Claimed by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 2): Duke Ryder

by Melissa Foster

  He went on to explain the variations of nicknames and how the Greek and Southern families had blended together, each learning the ways of the other, over the decades. An hour later they were laughing over hypothetical names his children might have had, had they been named for their personalities.

  “Mr. Liakos—”

  “Niko, please.”

  “Niko, thank you.” Duke recalled Gabriella’s father and brother’s names and realized there were three Nikos in the Liakos family. He wondered how the family kept them straight. “What is your vision for the island? Your goal for this sale?”

  The old man sat back with a heavy sigh. “My vision—” He gazed out the window for a full minute or more, as if he were scrolling through memories like movies playing out before him. “What I want is to keep my family whole and provided for. I’m an old man. I have lived my dream.” He shrugged, and his gaze turned thoughtful. “The island, what we once hoped for, what we worked toward, and what we had for a very long time, was my ancestors’ dream. It’s time for a new dream, Duke. Surely you know this.”

  As an investor, Duke’s business was all about new visions and new dreams, but ever since Gabriella mentioned that she’d left the island to honor her grandfather’s wishes, he’d wondered if there was more to the move than she’d let on. Now he could see that her grandfather would do anything to ensure his family was well cared for, including selling off their legacy.

  “What if I come back with an offer you can’t refuse and then bulldoze everything and build a factory?” Niko was acting as if he’d take a monetary offer to secure his family’s stability, but Duke could tell that that wasn’t the case. If it were, he would have had a real estate attorney handling the tour, and this meeting would not be taking place without his legal advisers present.

  “Then I have misjudged your character.” Niko sat back and folded his hands over his stomach. “We have a unique island. The old ways of the Greek have combined with the ways of the South. And now it’s time to interject bigger visions in order for the families who have made this island what it is to be able to remain here. It’s time for a change.” He paused, then lifted his hands and said, “What is that change? I don’t know. But I think you do.”

  By the time Duke left, he’d been given a history lesson on the immigration of the Liakos family and extended yet another invitation to the upcoming birthday celebration for Katarina’s father.

  **

  THE AROMA OF casseroles cooking, lamb grilling, and the unique scents of the people Gabriella loved most blended together in the most comforting way. Gabriella worked side by side with her mother, cousins, aunts, and uncles in the kitchen of what they called the big house by the lighthouse while children darted in and out of the open patio doors. The big house was a large villa overlooking the ocean. It was where they held all of their celebrations.

  The excited tenors of the women’s voices filled the air as they prepared for the evening’s festivities. While slicing colorful red, orange, yellow, and green peppers, Gabriella watched her mother’s capable hands cutting, chopping, and layering foods in an enormous casserole dish, as she’d done Gabriella’s whole life. Her brown hair had a few strands of gray, and she wore it pinned back in a ponytail. She moved more like a thirty-year-old than a woman in her late fifties, all energetic gumption and warmth. Gabriella had always thought her mother was pretty, and as she took in the various shapes and sizes of her relatives and friends, she saw unique beauty in each of them.

  Her aunt Alexandra was tall, with wavy dark hair and an inquisitive nature. She stole glances at Gabriella while she sprinkled cheese over the dish she was making.

  Gabriella had taken more care dressing today, hoping she and Duke would meet up at some point since they hadn’t made any firm plans. She had a feeling that was the cause of the glances her aunt and a few of the others had been sneaking at her all morning. Her great-great-grandmother on her father’s side had had seven children and twenty-two grandchildren, each of whom had between three and six children of their own. And her mother’s side of the family was just as large. Needless to say, there were more celebratory gatherings than not on the island, and she missed it, she missed this—the coming together of generations for something as simple as preparing meals for the people they loved. The ache of missing these connections, creating these memories, balled together and stuck in her throat.

  “Vivi said the investor’s sister is an actress,” Alexandra said to her sister Eleni. This caused all the women to gasp and discuss how exciting her life must be.

  “I wonder if she knows Brad Pitt,” her cousin Salina said with wide eyes.

  “Or Matthew McConaughey. His Texas accent is so yummy,” Katarina added.

  Eleni held her hands up, silencing the others. “I wonder if she knows Giannis Anastasakis!”

  Gabriella laughed. Giannis Anastasakis was John Aniston, an incredibly handsome Greek actor best known for his patriarch role of Victor Kiriakis in Days of Our Lives. Younger generations simply knew him as Jennifer Aniston’s father, but to Gabriella he would always be her very first crush.

  “Why do you laugh, Gabrielaki?” her aunt Loy asked.

  “I remember all of you watching that show while you cooked and swooning over him. You made me adore him.”

  “My little princess had a crush on an older man,” her mother said with a wink. Her mother’s sweet Southern charm softened the boisterousness of the others.

  Her aunt Loulou glanced up from where she was chopping mushrooms and said, “And now our little Ella has a crush on another man.”

  Gabriella’s heart skipped a beat at how easily Loulou had read her thoughts. As the other women reeled off a string of hopes, their hugs swallowed her embarrassment whole, leaving only warmth and love. Endearments fell like drops of rain from their quick tongues—Ella, Gabrielaki, Lala. Her family never agreed on just one nickname, but they agreed on one thing—she needed a husband.

