Truths and Lies Duet

“Coming!” I yell. I swing the door open and Phoenix is standing there in a black three-piece suit.

“Wow, look at you. I thought we were just meeting Dad for breakfast.” I step back so he can enter.

“It’s more of a business meeting. We’re meeting with the Demetrious. I told you about them yesterday.” He’s right. He did. I just forgot. “They own this hotel…well, really this island. Go get ready,” he instructs. “They don’t do well with tardiness.”

“Since when do I attend business meetings?” I ask, snagging a simple floral dress from the armoire. Then I pull the drawer open and grab a matching set of white lace bra and panties.

“Since now, I guess. Go. Shower.”

After taking a quick shower and blow-drying my hair just enough so it’s not soaking wet but hanging in loose waves, I get dressed. I find various pairs of shoes in the closet, from heels to flip-flops, and decide on a cute pair of wedges.

“Ready?” Phoenix asks from the living room. “It’s two minutes till ten.”

“Yes, sorry!” I grab my phone off the nightstand but realize I don’t have anywhere to put it, so I grab my purse, stuffing my phone and room key in it.

“Let’s go.”

We walk down the long pathway, back toward the courtyard. As we pass the statue from last night, I think back to my conversation—more like debate—with the gentleman. How he can see anything other than a woman scared and trying to escape a man who is kidnapping her is just crazy. Passion doesn’t stem from anger. It stems from love. I can’t imagine having sex with someone I don’t love, let alone with someone I hate. While the majority of my friends enjoy hooking up, I’ve never seen the appeal. Sex should be intimate with the person you love and trust and want to spend your life with. It shouldn’t be casual, and it definitely shouldn’t be done out of anger.

We enter the building and there’s a hostess waiting at the door. “Good morning, Mr. and Miss Nikolaides. Everyone is already inside.”

I’m taken aback for a moment that she already knows who we are.

“Thank you,” Phoenix says.

We walk past the hostess stand and enter the dining room, and standing around the table are several men. The first one I spot is my dad, dressed in a suit similar to Phoenix’s. My initial thought is maybe, for the first time, he’s actually gotten himself together. But then his eyes meet mine, and I see the stress and nervousness in them, telling me nothing has changed.

He cuts across the room and pulls me into a tight hug. “My sunshine,” he murmurs, and my heartstrings tug at the nickname he gave me when I was little. He used to tell me I was the light in his darkness. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Please,” he begs.

“What?” I ask, confused. “Forgive you for what?” What’s going on here? Why is he begging me to forgive him? “Dad, what did you do?”

I pull out of his embrace and glance around the room. I’m shocked by what—or I guess, I should say who—I see. The gentleman from last night. The man I argued with over the statue. He’s standing there, no longer dressed casual, but in a suit. Unlike the suits my brother and dad are wearing, which give off a formal vibe like one would wear to a dinner party, this man’s screams power and wealth. His hair is gelled perfectly in place, and his eyes… How can eyes so light appear so dark? His jaw is ticking as he stares back at me, as if the simple fact of me existing offends him.

“And so we meet again,” another voice says, tearing me away from the scary gentleman. The man from the bar. He, too, is dressed to the nines, but even in a suit, he appears playful and happy. It’s almost hard to take him seriously.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

Kostas

I dart my hard gaze to my father, who refuses to look my way. His entire focus is on Niles and the woman. A satisfied smirk plays on his lips. I want to drag my father out of the room and demand answers. What the hell kind of beef does he have with Niles that he’d rope the man’s family into this as well?

Aris’s brown eyes meet mine, questions dancing in them. As though I have the answers. I don’t think Father would convince Niles to bring his family here just to kill them, but this whole thing feels out of my depth. At this point, I’m not sure what my father is capable of.

Killing people is a dirty necessity.

Killing people who’ve fucked you over is imperative.

Niles and his son, Phoenix, by default since he’s his right-hand man, have stolen from the most powerful family in Greece. They need to pay. They will pay.