“Aren’t you tired of always being in bandages?” he asked, setting his glass down and moving closer to inspect the damage.
“Not my son,” my father answered dryly, before I could respond. “They’re his second skin.”
Dimitrios shook his head. “What did the doctor say?”
“I’ll live.” I moved toward the stairs. “I’m going to bed.”
“Tia left with her mother about thirty minutes ago,” my uncle said.
The world moved. “What do you mean, left? Left where? Why was her mother even here?”
Dimitrios glanced at my father, who moved closer to me. “Katalina called her. Told her we were keeping Tia hostage here.”
“That manipulative bitch,” I growled. “She’ll stop at nothing.”
“The mother arrived looking ready for war,” Dimitrios continued with a smile. “I tried to explain the situation, but she was only interested in speaking with her daughter.”
I didn’t wait to hear more. I pushed past my uncle and hurried upstairs two at a time, ignoring the pain shooting through my hand. Behind me, I heard my father and uncle following.
Tia’s door was ajar. I pushed it open, my chest constricting at what I saw. The room was still intact, but the little things were missing.
Her wallet no longer sat on the nightstand. I crossed to the bed and lifted the pillow. The pajamas she couldn’t sleep without were gone. When I yanked open the top drawer of her dresser, I saw the empty space where her passport had been.
“Fuck,” I muttered, slamming the drawer closed. The mirror above it vibrated with the force.
“Chrysanthos,” my father said from the doorway, “breaking more things won’t bring her back faster.”
I turned to face my uncle, who was framed in the doorway. “Where did they go?”
“I didn’t ask, and Tia didn’t volunteer the information.”
“Did she go with Zeus?” I asked, already pulling out my phone to open the locator app installed in his chip.
“Zeus is here.”
“Fuck!” I stepped toward him. “Did they say anything? We cancall the hotels.”
“You need to calm down first,” Dimitrios said firmly. “The way you’re reacting right now will only make things worse. You don’t want this to be your future mother-in-law’s first impression of you.”
“Your uncle is right,” my father said. “You need to cool off.”
“Cool off? While Tia is probably on a plane back to America?” I started towards Konstantin’s suites. “Kayla would know.”
“Kayla is asleep,” my father said, catching my arm. “You should get to bed yourself. Tomorrow, we’ll find Tia.”
His words gave me pause. Reluctantly, I nodded and went towards my suite. Maybe sleep would give me clarity, though I doubted it.
Sleep never came. I spent the night pacing, my mind racing with thoughts of Tia. Had I pushed her too far? Said things I couldn’t take back? The look on her face when I’d accused her of never being all in haunted me. By dawn, I’d texted her twenty times with no response.
Zeus whined at the foot of my bed, his eyes following me as I moved restlessly around the room.
“I know, boy,” I murmured, scratching behind his ears. “I miss her too.”
As the first light of morning filtered through my curtains, I showered and dressed quickly. My hand throbbed, but I ignored it. Finding Tia was all that mattered.
I headed downstairs just before ten. As I approached the dining room, the sound of female laughter greeted me. I rounded the corner, poised to question Kayla about Tia’s whereabouts, and came to a complete stop.
There at the dining table sat Tia, surrounded by my Yiayia, Theia, Kayla and Tia’s mother. I’d seen the woman in pictures Tia showed me, but I was not ready for how young she looked. She was skinnier than Tia and her skin wasn’t as dark, though not as light as Kayla’s.
