too, by the look on his handsome face.
He’d been uncertain of her and decided to take measures not to feel that way again. She’d been right. The wedding wasn’t just about making her feel secure—it was about making him feel it, too.
CHAPTER TEN
CHLOE felt truly lovely for the first time in forever as she stared at her image in the full-length mirror in their bedroom.
She’d donned the champagne cocktail dress Ariston had had altered to fit her perfectly for their courthouse nuptials and brushed her wavy hair until it shone.
The small amount of makeup she’d applied made her green eyes stand out and her bow-shaped lips look kissable.
She was looking forward to Ariston’s reaction to that.
Opening the door into the upstairs hall, she heard her husband-to-be’s voice mixed with tones she recognized but would never have expected to hear in this venue. Not ever.
Takis Spiridakou had flown over from Greece to see them wed. She knew it.
Flying down the stairs, she yelled his name. “Takis!”
He spun to face her and put his arms out. “Pappous, child. How many times must I tell you? I am your pappous.”
She threw herself against him, though still mindful of what she knew about his health.
He hugged her tightly and she hugged him back, moisture gathering in her eyes. “It is so good to see you. Ariston didn’t tell me you were coming.”
“It was my surprise to both of you.” Takis kissed both her cheeks in greeting before grinning at her, his face lined but still handsome like his grandson. “I am determined to witness this civil ceremony. I did not the last time and look what happened.”
Chloe choked on her laughter, but she didn’t tell him his being at the other wedding wouldn’t have mattered. Takis would not only be offended, but he absolutely wouldn’t believe her.
Ariston had come by his arrogance honestly.
The doorbell rang before any more could be said. Seconds later, the sounds of Rhea’s, Samuel’s and Chloe’s father’s voices could be heard.
“Takis! I did not know you would be here,” Eber Dioletis said with an expansive smile.
The elder Spiridakou did not return it. “You think I am a deaf fool living my life in our home country, Eber? Heh?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Chloe’s father replied cautiously, looking much older than when she’d last seen him.
“You don’t, heh? So, it was some other blind fool who tried to marry my grandson’s wife off to another man?”
“Now, Takis—” Eber started.
But Takis was having none of it. He pointed a slightly trembling finger at the other retired businessman. “You listen to me, that girl is my family. You try to undermine that again, it will be more than a few contracts you lose.”
Takis might suffer a fine tremor in his limbs, but he wasn’t the least bit stooped with age and made a hugely imposing figure.
Everyone wore identical expressions of amazement at the threat and all that his words implied. Everyone but Chloe.
She wasn’t surprised at all. Underneath the warmth of family love that Takis Spiridakou wore with such ease was a man who could both run Spiridakou & Sons Enterprises and teach Ariston to be the business shark that he was.
Her beloved old man had a titanium spine and her father would do well to remember it.
Warmth spread through Chloe at the realization that she’d never been as alone as she’d felt. She turned to meet her father’s still gaping countenance.
From her position of security with both these amazing Spiridakou men at her back, she extended her hand in welcome. “Father.”
“Ariston thought you would want me here,” he said almost diffidently, grasping her hand and holding on rather than shaking it.
“He was right.” She smiled up at her soon-to-be-again husband while extricating her hand from her father’s hold. “Thank you.”
“When you told me of the healing nature of your last phone call, I thought you would want a chance to see him in person.”
“You were right.”
Ariston preened under the pronouncement and she found herself smiling even as her father hugged her and whispered the second “I’m sorry” of his life toward her along with an emotional declaration of fatherly love.
Perhaps even old business sharks really could change.
She hugged him back and told him she loved him too, but then grinned. “That doesn’t make me any less happy to hear Pappous made sure the company paid for you thinking I was just one of its assets, though.”
Her father gasped, but Rhea just laughed. “You all forget that while Chloe’s a lot more