Santorini Paradiso Ch. 07

"No - not like that really. It's just that, well, you don't speak Greek and Dimitri is fluent in English, so he can help you to get around and talk to the locals. That kind of thing. And he will drive you wherever you need to go. He knows this island like the back of his hand. Pahme, let's go introduce you to both of them. We have to get to the airport, so we should really get moving."

He slid his hand around her waist and began to steer Elena toward the door. She hesitated, saying - "Oh - I haven't had a chance to make the bed..." Adonis and Petros both snorted and Adonis replied:

"Try doing any housework around here, and Maria will tie you to an olive tree in the garden. Trust me - don't test her on this. She will view it as an insult."

Petros, his voice tinged with laughter, added: "You'll see, she lives for taking care of us. She'll take one look at you and will probably try to stuff you full of her homemade baklava until you burst." Adonis's deep laughter rang out in the hallway as they headed for the stairs.

As they walked down the stairs, Adonis leaned close to Elena's ear and said in a husky voice: "I didn't get to say it, but you were fucking amazing this morning, my darling. We've never met anyone like you. Not ever. And that is really saying something."

Elena blushed, stumbling a little on the stairs. "I keep thinking that at some point I'll wake up and this will all be a dream."

Petros was walking slightly ahead of them, a few stairs down from them, so he heard this and turned his head, smiling up obliquely at Elena. As they approached the ground floor, he turned and pulled her into his arms, carrying her down the remaining distance. She fell against him and he sank his teeth into her earlobe, biting down hard enough for her to wince a little, laughing as she looked up at him.

"Is that real enough for you, baby girl?" He asked darkly. Elena laughed, rubbing her ear.

"Point taken." She said as she feigned a pretty pout. He grasped her hand and pulled her along with him, whispering "I didn't really hurt you did I?" Elena laughed again and swatted him on the ass.

"You'd pay for it if you hurt me, believe me!" Adonis was watching them pretend to chase each other around for a moment, but then warned them to cut it out because Maria would hear.

That seemed to straighten Petros up immediately. Elena began to think she was going to like this Maria.

Heavenly smells were drifting their way - the scent of baking dough and warm honey; strong coffee; and an aroma that was both savory and sweet at the same time: tomato sauce laced with cinnamon, the base of Moussaka, a traditional Greek lasagna-like casserole that included béchamel sauce, eggplant and ground meat. Elena suddenly realized that she was ravenous. Her stomach growled loudly and she clamped her hands across her middle saying: "Oh my god! Food heaven!"

Petros and Adonis were laughing as they ushered her into the bustling kitchen. A very small, round woman was busy at the massive industrial gas range. She could not have been more than 4'11", and was dressed in a black dress with an old-fashioned bib apron fastened at the neck and waist. Her hair was salt and pepper gray done in a French twist at the back of her head. She was humming and murmuring to herself as she fussed with the array of pots on her stove.

Elena craned her neck to see what was in them - the smells were driving her empty stomach wild. She didn't usually eat much in the morning, but this day she felt like she could eat her body weight in whatever was in those pans.

"Hela Maria, allow us to introduce our friend, Elena." Petros said, as he dashed around the kitchen island and swung Maria around in his arms in a waltz until she faced Adonis and Elena. Based on her absence of surprise, Elena knew that the boys must have mentioned her presence before this. She idly wondered what they'd told her...

"Yassas, Elena! It is so very nice to meet you, pedthi-mou! Oh! How beautiful you are - I am so happy to have another woman around the house, yes?! Come, come, do you want 'ena kafe'? Are you hungry little one?"

Elena laughed at the moniker "little one", since she stood almost a foot taller than Maria, but she liked this animated motherly woman at first sight.

She had a very pleasing round face with dark, almost black eyes underneath bushy and dark but well shaped eyebrows. Her almost chubby cheeks were rosy from the heat of the oven. Elena couldn't pinpoint her age - she could have been 40 or 60 for all she could tell. She must have been a real looker when she was younger. Now she had the aspect of a cute, doting mother figure. Clearly, given the way the brothers looked at her, that is precisely how they saw her.

"Hello - it is so wonderful to meet you, too." Elena reached across the island to shake Maria's proffered hand. "I am starving! Whatever it is that you are making is driving me wild!" Elena replied.

