Finding Opa!
Page 15
Hunter did not move. “And what about him?” he asked, looking at his father.
“My word has not changed,” Dr. Fourakis said, still standing at the doorway.
“Then neither will mine,” Hunter said, holding Stacey’s hand. He pulled it up to him and kissed it. Looking into her eyes, he smiled. “It’s just you and me.” All eyes focused on the couple. Not a single sound was made, except for Mrs. Fourakis’ sniffling.
Stacey shook her head silently. She knew that from the very beginning, but she was hoping to come here and pull one ally. Looking at Mrs. Fourakis, she knew that maybe she had managed to do that. Stacey knew that the woman loved her son and would do anything to keep him in her life.
Hunter turned to his mother and kissed the crown of her head. Smelling her perfume, he hugged her tight. “I love you, Ma,” he whispered. “But you and I will have to celebrate some other time. Maybe you can come over and teach Stacey how to fix a good Greek meal.”
Mrs. Fourakis cried. Holding on to her son, she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Hunter. I’m so very sorry.”
Hanna watched with tears in her own eyes. She looked around at Paris, Rhea and her father in disgust. What had they done?
“It’s okay,” Hunter said, pulling away. Giving his mother a reassuring, bright smile, he touched her chin. “I’ll call you, okay?”
Mrs. Fourakis nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Taking her hand again, Hunter led Stacey out of the house. He had said what he had to say. This was his wife, his life, his choice and no one was going to take that away from him – not even them.
Epilogue
One Year Later…
Santorini, Greece
120 miles from Greece’s mainland on a sunny picturesque Saturday evening, the bells of the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral boomed through Fira as the doors of the majestic white church opened to present to the world Dr. and Mrs. Hunter Fourakis.
Running out, hand-in-hand in the warm tranquil breeze with close friends and family following with cheers, Hunter and Stacey kissed on the steps of the church and waved at baby Corina before they loaded into their white Mercedes and zipped off down the cobblestone streets of the seaside city to the first-class Aressana Hotel.
Cuddled up in each other’s arms in the back of the car, Stacey looked up at her new husband and smiled. Her long elegant gown flowed around her brightening her glowing face and sandy dreads pulled up into beautiful curls on her head.
“We did it,” she said, rubbing through his copper-colored curls.
“I know. How does it feel to be Mrs. Fourakis?” he asked, kissing her lips again.
“Wonderful,” she said, beaming with joy. “Do you think baby Corina will be okay with your parents for an entire week?”
“Are you kidding? Did you see them? Papa and Mama where practically fighting to hold her. Trust me. She’ll be fine…maybe a little more spoiled when we get her back. But for right now, I just want you to relax. It’s our honeymoon. We’re going to get massages, eat great dinners, watch the sunset, make love and spend some much needed downtime alone.”
Stacey loved the way that sounded.
The last year had been an absolute world wind. With the release of her second book, which instantly became a hit and a USA Today and New York Times bestseller, she had gone on an extensive book tour right before Corina’s birth. However, she had warned Valerie, who had even shown up to the wedding, that the tour would be the last for a while.
Stacey had also been on the set of Love Knocks as a consultant and preparing for the movie to hit theatres in a month. And because of their trip last year to Athens, Stacey, Hunter and Rapture had permanently relocated to Greece to raise baby Corina.
As it turned out, Hunter had been right. While Stacey had visited France, England, South Africa and Spain before, she had never seen a place more beautiful than Greece. It was biker’s paradise and writer’s utopia. Every day, she found herself overwhelmed with ideas, never wanting for passion again. The people were warm and welcoming, always interested in sharing their culture and learning more about hers. She couldn’t believe it, but she was actually becoming an extrovert again.
When she agreed to move to Greece, Hunter quickly shut up shop in Seattle and started a small doctor’s office in the heart of Athens, not far from their new home, a villa with red rooftops, a sprawling lawn and plenty of space for future Fourakis babies. Their new life was like a dream. God had blessed them with a piece of heaven right here on earth, and they treasured every moment of it.
Corina had given them new energy with her birth. A fat, bubbly child with copper-colored curls and emerald green eyes like her father and an angelic golden bronze complexion, perfect heart-shaped lips and her mother’s humor, she was the apple of her parents’ eyes.
