The Renegade Billionaire Read Free Page A

She’d studied the facts of the company on the way here and remembered that Stavros was managing director of the Konstantinos Corporation. “You’ve done your homework, Kyria Linford.”
    â€œDespinis,”
she corrected him. She wasn’t married.
    â€œMy apology for misreading the situation.”
    His apology had been difficult for him to verbalize, but she would cut him some slack. “You were half-right. For all my sins, I am American. But I’m not poor Mrs. Shapiro, who no doubt you assumed didn’t have the maturity to handle a group of teenage students away from their parents. If I’m wrong in that assumption, then
my
apology.”
    His intelligent eyes flickered with some unnamed emotion. “You weren’t wrong,” he admitted in his deep voice.
    â€œThank you for your honesty. I think we can both agree this is an ugly situation all the way around and no one is at his or her best. My boss is beside himself. He has to make the call to the teen’s family and explain that their son is missing. Hopefully they’ll supply him with a reason why he might have run off midtour.”
    â€œLet’s hope he’s found within the hour.”
    She nodded her blond head. “We all want that. Unfortunately, his disappearance happened on your company property and will put the Konstantinos name in the spotlight, bringing you adverse publicity. As for poor Mrs. Shapiro and Georgios, they’ll be in agony until Darren’s found.”
    He raked a bronzed hand through his gleaming black hair. “I asked the lieutenant to keep this quiet for as long as possible.”
    â€œI heard you. Let’s hope one of the officers doesn’t leak it for a while. That boy has got to be found!”
    Her voice shook because she was remembering the long ten-day wait before her fiancé’s dead body had been spotted on the mountain ledge, dashing her dreams for their marriage. The thought of Darren’s parents having to wait that long for any news made her shudder, a reaction Kyrie Konstantinos observed while he studied her.
    She tore her eyes from his in time to see the tour bus drive out of the parking area to the road. Her heart was heavy for the teacher and Georgios, who had to keep doing their jobs while they were dying inside. Andrea felt anxious over the situation too. Where
was
Darren?
    â€œWith only a three-and-a-half-hour head start, he can’t get too far.” The incredibly handsome Greek read her mind aloud.
    Andrea folded her arms to her waist. “Did you know he has his backpack with him? I wonder if he’d been planning his escape long before today in order to survive while he was on the run.”
    â€œIf so, he picked the right spot. It’s true these mountains will give him cover and the forest is dense, but I’ve lived here all my life and know every inch of ground. If the search and rescue teams don’t find him,
I
will.”
    Stavros Konstantinos instilled such confidence in her, Andrea had no doubts he could do anything. She was alarmed by her thoughts about him—considering he was a stranger, she shouldn’t have been thinking about him at all. “You’ll need his description and a picture. I can email the information in his file to your phone right now.”
    He pulled out his cell and gave her his number. Within a minute, he’d received it. She watched him study the dark blond boy’s passport photo. “He’s nice looking with that Marine cut. It says he’s five-eleven with brown eyes. He’ll be easy enough to recognize.”
    â€œUnless he was carrying a disguise in his pack. Maybe turn himself into a woman?”
    He flicked her another searching glance that sent a curl of physical awareness through her. “That would definitely throw anyone looking for him off the scent. I’ll pass your idea on to the lieutenant in case he hadn’t thought of it. You never