“It’s not your fault, Mom.” She pulled back. “With Chrys, I don’t feel like I need fixing. That’s what makes him different.”
“I’m glad you found someone who sees you the way I always have. Tell me more about him. This family of his all live together?”
“They do. His father raised him with the help of his grandmother, Domna, and aunt Irida, whom you met earlier. I can’t wait for you to meet them all properly in the morning. Chrys’ father especially. He’s been asking about my parents since Chrys and I got engaged.”
“I look forward to meeting him,” I said.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Aris’s name flashed on the screen, along with a message.
I miss you tonight, agápi mou. Dinner tomorrow?
I turned the phone face down and returned my attention to Tia. This evening was about my daughter.
6
Ireached across the silk sheets, seeking Dede’s warmth, only to find emptiness beneath my palm.
Right. I hadn’t been with her last night.
I’d spent the evening at the hospital instead, watching a doctor splint two of Chrysanthos’s knuckles. Hairline fractures from putting his fist through a wall. My son had inherited many of my traits, but impulse control wasn’t among them.
I checked my phone. No response to last night’s message. Unusual for Dede. She typically replied within minutes, even to say she was busy.
The silence nagged at me more than it should have. But Dede would have to wait. I had a more pressing problem.
When I’d returned to the estate with Chrysanthos near midnight, the discovery of Tia’s absence had transformed his pain to panic. Dimitrios informed us she had departed with her mother, who had been summoned from America after an absurd accusation from Chrysanthos’s former girlfriend claiming we were holding Tia against her will.
The wild desperation in my son’s eyes compelled me to promise my assistance in finding Tia today. We would track down whatever hotel or rental the mother had booked and smooth things over if possible.
I rose from bed and moved toward the bathroom. I turned the shower to its hottest setting, and as water cascaded over tense shoulders, I mentally reorganized the day.
There was an executive call at eleven, lunch with the Khurat investors at one, and a factory inspection at three. All could be delegated or rescheduled. Helping my son find Tia and her mother took precedence.
Perhaps after locating Tia, I might have time to seek out Dede. I reached for the soap, irritated by how readily my thoughts turned to her.
The eagerness to watch her work, completely absorbed in her projects, and occasionally glancing up to share a thought was becoming difficult to dismiss as simple physical attraction.
Pathetic, really. A man my age, rearranging his schedule around a woman who couldn’t be bothered to return a text.
But as I toweled off, I knew I’d make time to see her.
I selected a light gray suit from my wardrobe with no tie. The Macedonian cufflinks Chrysanthos had gifted me last Christmas completed the look.
Before heading downstairs, I stopped at Chrysanthos’s room, rapping my knuckles against the mahogany door. No response.
I entered to find the bed undisturbed and his personal items scattered in a manner that spoke of a hasty departure. The balcony doors stood partially open, allowing the sea breeze to disturb the curtains.
“Chrysanthos?” I called, though I knew the room was empty.
I checked my watch—barely ten. Had he already gone searching for Tia himself? Or had he spent the night elsewhere, drowning his frustrations?
Coffee and warm bread scented the air as I descended the grand staircase. Voices carried from the breakfast room, which meant my family was already gathered, discussing the day ahead.
Living at the family estate had its advantages. Proximity to my brothers, oversight of Chrysanthos, and my mother Domna’s insistence on proper meals.
My father’s sister, Aunt Irida, and her son Matthaios also lived with us, though my cousin hadn’t been around much in recent years, running his tech company from California.
I maintained an apartment in Athens for late business meetings and the occasional need for privacy, but this sprawling property on the coast had been home for all my life.
