The past weeks had been blissful—another term that greatly alarmed him, but admittedly in a good way. Vayle had come to him and they’d obliterated that terrible clause that would’ve made them both suffer unnecessarily. And, boy, had they taken advantage of it since then.
He’d enjoyed his wife anywhere and everywhere all over Apeiron, delighting in showing her different sexual experiences that left a deep flush on her cheeks and stars in her eyes.
As for him… Having been intent on eradicating any emotional fallout from the women he’d tangled with in the past, he’d never slept with the same woman for this long before. It was…novel, pleasurable. Satisfying, even.
He knew enough to know he didn’t want to upset that particular apple cart. He didn’t want Vayle upset. But also enough to know a giant spanner was heading into what had become a smooth operation.
You know the root cause of this situation—how to fix it.
He shifted and rolled onto his feet, impatient with the persistent voice. Then with the far too beautiful view that taunted him with its perfection, highlighting that his life was far from perfect.
Vayle’s admonishments about the consequences of living in the past rang in his ears. His thoughts were so busy crowding each other, he didn’t realise he’d walked all the way to his suite until she turned from viewing the sunrise on their terrace.
‘Hey, you were gone when I woke up. Are you okay?’ she murmured softly, examining his face in that way she had that made him think she could see his every bitter—perhaps irredeemable—thought. That all this examining and hedging was if not now, then soon to be the very thing that wrote him off in her eyes.
‘No need to worry about me,glikia mou.’
There was a defensive bite in there that made him shift again, annoyed when he saw his glib remark hadn’t quite done the trick of reassuring her. Silence stretched just a little too long. He knew her well enough by now to recognize the slight tightening of her shoulders, the way she absently traced the lip of the coffee cup in her hand.
She was winding up to tell him something. He didn’t look at her. He didn’t have to.
‘Agnes called again,’ she said, voice low.
A muscle flexed in his jaw. He froze. Not visibly, not enough for anyone else to notice—but she would. She always did.
‘She left a message,’ she continued, careful now. ‘She’s in Athens. She wants to see you.’
He finally turned his head and met her gaze.
‘You should call her back,’ she pushed.
‘No.’ The word cracked out of him, too sharply, too desperately. The slipping sensation intensified.
She inhaled slowly, and he could feel her fighting to keep the peace. To keep this moment from detonating. ‘Nelios…we had an agreement.’
‘And I believe I said I would talk to her, but in my own time.’
She was quiet for a beat. ‘If not now, then when?’
Her words curled around something deep inside him, something old, scarred and better left buried. Only it wasn’t. She was raking it raw.
‘Why does this matter to you so much?’ he seethed.
‘Because I see what it’s doing to you,’ she said. There was no accusation, no pleading—just truth; soft, dangerous truth. ‘The way you lock parts of yourself away. The way you flinch from your past like it might still reach for you. She’s your mother, Nelios.’
His laugh felt acid-sharp. ‘She hasn’t been. Not for a very long time.’
‘Then ask her why. Because if you don’t…’
Something sliced deeper, sharper than a scalpel. The panic spurted, then gushed. He clenched his belly tight. ‘Be very careful what you say next,glikia mou.’
Her gaze lingered on the horizon for a beat, then two, then returned to his. ‘Maybe today is a day to be completely reckless.’She folded her arms around herself—a shield. ‘I’m not trying to fix you, Nelios. I just want you to stop pretending you’re happy dwelling in the past when you’re not. You’re still bleeding somewhere beneath the surface, and at some point it’ll be too late.’
He rose, an instinctual move. He hated looking up at her when he was cornered like this. Hated even more the flicker of guilt in her eyes—because it mirrored the feeling inside him.
‘Have at it, if you insist. But you’ll be participating on your own,’ he said tightly. Then he turned, striding away from her.
‘Nelios!’