Adonis and Petros snorted with laughter, shaking their heads as Maria gushed and sprang into action. Ignoring the boys, Maria ushered Elena to a chair beside the small marble bistro table in the kitchen, plying her with strong Greek coffee, hastily setting her place and putting a basket of fresh-baked bread before her with a jar of honey and a bowl of yogurt.

"Ah - okay, I can see that we are totally unnecessary here now, so we are going to go. Dimitri! Are you around?" Adonis called out toward the courtyard.

Barely a moment later, a man appeared in the doorway. He wore a simple black suit, immaculate white shirt and tie, despite the heat. He was probably in his late 40s or early 50s, and had the lean, grizzled appearance of a man with extensive military training. He buzzed his hair off where his hairline had not already receded. He was deeply tanned and had a rather dark five o'clock shadow, even though it was still morning. Like Maria, his eyebrows were very thick and dark, but his eyes were steely gray and he had what war novels referred to as a 'thousand mile stare'. A small, faded scar ran down the left side of his face, just below his eye. If it weren't for his gentle smile as he regarded Elena for the first time, he might have looked quite fierce.

"Welcome, Kyria Soma" He said quietly. "It is very nice to meet you." Elena was momentarily disquieted by his use of her surname. It seemed oddly formal and she wondered briefly how he knew what it was.

He walked toward her and reached out his right hand for her to shake. She stood and allowed him to take her hand in his. There was something oddly reassuring in his strong grip. His gray eyes looked directly into hers, searching for something. She regarded him back without any shyness or fear. Somehow, the fact that this man safeguarded her lovers endeared him to her instantaneously. She smiled unselfconsciously back at him and thought to herself: 'Don't worry about me, I'd die for them too.' His eyebrows lifted slightly and his pupils dilated a bit as she looked into his eyes. He let out a breath that seemed like half of a laugh, and then a truly genuine smile lit his whole countenance. Elena saw that under the severity, he was handsome. Those eyes have seen a lot, she thought. Dimitri nodded and then abruptly released her hand. He pulled himself upright and leaned forward in what was almost a formal bow.

"It's so nice to meet you, Dimitri." Elena said softly.

"It's my honor, Miss Elena." He replied gravely. She realized that she would happily allow this quiet, strong man to 'look after her' without any argument, as the boys intended.

Elena glanced over at Maria and saw a look of absolute love as she gazed upon her husband. They seemed so incredibly different that she smiled to herself to imagine them alone together. A true yin and yang, it would seem.

She became dimly aware that Adonis and Petros were watching this little scene with intense concentration. Elena looked up at both of them with an expression on her face that said: 'what?'

"Well..." Petros said briskly, "We should get to the airport. It's getting late. Dimitri, are you ready to go?"

The older man turned and nodded, leaning forward again in that strange, bow-like gesture. "Whenever you are ready, Kyrie Seirenes." Elena looked to Petros, realizing that she had never heard his surname before. Foolishly, she'd assumed it was also Dardania, like Adonis, but clearly that made no sense, since she knew the brothers had different fathers.

They were leaving for Athens, and Elena had no idea if she was allowed to kiss them goodbye or not. In fact, she didn't know what the rules were around Maria and Dimitri. Looking at Adonis and Petros, she wondered what they should do.

Adonis and Petros solved the puzzle for her by walking straight up to her and pulling her, one by one, into their arms and giving her a lingering kiss farewell.

Elena glanced over at Maria and Dimitri, but neither seemed to notice or react in any way. Maria had gone back to her cooking and Dimitri stood just outside the doorway, checking his watch. So... no hiding at home, she thought. This is good.

Elena impulsively said: "I'll walk you out" and followed them to the doorway. Petros and Adonis turned back to her, smiling broadly. Petros reach out a hand and Elena took it.

