“We’ve been busy,” she said, being kind enough not to bruise Andre’s ego by telling the truth— their son had been so preoccupied with Nikos that he hadn’t been asking for him as much. These past few months, Nikos had come around constantly, hanging out with them, playing games with Kai, and taking him out.
She could tell him the obvious— that he was the adult in the situation, and he was the one who should be calling, but she didn’t come here for a fight, and she could only expend her energy for so much right now.
“You should call too because Kai was really excited to see your call today,” she said honestly.
Andre looked over at their son, who carefully crossed the monkey bars before he nodded.
“Sorry about the last time,” he said. “I shouldn’t have taken Kai without getting your permission first. I just thought you would say no.”
“I won’t say no if I can trust you to take care of Kai properly, and if you can be a part of his life more. Not just every other three months when there’s some family occasion.”
Andre opened his mouth, looking ready to argue, and Honey folded her arms together, ready to do the same, but finally, Andre closed his mouth and begrudgingly nodded.
Honey just hoped this time he would take heed to her words. It wasn’t the first time they had had a conversation like this, and round and round they would go in a circle because Andre never fulfilled his fatherly duties for long. He was too selfish for it. But she had a feeling that as Kai got older, the calls would happen less and less, and then she wouldn’t bother sparing his ego because it would become clear to him that Kai wasn’t seeking out his affection anymore.
“Where’s your white boyfriend at?” Andre asked as he leaned back in his seat.
“I don’t ask you about your girlfriends,” Honey said, refusing to engage in a conversation like that with him.
“So he is your man?” Andre said. “Hopefully, he’s not like your last white boyfriend because I definitely wouldn’t want him around our son.”
Honey sighed, not feeling like explaining again for the twentieth time that Antonis wasn’t her boyfriend. Their conversation petered off into the occasional comments about theweather and politics until it was a few hours later, and they left the arcade.
“Bye, Dad,” Kai said, waving with his free hand, the other one clutched into her own.
“Bye, Kai,” Andre said as he opened his car door. “Bye, Hope.”
Honey nodded and watched as Andre pulled off in his beamer, shaking her head. Of course, he wouldn’t even wait to make sure they got into the car safely first.
“Let’s go,” Honey said as they walked over to Yanis’s car, which was only a few cars down. She was surprised that Yanis hadn’t immediately got out when he saw them leave the arcade. Usually, Yanis would have gone inside with her, but she asked him to remain in the car because she didn’t want Andre to ask any unnecessary questions.
“Is he sleeping, Mom?” Kai asked as he stepped on his tiptoes to peer into the driver’s seat.
“I think so,” Honey said, seeing Yanis leaning over the steering wheel. She knocked on the window, hoping she wouldn’t startle him too badly. It had been a long wait, so she wasn’t surprised that he dozed off, but when he didn’t respond, she frowned. She knocked on the window again, but the man did not budge, and Honey went to open the door, hoping to shake him awake when she noticed something dripping from his neck.
She started to shake, seeing the dark liquid drip from his pale neck down the steering wheel until it made its way to its final destination on the floor, and she gasped.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” Kai asked as he tried to push up further to see into the car, but Honey quickly turned him away. Her heart raced in her chest before she pulled her phone out to call 911, but then she heard a car screech to a stop next to them.
She looked at the black truck, perplexed, until the door opened. Her mouth dropped when she saw who was inside.
“Antonis,” she said in disbelief as she glanced between him and her phone before looking at the car where Yanis was leaning over, dead, and put two and two together. When she did, her knees nearly threatened to collapse as she clutched onto Kai, pulling him into her, who looked curiously between her and Antonis.
“Get in the car, Honey,” he demanded, but Honey stood frozen, her mind racing a mile a minute, wishing that she had never come outside. She hadn’t been expecting this, and she wondered how he even found her with them being so far away from where she lived until she thought of Andre, who they probably had followed here to find her, knowing that eventually she would let Kai see his father despite the risk of him finding her.
“Get in the car now,” he repeated, tightly, and Honey could see that the restraint he had lost after coming out of a coma was still gone. She wished she could run away, wished she could spot a police car and flag down help to get away from this psycho while she had her son with her. But she knew it wasn’t possible, especially with Yanis dead in the car.
“Let’s go, honey,” Honey tried to say in a normal tone so Kai wouldn’t be scared. Kai still looked at Antonis warily, but because of her words, he got into the truck with her. She sat as far away from Antonis as possible, pressing her shoulder so tightly into the door that it nearly hurt with Kai on her lap, who she refused to let sit close to Antonis. It was already enough that they were all in the same car together.
She held onto Kai tight as they drove on the highway that was leading them out of New York and far from her home, and she prayed that Nikos would save them.
C H A P T E R
51
THE TWO-HOUR DRIVE WAS LONG ENOUGH FOR KAI TO FALL ASLEEP, but Honey could not allow her eyes to blink as she watched the signs on the highway until they arrived in New Jersey. She had heard rumors about the mansion Antonis had in New Jersey. Some of the girls who had performed at Antonis’s place whenever he had important guest over had described it as being as big as the Playboy mansion, and it was, stretching what looked to be over twenty thousand square feet, surrounded by green grass and vast land. She almost would have been in awe of a place so beautiful if she weren’t so disturbed by the man it belonged to.
A permanent frown was etched on her face as they got out of the car and were escorted by Antonis through the private estate, leading them through the gravel stone path, up the stone stairs, and through the thick maple wood doors that led them inside. With the eyes of Antonis’s men on her, she followed Antonis with Kai’s hand clutched tightly in her own. Those eyes felt like sharp lasers ready to shoot her down if she tried to run, and with everything in her, she tried to rein in her fear and focus on keeping herself and her son safe.
