Tammy, are we going to be okay?

  Or the time they came back from the first day of school, Aarōn’s nose bloodied in a fight, Isaák’s eyes wide with fear.

  Tammy, are we going to be okay?

  Or the dozens of times where the money had been so short she’d struggled to make sure their teenage bellies were full.

  Tammy, are we going to be okay?

  “Yes.” She pinned a smile on her face and turned to gaze at both of them. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  “So, you’re going to call him, right?” Isaák gave her a broad smile.

  “Maybe tomorrow.” She walked to the table and scooped up her uneaten bowl of soup.

  Her brother’s smile fell off his face. “I think you should call him right now.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Aarōn said nothing. Merely watched her as she stood, staring blindly across the table at both her brothers. “I’ll call him.”

  “No.” The word was sharp, far sharper than she meant it to be. Still, the instinct to protect, to take care of everything was so strong, it felt like a knife in her hand. “I’ll do it. Tomorrow.”

  Was she stabbing her boys or herself?

  The boys went still and silent.

  “Are you done?” She shot into the gulf opening between them.

  “Nai.” Aarōn pushed back from the table, his face stony. “Come on, idiot. Titus needs a walk.”

  Tamsin busied herself cleaning the kitchen as the boys shuffled down the hall, calling Titus on their way.

  The slam of the back door echoed in the empty house.

  She had to do something. She’d spent two weeks hoping Rafe would make a move, yet clearly, he wasn’t going to. Her boys were right.

  She had to do something.

  But what?

  Forcing herself to move, she grabbed her phone, clicked on Rafe’s name and before she could stop herself, she begged.

  Please. Please come home.

  * * *

  Please. Please come home.

  The text cut through his anger like a fiery knife. Rafe pushed himself out of his office chair and paced to the window. Staring down into the atrium, he leaned his forehead on the cool glass.

  The anger still simmered deep inside, yet it wasn’t what had kept him from Sparti and Tamsin.

  No, it had been the fear.

  The thought whipped him around and he found himself pacing a well-worn path on the gold-and-cream carpet once more. How many laps had he taken during the last two weeks while he wrestled with the demons of the past? The demon of fear. The demon of hurt. The demon of mistrust.

  She’d lied to him. He knew it. His mind, his gut, his heart all told him.

  She’d lied.

  Again.

  Rafe stopped and pulled out the bracelet from his suit pocket. The piece of jewelry he’d kept close to him for two weeks. He even slept with the damn thing under his pillow. Tossing it into the air, he caught it, then tossed it again, caught it again. He stared at the delicate ornament lying in his palm for the thousandth time, like it held the key to what was going on with Tamsin.

  The tiny blue stones were cool on his skin, just as her touch was when they lay together in bed. The pearls glowed in the sunlight, just as her skin did as they lay together by the pool. The silver glittered in a brilliant flash, just as her green eyes did when she gazed at him.

  Please. Please come home.

  He needed to stop avoiding everything. He’d hid away at work for the last two weeks, nursing his grievances, stoking his anger. He hadn’t even notified his family he was in town, choosing instead to stay in the small bedroom he’d had built beside his office. Usually, he only used the cramped quarters when there’d been a late meeting or a long, overnight research push before a hard deadline. Now, it had served as his bolthole, allowing him to avoid…his life.

  Time for that to stop.

  Time to confront the fear inside him.

  Time to go to Tamsin and find out why—

  She’d lied.

  Resolved, he strode to his desk and grabbed his phone.

  I’m on my way.

  As soon as the text was sent to her, he felt a swell of certainty. Nai, he’d been angry and hurt she’d lied, but he was willing to sit down and figure out whatever was wrong with her. Because she was worth it. What they’d had during the last two months was worth it. Unlike ten years ago, he wasn’t going to slink away, letting go of the good they had.

  A knock on his office door interrupted his thoughts.