They walked through the garden but didn't stop by the blue gate to the road. Instead, the three men led her through a door set into the far wall, which opened into a very spacious, immaculate garage. Inside there was a large black Mercedes S65 sedan with dark windows, a red Alfa Romeo Spider ragtop convertible, a vintage Shelby Mustang painted in the classic blue with wide white racing stripes, and several types of motorcycles and Vespas. Elena gasped at this unexpected treasure trove. Something of a car freak, she was particularly excited by the Shelby and couldn't help exclaiming:

"Oh god! Is that the '67 Shelby?! It's perfect!" She ran her hand gently along the fender. "Why would you bump around in that raggedy Jeep when you could drive this? And that-" She said, stabbing her finger toward the Alfa, "...is the Spider 1750, isn't it? Is it the 1969 or the '70?"

She turned to see all three men staring at her with huge surprised smiles on their faces. Petros threw his arms around her, laughing, and replied: "It's the '69, my darling. So little Elena is a motor head! How incredibly adorable you are..."

Dimitri walked toward the Mercedes, shaking his head in amusement as he opened the rear door, commenting: "You certainly came to the right house, Miss Elena."

As they walked toward the sedan, Adonis pressed a little kiss to Elena's brow. "No stealing the keys and taking them for a joyride while we're gone, though, okay? But I promise we'll let you take them out for a test drive soon."

"Cool!" She purred, smiling like a child in anticipation.

Dimitri slid in behind the wheel and hit a button on the roof of the car above his seat, and the large metal garage door began to lever upward. Elena turned back to Adonis and Petros, giving them each a tight hug and kiss, admonishing them to be careful and have a safe flight.

Adonis paused before slipping into the roomy back seat of the Mercedes, looking almost paternalistically at Elena. "Remember, Agape-mou, wait for Dimitri to come get you before going to get your things at the hotel. Please allow him to do his job and drive you around today, okay?" He tucked one of her stray curls behind her ear.

Elena frowned a little at this warning, wondering why the boys were so paranoid, but then she smiled openly at him and nodded her assent. No point in arguing about it - she was fine with being driven around, as long as this didn't turn into some control thing. "Of course, no problem." Adonis leaned down and kissed her lips, his hand cupping the back of her head.

"Ine kalo. See you before dinner." The door of the Mercedes shut, and Elena stepped back as Dimitri eased the elegant car backwards out of the garage. She waved at the dark windows, fully aware that the brothers were watching her even though she couldn't see them. Then she turned and walked back through the door to the garden and returned to the kitchen. She wouldn't have thought it possible, but the room smelled even more wonderful than before.

Maria was at the oven, removing a large rectangular dish. A perfect flaky golden layer of phyllo dough graced the top. "Is that spinach pie?" Elena's eyes were round as saucers. She'd sampled the local dish earlier on the trip and instantly became a fan.

"Nee, it is called 'spanakopita;" Maria announced with more than a little bit of pride. "After it cools, I will let you try it. You will like it, I think." She blushed a charming shade of pink.

Until then, Elena had to content herself with the fresh baked rolls, honey and creamy local yogurt that Maria had put out for her. She felt like a little girl on Christmas morning. She marveled for a moment at her appetite. She usually didn't want to touch food before noon. But then, she reasoned, she's been rather more active than usual. The corners of her mouth tugged into a naughty smirk as she thought about the incredible morning session she'd had with her boys. This new life of hers was certainly spectacular.

Unbidden, a niggling, unpleasant thought surfaced from the back of her mind that pessimistically teased: 'Sure, but when is the other shoe going to drop? When is this silvery paradise going to be tarnished by reality?' Elena impatiently brushed the ugly thought away as she drizzled fresh honey into her yogurt. For the moment, she was the happiest she'd ever been. That was enough.

Looking at the clock on the kitchen wall, she realized that in about an hour she could safely call or text Pam to arrange a meeting time for lunch. Her friend was not an early riser, and was likely to be hung over from the night before, given how buzzed she seemed to be when Elena left with the boys. She resolved to go get her mobile phone from her purse after breakfast. It then occurred to her that she had not charged her phone since she'd arrived at the villa. The battery was very likely to be drained, but her charger was at the hotel in her laptop bag. Perhaps Adonis and Petros had a cell phone charger she could use that would fit.

"Maria..." she began, turning to look at the charming, motherly woman. Maria looked up from the kitchen island where she was chopping, her eyebrows raised inquiringly. "Do you know if the boys have a phone charger someplace that I could borrow?"

