Tap. Tap. Tap.
Niko held a white envelope and tapped it against the table. “This came in your parents’ mail.” The return label had ‘THS’ and it was addressed ‘to the parents of Mia Aelwyn.’
Early for a first progress report. Mia reached for it.
Niko pulled it away. “It’s addressed to the parents of Mia Aelwyn.”
Mia smoothed out her napkin and kept her voice steady. “You’re not my parents, Niko.” She took a sip of the sweet lemonade.
“Hope and I are your guardians for now.”
Hope, maybe. Him? No. There was no ring on her sister’s finger. “No, you’re not.”
Niko continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I requested your grades, so Hope and I can make a tutorial plan to ensure you’re on the right path. We can pull up any grades early that need…”
Mia blinked and pressed her lips together.
Hope looked up with a startled chuckle. “Mia…”
“It’s okay.” Mia winked at Hope and took another drink. Niko was stricter than Hope, so this was an opportunity. “Give it to me straight. If I need a tutor then I’ll have to spend more time studying, right?”
“Yes,” Niko said. “Therefore, we need to tighten your curfew.”
Yep, she’d seen that coming. She took a strategic bite of the ham sandwich to buy time to work out her proposal. “And if you feel that the grades are fine, then my curfew can be pushed back until later, right?”
Niko narrowed his eyes at her negotiation tactics. Before he could say anything else, Hope reached over, snagged the envelope, and pulled out Mia’s report card. “Bargain from a position of knowledge.”
Traitor. Mia frowned and took another drink, her fingers tapping against the cold, wet glass. She’d almost managed a later curfew, or at least a shot at one. Maybe Hope paid more attention than she thought.
Niko read the small document like it was War and Peace. “Good girl.”
Steps sounded from the foyer, interrupting his praise. Niko’s eyes lit up. He spared a quick glance at Hope then headed in that direction.
It had to be Sacha.
Mia and Hope gave him a minute of familial privacy before following. In the foyer, Niko stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the most handsome guy Mia had ever seen—at least six-two, body of an athlete, face of a model, rich brown hair. Wow.
Turning to Hope and Mia with a smile, Niko said, “This is my brother, Alexander.”
“Hello,” Alexander said.
Wow. Mia waved, too in awe to talk. She’d known Niko had a few siblings and some step-siblings. She hadn’t known they were coming by, but it made sense they would want to be here for Sacha’s arrival. How long was Alexander staying? Did he live in the U.S. too? Lucky us. What a face—cool angles, thick eyelashes around beautiful blue-gray eyes, a perfectly-shaped mouth, square jaw. Before she’d met Niko, she’d imagined most Greek people had dark brown eyes. Was it because their mom was British? Or was she mistaken about Greece?
Hope reached out to hug him. Alexander stepped out of reach and offered his hand. “Hello.” He was formal for a guy her age. Formal. Foreign. And intriguing.
Hope shook his hand, and bits of charcoal from her art pencil remained on his fingers. Alexander frowned down at the mark, and when Hope turned her gaze away, he wiped the offending charcoal onto the side of his dark trousers. Formal. Foreign. And picky.
Niko kept up a running dialogue of small talk about the flight and Greece. Mia didn’t pay attention to the words, but concentrated on Alexander’s rich, deep voice. His accent was even slighter than Niko’s and, if anything, he sounded British. Alexander must go to a boarding school in England, like Sacha. Too bad he hadn’t decided to move here, too. Or had he?
The staff moved around the periphery, bringing in luggage. It was so like Niko to ship the luggage, and then ship the people, just like he’d done with her and Hope. More bags came in. When her family traveled for vacation, they got one bag and one carry-on. If she couldn’t carry it, she couldn’t bring it. Niko, the wealthy, hired movers and packers and took care of stuff in advance. Mia checked behind them, but no Sacha yet. A ton of luggage, though. Sacha didn’t travel light. If her brothers were circling to greet her, she must be arriving soon. Pulling out her phone, Mia typed, You didn’t tell me you were bringing your brother. He’s hot, maybe the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. Alexander was definitely the hottest guy she’d ever seen, but she didn’t want Sacha to think there were no cute Texas men. Tons lived here—just no one like Alexander. Does he really count as my new family? How am I going to sit across from him and not leap across the table? How long is he staying? When are you getting here already? You can rein me in. Do you totally hate it when your friends hit on your brother? Or just sort of? Mia hit send. Sacha’s friends must all be in love with her brother; not some of them, all of them. He was that hot.
Lauren had a cute older brother and she hated it when her friends flirted with him. Maybe Sacha would be more open-minded.
Niko was leading Alexander to the dining room, saying something technical about the jet’s engine. One of the servants dropped what appeared to be a final bag on top of the pile. He closed the door.
Had Alexander been on the same flight as Sacha? Was she in a different limo? Mia tilted her head and spoke for the first time “So when does Sacha get here?”
The cell phone in Alexander’s pocket chirped a message notification. It was the same noise hers made when the sound was all the way up.