Page 1 of Loving the Greek Billionaire

CHAPTER ONE

Athens Part I

As the airplane wheels touched down in Athens, Rose thought—not for the first time—that she shouldn’t have agreed to take this nannying assignment.

The whine of the brakes surged through the body of the plane, and the man next to her crossed himself and muttered a prayer. At least he wasn’t coughing. He’d hacked for most of the four-hour ride from France, and Rose worried that whatever he had was contagious. She gripped her seat belt. She could stand the thought of being ill but not of infecting the children under her care.

The plane pulled into the terminal, and the engines wound down before becoming silent.

Passengers popped up from their seats, personal items in hand, and pulled down overhead bags before the plane door was open. Everyone was in a hurry, except her. She retrieved her handbag from beneath the seat in front of her.

The beefy man next to her coughed again, and spittle hit her cheek.

Swallowing her disgust, she wiped away the offensive liquid with her linen handkerchief, the initials RB flashing in her peripheral vision. Robert. If he were here, she wouldn’t be a nanny. She pushed her brown wavy locks off her face and pushed away thoughts of him and their past. Nothing would bring him back.

With an apologetic smile, the beefy man stood and trundled off with his suitcase in hand.

Rose watched all the passengers disembark before rising from her seat. She was the last one off the plane with amercito the attendants.

The toe of her shoe hit the tile of the terminal floor, and, just like that, she was in Greece, unable to put off the inevitable any longer. Only for her sister had she agreed to this particular arrangement. Rose nannied for her sister when Marie got in tight spots. She usually assigned Rose to middle-class families. Rose felt comfortable at that socio-economic level and enjoyed spending time with children.

But this case was different, a billionaire. Her stomach roiled. Marie should be here, not her. But poor Marie was laid up with a severely sprained ankle.

Rose followed the signs, passed through customs, and headed for the baggage carousel. A man in a sharp suit holding a tablet caught her eye. The sign read Rose Berret. And so it began.

She approached the gray-suited man, wondering why he wore dark sunglasses indoors.

“I’m Rose Berret,” she said in English, not knowing if the man spoke her native French. She didn’t know enough Greek yet to feel confident in carrying on a conversation.

Dark Sunglasses lowered his tablet and shook her hand. “I’m Stavros. If you’ll give me your baggage claim ticket, I’ll see you to the car and have your luggage brought to the hotel.”

She gave him a cool smile. “I’m quite capable of retrieving my own luggage, thank you. No need for one car for me and another for my luggage. We can go in the same vehicle.”

A slight contraction of Stavros’s brows was all the indication he gave of irritation. “It’s all arranged Ms. Berret, courtesy of Mr. Papadakis.”

Mr. Papadakis, her new and temporary employer. The name rankled her. Rose took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. No need to get into a fight over her luggage. This was how the wealthy did things, with no thought for the wishes of others.

“Very well, Mr. Stavros.” She dug through her handbag for the claim ticket.

“No, no, only Stavros. No mister.”

She raised a brow and handed him the ticket.

“This way.” He turned on his heel toward the exit, and she followed him.

A sleek black sedan with dark-tinted windows waited at the curb.

Stavros opened the back door. “Plutus is your driver. He’ll take you to the hotel. Feel free to ask him any questions about Athens. He’s very knowledgeable.”

She slid onto the black leather seat.

Stavros shut the door and tapped once on the roof.

The car pulled into traffic.

“Evening, Ms. Berret,” Plutus said in English. “Welcome to Greece. I understand it’s your first time here.”

Rose frowned at the idea that the staff knew it was her first time in Greece. Her employer seemed to have checked into her background rather thoroughly to know that piece of trivia. Or perhaps Marie had divulged that bit of information. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions, just because of her past experiences in wealthy circles.

---