful children.

“Efharisto,” Andreas called back, thanking the woman as if this were an everyday occurrence.

Gabi didn’t want to tear herself away, but her mother would worry if she wasn’t back soon and would want to know why the delay. “I really have to go.”

“I know,” he said in a husky tone before giving the boys a kiss on their foreheads. “I’ll be in touch.”

With those long powerful strides, he left the park going one way while she trundled along with the stroller going the other. The farther apart they got, the more fearful she grew.

He wasn’t indifferent to the twins. She knew that. She’d felt it and seen it. But one meeting with his children didn’t mean he wanted to take on the lifetime responsibility of parenting them. Between his work and girlfriends he wouldn’t have much time to fit in the twins.

She’d told him she’d be leaving for Virginia next week. If he didn’t want her to take them away, he needed to make up his mind soon.

Maybe he would compromise. She’d raise them and he’d be one of those drop-in daddies. For the boys’ sake Gabi couldn’t bear the thought of it, but having a daddy around once in a while, even if he only flew into D.C. from Greece once a year with a present, was better for them than no daddy at all, wasn’t it? Gabi loved her own father so much, she couldn’t imagine life without him.

The only thing to do now was brace herself for his next phone call.

Accompanied by his bodyguards, Andreas rushed toward the helicopter waiting for him at the Heraklion airport. Once he’d climbed aboard, he directed his pilot to fly him to the Simonides villa on Milos where the whole clan had congregated for the weekend.

Last night there’d been a party to celebrate his sister Melina’s thirtieth birthday, but he’d been forced to miss it because of a life and death situation. Gabi Turner had been right about that.

Though his married sister had been gracious over the phone, he knew she’d been hurt by his excuse that something unavoidable had come up to detain him in Athens. He’d promised to make it up to her, but that kind of occasion in her honor with extended family in attendance only happened once a year. Now the moment was gone.

Yet, sorry as he was, he had something much more vital on his mind and couldn’t think about anything else. Throughout the flight he still felt the strong tug of those little mouths on his fingers. Their touch had sent the most peculiar sensation through Andreas.

Even though he had ten nieces and nephews, he hadn’t been involved in their nurturing. The closest he’d come was to hold their weightless bodies as they were being passed around at a family party after coming home from the hospital.

Today had been something totally different. It was as if the blinders had come off, but he hadn’t known they existed until contact was made. Kris and Nikos weren’t just babies. Those excited bodies with their bright eyes and faces belonged to a pair of little guys who one day would grow up to be big guys. Guys who had the Simonides stamp written all over them.

As soon as he entered the main villa Andreas went in search of his vivacious mother, who was in the kitchen supervising dinner preparations with the cook, Tina.

“There you are, darling,” she said the minute she saw him.

He gave her a kiss, already anticipating her next comment. “My absence was unavoidable.”

Her expressive dark brows lifted. “A delicate merger?”

“Incredibly delicate,” he muttered. The memory of Nikos and Kris so trusting in his arms as they inhaled their formula never left his mind.

“You sound like your father. I have to tell you I’m glad he’s finally stepped down and you’re in charge. He’s a different man these days. Let’s just hope that when you’re settled down, hopefully soon, your wife will have more influence on you to take time off once in a while. You’re already working too hard if you had to miss Melina’s birthday party.”

His mother could have no idea. He gave her an extra hug. “Where’s everyone?” he asked, knowing the answer full well, but he didn’t want to sound like anything out of the ordinary was wrong.

“Still waterskiing. Your grandparents are out on the patio watching your father and your uncle Vasio drive the younger children around. We’ll eat out by the pool in an hour.”

“That gives me enough time to get in a little exercise.” After stealing an hors d’oeuvre from the plate Tina was preparing, he pecked her cheek to atone for his sin before walking through a series of alcoves and walkways to reach his villa with its own amenities farther down their private beach.

The massive family retreat—a cluster of linked white villas in the Cycladic style—had been the Simonides refuge for many generations. Because of business, Andreas didn’t escape from his penthouse in the city as often as he wanted and had been looking forward to this time with the family.

Who would have dreamed that, before the lift door closed, an innocent-looking blonde female would sweep into his office like a Cycladic breeze, bringing a fragrance as sweet as the honeysuckle growing wild on the island before she dropped her bomb?

Still charged with adrenaline, he changed into his swim trunks and hurried down to the beach where the family ski boats were in use.

“There’s Uncle Andreas!” One of his nieces waiting on the beach for her turn screeched with joy and ran toward him. Her brother followed. “Now that you’re here, will you take us? Grandpa hasn’t come back for us yet.”

His sister Leila’s children were the youngest, seven and nine. “What do you think?” He grinned. “Climb in my ski boat. We’ll show everybody! You spot your sister first, Jason.”

“Okay!”

