Chapter One
Leo is Confident
High above the pride’s main villa, the green flag with its silhouette of Michelangelo’s David embroidered in the center flapped in the wind. Leonidas Karatasos growled. Stepping off the boat onto the dock, his attention locked on the offending fabric. “How long has the human been here?”
“Two hours, sir.” The teen climbed onto the skiff and pulled off his leader’s bags. “Shall I take these to the main house?”
Fair question. Leonidas had been known to escape the main house to seek solace, alone time before the island’s population grew by triple digits. In a couple of days, the rule of Cancer would end, and the rule of his people would begin. He would find little solitude in the next month. But the flag flying in lieu of the usual golden banner with a lion’s head alerted him a human unaware of their kind had arrived on the island.
The flagstone steps up to the main balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea lay before him as did an unwelcome guest. Ascending the steps he paused, his middle sister Cosima lifted her coffee to her lips and smirked. “Welcome home, adelphos. You have a visitor.”
He glanced up at the flag again. “Who the hell would be visiting me now?”
“The question we all have asked, and, so far, she has been unwilling to chat with anyone but you.”
“She?” More and more curious. Someone arriving here hours before his planned return tomorrow struck him as odd.
“Kalista Vidal.” Cosima eyed him over the rim of her cup. “She is quiet…cute.”
“Her father stood me up and fears I’m about to call in their loan. Sending in a female family member, no matter how cute, isn’t going to contain my wrath.”
His sister choked on her coffee as she sat forward. “Morgan Vidal blew off his meeting with you? That doesn’t sound like him.”
“I gave him two chances to respond. I went by his business last night, but it was closed and showed no signs of opening again. Perhaps it’s a front.” He glanced back to the flag. “I flew home overnight to deal with getting our money back.”
“Well, it doesn’t make sense to send her into the lion’s den.” When he shot her a glare, she giggled. “So to speak.”
“I’ve been two weeks too long in a foreign city. I itch to shift, and now I have to deal with this. I’m not amused.” He cracked his neck. “Where is she?”
“In the waiting area outside your office. Diata is keeping an eye on her.”
“Let me deal with this so her ass can be back on the boat before sundown.” He stalked down the eastern hall past the family offices. Approaching his secretary’s desk, a fizzle ran down his spine. He chalked it up to displeasure.
“Afentikó, welcome home.” His secretary, Diata, who had married into the pride and served in her current position since his father’s time, stood. She handed him a pile of sealed envelopes, any mail she deemed none of her business or private. “Guests will start arriving this evening for the family reunion, but you aren’t expected to entertain until tomorrow night. Your tuxedo is in your office, pressed and cleaned. There are also gifts in the corner for the other heads of family.”
“Thank you, koukla.” It took every ounce of self-control not to turn to address the woman sitting in one of the visitor chairs whose very presence put him off-center. After shuffling through the post, he placed three letters back on her desk. “These are new clients. Please take care of their monthly billing.”
“Yes, sir.” He could sense a nervous energy from the corner of the room. He waited, and after a long moment Diata said, “You have a guest.”
“So I understand.” He turned to find a gorgeous blonde woman getting to her feet. His breath caught, a palpable sizzle radiated from the center of his chest through his arms. His lion demanded attention. Twenty-four hours until the moon moved into Leo’s reign, and his mate stood before him. He sniffed the air and sensed nothing but human from her. “Ms. Vidal, will you come through please?”
Indicating the door to his personal office, he stepped back to avoid contact. “Diata, please have the kitchen bring some lunch. Would you like something, Ms. Vidal?”
“No thank you. I ate before boarding the boat. Please call me Kalista, or Kali.”
“Very well, Kalista.” He turned back to his assistant. “A tray for me. Otherwise, I’m not to be disturbed.”
“Yes, sir.” Diata’s attention stayed on her computer screen.
The large double door to his office closed on a soft click. “Please have a seat. Excuse me for ordering food, but I did not have a chance to eat this morning. I was unaware you were here until I stepped onto the island.”
“It’s fine.” She sat in the chair in front of his desk, set her bag on the floor, and fussed with her skirt, smoothing it over her knees, focused on the fabric. Being offered up on a platter likely did not sit well with her.
