“Okay,” Nikos said. “You can take them off now.”
Honey untied the blindfold, and what she saw next made her gape in shock.
“Is this a penthouse?” she asked, incredulously.
They stood inside a huge penthouse, and she walked further inside, looking at the huge wall-to-ceiling windows that allowed her to overlook the city. It felt like she could see all of New York from here. The open kitchen was as big as her apartment, and the living room was wide.
“I wanted to get you the dream house you wanted, but we’re in New York right now, and there aren’t many places like that. If we move, we can get that place. But for now, I thought this was the next best thing,” Nikos said.
Though Honey could hear Nikos, she could barely process his words because she was in so much shock. Speechless, Honey walked around the penthouse, looking in each room. It was perfect and something she could have never imagined for herself.
“Nik, will this be my room?” Kai asked as they walked into the master bedroom, which was large and had a private bathroom inside that looked more like a sauna.
“No, this room is too big for you, but I do have a surprise for you. Go down to that room.”
Kai excitedly raced into the room that Nikos pointed to, and a second later, Honey heard him scream. She nearly jumped out of her skin as Nikos smiled.
“Mom, look! Look,” Kai said as he grabbed her hand and dragged her into the room, and her eyes widened when she saw a room filled with toys. It was a room clearly meant for Kai, and though it wasn’t as big as the master bedroom, it was still big.
“Are we going to live with Nikos?” Kai asked.
When Nikos told her that he had a surprise for her and Kai this morning, she didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this. She knew their relationship was official now, and now that Antonis was no longer an obstacle in their way, everything would be different. But she didn’t know Nikos wanted this, for them to live together. Honey knew that if she were in her right mind right now, she would be putting on the brakes and telling Nikos that this was all a little too fast. She should be thinking logically, but as she looked at her son and then Nikos, the man she had fallen in love with, she realized she couldn’t think that way at all.
“We will,” Honey said, and immediately, Kai cheered and raced to give Nikos a big hug before giving her one too, and then he went back over to his toys.
“We’ll see how long this will last,” Honey told Nikos pointedly.
“I think it’s going to last a long time,” Nikos said as he hugged her. He snuck in a kiss while Kai was focused on his toys, and Honey smiled.
“So, what are we going to do next?” Honey asked.
“You’ll be a chef by day and my dancer by night,” he said cheekily, and Honey smacked his arm. He laughed. Though shehated to admit it, she didn’t mind the idea of it at all. It sounded like the dream she had always wanted.
“And no matter what, I’ll always put you and Kai first and protect you both,” Nikos told her seriously, looking her in the eye. “Believe in that.”
“I will,” Honey said because she believed him.
Before this, she wouldn’t have contemplated dating someone in a dangerous lifestyle. It had been a part of the reason she was against dating Antonis. Not only had he been entrenched in a dangerous lifestyle, but he had allowed that power to get to his head to the point that he saw everyone around him as toys and dolls, herself included. But Nikos was nothing like that. He hadn’t let the power get to his head, and he only did the illegal things he did for his family. If he could promise to keep her and her son safe, then she would believe in everything he told her.
“And one day in the future, I hope I can prove myself worthy enough for you, so that you can be my wife, and your son can be my son too.”
Honey nearly lost her breath before her eyes watered. It felt like her heart could burst, and she hadn’t thought anything could top him calling her by her name, but of course, a sweet talker like Nikos would be able to do it with ease.
“I want that too,” she said as she pressed her lips against his gently. “I want that.”
She didn’t know what the future would bring for herself and Nikos, but all she knew was that she wanted to do it together. All she knew was that she wanted to be with him, and she didn’t mind being his private dancer. Nikos held her tight, and she felt as if she could melt into his skin, and she wanted to.
“Hope,” he whispered in her ear, and she loved to hear him say her name because she knew what it meant. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Nik.”
E P I L O G U E
ARIS DRAKOS SAT IN HIS FATHER’S OFFICE FOR A MEETING as they spoke on how to handle their new loss of territory at the hands of the Petrakis family. Though the Petrakis family had just brought in three new family members in the form of Raelyn Armstead and her twin children with Leonidas Petrakis, they had not relented in their rage against them, and Aris suspected that he would never see this war end in this lifetime. There had been too much blood spilled, and too many people lost to return to a place of peace, and now he sat in this meeting, listening to the members of their family argueabout what they should do next as his father, Giannis Drakos, sat behind his desk, listening to his men’s ideas and requests.
Aris sat quietly, listening until his phone buzzed against his thigh. He grabbed it, and when he saw Ava’s name, he nearly smiled before he looked up at his father to see he was already looking at him. Usually, Aris would ignore phone calls during meetings like these, but there were three people apart of the exception—his wife, his sister, and the woman he saw as a mother, Ava Montgomery.
“Excuse me, father,” Aris said, and his father nodded as if he knew who was calling him, and Aris stepped outside his father’s office and answered the call.