Happy chaos reigned for another half-hour, then everyone left the beach because dinner had been announced. Andreas secured his boat to their private pier. Things couldn’t have turned out better than to find his brother Leon the last to tie up his own ski boat. His wife Deline had gone up with the others, leaving them alone for the moment.

“How was the party last night?” Andreas asked as he started tying the other end for him.

Leon shot him a glance. “Fine, but I have to tell you Dad wasn’t too thrilled you didn’t make a showing. He was hoping to see you there with Irena.”

Irena Liapis was a favorite with the family and the daughter of his parents’ good friends who owned one of the major newspapers in Greece. It was the same paper that had shown Thea aboard the family yacht.

Everyone was hoping for news that a wedding was in the offing. With his four siblings married, his parents were expecting some kind of announcement from him.

Andreas groaned. No woman had ever been his grand passion. Maybe there wasn’t such a thing and he was only deluding himself because he’d been a bachelor for too long. But his feelings for Irena had grown over the months. Besides being beautiful, she was intelligent and kind. He wanted his marriage to work and knew it could if she were his wife.

But last night Gabi Turner’s explosion into his life had caused every plan to go up in smoke. Now that a certain situation had developed threatening to set off a conflagration, his whole world had been turned on its side. For the time being he couldn’t think about Irena or anything else.

Andreas knew it wasn’t fair to keep any secrets from the woman he’d intended to marry, but, as he’d just found out, life wasn’t fair…not to the twins who’d lost their mother or to Gabi who’d taken on the awesome responsibility of raising her half sister’s children.

By tacit agreement he and his brother started walking up the beach toward the pool area. Using his fingertips, Leon scooped up his sandals lying in the sand. “Your non-appear-ance was kind of a shocker. Normally Dad gives you a pass.”

“It’s because he has a soft spot for Melina.” She was the baby in the family.

“If you pulled off the Canadian gold-refining merger, I’m sure all will be forgiven.”

Andreas frowned. “That might not happen. I’m still debating if it’s to our advantage.”

“With the kind of revenue it could bring in, you must be joking!”

“Not at all. I think they’re in deeper trouble than they’ve made out to be.” He gave his brother a covert glance. “Speaking of trouble, there’s something you and I have to talk about in private.”

“If you’re referring to the acquisition of those mineral rights in—”

“I’m not,” he cut him off. “You made a brilliant move on that.” Leon was his second in command. “I’m referring to something else that doesn’t have anything to do with business. After we eat, come to my villa alone. Make it look casual. You need to see something.”

Leon let out a bark of laughter. “You sound cryptic. What’s gotten into you?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

For the next hour Andreas joined in with his family and gave Melina the gift he’d found for her on one of his business trips to the Balkans. She collected nesting dolls. The one he gave her proved to be a hit. Once dessert was served, he faded from the scene and headed for his place, nodding to one of the maids on the way. Not long after, Leon showed up.

“Lock the front door behind you. I don’t want us to be disturbed.”

Leon flicked him a puzzled glance as he pushed in the button. He walked into the living room. “What’s going on? The last time I remember seeing you this intense was when Father suffered that mild heart attack last year.”

Heart attack was the operative word.

Andreas was still trying to recover from the one Ms. Turner had given him. Without wasting any more time he handed the newspaper photo to Leon, who studied it for a minute before lifting his head. “Why are you showing me a picture of you? I don’t understand.” He handed it back to him.

“If you’ll notice the date, this headline is a year old. When the picture was taken, I happened to be in the States on business with our big brother. As usual, the paparazzi got you and me mixed up. That was during the time you and Deline were separated. This tall, ravenhaired beauty who’s looking over at you was the woman, right?”

Only now did it strike Andreas that Thea bore a superficial resemblance to both Deline and Irena. Sometimes it astounded him that he and Leon had similar tastes, not only in certain kinds of foods and sports, but in women. They were all striking brunettes.

“Yes,” he whispered. “And if I hadn’t gone to Deline and told her the truth about that night, it could have cost me my marriage. I still marvel that she forgave me enough to give us a second chance.”

Leon unexpectedly grabbed the paper out of his hand and balled it up in his fist. “Why are you reminding me of it? Look here, Andreas—” His cheeks had grown ruddy with unaccustomed anger.

“I have been looking,” he came back in a quiet voice. “Because I love you and Deline, for the last twenty-four hours I’ve been doing whatever it takes to protect you and keep this news confidential.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you’d like to know the name of the woman you spent that hour with on the yacht. Her name was Thea Paulos, the divorced daughter of Richard Turner, of the Greek-American Consulate on Crete. Her ex-husband Dimitri Paulos is the son of Ari Paulos who owns Paulos Metal Exports, one of the subsidiary companies we acquired a few years ago.”

While his brother stood there swallowing hard, Andreas removed the twins’ photo and DNA results from the manila envelope and handed everything to him.

Stunned into silence, Leon sank down on the couch to stare at the children he’d unknowingly produced. Though Andreas had it in his heart to feel sorry for his brother’s predicament, a part of him thought Leon the luckiest man on earth to have fathered two such beautiful sons.

