“Back then, your father had everything in the world, and if you’re someone born with everything, it’s hard not to indulge yourself,” Ava said.
“Did you know that he had a family?” Nikos asked, even though he already knew the answer the moment he met her because it was clear the kind of woman she was. To welcome him into his home with only kindness and without a hint of hatred, a woman like that wasn’t selfish at all, not a little bit.
“No,” she said, confirming what he had suspected, and now Nikos wondered how and why his father could fool a nice woman like her.
“How did you find out?” Nikos asked curiously, and Ava sighed.
“Did you know that I had met you right there in that living room when you were very young?” Ava said, and Nikos’s eyes widened. “You had been very young then, so of course, you wouldn’t remember me. Nina couldn’t remember you either, though you had played with her. Your father had gone off to work, and your mother had appeared at my door with two boys at her side, telling me that her husband and the father of her children’s name was Giannis Drakos.”
Nikos clenched his jaw, anger coursing through him at the thought of what his father had put these two women through. He could only imagine the humiliation Ava had felt at the hands of his father’s greed, and the courage his mother had to possess to go confront a woman that his father clearly loved.
He was no idiot.
He already knew that his parents could barely tolerate each other and had heard the rumors that it had always been that way, especially considering how their marriage had been arranged. It must have hurt them both to have to confront one another. Ava saw his clenched fist and patted his shoulder gently.
“Your father isn’t a bad man. It took me some time, but I realized he had made a mistake, one that I know he dearly regrets, but it is not the sum of him,” she said, and hearing that made Nikos unclench his fist as it made him think about his own mistake he had made with Raelyn and Rheagan. He had been judging his father so much when he had done a similar thing with two sisters, even if it had not been because of love but revenge.
“Don’t view your father poorly because of this,” she said, and Nikos chuckled as he leaned against the counter.
“My view of my father has never been great,” Nikos admitted.
“Because of what he does?” Ava asked, and Nikos nodded.
“And now he asked me to come down here and do this stuff for the family, so even if I weren’t angry about this, my father and I would never see eye to eye,” Nikos said. Before he continued, he noticed the surprise on Ava’s face, and for the first time, she wasn’t smiling.
“Wait. Your father told you to do this even though you don’t want to?” Ava asked, and Nikos slowly nodded, surprised by Ava’s reaction as her mouth tightened, and she dropped her hands on her waist.
“You shouldn’t be forced into doing anything,” she said. “I’ve never said anything about Aris because I know he wants to take care of his family and please his father, but he shouldn’t burden you with this task if you don’t want to do it.”
Nikos was surprised. It was the first time someone understood his point of view and didn’t chastise him for not wanting to follow his father’s whims, especially someone who knew his father’s real job. Even his mother sided with his father on this, always telling him that eventually, it would have to be his duty as Giannis Drakos’s son.
“Thank you, Ava,” Nikos said, and he hugged her. Ava still seemed upset but patted his back, returning the hug.
By the time they left, it was close to midnight, and Nikos walked with Honey over to his Camaro.
“You’re probably wondering what my relationship is with them,” Nikos said.
“Just a little bit,” Honey admitted.
“I wasn’t expecting to meet a football player and a model. Also, I wasn’t expecting to meet Black people,” Honey said, and Nikos laughed as he opened the car door for her, closing it behind her after she got inside before getting in on his own side.
“Nina and I have the same father,” Nikos explained as he pulled off. “My father had another family without my mother knowing. Ava was his woman.”
Honey looked surprised.
“Then the brother she spoke about-”
“Aris is my adopted brother. Apparently, years ago, my father had asked him to come check up on Ava, and he grew close with them, so Nina only acknowledges Aris as her brother,” Nikos explained as they pulled up at a stop light. “Though, I’m working on that. I’ll get her to see me as her brother.”
Honey smiled.
“You’re lucky to have more family,” she said, and of course, Honey would see it that way, in a way he had never thoughtof before, changing his entire perspective of the situation. This entire time he had been angry, wanting to ignore it all, but Honey was right. He did have more family now.
Nikos grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Thank you, Honey.”
“Don’t you think you’re pushing your luck?”
“I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t,” Nikos said, and she smacked his shoulder as he laughed, pulling off.
