“No thanks are required,” Nikos said. “I’m just glad I could be here for you today because I got an excuse to go to the amusement park.”
Honey shook her head because, of course, he would say something like that. He barely had a serious bone in his body.
“I’m surprised you haven’t asked me anything,” Honey said. She thought Nikos would be taking this time to badger her with questions like most people would do to quench their curiosity.
“It’s your personal business,” Nikos said before smirking. “And besides, I don’t want to get my head bitten off asking you, even if I am curious.”
They sat there quietly for a moment, and she didn’t know if it were the atmosphere, the park, or the fact that she was at peace at this moment, but suddenly, she wanted to talk about it.
“I was only seventeen when I first met Andre,” Honey started, and if Nikos were surprised she was speaking about it, he didn’t show it. “He was the star on the basketball team and had many prospects. At the time, I had been young and in love, charmed by his good looks, his charisma, and his promises. But, looking back on it, I wish I had been able to see through his mask to realize it was all a facade.”
She had been so young and dumb back then, lured in by sweet words and hot touches. At the time, nothing else mattered. All she could see was Andre, and that had been her worst mistake, allowing puppy love to make a permanent life-altering change in her life.
“I had gotten pregnant, and around the same time, Andre had gotten injured, and his hopes of going pro were over just like that,” she said, snapping her finger as she was brought back to that time. She could still remember how she met a new Andre at that point, a version of Andre she had not liked at all.
“He changed completely after that, and it was like love never existed between us. He hadn’t even been there in the hospital when I had Kai,” she said, shaking her head as she thought about how scared she had been while giving birth with no one there with her. “My parents kicked me out, and the only person I could rely on was my sister. From seventeen and forward, I pretty much had to raise Kai by myself. Andre was no help and only appeared for certain special occasions to put on appearances for his family, but he never cared about Kai. He barely helped me out with money or spent any time with Kai. It almost felt like I had a baby by myself.”
Nikos clenched his jaw. “I’m surprised that someone like that would want full custody.”
Honey looked at Nikos, realizing he had heard that part. She wondered what else he had heard. But it didn’t matter. She was throwing it all on the table now.
“Andre only talks like that to spite me, but he doesn’t truly want custody because he’s never wanted to be responsible for Kai,” Honey said before she curiously gazed at Nikos. “What did you say to him?”
Nikos didn’t say anything for a moment before he spoke. “I told him to never pick up Kai without your permission ever again and to never threaten you because, as your hero, I’ll protect you.”
Usually, she would get annoyed with someone butting into her business because she could handle things on her own, but this time, for some reason, she wasn’t annoyed at all. Maybe it was because she knew Nikos’s intentions had come from a good place. She would just have to make sure that something like this didn’t happen again, so their worlds wouldn’t collide together too much.
“Did you hit him?” Honey asked.
“No. I thought about it because he’s an asshole. He should have never said anything like that to you, whether it was out of spite or not, and he shouldn’t have scared you like that either by taking Kai without your permission. But it wasn’t my place, and I knew you wouldn’t have wanted me to do that.”
She could see the veins in Nikos’s jaw as he spoke and could tell he was pissed and probably had wanted to punch Andre. But she was glad he hadn’t. It was not that she cared about Andre, but he was still Kai’s father, regardless.
“At least you didn’t do what your uncle did.”
Nikos looked at her, confused.
“One time, Andre came to the club complaining about child support, and Antonis saw him. The next day, Andre came to my apartment and said that my ‘boyfriend’ beat him up,” Honey said, shaking her head. “Andre could barely look out one eye and had been beaten so badly that he wore crutches.”
Nikos looked at her wide-eyed, and it was the same reaction she had when Andre first came to her apartment that way. Pure disbelief because she couldn’t understand why Antonis had done something like that when she hadn’t asked him to.
“Similar things like that have happened to my other boyfriends before. They would just mysteriously get beaten up,” Honey said sarcastically. “It’s why I don’t date too often.”
“I’m sorry,” Nikos said, and Honey looked into his blue eyes and could tell he genuinely meant it.
“You don’t have to apologize for your uncle’s actions,” Honey said, but Nikos looked like he was barely paying attention to her at all as he clenched his fists.
“My uncle shouldn’t do things like that, like…like—”
“Like he owns me?” Honey offered, and Nikos looked down. Unfortunately, she had grown used to it. Antonis was insane, and he held no regard for her opinion. He saw her as a piece of property and wouldn’t allow anyone else to be with her. Honey knew she had to get away from him.
“Before I had Kai, I wanted to be a chef, and I planned on going to culinary school, but I never had the time because I had to take care of my son and pay off my debt for the things that Andre took out in my name,” Honey said, and Nikos looked even more pissed than he had before. “I still want to do it, but first, I need the money, and that’s why I want to work in the back.
“It’s not necessarily something I want to do, but it’s the quickest way to pay off my debt and have enough money to go to school while providing for my son.”
No girl ever dreams of selling themselves, but for Honey, it was what she needed to do to change her circumstances. It would also provide her with a faster way to get away from the club and Antonis. So much time had passed already, and yet, Antonis’s obsession had not waned. She wanted to achieve her dreams and leave the club behind.
“Mom!” Kai yelled as he raced over to them from the carousel. “I want to get on another ride.”