“Shall we get on with this so you can breathe easy again?”
She lifted her head and met his gaze, her eyes aflame. “I understand my father missed an important meeting with you last week.”
“Yes. One might call it dire.”
“He meant to meet you, honest he did.” She inched to the edge of her seat. “Sunday evening, he had a stroke.”
Skeptical, he raised an eyebrow. He had dealt with all kinds of excuses in the past. Grandparents, parents, even children dying. Fires, a cat pissing on a computer and, once, a claim of amnesia, but never a stroke. Two points for originality. “A stroke? I do hope he is recovering well.”
She nodded then shook her head before settling on a shrug. “He is still hospitalized.”
When he stood to offer her a tissue, her lower lip trembled. If an actress, she was a good one. Instead of returning to his chair, he rested a hip on his desk, his lion demanding he comfort his mate, while his head insisted he would be better without a mate than to have one who would con his family for even a drachma. “What is the prognosis?”
“At present, the right of side of his body is paralyzed, but he shows some signs of improvement. His speech has been affected, and they say there might be some memory loss.” Though her eyes brimmed with tears, she held her back straight, bunching the tissue in her hands. “Only time will tell.”
“Sounds as if he stroked on the left side of the brain. My thoughts will be with your family.” He could determine the veracity of her statement with a phone call to hospitals in the area of her father’s office. All three had Leo pride members. Morgan having a stroke made more sense than his trying to get out of his last payment, even with it being so large.
“Thank you, but I didn’t come about the stroke.” She reached for the bag on the floor and pulled out a crumpled envelope. “This was in his hand when he got to the hospital. No one paid any attention to it until yesterday when I was going through his possessions.” She extended it in his direction. “I opened it. Even though it had your name on it, we needed to know what was in it.”
He thumbed open the ripped tab to find a business check and a note promising the balance to him the next month. He would have been okay with the arrangement. The man had missed a few payments during the recession and had been trying to catch up. “How are you handling the medical bills?”
“Health insurance, for the moment.”
“Your father had one more payment after this one.”
“If you tell me the final amount, I’ll make sure you get it.” She pulled out a journal and continued to paw through her purse. “Let me find a pen. I’m not sure who is going to take on the day-to-day management of the business. But one of my siblings or I will make sure you receive the payment…on time.”
“You misunderstand. With this check, your debt is paid. Use the rest for the rehab he will need.”
Her head rose. “You would do that for my father?”
No. I would do that for my mate. He didn’t plan to cash the check in his hand, either. Funny how a couple of minutes could change events. “He needs to focus on healing.”
“Thank you so much.” She stood at the same time the door opened. His nephew, Theo, came in with a tray. “Your lunch. I won’t keep you.”
“When do you fly back?”
“Not for a couple of days. I’m lucky I got a flight here during peak tourist season. The earliest return was Tuesday of next week.”
There were always open seats, but not for someone on a serious budget, which left him wondering about where else she scrimped. “Where are you staying?”
“I’ll find something when I get back to the mainland.”
“You came alone? No boyfriend or sibling?” He didn’t know what he would do if she said she had a significant other waiting for her. And which would make him angrier, another man with his mate, or a man who allowed her to come to a strange island alone.
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend on the mainland, or anywhere for that matter. And my siblings all have families. Only I was available to make the trip.”
“Why not send this by messenger? Or digitally?” Either would have been quicker and, in the long run, cheaper.
“My father is able to write, even if talking is difficult. He requested someone from the family place the check in your hands. I think he believed the personal touch would make up for the slight.” She blushed. “Not that the personal touch means anything other than handing it to you. I don’t want you to think I offer anything other than the check.”
“No slight at all.” He grinned, lifting the phone on his desk as she stumbled over her words. “Why don’t you call his room and assure him and the rest of your family all is fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure he is anxious for word from you. Give me the number. I can dial it for you.”
She flipped a page in her journal and handed it over, her writing neat and meticulous. He dialed the number and waited for someone to answer. “Mr. Vidal’s room?”
“This is his son. Who is this?” a male voice demanded.