When they were not working, they spent their days doting after her, taking walks, riding bikes, shopping in the markets and watching her grow. Their evenings were devoted to cooking great Mediterranean meals, reading good books, entertaining their new friends and being a family.
The only thing in life Hunter wanted that he didn’t have was marriage to bind him to his perfect family. Stacey had insisted that they wait until after Corina’s birth to ensure that they could enjoy their honeymoon. At first, he thought she had just found a way to put him off again, but after he saw her walk down the aisle this afternoon in her angelic white dress, he knew that it was worth the wait.
Stacey had felt the exact same joy as she stood beside him at the altar. Never had Hunter been more handsome than in his black tuxedo. His hair smelled of a fragrance that she couldn’t place, his skin smelled of sandalwood. His olive-colored skin was toned, vibrant and absolutely beautiful. His eyes shimmered like the Aegean Sea. And he and baby Corina were all hers for the rest of her life.
As Hunter had often put it, the two had finally found their Opa, and nothing could have made them happier.
The End
Trivi’s Charities of Choice
There are so many worthy charities that need your help. Please consider making a contribution to the following charities to help military men and women and their families in their time of need.
Semper Fi Fund
http://semperfifund.org/
Wounded Warrior Center • Bldg H49 •
Camp Pendleton, CA 92055
Phone: 760-207-0887
or 760-725-3680
Fax: 760-725-3685
Soldier’s Angels
http://www.soldiersangels.org/
1792 E Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91104
Wounded Warrior Project
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300
Jacksonville FL, 32256
Telephone: 877.832.6997
Fax: 904.296.7347
Whether time or money, consider giving back to the people who have already given so much.
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The Grunt
Staff Sergeant Brett Black has a bad feeling that something is going to go terribly wrong. And as a Recon Marine, he pays attention to his gut. Only nothing can prepare him for what he encounters when he arrives at home from the base. His wife is leaving him, and there is nothing he can do about it.
Abandoned with a kid, the super alpha-male has to become domesticated quickly or find a willing substitute to help him with hi
s son. Only the substitute he finds is no substitution.
Courtney Lawless is a true wild card. The budding librarian loves the classics and carries herself like a lady by day. But she also is full of life and surfs the waves of the Atlantic Ocean by night. Since her parents won’t pay for college because of bad decisions in her past, the reformed bad-girl takes a job as Brett’s live-in nanny to finish paying for school.
Brett has never seen a woman of such complex duality. Used to a wife who won’t clean, cook or even talk to him, when he starts to live with Courtney, he realizes what he’s been missing his entire life. Educated, amazing and refreshingly honest, the only thing that that this transparent beauty hides from her new boss is that she’s also the Lieutenant Colonel’s daughter.
Faced with another deployment to Afghanistan soon, the brooding Marine is forced to come out his shell to fight for what he loves, only this time, the war is at home.
Enjoy the interracial must-read romance of the summer, The Grunt, the third a longest book in Latrivia S. Nelson’s Lonely Heart Series and today.
Third Book Book In Lonely Heart Series
ISBN: 978-0-9832186-4-7
Retail Price: $8.99
The Ugly Girlfriend
LaToya Jenkins is the quintessential woman: smart, successful, grounded and determined. She only has one problem socially - she's overweight. As the "big one" of her girlfriends, she often faces rejection from the men of their social circle because of her size and/or her dark skin. And due to a painful past relationship, she gives up on love completely until, she takes on Mitchell "Mitch" O'Keefe as a new client.
The Irish born architect needs a professional cleaning service to help him literally clean up his life after a nasty divorce, but he winds up finding a true friend in LaToya, the owner of It's An Honor Cleaning Service.
While LaToya is handicapped emotionally by her baggage, Mitch thinks she's the strongest woman he's ever seen and a breath of fresh air in his hectic life. His only goal is to prove to her that his interest in her is more than lust sparked by curiosity.
Read the story of two beautiful people in totally opposite ways who help each other see that beauty is not skin deep but soul deep in the first book of Latrivia S. Nelson's Lonely Heart Series, The Ugly Girlfriend.
The Lonely Heart Series
Book One
ISBN: 978-0-9832186-4-7
Retail Price: $9.99
Dmitry’s Closet
From author Latrivia S. Nelson, author of the epic romance Ivy's Twisted Vine, comes a story about Memphis, TN, a deadly faction of the Russian mafia and an innocent woman who dismantles an empire.