  “Eláte.” Whoever it was and whatever work issue it involved would have to wait. His personal life and Tamsin were more important. He’d spent two weeks here working at a punishing pace, making his CFO and everyone else happy and satisfied. However, they’d have to understand he had changed.

  He was willing to say it now.

  He had changed.

  Savas threw open the door and walked in, the head of Viper security not far behind. “Good. You’re still here.”

  “Past eight o’clock, which should make you happy. But not for any longer.” Rafe stuck his phone into his suit pocket. “I’m on the way to Sparti.”

  “Are you?” His friend closed the door behind him with a decisive click. “Not until we go over some information.”

  “I’ve been here day and night for two weeks.” He forced his impatience down and gave his friend a fixed smile. “That will have to suffice for now.”

  “You’ll want to know this information, Rafe.”

  “You will, sir.” The head of security, Ammon Manikas, concurred.

  “All right.” Tapping his fingers on the edge of the desk, he stopped himself from walking out the door. “You have five minutes.”

  “I think you might want to sit down.”

  A shot of anxiety went through him. His CFO appeared troubled, worried. “Is there something wrong with the new project?”

  “No.”

  Manikas shook his head also.

  The head of Viper security.

  He frowned and forced his mind to work. “There’s been a breach in security.”

  “Maybe.” Savas strode to one of the black leather chairs facing the desk and sat. “You need to take a seat. Really.”

  Anxiety tangled around the deep, dark fear he’d stuffed into the pit of his soul. Why the two would meet inside him, he had no idea. A breach of security in his business was a problem, but he’d dealt with this before. Many times. It came with the territory of being in the forefront of new medical innovation.

  “I don’t have to sit down.” He straightened instead. “Spit it out.”

  Savas glanced across the width of the desk, a look of resignation on his face. “All right.”

  “What is it?”

  His friend leaned back in the chair, his arms folded in front of him. “Do you know an individual named Haimon Drakos?”

  The name shot through Rafe like a bullet. It blasted the deep fear lurking inside right to the center of his mind. “Nai.”

  Savas stared at him, his eyes dark with worry.

  Manikas stepped forward. “My team was able to track down a connection between this individual and Tobba.”

  “What is it?” Every muscle in his body went rigid. A trembling lined his gut, making him want to turn away. Turn away from what his gut was telling him.

  “We have a contact within Tobba who has fingered Drakos as the one who provided insider information on our bid on the neuro-electronic scan.”

  “Interesting.” The trembling turned into a shaking. Outwardly, he stood his ground. Inwardly, he felt as if he were falling apart. Because he knew.

  Tamsin’s odd behavior during the last few weeks.

  Tamsin’s use of her body to distract him.

  Tamsin’s lies.

  Savas coughed—a nervous, hoarse sound. “As soon as Ammon told me this name, I remembered another name you talked about recently.”

  Rafe forced himself to stare coolly back at his colleague. “Nai.”

  “Could there be any connection—”

  “Nai,” he said once more. “There is a connection.”

  A dark silence fell in the room. Manikas shuffled in place while a pained grimace crossed Savas’s face.

  “There’s no need to spare me the details.” He felt as if his body was held up by mere mental force. “Proceed with what you have.”

  “Our contact states that Drakos claimed an inside connection to our company,” Manikas continued.

  “Go on.”

  “Drakos apparently provided Tobba with information on the amount of our bid on the neuro-electronic device.”

  “Keep going.”

  “Tobba believed him. They based their bid on this information.”

  “Could this be true, Rafe?” Savas interrupted. “Could this Drakos have knowledge of our bid?”

  A flash of memory seared through him. Sitting watching Tamsin as she worked on his laptop. Then walking away to get a drink. Then telling her she could use the computer unmonitored by him. This was his fault. His company, his people, would be damaged because again, a Vounó had trusted a Drakos.

  “We will likely lose the bid.” He leaned back on the glass window because he honestly didn’t think he’d be able to keep upright without the help.