“Please hold for Kalista.” He handed the phone over.
“Hello…Jeffrey?... Yes I’m fine, how is Dad?... I see…Well, tell him I delivered the check…yes now… What did he do?… He tried to smile, really?” Her voice lifted, and a golden glow of hope brightened her face. She cast him a wide-eyed smile.
Leonidas crossed the marble floor and pulled back the sheer drapes to view the brilliant cerulean waters of the Mediterranean. He had no reason to call and verify her story. She was as open a book as her journal still in his hand. He closed it, not wanting to invade her privacy there, yet trying to give her some on her call. A few minutes later the sound of the phone clicked into its cradle. “Relieved?”
“So much. Thank you. I would have worried until I got to a hotel.” She took her proffered journal. “My brother said they had been trying to call but couldn’t get through. I left so quickly, I didn’t have time to add international calling to my phone.”
“Unlock your phone, and my assistant will take care of for you now.” He waited until she handed him her out-of-date phone.
“The code to get in is 5558.”
He exited his office. “Diata, please make sure this phone is international call-ready by the time Ms. Vidal leaves.”
She picked up the phone he laid on her desk. “Good Goddess, is it even capable of international calling? Who still has a flip phone?”
“My mate does,” he growled.
“Yeah, I caught the sizzle from you both when you arrived. So, is she really leaving?”
“No time soon. She isn’t about to head to the mainland to search for a cheap hotel, that is for certain.” He reentered his office. “As you mentioned, it’s the height of tourist season. Finding a room in a safe part of town might be difficult. We have more than enough space here. I would be honored to have you as a guest until your flight home.”
“No, you have done so much. Gone over and above.”
“Nonsense. Stay here,” he encouraged. “We’ll be hosting a huge party this weekend. One more person will make little difference. I insist.”
“I don’t want to put you out.”
“You should stay. The party will be a great deal of fun,” his nephew put in, giving Leonidas a wink before leaving them alone again.
“You need to save your pennies. Rehab, I hear, can be pricey.” He neglected to say he would bring her father to the island for his healers to work with, would cover his expenses. All those details would be worked out later. For now, he needed her to stay because, with the moon entering his sign in the next few days, he had to be on the island with his people. But he remained conflicted; the next zodiac month would be the only time in the next year he could bond with his mate.
She signed but nodded. “If you’re sure I’m not putting you out, I’d be relieved to stay.”
Picking up his phone, he jabbed the button for his secretary. “Please have housekeeping make up a room for Ms. Vidal.”
“Already started. I put her near your rooms, but perhaps you would prefer her as far as away as possible.”
Kalista pressed on her abdomen, her focus on the plate of food on the coffee table. The growls from her stomach didn’t sound like she’d already had lunch. He pushed the plate toward her, still speaking into the receiver. “The Marble Room would be my first choice, and have the kitchen send another tray.”
He replaced the handset in the cradle. “Eat. You’re hungry, and there’s more food coming.”
She grabbed half of the chicken salad sandwich but handed him the rest. “To tide you over until the next one gets here.”
He loved a woman who ate when she was hungry. She took a bite and rolled her eyes in pleasure as a groan escaped her. “This is so good. I would be the size of a house if I ate this food every day.”
“My kitchen staff is amazing. My cousin Argus is here on summer break from a culinary school in New England, and his sister Melina went to Le Cordon Bleu. Their parents instilled a love of the culinary arts in them when they were young. Now they’re always trying to one-up the other.” He debated handing her his half of the sandwich, but it would set him back a few steps. She had done what lionesses of his pride did instinctually, fed her king. The lionesses hunted and reared the children. Even though he tried in this modern era to have the men help, the women would have none of it.
The men protected the pride and, in the modern age, acted as bodyguards for those who worked in high-power positions in their international shipping company. He needed her to form their connection. Humans, unlike his kind, needed wooing. They needed time. Shifters mating with humans might be unusual, but not unheard of. A shifter female would have rubbed up against him, alerted him of her interest then they would fuck and mate. Thoughts of her curvaceous body, naked ass up, with him pounding behind her, had his cock on full alert. “So, do you work for your father? I can’t believe we have never met in his office.”
