Page 1 of Modern Romance September 2025 1-4
Shock Greek Heir
Lynne Graham
With warmest love and thanks to my daughter, Rachel, my port in every storm
CHAPTER ONE
SEBASTIANPAGONIS,TECH BILLIONAIRE, vaulted out of his helicopter on the Indonesian island. His big, powerful body sheathed in chinos and a khaki shirt, dwarfed everyone around him by virtue of his six-foot, five-inch height. His shock of black hair was anchored in a messy man bun, thin steel rings glinted in both earlobes, and he turned heads wherever he went because he looked so downright dangerous.
Glittering dark eyes that gleamed like polished swords in the sunshine scanned his surroundings with vigilance and he was greeted in the shadow of the hangar by an old schoolfriend, Andreas Zervas, who ran the Asian manufacturing side of his business. Andreas, his short, somewhat rounded counterpart, in a light summer suit, grinned up at him with familiar warmth.
‘I intended to meet you off your jet in Bali but our newborn ignored etiquette and arrived early and suddenly. Why right now do you look as if you’re expecting a hitman to be hiding in the shadows?’
‘That would literally be theonlyoption my relatives haven’t yet attempted,’ Sebastian retorted in frank exasperation.
Andreas frowned because he knew exactly what his friend was talking about.
Sebastian’s paternal grandmother, Loukia Pagonis had died some weeks earlier and her last will and testament had given her family, including Sebastian, a resounding shock. Without any warning, she had made Sebastian, the outcast in the Pagonis tribe and a man already rich beyond avarice, the heir to her vast international property empire. Ever since then, Sebastian had been fighting off lawsuits and enraged and embittered accusations. The family who had long treated him like a curse on their name and an intolerable social embarrassment were currently reaping the rewards of having treated him like a leper throughout his childhood.
‘Don’t joke about it,’ Andreas reproved, an unusual frown on his good-natured face. ‘Stranger things have happened and when you’re planning a week off-grid without security, it makes my blood run cold.’
‘It’s a week off and I…needit,’ Sebastian admitted grudgingly, intense fatigue briefly bowing his broad shoulders and weighting his dark, deep voice. ‘Did you make the final arrangements?’
Andreas sighed as he escorted him towards a top-of-the-range SUV. ‘I did but I still think it’s a crazy idea. You can’t go back. You think you can but youcan’t. You’re not that seventeen-year-old boy without a home any more. You’re not used to roughing it now either. This experience will be a penance for you, which is why I’m breaking your rules and giving you a burner phone to take with you. You’ll be screaming for escape within forty-eight hours. Your nature is too driven not to be and you’ll be pining for your superyacht even quicker. It isn’t easy to move from the fast lane to the slow sailing life.’
‘I have to adapt for the sake of my sanity,’ Sebastian growled, irritated by that negative forecast from someone who knew him well. ‘But I’ll take the phone if it makes you worry less…as long as yours is the only number in it.’
‘It is,’ Andreas confirmed, taking the wheel to drive them out of the private airfield and down a rural road edged by paddy fields contained by low walls. The car entered a small village to thread slowly through narrow, crowded streets with dust flying up to cloud the windscreen. From there they drew into a small, shabby harbour.
‘Give my love to Zoe and the children. What gender is the newborn? You still haven’t told me—’
‘A little girl after our three boys. We are both over the moon,’ Andreas told him happily.
‘I’ll stop in for the night on my way back next week,’ Sebastian promised as he gathered his stuff.
‘Look after yourself…and try to be a good loser when you’re climbing the walls to get back on shore by tomorrow,’ Andreas quipped.
‘It’s not going to happen,’ Sebastian asserted with amusement.
‘So, who is this guy, Sebastian Whatever-You-Call-Him?’ Bunny asked the skipper of the catamaranMerry Days.
For the past month, she had been crewing for Reggie, taking daily parties of tourists out to sail round the islands, serving drinks and providing lunch.
Sadly, however, Indonesia was the very last stop on her world travels. She had neither the time nor the money to explore further. Whether she liked it or not, home was beckoning. In just two weeks, she would be starting work back in the UK as a librarian and that was her cue to settle down and concentrate on her career.
Reggie Davis grinned above his imposing long white beard, bright blue eyes sparkling with satisfaction. ‘He’s Greek born. According to my source he’s alsofilthyrich but prefers to be treated like he’s ordinary, for goodness’ sake. I mean, can you believe that? I’m giving him my cabin because it’s more private and I don’t think he’ll want to be eating with us, so I’m afraid you’ll have to serve him his meals.’
‘How does that come under the heading of treating him like he’s ordinary?’
‘Reckon he’s one of those odd, reserved types with quirks because who would hire the whole boat sooner than have to share the facilities?’ Reggie asked in wonderment, being a man who had never met anyone he couldn’t make into a friend and who flourished best in a crowd. ‘But what do we care? Take him sailing, diving, fishing, snorkelling, whatever he wants…mostly just a taste of freedom, I suppose.’
‘I’d better get your cabin cleared out,’ Bunny said abruptly. ‘And maybe I should go to the market.’
‘No, if he wants to be ordinary, he eats what we eat even if he does choose to eat alone,’ Reggie decreed squarely. ‘Nothing fancy, just the norm. He’ll not be complaining when he’s sitting with one of your curries in front of him.’
‘Let’s hope not,’ Bunny agreed, already on her feet, a small, slightly built blonde with luminous green eyes set in a heart-shaped face and a deep tan from her travels over the past year. She was in her last job at her final destination and about to deal with her last customer. Why did that knowledge sadden her? She went topside to access Reggie’s cabin behind the wheelhouse, scolding herself for being spoilt. After all, she had finally enjoyed the year of travel she had first craved when she was eighteen and had been denied.
Her family were naturally overprotective. She was the youngest of six and the only girl. As a result, she had been babied long beyond childhood. Her desire to travel alone for a year between school and university had horrified her family. Their preaching, nagging and genuine concern had finally talked her out of her plans and she had gone to university and completed her degree before taking her year out. In truth that had ended up being the better plan, she conceded, because she had spent four years saving up everything she earned in part-time jobs to finance her travels. She had also taken casual work in every country that allowed her to do so, ensuring that she had a safety net of cash available should she need it.
