Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
"Out with their grandparents, but they'll be back in time to join us for dinner."
The two men moved to the upper deck, and an attendant was quick to serve them coffee as they settled in the seating area facing the marble-walled plunge pool.
The sound of sea waves gently lapping against the hull was soothing, and the vivid blooms of potted jacaranda trees added a whimsical touch to the otherwise tranquil surroundings. None of these, however, did anything to ease the tension that held Lukas' form rigid in his seat.
Asking for advice was a completely new experience for him, and Lukas struggled to come up with a good way to start.
Kyr was not oblivious to his friend's discomfort. "That bad?"
Lukas' lips twisted in a humorless smile. "I'm not sure 'bad' is the right term." As he watched his friend take a sip from his coffee, he then said baldly, "I'm thinking of marrying my housekeeper and adopting her son."
Kyr choked and swore when drops of coffee scalded his skin as he hastily set his cup down on the glass table. "Your housekeeper?"
"You have heard of Heart's Match, I'm sure?"
To say that Kyr was surprised would be an understatement. "The matchmaking agency?"
"Ne." Yes.
Kyr listened in pensive silence as Lukas tautly went over the details of how his agreement with Charlotte had transpired.
The reason behind his friend's disquiet gradually became obvious, and Kyr found himself recalling the time Lukas had called him about the results of his fertility test.
Aside from Kyr, the only other ones whom Lukas had thought it necessary to inform were the Rubios, whose daughter Lydia had been dating Kyr for some time.
Lydia's parents and Lukas had been in talks for the past year about merging their companies through marriage. And despite Lukas' infertility, the other party had still been willing to go through with the wedding—-with one condition.
Adoption was apparently a distasteful idea to the Rubios, and they had wanted Lukas to swear - as well as put it in writing - that adoption would never be an option he'd consider.
Lukas had refused, a falling out between the two parties had consequently ensued, and since then, the Rubios had done everything they could to smear Lukas' name in public.
"You understand then," Lukas questioned grimly, "why I hesitate to make Betsy my wife? We both know I can only do so much to protect her. What if she is too young and soft-hearted to handle Lydia and her family's bullying?"
"Maturity isn't always about age, and being young doesn't automatically make one weak. Polly was only eighteen when I married her," Kyr reminded his friend sardonically, "but as the whole of Greek society knows, it was not her who had made the more foolish mistake in our marriage."
Lukas' jaw clenched as Kyr's words hit home. He had forgotten about the age gap between Kyr and Polly, and while he was willing to concede the possibility that Betsy would be more than capable of handling whatever society threw her way...
What of his own pride?
His own plans?
Was Lukas himself prepared to handle what the world had to say if, following his marriage to Betsy, they were to suddenly find out about his condition?
Chapter Ten
LUKAS CAME HOME TO the sound of Betsy practicing his native language with the help of an audiobook playing out on loudspeaker and the faint scent of his favorite Greek dishes wafting from the kitchen.
"Why are you studying Greek? And cooking Greek dishes?"
Betsy literally jumped in shock at the sound of her boss's voice, and her heart banged hard against her chest as she whirled around and found her boss standing by the doorway.
"Mr. Tsaldaris." Betsy hastily hit Pause on her audiobook. "I, um...welcome home?"
The billionaire only raised a brow, and Betsy belatedly realized he was still waiting for an explanation.
"I know this is going to sound overkill," she began sheepishly, "but when Charlotte told me my husband-to-be is Greek, I thought I'd surprise him with my mastery of all things, well, Greek."
A muscle started ticking in Lukas' jaw. So she now knew she was to marry someone Greek—-and it still had not occurred to her it could be him?
Betsy suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my goodness," she exclaimed. "I just realized you're Greek, too!"
Lukas nobly resisted the urge to say something sarcastic.
"Would you be willing to taste what I've cooked?" Betsy asked eagerly. "You can be as honest as you like, too. I love constructive criticism, and I'm a fast learner, too. I promise!"
Un-fucking-believable.
The word echoed repeatedly in his brain even as he spent the next hour helping Betsy with her language lessons and cooking.
Un-fucking-believable.
He was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world.
But Betsy had him working as an unpaid food tester.
And to make things a thousand times worse, the last hour also saw him feeling jealous of himself, with the way Betsy could not stop talking about the man she would soon marry.