“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 qui
t 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.
Chapter Two
Leo is Romantic
The last few hours had been torture. His mate had come, and she knew nothing of his kind. And what was his sister up to? She’d begged to be given a chance to play at styling. He had first knocked the idea down. After all, no one could be more beautiful than his mate. She needed no improvement. But he had caved and given her carte blanche. She could buy Kalista whatever she needed, as long as she stayed natural. Not too much makeup. But Helena insisted Kalista wouldn’t feel comfortable around the other elegant women who would be stepping on the island tomorrow without the right wardrobe and hairstyle.
The sound of heels clicking on the stone veranda overlooking the Mediterranean had him turning, expecting to see a family member. Instead, he froze. His mouth ran dry, and his heart stopped for second. As their eyes met, she stopped mid-step. The royal blue of her gown brought her eyes to life, and sheer layers of fabric billowed around her knees. “Wow.”
“Your sister…”
“Is talented.” He crossed the distance, lifted her hand to his lips, and laid a kiss across the knuckles. “There will be no holding her back now.”
Not willing to break the physical contact, he led her to the table draped in white linen and set with his best china. Candles flickered in the summer breeze. Pulling out her chair, he waved his young cousin to start the service.
“Is no one else joining us?”
“Oi, I always eat alone the night before the festivities begin.” He waited to say anything else until they were alone again. “It’s the last time for a month I feel I can decompress.”
“I’m sorry. I should have thought, with people coming, the last thing you’d want would be to entertain me,” she said, sadness in her voice as she placed her fork down.
“Why?” He nearly coughed on his steak.
“I didn’t mean to invade your solitude.”
Reaching across the table, he squeezed her hand. “You misunderstand me. Did I expect to eat this dinner tonight alone? Yes. But had I not wanted your company, I could have had them set another place at the family table tonight or sent you a meal to your room. I hoped you would join me.”
Her eyes sparkled again, her fragility laid bare for anyone who took the time to pay attention. As potent as if she doubted every step she took. Yet she hadn’t hesitated to come to a strange country and get on a boat to a private island to wait for him. He could have kicked her off and taken her father’s business. She came in like a lioness, his lioness, ready to fight for her family. She had no idea how appealing her courage made her.
“Why me?”
Thrown by her voicing the question he had been mulling already, he leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and thought how best to answer. Complete honesty would send her swimming for the mainland, but a lie wouldn’t sit well on his conscious. “You intrigue me.”
“And?”
“Why must there be an and?”
“Because your sister googled some of the guests who will be here tomorrow to get a feel for what they are likely to wear. I’m nothing like these women. They are tall, fit, and gorgeous.”
“And I have known most of them since they were Helena’s age. If I had wanted any of them, it would have happened already. You have an inner strength I admire.”
“Not so strong.”
“I beg to differ. What did you think might happen when you got here today?”
“I had no idea. All I could think about was making sure my father didn’t suffer another stroke.”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but you need to understand my reaction to you isn’t how I would normally act. I’ve been stood up, not once but twice by your father.” He held up his hand, palm forward when she went to argue. “Remember, I had no idea why he missed our meeting to pay the loan payments he neglected from last year. So I believed he’d stiffed me and the business was a front.”
“I can see how it might have appeared to you.”
“With six of the most powerful families in our acquaintance coming to the island tomorrow, wasting my time didn’t bode well. When I stepped off the boat, I noticed that flag flying over the house.”
“The green one?” She turned in the direction he pointed.
“The flag means we have a visitor, a non-family member on the island. All I wanted to do was to go for a run or a swim to decompress before I played catch-up from a week’s absence. The Internet helps a great deal, but there are some things I can only handle from my base of operations.” He leaned in and spoke slowly. “I decided I would leave your father’s representative cooling his heels in the waiting room as I’d been left waiting in the predetermined restaurant. But when I laid eyes on you, my determination faltered. Then you stood with a grace that belied your fear, and introduced yourself.”
“I shook in my cheap sandals.”
“But you still stood up to me. You didn’t hesitate. I prepared to take control of your father’s company, but instead I became enamored by you and your courage.”
“I have no courage.”
“It took courage to stand and, when the fight-or-flight reaction kicked in, you fought for your family. Nothing is sexier to my kind than family loyalty.” He pushed her plate closer to her. “Just one thing. Don’t ever lie to me again.”
“Lie?” Wide-eyed, she coughed on her wine.
“In my office, you said you weren’t hungry, but you were starving.”
“I didn’t want to put you out. I tried to be polite.”
“I don’t need polite. I need you to eat if you are hungry. We take care of our guests, and my grandmother would come back to haunt me if she thought someone under my roof went without.”
“I warn you, I can eat a great deal.”
“I can always make more money.”
“Spoken like a true tycoon.”
“Ah yes, I seem to have become the stereotypical tycoon, shipping company, my own island…”
“It’s beautiful, by the way,” she said between bites. “How big is it?”
“Tonight, big enough. Tomorrow, not nearly enough space.” He chuckled, watching her enjoy her steak. “The villa here is the biggest single building. It houses all the offices. On the southern side, we
have the village.”
“Village?”
“To house everyone who comes for the month.”
Her fork stopped, and her eyes widened. “You own an island with a village on it?”
“I didn’t buy an island with a village. My grandfather bought an island then my relations moved in, adding a house here and there for when the families summered together. Eventually, it became more like a village.” Of course it took hundreds of years, but with the blessing of the gods, he’d have time to explain.
“And it’s empty the rest of the year.”
“People come and go as they want. Most are permanent residents. Most of the families prefer the village to the villa for the children. There are small shops and even a movie theatre. It only plays one movie at any given time, and it’s usually been out for a couple of months, but it’s better than nothing.”
Swallowing, she asked before partaking in a sip of water. “So the villa and the village. Seems like a lot, but I sense not everything.”
“In the very center of the island stands one last large building, at its highest point, stands the old stronghold used by my ancestors in case of attack.”
“And what do you use it for now?”
“The majority of the activities over the next few weeks will take place in the banquet hall and ballroom there. The large kitchen can handle the influx. And the building has about twenty more bedchambers.”
“And will all the rooms be filled tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “But by next weekend, yes. We will host a series of weddings, too. If you would like to explore the island there are quite a few smaller buildings used for a variety of things. But if you are overheated you are welcome in any of them.”
“And you own it all? Like, everything on the island.”
“It’s in my name. But I share it with everyone in my pri…family.”
“It’s a great deal to take in.” She fell silent.
“It would be my honor to escort you to the party tomorrow night.”
“There must be someone more appropriate to be on your arm.”
“You are the one I want next to me, Kalista.” Not just tomorrow, but until they both decided to take their long rest years and years from now.
Her Billionaire Lion: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Leo Page 2