The Greek Billionair's Marriage Matchmaker(13)

"Well, Dawn, the first thing I want to say about the Melinda Forde lawsuit is that it was filed en error."



"In error?"



"In error. The suit will be formerly withdrawn by this afternoon, and I  urge Ms. Forde to disregard any notices she might have received."



"What did he say?" Melinda gasped, looking as stunned as Dawn Gibbons. Unlike the reporter, she was making no effort to hide it.



"I told you," Zoey chimed in, almost whispering. "I told you Stelios was different."



Melinda barely heard her. She was still trying to process the fact that  she had been spared a fight that, deep down, she knew she couldn't have  won.



"Would you mind telling our viewers what brought about such a change?"  Dawn asked, sounding a little nettled-her exclusive interview was  evidently going to be worth a lot less without the juicy lawsuit she had  been promised.



"To be honest, Dawn, as corny as it will sound, what changed my mind  about the lawsuit was love. You see, the billboards were right about one  thing: I am in love with Zoey Forde. It occurred to me, later than it  probably should have, that I couldn't do something as heartless as suing  her mother."



The audience met this pronouncement with vehement cheering. Zoey was  completely overwhelmed with emotion. She was stuck somewhere between  leaping for joy and bursting into fresh tears. Her heart raced, her  cheeks blushed, and her head felt light enough to float away. Stelios, a  person she knew to be private and introspective, had pronounced his  love for her, and on national television. She tried to slow her  breathing to get her heartbeat under control.



Beside her, Melinda was staring at the screen in open-mouthed shock. It  was obvious she couldn't believe what she had just heard, and she had to  struggle for nearly half a minute to make her lips form words.



"I'm so, so sorry, honey," she said at last, embracing her daughter  again. "About the ads, the way I've been treating you … everything. As  soon as I can get myself together, I'll call the advertising people and  have them shut down the campaign."



"Thank you, Mom," Zoey choked out.



"I want you to come back," Melinda continued. "Whenever you're ready,  please come back and work here. I don't want to do this without my  daughter by my side."



Before Zoey could reply, the office door opened to reveal Stelios,  bearing the most enormous bouquet of lilies Zoey had ever seen.



"I thought I'd find you here," he said by way of introduction, as the  women struggled to get themselves into some semblance of order. "Your  receptionist said you might be up here. She's still fighting off a few  of the more insistent reporters. These are for you." He walked over to a  still somewhat stunned Zoey, who accepted the flowers almost  absentmindedly.



"How did you get here so fast?" she asked, beginning to come back to herself. "The show just went off the air. I just saw you … "



"We filmed that about an hour ago-I've been fighting through traffic to  get here since. Zoey, I thought about everything you said to me as soon  as you left the yacht. By the time you got in the car with Fulton, I was  certain you were right. I should never have filed the lawsuit." He  turned to Melinda. "Ms. Forde, I'm so sorry for putting you through all  of this."



"No, it was my fault," she said nobly. "I shouldn't have used the images  in the first place. I apologize for that. Like I told Zoey just now,  I'm going to bring everything to an end."



"The question of who did what isn't important," Stelios returned warmly.  "Thanks to Zoey, I know that now. What matters is how we feel about  each other, and where we plan to go from here."         

     



 



"Then I'm going to do the most decent thing I can think of," Melinda replied, "and leave you two to discuss that together."



The CEO smoothed out her crumpled dress, walked over to Stelios and gave  him a quick hug. With that, Melinda left the room feeling grateful to  her very bones-not just because the lawsuit was over, but because she  was certain now that her daughter would never know the pain that a man  named William Grant had once forced upon her. The man she had left with  her daughter loved Zoey dearly, Melinda was perfectly sure of that.



Back in the office, Zoey found a vase and put the lilies in water. She  wasn't sure how Stelios had known they were her favorite flowers, and  she tried to think if she had told him before. Her thoughts were  interrupted when she felt a presence behind her and turned to see  Stelios with a serious expression on his face.



"I wish I'd listened to you from the beginning, Zoey. I ruined a perfectly good evening out on the yacht."



"You should have, and you did," Zoey returned quietly. "I was up all  night strategizing, but that's not anywhere near as important as what  you said on that show this morning. Did you really mean it?"



"I meant every word of it, Zoey. I love you with everything in me. From  the moment you tried to warn me about the clientele here, I knew you  were someone too special to ignore. I don't think I've ever told you  this, but those few moments in the kitchen, cutting onions and talking  with you, were some of the fondest ones in my life."



"Mine too," Zoey admitted. "When the lights went out and we started to  talk, it felt like you were trying to show me your soul. I love you,  Stelios. And I know in my heart that I always will."



"I'm so grateful to hear you say that after all of the suffering I've put you and your mother through. Can you ever forgive me?"



"Of course I can, Stelios," Zoey said earnestly. "I already have."



With that, she drew her lover close to her and kissed him with a gentle  passion that grew more intense as her longing for love, so often  starved, was finally sated in Stelios' arms.



The Greek embraced her and felt the heat raiding from her skin. Her  heart beat rhythmically against his chest. He could see stands of hope  in her joy-filled eyes as she whispered something in his ear. Stelios  smiled and kissed her more deeply still, as sure as Zoey was that he had  found what he'd been seeking his entire adult life. His world was  nothing more than Zoey. Her lips. Her eyes. Her soul. Her heart.





THIRTEEN





Melinda found an unoccupied bathroom not far from her office and ducked  inside. She had brought her purse with her, and in a matter of moments,  her hair and makeup were as good as new. It was now impossible to tell  that just moments ago, she had been spangled with tears, and the noble  beauty that had once captured the heart of judges shone through once  more. Her resolve flared in her eyes, and she felt renewed, and ready to  take on anything the world could throw at her.



"I'd better go save poor Annie before she gets run over by the Fourth Estate."



So saying, Melinda headed down to the reception area where, just outside  the front doors, her receptionist was telling a rather handsome man to  clear off. Zoey may have doubted Annie's resolve before, but the woman  had stood firm for over an hour.



Melinda stepped outside, and reporters immediately began to swarm in her  direction. She held up her hands to stop their advance and addressed  them in a loud, clear voice.



"You'll have heard by now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, so I can  only assume you're sticking around for details about Mr. Zakridis'  relationship with my daughter. Well, I can't speak for the gentleman or  for Zoey, and the only comment you're going to get from me is ‘no  comment'. From this moment on, other than clients of Melinda Forde  Singles, anybody who enters the building will have the police called on  them. I hope that's clear to everyone," Melinda finished firmly, placing  her arm around Annie's shoulders.



The two women retreated inside the building, and a few moments later, the reporters outside began to disperse.         

     



 



"Thanks for holding down the fort, Annie," Melinda said warmly.



"Not a problem, Ms. Forde," the receptionist replied.



"I'm going to be holed up in Zoey's office for the next few hours. Please send any clients we may have today there."



Annie nodded and slipped behind her desk. "Have a nice day," she called after Melinda.



After nearly half an hour, Zoey and Stelios came downstairs and informed  Melinda that they were off to spend the rest of the day making amends,  Zoey promising her mother that she would be back at her post early the  next morning.



By that afternoon, Melinda marveled at just how calm and quiet  everything had become. Only a few hours ago, everything had been in  chaos. It seemed amazing to her how quickly things could change, but one  thing hadn't changed since morning: not one client had come through her  doors all day.



That wasn't unusual. Melinda's fees were astronomical, after all. On  average, she got two or three new clients each week, and normally she  was perfectly fine with that. But Zoey had put a flaring spark in her  heart that morning, which Melinda was finding it difficult to ignore.