Seduced by Passion

Seduced by Passion - Chapter 6

"What makes anyone want to travel anywhere? Curiosity. Interest in learning about a new place. Chance, as in your case, Mom."

Raph cocked his head. "Chance?"

"Yes. I wanted a Caribbean vacation, but I didn't know which island to visit. I wrote some names on pieces of paper and put them in a cup. Akilina was the lucky winner. Or I should say, I was the lucky winner." Her eyes misted as she looked at her daughter. "I met the love of my life here. He gave me twenty-two wonderful years and three beautiful children. I can't imagine my life without any of you," she added, smiling affectionately at Xio. "I have to believe that it was destiny, not chance."

"That's quite a lovely story, Claudia."

"Raph, I could fill a book with all the lovely stories I've collected since coming to this island."

"That is a book I would most definitely read." Her visit to Akilina might have been destiny, but neither destiny nor chance had sent his pappoús here. He had been looking for something.

"Well, whatever it was in your grandparents' case—destiny, chance, curiosity—they loved Akilina. They always said they were happiest when they were here. Andris cried every time he left, as if he was leaving his home."

He was. The information caused Raph's throat to tighten up. Claudia had answered some of his questions, but several more mysterious ones had taken their place. As he came to understand the depth of secrets he had to uncover, his dream of digging in the sand with Xio began to make a lot more sense. It was about discovering his own family's buried secrets.

"Claudia, did my parents ever visit Akilina?"

"Your father did."

So he'd been keeping secrets, too. "So you met him?"

"No. Malik said he came down a few times when he was little and once when he was a teenager, long before I even knew Akilina existed. They were about the same age. Malik said Xander was miserable the whole time he was here." She chortled. "He hated the heat, the flies, the mosquitoes, the food... He just hated it."

Raph laughed. "I could imagine. My mom says he preferred city life."

"The tropics aren't for everyone."

"They certainly aren't. Did he come here after my dad and grandmother died?"

"Yes. He did. Only once and it was the last time we saw him."

"He came to say goodbye." Raph leaned back and draped his arm over the back of the sofa and stretched his legs out beneath the coffee table.

"It would appear so. He was here for about three weeks, I think." Claudia looked to Xio. "Xiomara, that was the same year Papa died." She turned back to Raph. "That's Malik's father, Max. Anyway," she continued, "Andris kept to himself a lot that year, and when we did see him, mostly to make sure he was eating, he didn't talk much." Her eyes brightened. "Although, he spent a lot of time with Xio. He took her to the beach and for a couple of drives around the island. Sometimes, he would just sit and talk to her in Greek, and she would listen as if she understood what he was saying."

Raph noticed the concentration growing on Xio's face as she bit into her bottom lip, as if she were trying to pull more memories from her mind and string them together.

"The day before he left," Claudia continued, "Andris asked if Xio could spend the night with him at The Davenport. Of course, I had no hesitation. I trusted him with my child."

"That was the night he wrote my name on this envelope," Xio said, rubbing her thumb over her name. "He was crying. I remember his tears falling on my hand."