All week her sister had been asking her what was wrong, and all week Honey had been telling her the same thing— it was nothing.
It was not as if she wanted to lie to her sister. In fact, she desperately wanted to tell the truth. She was tired of this secret that was lodged in her throat, ready to spill out as if she had too much food in her stomach. But she also knew that something like this wasn’t just a secret you could easily share.
Nikos had been murdered by his uncle and her boss, a crazy man who announced that he had done it because of her. Telling that to her sister would not bode over well at all.
Though Olivia knew Antonis was her boss, Honey had never gone into detail about how Antonis treated her, because if she had, Honey knew Olivia would have never accepted her working at the Gentlemen’s Club, that she would go marching up there herself to give in her resignation. Honey could only imagine how bad that conversation would go, with her informing her sister that her resigning wasn’t even possible with a man like him, and that even at this point now, it wasn’t possible for her to disappear either.
It felt futile even telling her sister something that would only worry her at night and leave her feeling helpless when she realized that Antonis wasn’t a man that they could have any power over.
“Is this about Nik?” Olivia asked. “Come on, you have to tell me something. I’m worried about you, and all I’ve seen you do these past few days is cry. It’s about Nikos, isn’t it?”
Honey nodded as those tears that she had been keeping at bay threatened to fall. God, she wanted to stop crying, but it was an impossible task. At this point, she didn’t think she would ever stop crying when she heard Nikos’s name. It was hilarious thinking that at one point all she had done was frown when she heard his name at first.
“Did he hurt you? Do I need to go up to his place with a tire iron?” Olivia asked angrily as she stood.
“No, you don’t,” Honey said quickly, grabbing Olivia’s hand and trying to push her back down. The last thing she needed her sister to do was raise hell on the wrong person.
“Mommy’s crying because Nikos hasn’t been here,” Kai corrected, and Honey gave her son a small glare.
“What have I told you about being in grown folks’ business?”
Kai looked at her apologetically before he went back to his toys, and Olivia finally plopped back down, glancing at Kai warily. The next time she spoke, she whispered.
“Did he hit and quit?”
It was enough to make her laugh, and Honey was at least thankful for that. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t laughed in the past week. Nothing had been humorous to her, but only her sister could make her laugh when she felt this miserable.
“No,” Honey said. “Though, I wish he would have, actually.”
Olivia frowned, confused. “Is this about your boss?”
Honey’s eyes widened, and Olivia elaborated. “Look, when you told me your boss was in a coma, and you actually looked happy about it, I knew that no matter how handsome he was, he must not be a good man. You always told me it was because he was your boss that you didn’t want to date him, but now I don’t think that it’s because of that at all. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have done anything with Nikos once he became your boss.”
“He’s dangerous, Liv,” Honey finally admitted. If Olivia suspected this much, there was no point in keeping it a secret any longer, and she was grateful for that. She was tired of holding it in. “He’s very dangerous, and I thought if I could just pay off my debt and get my money together, then I could move and go live somewhere nice with Kai, where he wouldn’t be able to find me, but now, I realize that isn’t going to happen.”
“Did he do something to Nikos?” Olivia asked, and Honey’s tears crashed below her lashes.
“Oh, Hope,” Olivia said as she pulled her into a hug.
“Mommy, are you okay?” Kai asked as he came over and rubbed her back.
“She’s okay, baby. She’s just a little sad because of the story I was telling her about. Go grab your mother some tissues, please.” Kai did as told, scrambling off, and Olivia squeezed her tighter.
“That’s why you haven’t been dating all this time,” Olivia said.
She had put a hold on romantic relationships, not only because she was worried about how those men would connect with Kai, but because she had been worried about their lives because she had a madman obsessed with her.
“I shouldn’t have dated him. I shouldn’t have done it. I got him killed.”
“Oh, don’t say that, Hope,” Olivia chided just as Kai returned to the room with tissues. “Kai, go play in your room while your mother and I talk.”
Kai looked worried, but he gathered up his toys and left for his room. Once they heard his door close, Olivia took those tissues and patted away her tears, even though they were still falling.
“It’s not on you. You didn’t do that to him, and I’m pretty sure Nikos knew the risk too. But he liked you so much that it was a risk he was willing to take.”
Honey sniffled, wishing she could think of it that way, but she couldn’t help but be swallowed up with guilt and grief. It wouldn’t go away. It was plaguing her mind and dreams, so much so, that her performances had been subpar, and she had barely been giving Kai the attention he deserved. But she couldn’t help but feel bad for Nikos.
“I just can’t help but feel guilty. He murdered him and lied about it to his family. They don’t even know that he did it. Nikos isn’t even going to get justice,” she said sobbing.