"Oh yes, they have all kinds of gadgets in the office. You can go help yourself, my lovely. It is through the living room down the hall to the left. The door should be unlocked."

Elena finished her yogurt and the last of her coffee, and began to pick up her cup and breakfast dishes. Maria made a tutt-tutting sound and put her hands on her hips, indicating that this behavior was not to be tolerated.

"Oh - please. That is my job, Miss Elena. You go now and leave those things to me. You should enjoy this morning and sit in the sun or work in your little art house."

Elena laughed and held up her hands in apology. Impulsively, she walked up to the sweet little woman and gave her a daughterly kiss on the cheek. "Efkaristo poly, Maria." She said, much to the housekeeper's delight.

As she left the kitchen, making her way into the living room to find the office, she heard Maria say half to her, half to no one: "You will make a wonderful Greek wife - yes, I think so..."

Elena snorted as she shook her head in amusement. As she walked down the hallway to the left of the living room, she marveled that she'd never even been in this wing of the villa before now. There was a paneled door at the end with a large polished chrome handle. Opening it tentatively and peeking in, Elena realized that this was indeed their office. The room was massive, with very high ceilings and a wall of French doors that opened out on the sculpture garden. In the center of the room was an elegant conversation area - two matching Biedermeier sofas facing each other separated by a fine burled wood coffee table.

At either end of the massive room stood their desks. One was African mahogany and the other was Tiger Maple - both very elegant and tidy. Large, sleek up-to-the-moment computer monitors and electronics equipment blended strangely well with the antique desk lamps and decorative silver inkwells. But what really captured Elena's attention were the columns of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined three walls of the room. They were laden with leather bound tomes of every shape and size. Tall, wheeled library ladders leaned against several of the shelves in order to give access to the topmost stacks. The room had the smell of old leather and the brothers' scents. She was entranced.

Walking around the room, peering at some of the titles, Elena was amazed to see that they had collections in numerous languages. Entire cases were filled with English books - for which she was quite grateful and made a mental note to ask the boys to come and raid the shelves. There were also, however, sections of Greek, Latin, French, Italian, German and Spanish books. As Elena continued her circuit around the room she saw Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese sections. How many languages do these guys speak? She wondered.

Remembering why she was there at last, she walked over to the desk on her right and looked among the telephone and Bluetooth equipment for a charger that might work with her phone. She saw one and pulled the cord gently to see where it plugged in. She saw that it snaked into a purpose-built hole in the corner of the beautiful desk, seemingly inside a drawer. She pulled the drawer and pushed back a few files to find where the plug docked in the outlet. As she removed it, her sleeve accidentally caught on a file that fell to the floor. Elena pushed back the black leather chair to pick up the contents, which had scattered below the desk. Sinking to her knees, she began to gather up the documents - suddenly freezing when she realized what she was holding in her right hand. It was a photocopy of her passport. Looking at the page in her left hand, she realized it was a background check - a background check on Elena herself!

What the fuck?! Why? When? She wondered, her mind wheeling in a million different directions. She quickly scooped up all of the pages, rose and sat down in the big executive chair to read what the file contained.

It was all there, her entire life. They had copies of her birth certificate and baby footprints, the family history on her parents and their parents. They had the newspaper clipping, police report and coroner's report detailing the car accident that killed her parents and put her in the hospital for weeks when she was 14. Elena shuddered at the rush of memory that the newspaper photo resurfaced. A winter's ice storm, a falling tree, their car flipping over down the shoulder of a highway, and the sounds - the horrible sounds. For years, Elena used to wake up at night, crying out from the nightmares, but she hadn't had them in a very long time.

They had a full background on her Aunt Sibyl, the maiden aunt of her mother with whom she lived until entering boarding school two years later. She'd become a surrogate mother to Elena, nursing her through recovery from the accident and her grief, inspiring her to use paints and canvas to express herself. That was the very reason she'd become an artist. Then there was Aunt Sibyl's death certificate and funeral notice from last year. Elena quickly turned those pages aside, not wanting to relive that horrible feeling of being orphaned yet again.

She found her school records all the way through University, her credit report. There was a page of photos and a credit report on her ex-boyfriend, Michael. Somehow, they'd even found articles in her school papers reviewing several of her art exhibits.