Nina scuffed, tossing her long locs behind her shoulder.
“I only have one brother, and his name is Aris.”
Instead of being offended, Nikos smiled.
“I like you already,” he said, and he meant it, though Nina looked unimpressed, and it only made him smile more.
“Why are you here?” Nina asked, and Nikos could see why she was a model because she was very beautiful in a stunning way.
“Aris asked me to come visit to check up on Ava.”
“Why didn’t he come himself?” Nina grumbled with a small pout.
“The baby is coming soon, and Aris can’t leave his wife.” That made her frown soften slightly, though she continued to look at him warily.
“I can’t wait to see my grandbaby,” Ava said with a warm smile, and Nikos smiled, realizing that she really considered Aristo be her son, just like Nina considered him to be her brother. “I have to buy some more clothes.”
“Haven’t you already brought enough? Aris’s room is filled with baby stuff,” Nina complained.
“I’ll take your things upstairs,” Lefteris announced, heading upstairs.
“Thanks, Uncle Lefty,” Nina said before she continued to bicker with her mother. Feeling out of the loop and knowing that Ava was fine, he decided it was best to take his leave.
“Uh, I have to take my leave now,” Nikos said.
“Already?” Ava said, looking disappointed. “I was going to ask you to stay for dinner tonight. Well, never mind. If you have free time, you can come back for family dinner this Sunday.”
Nikos was surprised and wanted to come up with some excuse to decline, but she seemed so earnest and sincere that he couldn’t do it.
“Okay,” he said, and she smiled brightly.
“Okay, that’s great,” she said as she walked with him to the door, “And tell your brother that I’m fine, and there’s no need to worry. I’m just getting old. That’s all.”
“Okay, I will.” She passed him his jacket, and Nikos shrugged it on, and before he could get out the door, Nina called him.
“Hey.”
He looked at her expectantly, wondering what she had to say.
“Don’t bring the other brother over,” she said, and Nikos laughed.
It seemed she had met their dear brother Pierce before and wasn’t fond of him, but that wasn’t surprising. After knowing his brother for twenty-five years, he still wasn’t fond of him.
“Okay,” he said, and they exchanged their goodbyes before he left, jogging down the steps, and when he hit the sidewalk, one thought crossed his mind—he liked her.
C H A P T E R
26
AFTER TAKING OVER HIS UNCLE’S POSITION, LIFE HAD BECOME BUSY FOR NIKOS, especially since he was in the middle of a war, fighting his uncle’s enemy Ricardo, who had been the one to put his uncle in a coma, thus changing his life. Now, he was out every day on the streets, making a name for himself and forging connections with people in the community to solidify his place and his father’s group. He had been so busy as of late that he had barely gotten any sleep, and today was one of the few days where he could get some rest, so though it was already past noon, instead of waking and starting his day, Nikos rested until his doorbell rang.
He crawled out of bed, yawning as his feet padded against the marble floor until he stopped in front of his front door. When he opened it, he had expected to see his neighbor or Christos. But he hadn’t been expecting to see Honey at his door.
Nikos blinked with surprise.
“Honey?”
“Why are you so surprised to see me?” she asked with a frown, and Nikos looked at her appearance, taking in the grocery bags in her hand when it dawned on him. He nearly slapped his forehead, now remembering that a few days ago, while they were working on paperwork together, she had mentioned the baking event at her son’s school and that she had signed up to make over two dozen cupcakes for the class. Without thinking, Nikos had given her the okay to use his kitchen in his loft because of how big it was, but he had completely forgotten.