  She felt a heavy arm fall over her shoulder seconds before Dimitri whispered against her cheek, “Come help me cook outside. I’ll save you.”

  Their mother shook her head. “Dimitri, you would do well to find yourself a wife, too.”

  Dimitri held his hands up in surrender and backed away. He was twenty-seven years old, which meant their older relatives saw him as prime husband material.

  “Oh, no, you don’t.” Gabriella pulled him back to the table. “You’d leave me out to dry?”

  She followed Dimitri’s gaze to the entrance from the porch, where Duke stood in a pair of jeans and a black polo shirt, his dark eyes piercing the distance between them.

  “Am I interrupting?” Duke asked as he stepped inside.

  Gabriella was vaguely aware of her aunts swarming him, drawing him into the room, fussing over him in the way only they would. Touching his arms, his collar, kissing his cheeks so many times he had a dozen shades of lipstick on them in seconds, all while doling out compliments and questions in equal measure. But their commotion paled in comparison to the rampant beating of Gabriella’s heart at the invitation in his steady, smoldering gaze.

  **

  “DON’T BE SILLY. Come, come,” Gabriella’s mother said as they ushered Duke into the room.

  “Thank you.” Duke had waited to seek out Gabriella until he’d convinced himself that he could control his desire to be closer to her. He’d even managed to convince himself that his attraction to her was fleeting, born from opportunity rather than something more meaningful, a deeper connection. She stood before him now, the careful strain of composure written in her squared shoulders and the slight lift of her chin. As he stepped closer, drawn to her like metal to magnet, the mixture of surprise and desire in her warm dark eyes was unmistakable.

  He’d been a fool to tell Pierce he could handle the sparks flying between them, especially with the way his heart turned over in his chest at the mere sight of her. This was not an attraction of convenience. Nor was it fleeting. This was a type of connection he’d never
experienced before. The risk manager in him searched for a plausible explanation, but the man in him knew it would come up empty, because a connection like this could only come from a well too deep to reveal.

  “Hi,” she said with a hint of question in her voice—a far cry from the in-control woman he’d met yesterday.

  He liked this softer, more feminine side of her, which seemed to be having just as much trouble understanding the energy drawing them together as he was. Did that mean she’d thought about him last night the way he’d thought about her? Did she feel the intensity of this unspoken thing between them as powerfully as he did?

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought you might show me around.” He was vaguely aware of the hushed whispers and conversations taking place around them.

  Gabriella’s eyes darted to the table, where she had obviously been preparing food. He glanced at the stove, the tables, the counters. Every surface was covered with dishes, cutlery, and food midpreparation, and he realized how inappropriate his suggestion was.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were busy with your family. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

  Suddenly the women’s hands were on his arms again, pushing him toward Gabriella. The women here gave a new meaning to space invaders. They all spoke at once, and it was all he could do to smile and nod.

  “Oh, honey. Go, have fun. We can manage the rest of this,” her mother insisted.

  A woman with frizzy blond hair ushered Gabriella a step forward. “Go. Take her. Take Ella. See the island.” She motioned to the other women, who pressed in closer with more words of encouragement.

  “Yes, go. Show him the orchard, darlin’. Go on, now, y’all,” a plump brunette said as she nudged Gabriella closer to him.

  Another blond touched his cheek and said, “Have Lala show you the cliff.”

  Duke enjoyed hearing their endearments. Gabriella laughed softly. The sweet sound brought his hand up, reaching for hers.

  “The beach, Gabrielaki,” a petite blonde said. “Go for a swim.”

  As Gabriella laid her fingertips in his, a rosy blush quickly spread over her high cheekbones. “I guess I’m showing you the rest of the island today.”

  “Go on, now,” her mother urged. “Y’all get out of here and go have some fun.”

  The women ushered them out of the house.

  “Thank you,” Duke said to the women. As they walked outside, he wasn’t surprised to see the men who had been gathered around the spit when he’d arrived watching them with interest.

  He waved. “How’s it going?”

  Half a dozen of them answered at once, but the approval in their eyes told Duke he wasn’t about to get the typical overprotective treatment his sister’s dates endured when he and his brothers were around. He enjoyed seeing how much Gabriella’s family adored her, but he breathed a little easier knowing he’d soon have her all to himself.

  A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, and he turned to Dimitri, who wore the same amused expression Duke had seen on their father the day he’d arrived on the island.

  “They all want to marry her off. I just want her to have some fun.” Dimitri squeezed Duke’s shoulder. “Not too much fun.” He winked.

  “Dimitri!” Gabriella rolled her eyes.

  “I’ll keep your guidelines in mind,” Duke assured him.

  Gabriella kissed her brother’s cheek before saying something in Greek that made everyone—except Duke—laugh.

  He really needed to learn the language.

  Chapter Six

  AS DUKE AND Gabriella walked away from the big house, he reminded himself to view the island through professional eyes and not through the eyes of a guy who was taken with a beautiful woman. But the harder he tried, the more difficult it became. After a few minutes of walking with him hand in hand, Gabriella slid her hand from his.

