“Then get justice for him,” Olivia said, and Honey’s eyes widened. “You don’t understand how bad I want to fuck this Antonis up. I want to so bad, but—”
“You can’t,” Honey interjected. “He’s dangerous.”
She couldn’t put anything past him now. He was capable of doing anything, and he would tear down any obstacles in his way as he had done with everyone else. Honey was certain that applied to even her.
“I know,” Olivia said, gritting her teeth. “And that’s why I’m telling you that there’s something else you can do, so you won’t feel so much guilt, and so you can do one last thing for Nikos. If there’s a way to tell his family the truth, you should. We’ll find a way to get away from Antonis. I promise. But before that, let’s help Nikos catch his killer.”
Honey wanted to tell her that there would be serious risks and repercussions even if she could tell Nikos’s family the truth, that even she didn’t know if this would be the breaking point for Antonis, and he would harm her too. But, when she thought about the pain Nikos must have been in, how alone he must have felt in his moments of passing, and how much the guilt of it all ached in her heart, she knew her sister was right.
She couldn’t keep going on like this. She had to do something.
Honey wiped her tears, realizing that now wasn’t the time to cry. Now was the time to do right by Nikos, who had been her hero from the very beginning. Now, it was time to be his hero.
“I need a favor,” Honey suddenly said, and Olivia smiled.
“Anything.”
***
The sun was coming down, and the streetlights were on as Honey stood on Ava’s front porch. It took her two hours to get here from her place. Any other time, it would have taken her half that time even with New York’s traffic. But she, Olivia, and Kai had sneaked out of her apartment building, using the back door that was supposed to only be for workers, and then they took an Uber from there, leaving both of their cars behind, so Antonis’s men wouldn’t notice they had left.
Honey then set them up in a motel. She didn’t want them to go to Olivia’s place because she was certain Antonis knew where her family and close friends lived. It was better to have them somewhere that he wouldn’t think of when Antonis’s men finally noticed she wasn’t there.
After dropping them off, she took the subway and that was how she had gotten to Ava’s place. Now, she stood nervously in front of the door, uncertain and unsure of how she was supposed to proceed. Olivia’s words lit a fire inside her, but now that she was here, she couldn’t help but worry about how this decision would affect her and her child.
But mustering up the little fire she had left in her, she finally knocked on the door.
She stood waiting, hoping that Ava would be home at this time of night. A few seconds later, the door opened, but to her surprise, it wasn’t Ava or her daughter. It was a man.
He had green eyes and dark hair, and a dark look to match as if a shadow hung over his face. But he was surprisingly handsome either way. But his handsomeness did nothing to quell the nervousness she felt under his serious gaze that wasdifferent from the warmth she had felt from Ava’s home the last time she had come with Nikos.
“Can I help you?” the man asked, voice deep and rugged, and even his tall build made her want to squirm.
“Are you… are you family to Nikos?’ she asked, hesitantly. She had been determined on her way here, but now she was unsure because she knew this was a delicate situation, and she couldn’t just go up to the first person she saw at Ava’s home, telling them what Antonis had done. Though Nikos told her that Antonis wasn’t related to his family by blood, he was still close to Nikos’s family regardless.
“I’m his brother,” the man said, and Honey was shocked because they looked nothing alike. But then she remembered that Nikos said that he had an adopted brother, and now that she thought about it, she remembered Nina mentioning that she had a brother, the only one she claimed.
“You’re Aris,” Honey said, and when he gave a short, inclined nod, she felt relieved. Nikos had spoken of this brother to her before. From what Nikos had told her, it seemed he got along with him way more than he did with his other older brother.
“My name is Honey, and I’m… I worked with Nikos at the Gentlemen’s Club,” she explained. “And I have something to tell you. Can I come inside?”
Aris eyed her for a moment, making her uneasy, but a second later, he took a step to the side, allowing her space to come through.
“Who is it, Aris?” Honey heard Ava call as she stepped into the living room. There was no one else there, and it wasn’t as busy as it had been the night when she had come for dinner.
“Nikos’s friend,” Aris answered as he closed the door behind himself, which caused Honey to raise an eyebrow because shecould have sworn that the best word to describe them after the description she gave him was a co-worker.
“Oh, we have company,” Ava said as she came out of the kitchen, and when her eyes landed on her, they widened with recognition.
“Oh, Honey!” Ava exclaimed as she came over to her with a welcoming smile. “What are you doing here?”
Honey told herself when she got here that she would keep her emotions at bay, but for some reason, Ava’s warm smile and the smell of her home made tears prickle in her eyes.
“Oh, dear child, are you okay?” Ava asked as she noticed her tears, and Honey blinked them away, knowing that she had to be strong to do this for Nikos.
“I’m sorry to tell you,” Honey started, tears thick in her throat. “But Nikos was murdered.”
Just as every time she said it, tears followed next, and Ava, with sad eyes, pulled her into a hug, patting her back. She felt so guilty having Ava comfort her when it should be the other way around. She had been trying to get a hold of her emotions the entire week, but every time Nikos crossed her mind, it broke her.