“I had our DNA compared to theirs. It’s a match.”

Leon’s face went white.

“I’ve seen them,” Andreas confided. Thanks to Gabi, he’d held and fed both of them, an experience he’d never forget.

His brother’s dark head reared back. “You’ve seen them—” He sounded incredulous.

“Yes. They’re three months old.”

“Three months?” He mouthed the words, obviously in shock. “How did Ms. Paulos contact you?”

“She didn’t. Tragically for the children, she died on the operating table giving birth to them.”

“She’s dead?” He kept repeating everything Andreas said, like a man in a trance.

“It was her half sister, Gabi Turner, who came to my office yesterday. She’s the one who arranged for me to see the boys at a park near the consulate today.”

His brother jumped up from the couch looking like a caged animal ready to spring.

“Take it easy, Leon. I know what you’re thinking, but you’d be dead wrong. In the first place, she believes I’m the father.”

Leon jerked around. “You didn’t tell her I was the one in that news photo?”

“No.”

His brother averted his eyes. “How much money does she want to keep quiet?” he asked in a subdued voice.

It was a fair question since the same one had dominated Andreas’s thoughts when she’d first pulled out the photograph. “Forget about her desire to blackmail me. This has to do with something else entirely.”

“And you believed her?” Leon cried, grabbing his shoulders.

Andreas supposed Gabi could have been lying through her teeth. If that were the case…He saw black for a moment before a semblance of reason returned.

“I’d stake my life on the fact that her only agenda for coming to me was to make sure I knew I had two sons before she left Greece.”

“Why would she do that?”

He sucked in his breath. “Because she said they deserve to be with their real father if it’s at all possible.”

Leon’s eyes clouded for a moment before he flashed Andreas a jaded look and released him. “It could be a ploy. Where’s she supposedly going?”

“Alexandria, Virginia.” To her home and her life, as she’d put it. “Her father started his diplomatic career there. I have confirmation of it.”

While Leon stood there tongue tied, Andreas’s cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID and clicked on. “Mother?”

“Where are you?”

“In my villa.” He glanced at his brother. “Leon’s with me.”

“Can’t you two stop talking business for one evening?”

“Yes. We’ll be right over.”

“Good. Everyone’s wondering where you are. Deline’s been looking everywhere. We’re going to start some family movies.”

“Tell her we’re coming,” Leon called out loud enough for her to hear before Andreas clicked off.

He went into the study and locked the envelope in his desk, then eyed his brother soberly. “Since Gabi thinks I’m the father, we’ll leave it that way for now.”

As soon as Leon handed the wad to him he set it in an ashtray on the coffee table and put a match to it. When the evidence was gone, he lifted his head. “Before you make a decision about anything, you need to see the twins for yourself.”

Another odd sound escaped his brother.

“I’ll phone Gabi and see if we can’t arrange it for Monday. We’ll make up some excuse to the family about a business emergency. We won’t have to be gone long.”

Leon buried his face in his hands. “How am I going to be able to act like everything’s normal until then?”

A shudder passed through Andreas’s body. “We’re both going to have to find a way.”

His dark head reared back. “When Deline finds out about this…I swear I’ve been doing everything to make our marriage work. It only happened that one time, Andreas. It’ll never happen again. I love Deline.” The tremor in his voice was real enough.

“I believe you.”

“You know the reason why we separated for those two months. We’d been fighting over my working too much. She got on that old rant about my being married to you instead of her. She said she was tired of being neglected and told me I was the reason we hadn’t gotten pregnant yet.

“When she told me she wanted a separation because she needed time to think, I was in hell. After weeks of trying to get her to talk to me, she told me she was thinking of making the separation permanent. I was so hurt, I ended up taking the yacht out. Some of my friends came along and brought women. There was too much drinking. I never meant to lose my head.”

Andreas had heard it all before. He’d seen his brother was in anguish then, but this news added a terrifying new wrinkle.

After pacing the floor, Leon stopped and faced Andreas. “I know that was no excuse for making the ghastliest mistake of my life.” His mouth formed a thin line. “Sorry you got involved in this mess.” There was a lengthy pause. “It isn’t your problem. It’s mine, but I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about it yet.”

At least Leon had admitted responsibility. “Once you’ve seen those babies, you’ll figure it out.” Of course Andreas could tell himself that now, but there was no sure way to know how his brother would feel after he’d gotten a look at them. “Let’s agree that for the moment there’s nothing else to be done. You go on back and find Deline. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Though he’d promised his mother he wouldn’t be long, he found he didn’t want to put off the phone call to Gabi until tomorrow. It surprised him how much he was looking forward to talking to her again.

Gabi had just finished changing the last diaper of the night when she heard her cell phone ring. She’d kept it in her jeans pocket to be certain she’d didn’t miss Andreas’s call if it came.