The Greek Billionaire's Marriage Matchmaker Page 7

  Eventually, Zoey let her mother go, and with tears in her eyes, she found her voice. “I know Dad hurt you, Mom. He hurt me, too. It was inhuman, the way he treated you. He never showed any remorse. He never tried to work anything out. He just cast us aside, took everything, and walked away. Believe me, Mom. I know it hurts, but you can’t let that man do this to you. You used to be so loving and full of hope. You used to believe in two people bringing each other happiness. I told Stelios about all the times you made me happy as a child. Like the time we made those brownies…”

  “You remember that?” Melinda interrupted, clearly surprised. She let a small laugh escape her.

  “I do,” Zoey nodded quietly. “I wouldn’t let you help me, even though the batter was too tough to stir. You kept cheering me on.”

  “Keep it up, Zoey!” she smiled. “You can do it!”

  “I miss the days when you used to be that happy. I’ve seen his eyes, Mom, and it’s no joke. He really likes me. I hate Dad for taking that feeling away from you. Please don’t take it away from me.”

  Zoey was openly crying now, and Melinda drew her daughter close.

  “I want to believe. I really do. I just can’t Zoey. I’ve heard too many lies. I know that if I surrender, if I give in, he’s eventually going to leave you for someone else. Men really only use us for sport. I know that, Zoey, and deep down you do, too.”

  “But Stelios isn’t like that,” Zoey replied, and she believed it, but for a split second she couldn’t help thinking of Blake, the man who had forgotten her.

  At that moment, something on television caught their attention: one of the reporters had said Stelios’ name.

  Turning to the screen, they saw Dawn Gibbons, host of the news show America This Morning. Beside her, looking dapper as always, was Stelios himself. They were standing outside of 10 Rockefeller Plaza, and barricades stood in front of them to keep the audience in check.

  When the noise from the crowd died down, Dawn began her interview.

  “Good morning, Mr. Zakiridis. It’s a pleasure to have you on the program.”

  “It’s my pleasure to be here, Dawn, and please, call me Stelios.”

  “All right, Stelios, as I’m sure everyone knows, you’ve built a real estate empire in the last eight years. Talk about the challenges involved in maintaining something that massive, especially in a city like this one.”

  “Sure. It really comes down to authenticity and devotion. You have to be motivated to keep on task at all times. You need to develop a rapport with each of your clients, and that requires a great deal of effort. When I bought Xenia, my biggest challenge was convincing the officials I could turn it into something more than an eyesore. But we worked together, and the results speak for themselves.”

  “That’s fascinating,” Dawn said. “Speaking of Xenia, rumor has it you were there with Miss Zoey Forde a few days ago, which brings me to…”

  “A clever segue,” Stelios finished with a smile.

  The audience laughed, and Dawn joined in.

  “Yes, well, we had to talk about it at some point or my producers would kill me. So talk to me about the lawsuit you filed yesterday against Melinda Forde Singles.”

  “Well, Dawn, the first thing I want to say about the Melinda Forde lawsuit is that it was filed en error.”

  “In error?”

  “In error. The suit will be formerly withdrawn by this afternoon, and I urge Ms. Forde to disregard any notices she might have received.”

  “What did he say?” Melinda gasped, looking as stunned as Dawn Gibbons. Unlike the reporter, she was making no effort to hide it.

  “I told you,” Zoey chimed in, almost whispering. “I told you Stelios was different.”

  Melinda barely heard her. She was still trying to process the fact that she had been spared a fight that, deep down, she knew she couldn’t have won.

  “Would you mind telling our viewers what brought about such a change?” Dawn asked, sounding a little nettled—her exclusive interview was evidently going to be worth a lot less without the juicy lawsuit she had been promised.

  “To be honest, Dawn, as corny as it will sound, what changed my mind about the lawsuit was love. You see, the billboards were right about one thing: I am in love with Zoey Forde. It occurred to me, later than it probably should have, that I couldn’t do something as heartless as suing her mother.”

  The audience met this pronouncement with vehement cheering. Zoey was completely overwhelmed with emotion. She was stuck somewhere between leaping for joy and bursting into fresh tears. Her heart raced, her cheeks blushed, and her head felt light enough to float away. Stelios, a person she knew to be private and introspective, had pronounced his love for her, and on national television. She tried to slow her breathing to get her heartbeat under control.

  Beside her, Melinda was staring at the screen in open-mouthed shock. It was obvious she couldn’t believe what she had just heard, and she had to struggle for nearly half a minute to make her lips form words.

  “I’m so, so sorry, honey,” she said at last, embracing her daughter again. “About the ads, the way I’ve been treating you…everything. As soon as I can get myself together, I’ll call the advertising people and have them shut down the campaign.”

  “Thank you, Mom,” Zoey choked out.

  “I want you to come back,” Melinda continued. “Whenever you’re ready, please come back and work here. I don’t want to do this without my daughter by my side.”