  Savas’s arms tightened around his chest. “You’re sure?”

  “Nai. I’m sure.”

  “This Tamsin has access to—”

  “Nai.” He didn’t want to hear the words, hear the accusation. But he deserved them and his CFO had never failed in delivering what was needed.

  A hush fell in the room.

  Viper would survive; it had survived far worse. Still, the knowledge that he’d been as foolish as his father made Rafe feel as if he might not survive himself.

  “Don’t blame yourself.” For once, Savas failed to deliver the blow. His friend dropped his hands in his lap, his face grim yet determined. “It happens to the best of us.”

  “It happens?” His laugh filled the room, an ugly, tortured sound. He’d wanted the blow. He’d wanted the pain to come from someone else. Instead, he had to bludgeon himself with his guilt. “Because of my carelessness this company will lose hundreds of thousands—”

  “She will be prosecuted.” Manikas looked steely-eyed. “Along with her relative. This is corporate espionage.”

  “No.” The word came out before he could think it through.

  His chair creaked as Savas moved, an uneasy shift. “You have feelings for the woman, but we must send a signal. To others. To Tobba.”

  “No.” Pushing himself off the window, he staggered to his desk. He stared blankly at the computer screen, only seeing the image of Tamsin being dragged away by the police. “I’ll take care of this.”

  “You are personally involved.” Savas stood, his tone resolute. “I have a duty to the company too. Both of them must be punished.”

  “They will be.” A cold, hard shaft of resolve slit his heart in two and sealed his backbone in pure steel.

  “Rafe—”

  “This is personal.” He met his friend’s gaze with an unwavering one of his own. “This is old, my friend. Far older than Viper.”

  “What?” Savas froze. Behind him, Manikas frowned in confusion.

  “I told you. I’ve known Tamsin Drakos for years.”

  The two men standing before him didn’t move. However, determination no longer covered their faces. Instead, there was wariness.

  “I’ve known Haimon Drakos just as long.”

  “Personal?” Savas shifted on his feet. “So you are saying these two plotted against you—?”

  “As personal as it gets.” Rafe smiled and the steel inside him closed around his heart. He could almost hear the lock when it clicked. “Haimon Drakos killed my father.”

  Savas’ mouth dropped open in a gasp.

  “So, you see.” He broadened his smile. “No one is surer of delivering the proper revenge than me.”

  Chapter 20

  I’m on my way.

  The words sang in her heart all through cleaning the kitchen, nudging the boys to bed, and settling Titus in the office. The news tripped on her tongue, but she figured Aarōn and Isaák would get a bigger kick out of waking up to see their uncle at the breakfast table.

  Rafe back at home. Rafe near enough to touch.

  Rafe.

  Her heart beat a dance inside her chest. She knew they had tons of things to discuss and maybe even argue about. She knew she had to explain many of her actions. Still, she also knew her heart was filled with hope.

  Because he was coming home. Because he was on his way.

  Tam smoothed her hand across the lace of her white dress. Putting on her best dress would send a signal. She wanted to give and be forgiven. He would see and understand. Wouldn’t he?

  Well, if he didn’t catch on to the clue the dress gave him, then their bedroom would certainly do the trick. In a flurry, after the boys had drifted off to sleep, she’d changed the sheets, the fine weave of Egyptian cotton sliding through her trembling fingers. She’d lit a row of fat cream candles along the long, wide windowsill. There were plush towels waiting on the side of the bathtub accompanied by a bottle of ouzo and two delicate shot glasses.

  Everything was ready. For him.

  Where was he?

  She walked out of the bedroom and down the hallway into the kitchen. The warmth of the light above the stove dulled the full moon’s rays splashing into the room.

  No sound of a limo driving up the lane. No car lights signaling his return.

