“As long as I’ve known, my family has been at war with another family, the Petrakis family,” Nikos said, and Honey arched her brow with confusion, but she didn’t say anything. He couldn’t blame her. Most normal people couldn’t say their family was at war with another family. But his life had never been normal. The moment he was born as Giannis Drakos’s son, it made it so that he could never have a normal life. And because he couldn’t have a normal life, he couldn’t even have a normal relationship, but, at the time, he had thought he would be able to have that with Raelyn until he realized that nothing in his life had been untouched by the war, even the woman he had fallen for.
“To end the war between our families, my brother was supposed to marry one of the daughters from the Petrakisfamily. We were going to create a pact so the war could end. No more bloodshed, no more death. We would finally be at peace. But unfortunately, my brother fell in love, and the arranged marriage couldn’t go through. So we tried it again with my second oldest brother, but, of course, Pierce made everything turn to shit when one of their daughters committed suicide because of him,” Nikos said, shaking his head as he thought about it.
At times, he really did blame Pierce for all of this. If he hadn’t been such an asshole, the entire situation with Raelyn, Leonidas, and Rheagan would have never happened. But he should have known that there could never possibly be a marriage between Pierce and Tatiana Petraki. That had been the first mistake, and unfortunately, Tatiana died because of it.
“I thought I had been far removed from everything happening in the war. I thought nothing would happen to me if I didn’t participate in it. It was wishful thinking, but I had really hoped I could stay out of it so I could live my life in peace. But I got strung along in it without me even realizing it,” Nikos said.
“Leonidas, the son of my father’s enemy, had sent Raelyn to seduce me,” Nikos admitted, and Honey’s eyes widened with shock.
“So, wait a minute. Does that mean that your relationship wasn’t…” She didn’t say the rest of her words, and it almost felt like she was trying to spare him. But Nikos could already tell what the rest of her words would be.
“I’m sorry,” Honey said sympathetically.
“I had fallen in love with Raelyn, planned a future with her where we could be safe together away from everything happening with the war, away from everything happening with my father, without even knowing who she truly was,” Nikos saidbitterly as he poured himself another drink. “It pissed me off and made me angry. All I did was drink for months, unable to move on until I wanted to get even.”
After learning about the truth, it had been a bitter pill to swallow. He had been in a constant state of rage, thinking about how foolish he had been to not have realized who she was. He had brought her home to his family. He had trusted her, and when he realized everything had been a lie, he couldn’t get past it.
“I wanted to hurt Leonidas and Raelyn, and so I decided to hurt them both in the worst way possible,” Nikos said before he chuckled, the wine making his tongue and thoughts loose as he reminisced on the past. “And while I was trying to hurt her, so she could feel the pain I felt, I nearly got swept into it all over again. That’s how much I liked her, that even after I had learned everything, even after I had planned to hurt her, I was going to forgive her so we could start over again. But then I realized who she truly was, and I couldn’t blame it on that snake Leonidas anymore.”
“You took revenge on her by sleeping with her sister,” Honey said.
“More than that,” Nikos said guiltily.
He had done way more than that. Sleeping with her sister hadn’t even been the tip of the iceberg. That was how much he had wanted to hurt her, and he had. But he couldn’t tell that to Honey. He didn’t want to tell her everything he had done.
“I should have felt good about it. Getting even is something I’ve always done, and I never felt bad about it before. But when I saw the pain in Raelyn’s eyes, and I learned later everything that happened to her that night and all of the people that betrayed her in a single night, all I could do was regret it,” Nikos admitted.
He could still remember the dead, blank stare she had given him that night. Her eyes had been cold, and immediately, all thoughts of revenge had faded away. He had felt like the biggest asshole in the world, even worse than his brother Pierce, and that was saying something.
“That’s the reason I came to New York. My father has always been trying to get me to be a part of his business for years, but I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. But I was so ashamed of what I had done to her that I came here,” Nikos said, shaking his head as he laughed. “What’s worse is that my biggest regret about sleeping with Rheagan isn’t how it hurt Raelyn. It’s that Rheagan won’t leave me alone now.”
Sometimes, he felt like he was dealing with a stalker. No matter what he did or said, he couldn’t shake Rheagan, and unfortunately, even after all the harsh things he said, he had a feeling he would see her again. She was like a leech on his skin that he couldn’t shake off.
“Because I felt guilty about everything that happened, I’ve been trying to provide for her because Raelyn cut off all ties with her after what happened. But to be honest, Rheagan’s a brat. All she does is spend the money I give her frivolously. She followed me to the club, and she won’t take control of her life,” Nikos said.
He had been trying to make up for his mistake by taking care of Rheagan. He wanted to give her the push she needed to continue in life even without her sister’s help. But Rheagan thought he was a piggybank, and she kept coming around just to ask him for money. Of course, he had the money, but he had no plans to take care of Rheagan for the rest of her life. She was an adult, and she had to learn how to take care of herself like every adult in the world. Otherwise, how would she ever survive in the world? She was light years different than her sister, whowas a natural survivor. It perplexed him how different they were despite being raised in the same home by the same people.
“It’s karma. You probably deserve it,” Honey said as she sipped her wine.
“Aren’t you supposed to be comforting me?” Nikos asked, amused.
“You didn’t ask for comfort, and even if you had, I wouldn’t give it to you,” Honey said plainly. “I don’t know the entire story, but you shouldn’t have created a connection with Rheagan just to get back at her sister, even out of revenge, because though you might have hurt Raelyn, you got stuck with Rheagan in turn.”
“So that means I should continue to take care of Rheagan?” Nikos asked, wanting to hear Honey’s perspective. Maybe he was being too harsh on Rheagan and hadn’t realized it.
Honey shrugged.
“I’m not saying that,” Honey said. “But if Rheagan was bold enough to do something like that to lose her sister over a man, then she needs to learn how to fend for herself in this world because, with a mindset like that, she won’t have anyone.”
If Rheagan heard those words herself, she would probably pitch a fit. But it was something that she needed to hear, and even he needed to hear it too. Honey looked at him curiously, and Nikos wondered what was on her mind.
“Do you still love her? Raelyn?” Honey asked. It was a question that was always on his mind too.
“To be honest, I don’t even know if I ever loved Raelyn,” Nikos admitted.
It felt like he had been living in a fog during his relationship with Raelyn, but now that he was out of the fog, he could see things more clearly now. He had definitely been fond of Raelynand cared for her, and he still did, but he wasn’t sure if he had loved her.
“Just a few days ago, my brother told me that she’s getting married to Leonidas, the one who had sent her to seduce me.”
