The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride(53)

As the two weeks of the research had come to an end he had found himself checking the device more and more until eventually he had phoned her himself, the phone going straight to voicemail. His emails had also been ignored, as Alexos found himself each day becoming more and more frantic with his need to just hear her voice.

Dropping the paper he had again wondered whether he should contact her employers, his thumb running against the edge of the device.

The sound of the doorbell had seen him sigh, dropping the phone onto the table as his housekeeper had answered it, Alexos frowning as he had heard the voice of his security guard. Eventually the housekeeper had appeared.

“Alexos…you have a visitor. He says it is very important”. The word ‘he’ had caused his stomach to lurch with the hope that Grace had returned dashed, Alexos scowling.

“Tell him I am busy…I really do not want to be disturbed” his voice lacklustre. However, the housekeeper had given a cry as the man had pushed past her, moving to stand before him, Alexos regarding the stranger with irritation.

“I am sorry, but you really should not be here Mr………” surprised to see the determination on the man’s face

“Dionis …Daryle Dionis”#p#分页标题#e#

For a few seconds there had been silence as Alexos had risen, waving away the housekeeper as he had stared at the man before him, the man whose ring Grace had worn for so many years, the man she had been married to, the man she had left him for so many years ago, and the man who had never consummated that marriage with the most beautiful woman he had ever known. His eyes narrowed as he had allowed them to scan him, Daryle Dionis not what he had expected. Younger than him, he was tall and wiry with a kind intelligent face, sparkling eyes which Alexos had imagined were nearly always laughing, though at that moment the man had been drawn and pale, concern etched on his face. Alarm bells rang in his head.

“What can I do for you Mr Dionis?” he had asked warily, his whole being wanting to demand to know where Grace was.

The other man had given a groan of pain, rubbing his neck as he moved to sit down on one of the dining room chairs, his panic-filled eyes fixed on Alexos.

“I need your help. Grace is in trouble”

Alexos had felt the panic well up within him as he too had dropped into a chair, all animosity towards the man across from him fleeing as the words had filled the air between them. Normally so calm and controlled in stressful situations he had felt frozen with the terror filling him.

“What happened?” his only words as he had poured the pale man a coffee, pushing the hot liquid into his shaking hands. Giving a small thankful smile Daryle had taken a sip, the caffeine helping him as he had begun to talk.

“Grace collapsed on the beach in Libya and she was taken to a local hospital. Her assistant Carol tried to find out what was wrong but they wouldn’t tell her anything”

Alexos had felt himself blanch, gripping the table to remain still.

“They wouldn’t even let Carol phone anybody for help. It was just lucky that the next day the team were leaving. The last thing they told her was that they would only deal with her husband” Daryle’s face solemn as he had continued.

“Fortunately Carol was smart enough not to let on that Grace and I are divorced, so she contacted me the minute they got into Egypt. I have been on the phone ever since. I found out that she is still in hospital, but they are refusing to tell me anything. They say that I have to go there personally with proof of who I am and escort her personally from the country. However, I found out that it is going to take at least 10 days to get a visa and even then I don’t know if they will let me leave with her”

Daryle paused to catch his breath, his breathing ragged as he had looked at Alexos.

“I know that you have connections with the government and I need your help - Grace needs your help. Is there anything that you can do to speed up the process?” Alexos could see the panic in the other man’s eyes, as without another word he had pulled his phone back into his hand.

After several hours of phoning and being sent from one department to another, it had taken him threatening to withdraw support for one of his most lucrative investments to finally find himself on the phone to the Head of Security in the country.

Alexos understood the way the regime worked, organising for his plane to be given the correct security clearance for landing that day. Daryle had listened in, his eyes growing wider as the handsome Greek had negotiated, pleaded and bribed his way into the country, the size of the bribe making him gasp. Next he had spoken to the hospital, the doctor not prepared to give him any information but also agreeing to allow her to accompany her husband from the hospital so long as he could provide identification in the name of Daryle Dionis, Alexos agreeing, his mouth set firmly.