Page 60 of Claimed Gem

“Can you promise me that you won’t ever keep me in the dark again?”

Ries rolled her to her back and met her eyes, “I will never lie to you, or keep things from you again. Well, except for presents and surprises. But when it comes to things that directly affect you, I will never keep you in the dark again. I promise you that.

“There’s a big world out there that hates me and my brothers simply because we have wealth. They don’t know us, and don’t want to get to know us. They simply want to make us pay for what we have, and they don’t. It’s not fair, but nothing in life is fair.

“There are always going to be threats against our family. It is just something that goes with all of those zeroes at the bank. You will always need a bodyguard with you, as will our children.”

“I can handle that. I just want to know what’s going on. I promise to follow your lead.”

“That’s all I can ask for. Now, about those children…” Ries rolled himself on top of her and reached down, pressing her thighs apart and making room for himself. He wanted her again, and when she put up no resistance, going so far as to arch her hips up to meet his body, he knew thesame fire burned within her.

27

Several weeks later…

Stephanie breathedin the salty air. She was sure she would never know more happiness than she knew now. Ries and she had been married for several weeks now, and her life was nearly perfect.

After a beautiful honeymoon, Ries had taken her home to Cyprus and she’d seen all of the places he’d told her about in the stories of his childhood.

Ries had even suggested taking her back to the States so that she could do the same thing, but Stephanie had refused, saying now her home was wherever he was. Stephanie knew he’d only been trying to do something nice for her, and she thanked him nicely but declined his offer.

“What are you thinking about?” Ries asked as he joined her, sliding onto the reclining bench behind her and pulling her back against his chest.

“How lucky I am,” she told him. “That sunset is amazing. Look at all of the colors.”

“There’s nothing like a Grecian sunset.”

“Or a Grecian husband,” she turned in his arms and kissed him. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.” He settled back against the pillows and they watched the sunset together.

Stephanie felt so cherished. Since returning from their honeymoon, Ries had been a devoted husband, an active participant in the family business, and he’d even tried to involve himself to some extent in the local community.

As for Stephanie, he treated her like a queen. He’d made sure she never had to worry about cooking or cleaning or doing the laundry by hiring more than adequate help. It had been refreshing to be waited on, but she was now getting bored. She needed something to do.

“You’re thinking again,” he murmured. “Do I need to distract you?”

Stephanie chuckled, “You’re constantly distracting me.”

“I’m good at it,” he told her. Ries pulled her up and over his thigh, lying her down on her back and then raising himself up on an elbow at her side. “Besides, you kind of like my form of distraction.”

“I can’t argue with that,” she told him.

“Good. There’s something else I’m hoping you won’t argue with me about. I want to open an artmuseum – the Kafatos Art Museum, to be precise.”

Stephanie’s eyes grew wide. She knew how much opening a museum would cost. “Have you talked to your brothers about this?”

“I have and they are all in agreement with me. We want to preserve our cultural heritage. And we think you should be the curator.”

“Me?!” Stephanie was aghast.

Ries nodded, “It was a unanimous decision. Now, don’t start making plans yet. There is the little matter of finding the right plot of land for it.”

“I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.” Stephanie’s brain was still processing this information.

“I know we will. I want you to help me look, and I want to dedicate it to the memory of my mother. She was a huge patron of the arts and would be very happy to see her name used thusly.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” It still did not quite seem real to her.