Wiping her mouth with the napkin he handed her, she swallowed hard. “No. I just quit my job.”
“What did you do?”
“I worked in the ER of a children’s hospital.” Her voice cracked as she clung to the thin fabric of her skirt.
His lion demanded he calm his mate, pull her into his arms, and take her problems as his. A rap on the door saved him. His nephew entered, glanced at Kalista then his prime, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline as the importance of this woman to their pack became obvious. But he remained silent. He placed the second tray down and backed out of the room. By the time the boy reached the kitchen, the island would be alerted his mate had come. Gossip moved quickly within the pride, and something of this importance would spread like wildfire. Perhaps for the best. It would keep the unmated males away. Though he would be fighting off the ones coming to the island who would be more aggressive.
Every year, he had to prove his place as their king. Now he would be fighting for her because, although the fates predetermined they be mates, she could choose another.
She stared at the second tray. “You need to eat.”
The only thing he wanted to eat was her. He grabbed half the sandwich and bit into it but handed her the other half. “Once you have eaten, I will show you to your room.”
Ten minutes later, he led her down the long hallway on the second floor. The sound of her heels echoed on the marble. As they arrived at the Marble Room, he opened the door and waved her in ahead of him. Two steps in, she gasped.
“Is it acceptable?”
“Acceptable? Are you kidding? This room is larger than my entire apartment.” She stepped farther inside, staring up at the painted ceiling, spinning as she went. I don’t think I have ever stayed anywhere so—posh.”
“The room might be, as you called it, posh, but we are very down-to-earth here. Your bags have been unpacked. The phone has been preset to call your father in the hospital.” He lifted a card on the side table to show her. “Just press star five to reach him.” He flipped the card over, revealing the landline number for the hotel and other helpful information. “Give them the number in case they need to get in touch with you. Cell coverage can be choppy here.”
“How thoughtful.” She drifted toward the open doors out to a balcony. This room above his offices overlooked the sea. The stone railing, cool and smooth to the touch, contrasted with the lingering heat of the day. “I don’t think I could ever grow tired of such a view.”
“Wait until you see it at sunset. The colors are so powerful and intense.”
“So much like you,” she whispered turning to find him closer than she expected, leaving her nowhere to back up.
“Do you find me intense?”
“Very.” She gripped the railing behind her, her breasts pressing against her blouse as she attempted to fill her lungs.
Taking pity on her, he stepped to the side and gestured over the rail. “The pool is over there. You’ll find a plethora of new swimsuits in the dresser in a variety of sizes. Please make yourself at home. If there is anything you should need, call down to my assistant—the yellow button on the phone—and she will see to it. The kitchen is the green button, and there is someone always ready to prepare a meal on call.”
“Thank you. Sorry to have taken up so much of your time. You must have a ton of items waiting in your inbox.”
“Nonsense. We pride ourselves on hospitality here.” He crossed the room and grabbed the door handle. “I shall see you at dinner. Someone will come up and check on you in a few moments.”
He closed the door and made a quick exit from the building. The thick brush on the other side of the kitchens allowed him plenty of cover. After stripping out of his clothes, he handed them to an omega and shifted. He roared long and loud, making everyone on his island aware of his return.
Kalista’s knees went weak as the door shut with a soft click. Never had she wanted to jump a man’s body before. She could have sworn he wouldn’t have been opposed to it, either. She couldn’t understand this need to brush her body against his, to feel his hard muscles against her soft skin. “Stupid girl,” she muttered. “He could have supermodels. What would he see in you?”
She turned to see herself in the mirror, hair a complete mess. “Oh god,” she groaned, finger brushing it down. A night spent in the confines of the plane’s economy class had done nothing for her appearance. Her dress wrinkled, eyeliner smeared. He took pity on her because she was, as her best friends would term it, a “hawt fucking mess.”
The light tap on the door had her changing her focus. “Come in.”
A young woman, no older than seventeen, stuck her head around the door. “Kalista? Hi, I’m Helena, Leonida’s sister. Can I come in?”
Kalista didn’t want to remind her she had already been invited in. “Of course.”