  Before Zoey could reply, the office door opened to reveal Stelios, bearing the most enormous bouquet of lilies Zoey had ever seen.

  “I thought I’d find you here,” he said by way of introduction, as the women struggled to get themselves into some semblance of order. “Your receptionist said you might be up here. She’s still fighting off a few of the more insistent reporters. These are for you.” He walked over to a still somewhat stunned Zoey, who accepted the flowers almost absentmindedly.

  “How did you get here so fast?” she asked, beginning to come back to herself. “The show just went off the air. I just saw you…”

  “We filmed that about an hour ago—I’ve been fighting through traffic to get here since. Zoey, I thought about everything you said to me as soon as you left the yacht. By the time you got in the car with Fulton, I was certain you were right. I should never have filed the lawsuit.” He turned to Melinda. “Ms. Forde, I’m so sorry for putting you through all of this.”

  “No, it was my fault,” she said nobly. “I shouldn’t have used the images in the first place. I apologize for that. Like I told Zoey just now, I’m going to bring everything to an end.”

  “The question of who did what isn’t important,” Stelios returned warmly. “Thanks to Zoey, I know that now. What matters is how we feel about each other, and where we plan to go from here.”

  “Then I’m going to do the most decent thing I can think of,” Melinda replied, “and leave you two to discuss that together.”

  The CEO smoothed out her crumpled dress, walked over to Stelios and gave him a quick hug. With that, Melinda left the room feeling grateful to her very bones—not just because the lawsuit was over, but because she was certain now that her daughter would never know the pain that a man named William Grant had once forced upon her. The man she had left with her daughter loved Zoey dearly, Melinda was perfectly sure of that.

  Back in the office, Zoey found a vase and put the lilies in water. She wasn’t sure how Stelios had known they were her favorite flowers, and she tried to think if she had told him before. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a presence behind her and turned to see Stelios with a serious expression on his face.

  “I wish I’d listened to you from the beginning, Zoey. I ruined a perfectly good evening out on the yacht.”

  “You should have, and you did,” Zoey returned quietly. “I was up all night strategizing, but that’s not anywhere near as important as what you said on that show this morning. Did you really mean it?”

>   “I meant every word of it, Zoey. I love you with everything in me. From the moment you tried to warn me about the clientele here, I knew you were someone too special to ignore. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but those few moments in the kitchen, cutting onions and talking with you, were some of the fondest ones in my life.”

  “Mine too,” Zoey admitted. “When the lights went out and we started to talk, it felt like you were trying to show me your soul. I love you, Stelios. And I know in my heart that I always will.”

  “I’m so grateful to hear you say that after all of the suffering I’ve put you and your mother through. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “Of course I can, Stelios,” Zoey said earnestly. “I already have.”

  With that, she drew her lover close to her and kissed him with a gentle passion that grew more intense as her longing for love, so often starved, was finally sated in Stelios’ arms.

  The Greek embraced her and felt the heat raiding from her skin. Her heart beat rhythmically against his chest. He could see stands of hope in her joy-filled eyes as she whispered something in his ear. Stelios smiled and kissed her more deeply still, as sure as Zoey was that he had found what he’d been seeking his entire adult life. His world was nothing more than Zoey. Her lips. Her eyes. Her soul. Her heart.

  THIRTEEN

  Melinda found an unoccupied bathroom not far from her office and ducked inside. She had brought her purse with her, and in a matter of moments, her hair and makeup were as good as new. It was now impossible to tell that just moments ago, she had been spangled with tears, and the noble beauty that had once captured the heart of judges shone through once more. Her resolve flared in her eyes, and she felt renewed, and ready to take on anything the world could throw at her.

  “I’d better go save poor Annie before she gets run over by the Fourth Estate.”

  So saying, Melinda headed down to the reception area where, just outside the front doors, her receptionist was telling a rather handsome man to clear off. Zoey may have doubted Annie’s resolve before, but the woman had stood firm for over an hour.

  Melinda stepped outside, and reporters immediately began to swarm in her direction. She held up her hands to stop their advance and addressed them in a loud, clear voice.

  “You’ll have heard by now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, so I can only assume you’re sticking around for details about Mr. Zakridis’ relationship with my daughter. Well, I can’t speak for the gentleman or for Zoey, and the only comment you’re going to get from me is ‘no comment’. From this moment on, other than clients of Melinda Forde Singles, anybody who enters the building will have the police called on them. I hope that’s clear to everyone,” Melinda finished firmly, placing her arm around Annie’s shoulders.

  The two women retreated inside the building, and a few moments later, the reporters outside began to disperse.

  “Thanks for holding down the fort, Annie,” Melinda said warmly.

  “Not a problem, Ms. Forde,” the receptionist replied.

  “I’m going to be holed up in Zoey’s office for the next few hours. Please send any clients we may have today there.”

  Annie nodded and slipped behind her desk. “Have a nice day,” she called after Melinda.

  After nearly half an hour, Zoey and Stelios came downstairs and informed Melinda that they were off to spend the rest of the day making amends, Zoey promising her mother that she would be back at her post early the next morning.

