Nikos watched as they pulled off before he started walking aimlessly down the street. He had no idea where he was. All he knew was that he needed to walk so he could rid himself of this empty feeling welling inside of him. He felt like he had just lost a part of himself tonight, and that woman and Hugo weren’t the only two people who had died.
C H A P T E R
13
THE DOORBELL DINGED BEHIND HONEY AS SHE LEFT THE BODEGA ON THE CORNER WITH GROCERY BAGS IN HER HAND. Streetlights and neon signs were lit on every corner, and despite the night closing in, most people were still out on the street. But living in New York meant the night was just as busy as the day.
Honey ignored the men on the corner, who tried to talk to her and kept moving without missing a beat as she made her way back to her apartment. It was late out and not the best time to go to the store, but after she checked her fridge, Honey realized that she needed to replenish some things before morning so she could have everything she needed for breakfast.
Honey walked down the block alert as she crossed the street to the next corner. Whenever it was late like this, she always made sure to be aware of her surroundings, not wanting anyone to sneak up on her, and as she crossed the road, she paused in her steps when she took notice of a white man coming down the street. Though her neighborhood was predominately Black and Latino, it wasn’t uncommon for white people to be around their neighborhood in the morning. But the familiar build of this man made her squint as she watched the lone figure stalk down the road with their head down and their hands stuffed in their pockets. Though she couldn’t entirely see his face, she did recognize his clothes.
“Nikos,” she uttered, surprised.
Now just a few steps from her, the person looked up, and bright, dazzling blue eyes clashed with her own. No one had blue eyes like that but Nikos Drakos, both warm and inviting, and yet incredibly bright. They reminded her of the ocean, but right now, in the night, they looked cold. Even more, he looked strange.
“What are you doing here?” Honey asked curiously. She knew for a fact that someone like Nikos didn’t live in this neighborhood.
“Uhh…” Nikos started to say, and Honey arched a brow. After knowing him all this time, this was the first time she had seen Nikos at a loss for words. He usually always had some witty flirtatious lines to toss at her. She was surprised he hadn’t said he was lucky to see her on a night like this.
But she guessed it should have been expected, taking his appearance into account. He didn’t look so good and was kind of skittish as he glanced around. For a second, she wondered if Antonis had sent him out to watch her, something Honey realized he liked to do occasionally after she had spotted a few ofhis men lurking around her neighborhood, but Nikos didn’t look like that. He looked genuinely lost.
“What’s wrong?” Honey asked, and just as the words left her mouth, under the lights of the streetlamp above them, she could see red splotches on his neck and cheek. Honey took a step closer to him, and as she suspected, she saw it was blood.
Honey sighed.
She knew that Nikos worked for his uncle, but she thought that maybe he didn’t participate in things like this, considering how light-hearted and non-menacing he was compared to Antonis’s other men. Nikos had an air about him that made him seem like he was untouched by this lifestyle despite being the son of a notorious mafia boss.
But right now, it looked like he was seeped into it, and he wasn’t okay.
She should walk away and continue her journey back home, which was just around the corner. But she knew Nikos shouldn’t be out on the streets like this with blood on his face, especially in her neighborhood. With the nice clothes he had on and the Rolex on his wrist, she was surprised he hadn’t been robbed yet.
Reluctantly, she said, “Come with me.”
She turned on her heels, but Nikos grabbed her arm.
“Where?” he asked, his eyes hopelessly blue, making her feel sympathetic for him, which she hated. She had done a good job of ignoring Nikos’s existence so far, but maybe after what he had done earlier, it made her realize that he wasn’t the complete asshole that she thought he was.
“To my place,” she said as she shrugged off Nikos’s hold and continued down the block. Nikos caught up to her and took the bags from her arm, and though Honey said nothing, she was grateful because the bags had been heavy. She hadn’t broughther car because she didn’t want to lose her parking space and hadn’t expected to buy so many things, but of course, like every time, she always brought more things than necessary.
As they made their way up the steps to the third floor of her apartment, Honey made sure not to look at him, not wanting to see the emotions filtering across his face as he took in where she lived. Though she probably made better than most, it was hard keeping money in her pocket when she wasn’t only feeding herself, and she had many loans to still pay off. Though she made money, it felt like she could never keep it, and the result of it was her living inside of this shabby apartment building.
She opened the door to her apartment and led him inside.
“You can just put those on the counter there,” Honey told him, pointing to her kitchen before she headed to her bathroom, grabbed a washcloth, ran it under water, and then wrung it out. She then went into her room and searched through her drawers until she found a t-shirt at the bottom. It was an ex-boyfriend’s shirt that she had forgotten to return to him.
Returning to the living room, she passed Nikos both items. He had already made himself comfortable and was sitting on her couch. After this, she would tell him to leave.
“Thanks,” Nikos told her before he removed his shirt. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen abs on men before, but she had to admit that Nikos was fit, his body not overly muscular, but muscular enough that it would make any woman want to touch him. He grabbed the washcloth, dabbing it at random places on his body. When Honey realized he couldn’t see, she held her hand out.
“I’ll do it,” she said. She could just tell him to go to her bathroom, but she didn’t want him roaming around her place. Nikos nodded as he passed it to her, and she sat down nextto him, wiping the splotches of blood off him. A part of her was curious, but the other part of her, the one that won out every time, knew that it was best not to know. Everything that pertained to Antonis’s other lifestyle, she kept away from.
“And here I thought I would only be able to see your home in my dreams,” Nikos mused, and Honey rolled her eyes.
“I guess you’re back to yourself now,” Honey said as she dragged the cloth across his neck rougher than necessary. Nikos chuckled.
“I’m surprised you haven’t asked,” Nikos commented quietly.
Honey paused for a brief second before she continued. “I don’t want to know. I’m just helping you out this one time.”
