Antonio decided it was going to take more to convince Claire to get into his car. He got out and leaned on the BMW’s roof. “Look, our meeting didn’t go well earlier. But I couldn’t stand knowing you were on your own on the streets of Athens. It’s not really a safe place. Come with me. Or at the least let me buy you lunch and if you still insist you can’t stand the sight of me, I will call you a taxi.”

Her shoulders slumped. Her stare also darted to a nearby bistro. The smells coming from the place of roasting lamb and garlic were enough to get his stomach rumbling, too.

“Well, maybe just a soda.”

“Good.” He came around and took her luggage from her. Their fingers brushed and Claire almost jumped. Ah, so she wasn’t as immune to him as she had pretended. Perhaps he had other ways to convince her to do as he wished.

Taking her luggage, he put it in the trunk. He took Claire’s hand.

She waved at his car. “What about…?”

He tossed the keys to a waiter in the bistro. “Park it for me.” He let go of Claire’s hand, peeled off a generous tip for the waiter and then put his hand on the small of Claire’s back to guide her to a table at the back.

“I feel more like my luggage.”

He held out her chair for her. “You’re not in the trunk.”

She sat, her purse on her lap, and glared at him. He smiled and took the seat opposite her. “Relax. I don’t bite. Not like Matthias. Now, what would you like to eat?”

She gave a shrug. But she also lifted her face, as if scenting the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

Antonio thought about arguing with her and decided it wasn’t worth the fight that would likely ensue. Taking matters into his own hand, he ordered them both salad, a bowl of the fasolada—a bean soup—a lamb moussaka, and galaktoboureko—custard in phyllo pastry—for dessert, and a good red wine. He was sure she wouldn’t be able to follow his Greek. Leaning his elbows on the table, he asked, “How was your flight?”

Claire looked at him, head tipped to the side. He was not sure he liked her hair so long—he remembered it curling in his fingers, soft and fine. She put her purse on the floor. “Fine. My flight was fine.”

“Good. And your family? How are they? Your parents love to travel, do I remember that right?”

“They’re good. In Africa on a safari and mission.”

“Mission? Ah, still doing their good works?”

“Yeah, well, they also want to see as much of the world as they can while they can. Are we going to try and do small talk?”

Antonio shrugged. Her green eyes lit when she talked about her parents, and a smile played around her lush lips. But he was not about to forget that she had something he wanted now—his mother’s villa.

“The smaller the talk, the safer it seems.”

The wine came. Claire twisted her glass but didn’t drink. “If we’re doing that, then, how are your sisters? You have two—right?”

“Alexandra finished university last year and is still trying to decide what to do next. Eva begins university in the fall. Growing up with Matthias for a father, how could they be anything but strong. They…they feel his death more than I, I think.”

The waitress arrived with tzatziki, a cucumber and yoghurt salad. She smiled at Antonio and he smiled back. Claire narrowed her gaze and asked, “You can’t help it, can you? Why don’t you marry her?”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t help but have women flirt with you wherever you go, can you?”

Antonio looked at her for a moment and shook his head. “She’s is just a waitress.”

“Ah…just a regular person. Why didn’t you marry that wealthy heiress your dad must have picked for you?” Claire asked.

Antonio picked up his wine and took a gulp. “Matthias and I did not agree on many things.”

“But you agreed about me. You know, looking back on it, I don’t know what you ever saw in me. I mean, I’m not a super model. I’m not a superstar. I don’t have some amazing trust fund that allows me to jet around the world and party every night of the week.”

“Claire, stop it. Can’t we—”

“Forget the past? Your father hated me. Or that’s how it seemed. But he left me something that matters to you. Why? Because he was facing death? He knew he’d lost control of you, so he was giving in? Or was he really just setting up the ultimate control? Shoving me back at you as one last screw you to the son who wouldn’t do what he wanted?”

The food arrived, but Antonio suddenly couldn’t stand the smell of the lamb. He pushed away his plate. He wanted to defend his late father, but unfortunately, Matthias’s track record didn’t give him any room to argue with Claire’s thinking. His father had been a controlling man his entire life, and he hadn’t liked the idea of Antonio married to a poor American student. He’d done everything to break Antonio’s trust in her—and he had succeeded.

Was it too late to begin again?

He leaned forward. Claire was picking at her food. “How about we declare a truce on this issue? I don’t want to sit here and throw accusations at each other.”

“Fine.” Claire finished eating and threw her napkin on the table. The waitress swept away the plates and brought dessert. Claire took a bite and closed her eyes. “I have to say, Athens really knows how to do dessert right.”

“Tell me about your career. You did an animated film last year, did you not, that did very well at the box office.”

“Been checking up on me?”

“Aegis Studios hires only the best.”

Claire sipped her wine and said, “I’m contracted to do the sequel. It’s fun work and the pay is great.” She tried to hide a yawn.

Antonio thought about ordering coffee, but he knew she was feeling the time difference. He nodded at her unfinished dessert. “Finish your food, and then I will run you home and you can spend the afternoon relaxing.”

“Home?” Claire looked at him. “What about the hotel?”

“We can do the hotel if you want. But the Rosso estate sits empty just now. Except for the staff. If you stay, I will arrange for you to meet with the lawyers in the morning. And you can meet my sisters.”

She bit her lower lip. He wasn’t sure she would agree, but he wanted her close. Very close. He needed time to persuade her to do as he wished.

She finished her wine and smiled. “I suppose it might be fun to see the Rosso estate—maybe I’ll swap you the villa for that estate? Just maybe.”

Antonio smiled as well. But he stood and told himself he was going to put her into bed alone as soon as he could—he would not take advantage of a girl a little tipsy and also more than a little jet lagged. But tomorrow…tomorrow she would not be either of those things.