Beaming, the teen entered the room, throwing her long black braid over her shoulder. “I have been charged with making sure you have everything you need.”
“I think I do.” She could not for the life of her imagine what she might need.
“Not good enough. There is a boat leaving the mainland in two hours.” Out of the back pocket of her white shorts, she pulled a piece of paper. “Good thing I have a checklist.”
“You made a checklist?”
“Oh goddess no.” She giggled. “This is a list mailed to all the guests for this weekend.”
“How many pages?”
She laid them out on the bed. “Four.”
“I don’t think I have one page worth of things in my bags.” She bit her lip.
“Oh goodie then we get to shop for some new stuff.”
“Please, it’s not necessary. I might leave tomorrow.”
The girl blinked at her. “But you can’t. Please stay. Leo would be so disappointed if you left.”
“I am an unexpected burden.”
Helena climbed on the bed and tapped the space in front of her. When Kalista didn’t bite, she tapped again until Kalista climbed up and sat before her. “If he considered you a burden, he would have put you up in the penthouse on the mainland. No one is there. Everyone is here getting ready for the reunion.”
They had a penthouse on the mainland? And he had kept her here by implying she couldn’t find a hotel? Which she probably couldn’t. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. “Does he usually invite people to stay here?”
“Never. You are the first. So you see, you have to stay.” The girl ran her finger down the list. “Let’s start with the easy stuff. Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etcetera are all in your en suite. Unless you have a specific brand preference?”
“No.” She figured it didn’t matter if she mentioned she brought a small bag of toiletries.
Kalista eyed her. ”Hairbrush?”
She ran fingers through the tangled mess. “I slept on the plane, and the boat ride didn’t help.”
Helena winked, tapping some numbers into the phone on the end table. “Gina… Very sweet… Would you come up to the Marble Room? We need your hair expertise… See you in fifteen.” She hung up the phone. “We’re going to fix your hair.”
“So I understood. Another sister?”
“Cousin.” She flipped to a fresh page.
“Is everyone on this island related?”
“At the moment, yes. They are some form of family or married to family.” She jumped off the bed and headed into the closet. “Oh no, this won’t do. Won’t do at all.”
“What?”
“You need more than this and, not to be rude, but this is Greece. You brought things for…I am not sure where you wear this. Home alone eating ice cream and watching sappy movies is my guess.”
“I only planned on being comfortable in a hotel room while waiting for a flight home.” She bristled with embarrassment.
“We can remedy this. What size are you?”
She paused before giving in. “Eighteen American.”
“Would you mind if I just ran with this?”
“I-I can’t afford anything. I emptied my savings account for the ticket out here. I quit my job so I can take care of my father when they send him home. So, please understand, but no.”
“Shh, look around you. No guest of ours will feel out of place if I can help it. Besides I want—no, let me stress, need—to prove to my overprotective big brother I can be a stylist.”
“You want to be a stylist?”
“Yes, I want to apply to Fashion Institute of Technology, but Leo doesn’t think I can hack it, or maybe he just thinks I can’t handle NYC.”
“You think doing this will sell him on your hope for the future?” She doubted it, but she didn’t want to crush the girl’s dream. “What can I do to help?”
“Are you kidding? You’ll let me do this for you?”
“Yes.” Did she have a choice?
The teen squealed. What had Kalista gotten herself into? Twenty minutes later, when Gina sailed in with a full set of hairdressers’ tools in the pocket of an apron around her waist, she questioned the sanity of letting a teenager change her appearance. After snapping a “before” picture to immortalize her frumpiness for all time, Gina began to cut off months of dead ends—her first trim in perhaps a year. Helena worked on her cell phone as only a teen could but moved to a laptop to deal with something, chatting with someone about available outfits in her size. “What do you think, four dresses or five?”
“When are you leaving?” Gina asked between snips.
“Tuesday, I think.”
“Seven. Just in case.”
Kalista made a silent promise to keep the tags off the items she used. She suspected Helena’s first adventure as a stylist was a budget-breaker. If not for the woman with a set of hair shears, she might have found a corner and curled up into a ball. Her world had tipped off its axis, and she didn’t have the stability she needed.