  “What exactly did you have in mind?” she asked as they came to the end of the dirt road. “Do you want to see the areas with historical significance? The community gardens, the—”

  Just like that she’d switched into tour-guide mode. How could it possibly be that easy for her, when he was struggling to keep from taking her in his arms and kissing her?

  “Gabriella.” He waited until she looked at him, and the desire swimming in her eyes brought him closer. He touched her cheek, and she blinked up at him from beneath her long lashes. It took all his strength not to lean down and press his lips to hers. But when he dropped his gaze to her luscious lips, they pressed into a firm line, and he knew she was struggling just as he was. Tour-guide mode was her safety net.

  “I know all about the historical sites on the island. As I said last night, I want to see the places that mean the most to you, that you’d like to see remain intact if we move forward with this investment.” He searched her eyes as her lips curved up and that sexy blush rose on her cheeks again.

  She nodded and dropped her eyes for a moment before meeting his gaze again with more confidence in hers. “I’m sorry about everyone being so pushy.”

  “Don’t be. It’s such a great feeling to see all those people caring so much for you. My family is really close, and I often wondered if I’d ever meet someone who would feel the importance of family on the same level that I do.” He glanced back the way they’d come. “It’s obvious that the people who live here feel that way, too.”

  He threw caution to the wind and reached for her hand. “I can see that you do, too.”

  “Duke…” She slipped her hand from his grip again, pitching his gut into a nose dive. “I’ve been thinking about what you said last night, and you were right. Giving in to whatever is going on between us could lead to trouble. I think we should keep things professional.”

  Duke fought against his baser instincts, which were to take her in his arms and kiss her until she came to her senses. But he knew he was the one in the wrong, letting his emotions get the best of him. He’d been the one to draw the line in the sand last night, but hell if that line hadn’t blurred with every look, every stroke of his hand on hers, every single smile she shared.

  He forced himself to do the right thing. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He slid his hands in his pockets to contain the urge to reach for her. “I’d still like to see the places that are important to you, if you don’t mind.” He scrambled for a reason other than the truth—that he wanted to know everything about her—and came up empty.

  “Okay, sure.” Her voice cracked a little.

  As they walked across the road toward the beach, Gabriella stood up taller, schooled her expression, and lifted her chin. She’d done that a few times now, and Duke recognized her actions for what they were. He knew all about the invisible walls people hid behind in order to keep from being hurt or becoming the object of ridicule. Or any number of other reasons they felt the need to hide. Duke had never bought into the idea of hiding. He knew his strengths and his weaknesses, and he faced challenges head-on. And as far as being hurt went, well, he’d never do a thing to hurt Gabriella, and he’d rather open himself up to being hurt by her than not have a chance to see what might come of their attraction.

  He’d spent a lot of time thinking about Gabriella over the last twenty-four hours, and about more than just how sexy, sweet, and smart she was. Her family loved her so much they’d sent her away so she’d have a chance to build a better life. Duke had left home on his own, thrilled to go to college and get out into the real world. He wondered how he would have felt if he hadn’t wanted to leave but was forced to. He sensed she wore those scars just beneath the surface, and he had a burning desire to be the man she shared those feelings with.

  “Let’s go to the shore first,” Gabriella said. “One of the best things about the island is that it is an island.”

  They left their shoes at the edge of the beach and walked along the warm sand to the water’s edge. Gabriella closed her eyes and tilted her head up toward the clear blue sky. She looked radiant with the sun glistening against her olive skin and a gentl
e breeze blowing her pretty dress. Duke imagined her basking on this very beach as she was growing up, being present. He wished he would have known her as a curious, rebellious teenager and been there to watch her grow into the amazing woman she’d become. But what he really wished was that he could have been there for her when she was nudged off the island. The idea of her facing that sort of tough love without someone there to hold her on the other end of her family’s good intentions pained him.

  “Mother Nature’s greatest gift to mankind,” she said, looking at him with the most peaceful expression he’d ever seen, as if she’d just experienced a perfect moment.

  Duke wished he could go back in time and share it with her. A moment later he realized that he was doing just that.

  “Nothing beats the clear ocean water, sand between your toes, and unpolluted air. Try to get that on the mainland.” She walked with her feet in the water.

  “I can see how easy it is to be in the moment here.” To be present. Duke stepped beside her into ankle-deep water. “Thanks for reminding me how nice moments like this are.”

  “It is nice, isn’t it?” she said with a sigh.

  “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that being here with you didn’t make it even nicer.” He caught himself reaching a hand to her lower back and slid it into his pocket instead. “Professionally speaking, of course.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course. So if you’ve done your homework, then you know my ancestors came here with the hopes of building a shipping company.”

  “I actually didn’t research the reasons your family immigrated to the States, although your grandfather did fill me in on some of that. My research went back to when the property passed hands to your grandfather from your great-grandfather. I found it interesting that the resort had been passed to the eldest son of the previous owner rather than portioning it out to each of the heirs. Isn’t it typically customary in the Greek culture to divvy up property among each of the heirs?”