  Restless, she paced into the office. He’d taken his laptop with him two weeks ago, but there was still the old desktop the boys used to check on their friends’ Facebook. The internet barely worked on the thing, yet it was better than pacing the floor getting more and more agitated. She could do some research on the university classes she planned on taking while waiting for Rafe to appear.

  Plopping into his leather chair, she forced herself to go on the University of Athens website.

  The grandfather clock ticked and tocked in the background as she scrolled through the classes. Her attention slowly centered on the research. The economics classes were the most interesting.

  Technical writing

  Accounting

  Statistics

  A different kind of excitement bubbled inside. She could do this. She’d run a business. She’d done the basics of accounting—the only thing she needed was some polish. A degree.

  The possibilities rose inside her.

  She had a future. A great future. The old dreams she’d stifled as a teenager swelled in her heart to swamp her in a welling tide of hope. Dreams of making a difference in a company that helped people. Dreams of being successful at her own enterprise, doing what she loved to do. Dreams she’d lost so long ago she’d forgotten they were even there.

  Adding all these dreams back into her life would make her whole again. Matched with her hoped for life with Rafe and the boys, she couldn’t imagine being happier and more alive than she was at this moment. She’d figure out how to handle Rafe’s anger and she’d figure out how to make him believe in her confession once he got here.

  The clock boomed.

  Twelve times.

  With a jerk, she stared at the face of the clock, noting with surprise both brass hands pointed north. The drive from Athens to Sparti should have taken a little over two hours. Yet he’d texted almost four hours ago. Had he changed his mind? Or perhaps he’d been delayed by some business crisis.

  Then why hadn’t he texted her to explain?

  At that moment, Titus lurched from his bed and rambled out of the room. Following the dog, she smiled in relief as she saw the headlights of the limo circle in front of the villa.

  Rafe. Home.

  A breathless flash of excitement, happiness, and anxiety rushed through her. Sucking in her breath and her emotions, she strode to the front door, wanting to welcome him before he even got out of the car.

  Titus jumped up and down, his toenails clacking on the tile, his low woofs signaling he knew who to expect.

  Her hand reached for the doorknob, but before she touched it the door swung open, almost hitting her in the face. Stumbling back, Tamsin managed a smile of greeting. “You’re home.”

  Without acknowledging her, Rafe bent down to pet Titus into happy submission. He wore his customary steel-blue suit and his red tie was tight around his neck. Why was he so buttoned-up? She wanted to reach up to tug the tie off and smooth the coat down his arms, but something about his body language stopped her.

  The taut line of his shoulders.

  The way he didn’t meet her gaze.

  The stiff bend of his back.

  Sudden tension flooded inside her. “I was getting worried.”

  “Were you?” He straightened and finally looked at her.

  The tension clogged in a tight knot in her throat. He was still mad at her about the bracelet. She saw it in the white line around his mouth and the icy glint in his eyes. “We need to talk.”

  “Talk.” He laughed, a short burst of harsh sound. “By all means, let’s talk.”

  The door stood open, the limo running in place instead of driving off. She noticed several long dark cars behind the gate, their lights glowing in the darkness. “What’s going on?”

  With a jerk, he turned and slammed the door shut. “First, Tamsin, as you requested, we will talk.”

  The tension no longer resided in her throat. It had slithered into her stomach and her soul like a thick smog of sickness. “I can explain.”

  “Can you?” Rafe’s mouth quirked, and the familiar motion should have given her hope. But it increased the dread inside her because there was no humor in his reaction.

  There was threat.

  “Yes.” She tried to pull herself together. What she said next needed to heal this breach because her heart wouldn’t stand for anything else.

  “Not here.” He walked past, without touching her, almost as if she were contagious. “In my office.”

  She followed him down the hushed hall. Titus ambled to his bed in the corner; the lamp shone brightly, and her glass of wine stood half-full on the desk. All the little details that spelled home and hearth and happiness. Yet nothing could stop the frozen cold of Rafe’s attitude from invading the surroundings.