  By that afternoon, Melinda marveled at just how calm and quiet everything had become. Only a few hours ago, everything had been in chaos. It seemed amazing to her how quickly things could change, but one thing hadn’t changed since morning: not one client had come through her doors all day.

  That wasn’t unusual. Melinda’s fees were astronomical, after all. On average, she got two or three new clients each week, and normally she was perfectly fine with that. But Zoey had put a flaring spark in her heart that morning, which Melinda was finding it difficult to ignore.

  Ever since Melinda had seen Zoey and Stelios together, and seen for herself the authentic attraction they had for each other, she had been consumed with the idea of helping other people to experience the kind of love her daughter now felt. For years, she had matched people together for no other reason than it paid well, but now she yearned to help someone, anyone, to become truly happy. As those thoughts raced through her mind, a sharp knock rang out on the office door. It opened a moment later to reveal Annie and a tall gentleman in a salt and pepper suit.

  “Ms. Forde, this is Mr. Branden Kingston,” the receptionist started. “He says he’s a former client of yours. He’s been widowed for three years now, and feels it might be time to start dating again.”

  Mr. Kingston stepped forward and offered his hand, as Annie quietly slipped out of the room. Melinda started at the name, and turned to see a man with a stalwart gleam in his eye. He had short brown hair, a rectangular face, and a well-kept goatee. He wore large round glasses that made him look something like a software technician, when in fact he was the retired owner of a greeting card company. Of all the clients she had encountered over the years, Branden was one of the few Melinda had ever truly cared about.

  “Mr. Kingston!” Melinda exclaimed. “You were one of our earliest clients. It’s wonderful to see you again. I was so sorry to hear about Claire. She really was a good woman.”

  “The best,” Branden replied. “When she died, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to love again. But it’s been three years, and I think I’m ready to try.” His tone was earnest, and it was plain that he felt guilty about even approaching Melinda for her help.

  “None of us are meant to live alone,” she said reassuringly. “I know Claire. I helped you to find her, after all, and I know the last thing she’d want is for you to be alone. So please, Mr. Kingston, don’t feel apprehensive about anything, and just have a seat right here,” she said, indicating the leather ottoman in front of her desk. “Let’s review your profile in case anything has changed, and then I’ll be able to make a recommendation for you.”

  Branden agreed, and for the next fifteen minutes, Melinda’s heart swelled as she worked on his profile. Not only had she been granted the chance to bring love into someone’s life, but that someone was Branden, one of only a handful of people she had matched properly in her company’s history. He had always been a wonderful man: someone who exuded gentleness and was loyal to a fault. She internally celebrated the opportunity to help him find love once again. And then she saw something that pretty much brought tears to her eyes. It was something she had failed to consider before: Melinda Forde’s match list.

  The longer Melinda scrolled through the list, the deeper her heart sank. She might have experienced a profound change that morning, but her list of clients remained depressingly familiar. Names like Brie Hudson leaped out at her, and she cringed at the horror someone like that could wreak in Branden’s life. There were women on the list that made Brie look like an angel. Cruel, heartless, greedy, women. They wouldn’t be able to plunder his business because he had sold that when Claire died, thinking the entire thing seemed hollow without her. The sale had, however, earned Branden several million dollars and, given the chance, they’d be on that like flies on honey.

  There was nothing for it except to bring everything to a halt, and Melinda had no choice but to tell Branden as much.

  “One of the reasons I decided to come to you was because of your candor, Ms. Forde. Less reputable people would probably pair me with anyone just to earn a fee, but I know that’s something you never do here.”

  “No,” Melinda agreed, shaking nervously. “These are all current clients, Mr. Kingston. Give me a few days to go through our older records, and I’ll give you a call. I’m certain we can find someone who will complement you perfectly.”

  With a resigned expression, Branden agreed.

  The pair shook hands, and the gentleman left Melinda feeling better than she had in years, but sti
ll very uneasy; no matter how far she went back in the agency’s records, it was still going to be difficult to find someone good enough for Branden.

  FOURTEEN

  At ten-thirty that evening, Zoey returned to her apartment feeling happier than she had ever imagined possible. She and Stelios had reprised their yacht adventure, and though there had been no romantic night sky, everything else had been perfect. On top of that, Stelios had insisted on pampering her all day to make up for all the stress the lawsuit had caused. He had taken her to the finest spa in the city, and even now, hours later, Zoey could feel herself glowing. Every cell of her body seemed to be at peace, and for once, her mother was doing nothing to disturb that.

  Her mother had called sometime between the date on the yacht and her time at the spa, to tell her about her appointment with Branden. When she heard that her mother had helped a customer, Zoey gave such a large whoop of celebration that Stelios nearly leaped a foot in the air. Zoey was certain everything was coming together at last, and she couldn’t imagine how things could get better. When she fell asleep that night, it felt as if Stelios had purchased cloud nine and moved her there to live forever.