Orphaned virgin Royal Stone is looking for employment in one of the country's toughest recessions. What she finds is the seven-foot, blonde millionaire Dmitry Medlov, who offers her a job as the manager of his new boutique, Dmitry's Closet. After she accepts his job offer, she soon accepts his gifts, his bed and his lifestyle. What she does not know is that her knight in shining armor is also the head of the Medlov Organized Crime Family, a faction of the elite Russian mafia organization, Vory v Zakone.
Falling in love with the clueless Royal makes Dmitry want to break his coveted code, leave his self-made empire and start a life far away from the perils of the Thieves-in-Law. Only, his brother, Ivan, comes to the Memphis from New York City bent on a murderous revenge.
With the FBI and Memphis Police Department working hard to build a case against Dmitry and his brother trying to kill him, he is forced to tell Royal of his true identity, but Royal also is keeping a secret - one that changes everything.
Who will win? Who will lose? Who will die? Watch all the skeletons as they tumble out of the urban literature sensation Dmitry's Closet.
Warning: This book contains graphic language, sex, and various forms of violence. However, it will also melt your heart!
The Medlov Crime Family Series
Book One
Available in paperback and e-book format
ISBN: 978-1-6165874-5-1
Retail Price:$12.99
Dmitry’s Royal Flush:
Rise of the Queen
From the popular multicultural author, Latrivia S. Nelson, comes the highly anticipated second installment of the Medlov Crime Family Series, Dmitry's Royal Flush: Rise of the Queen.
For Dmitry and Royal Medlov, money doesn’t equal happiness. Forced to leave Memphis, TN and flee to Prague after a brutal mafia war, the couple nestled into the countryside to raise their daughter, Anya, and lead a safe, quiet life. But when Dmitry’s son, Anatoly, shows up with an offer he can’t refuse, Dmitry is forced to go back to the life he left as boss of the most feared criminal organization in world. Consequently, the deal could not only destroy the Medlov Crime Family but also Dmitry and Royal.
Royal hasn’t been the same since she was attacked three years ago. Where she used to be a sweet, innocent girl, she’s now the jaded, bitter mistress of the Medlov Chateau. However, a reality check is in store for the pre-Madonna when Anya’s new teacher shows up with her sights set on stealing Dmitry, and Ivan’s old ally shows up with his sights on killing him. Can Royal save them all? Will she?
With a family in such turmoil, the only way to survive is to stick together. Read the gripping tale of a marriage strong enough to stand the test of time as Dmitry realizes that he has the best cards in the house as long as he has a Royal Flush.
The Medlov Crime Family Series
Book Two
Available in paperback and e-book format
ISBN: 978-0-5780601-1-8
Retail Price: $13.99
Anatoly Medlov: Complete Reign
From the bestselling series, the Medlov Crime Family, comes the highly-anticipated story about America's favorite bad boy...
Anatoly Medlov is the youngest crime boss in the Medlov Organized Crime Family’s history. Now, he has to prove himself to a council who thinks his legacy has not been well-earned, amidst a grueling investigation by Lt. Nicola Agosto of the Memphis Police Department and during plot to destroy him by his ex-lover, Victoria. In his loneliness, the only one he can confide in is the shop girl, Renee, an old friend who knows more than anyone about his personal journey. However, his friendship soon turns to love for a woman he knows that he cannot have because of the feared code his is bound to by the Vory v Zakone.
When his estranged mother dies suddenly, Anatoly flies to Russia to pay his last respects and discovers a jolting secret. The late Ivan Medlov’s own brutal legacy still lives through his son, Gabriel, and his New York crime family. Anatoly’s father and former Czar of the underworld, Dmitry, sees this as an opportunity to unite the two major families and blesses both men. However, Anatoly sees Gabriel as a threat to his empire and competition for the affection of his father. Will cousins kill because of the sins of their fathers?
Gabriel Medlov has always resented his existence. Now as an undercover DEA agent, he plans destroy the Medlov Crime Family once and for all. Only in order to get close enough to destroy the organization, he must also get close enough to love his estranged family. Will blood prove thicker than water or will one man’s revenge end the Family for good?
Follow the story of one young man who fights to be king in a room full of royalty and suffers the pain of his position in the romantic suspense guaranteed to make you want more.
The Medlov Crime Family Series
Book Three
Available in paperback and e-book format
ISBN: 978-0-9832186-1-6