Page 64 of Loving the Greek Billionaire

Adonis handed her the stick he’d picked up on their walk along the street of Knights.

“I name thee Sir Adonis Papadakis, Knight of Rhodes for the day.” Rose tapped the stick on each of Adonis’s shoulders and then returned it to him.

“Cool.” He beamed. “What does a knight do?”

“He helps others and defends them from harm.”

“Oh.” He scrunched his face. “That sounds kind of boring. I thought I’d get to ride a dragon or something.”

“Knights slay dragons in all my picture books,” said Nefeli.

“I don’t want to slay a dragon,” Adonis protested.

“If we find a dragon, I’ll see if you can ride it,” Rose promised.

Above them loomed two towers flanked by endless stone walls that appeared either gray or cream, depending on the lighting.

They entered through a large stone archway that deposited them in an enormous courtyard that housed Greek and Roman statues.

“Where are their clothes?” Adonis asked, pointing at the white figures on pedestals.

“Statues don’t wear clothes like we do. The artist either carves the clothes into the stone or showcases the human form,” Rose explained.

“That’s weird,” Adonis said. “I like clothes.” He pointed at his Iron Man T-shirt.

“I do too,” Rose agreed.

Past the courtyard, they entered the palace itself and climbed a huge stone stairway, sparsely decorated.

“Only a handful of the one hundred and fifty rooms are open to the public,” Kyrene said as they walked through the ancient palace. She led the children on a history scavenger hunt she’d created. With the children enthralled looking for mosaics, carved seats, wall hangings, textiles, and oriental vases, Rose had time to mull over her relationship with Stavros while she trailed them from one historic artifact to another.

He was kind, generous, caring, compassionate, astute, intelligent—the list went on and on—and a great kisser. Tingling warmth ran through her body at the memory of their kisses. She touched her lips with two fingers.

She knew from her marriage that physical attraction was only one part of the equation. There had to be emotional connection, trust, communication, and total honesty.

Rose searched her mind for anything she had neglected to share with Stavros that might be relevant to building a future together. She came up empty. Her conscience was clear.

Could she say the same for Stavros?

She wasn’t sure. She had no reason to believe he’d lied to her about anything. But what about omissions of truth? There were moments when she looked in his eyes and knew there was something in his past he hadn’t shared yet. Did he not trust her, or were the memories too painful?

She rubbed her arms. She knew about painful memories, and she’d shared some of the worst with him. She needed to be patient.

“Why are there so few windows?” Nefeli asked. “In my palace I want lots of windows.”

Kyrene answered. “This was less of a palace, like you might see in princess books, and more of a fortress to fight and protect. These windows would’ve been used for checking the positions of possible enemies or firing arrows to vanquish their foes.”

Nefeli frowned. “Then why do they call it a palace? It doesn’t even have pretty gardens. Just dirt, rocks, and some palm trees.”

Kyrene laughed and tugged on Nefeli’s braid. “They put the money into the building instead of making it beautiful.”

“If I had a palace, the gardens would have to look like ours at home.”

“And your gardens would be the envy of all Greece.” Kyrene said.

Rose hadn’t seen the Papadakis home yet. The description of the gardens intrigued her.

As the group moved forward over the stone floors, Rose asked Kyrene, “Have you been to the Papadakis’s house?”

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