Nico realized Irena’s son was waiting to hear his view on the situation. While his friend lay dying in the hospital he’d promised Tio to look after Kristos and Yanni. Nico’s first instinct was to tell Kristos he couldn’t give him his blessing. To get engaged this soon could ruin the rest of his life. No one knew that better than Nico.
In time he’d learned to love Raisa enough to marry her, but it hadn’t been like his feelings for Mara. Raisa had deserved more, and after she’d died in the plane he’d been flying, his guilt had intensified because he hadn’t been able to save her or their baby she was carrying...
But his past life had nothing to do with Kristos. Nico and Irena needed to make a concession to her son so he wouldn’t feel that the entire world had conspired against him.
“Tell you what, Kristos. Your birthday is coming up soon. Invite her over for an informal meal. I’ll drop by at some point after work and you can introduce me. What do you think, Irena?” He darted her a speaking glance.
“We could do that,” she said in an unenthusiastic voice, obviously deciding to go along with Nico’s idea.
“Thank you, Mama! I’ll call her and we’ll pick a date that’s good for everyone. I promise you two will love her.” Kristos kissed his mother and hugged Nico before leaving the room.
Nico got to his feet. “I’m afraid I’ve let you down, Irena.”
“No. You haven’t. It was the perfect thing to say, otherwise he would have declared he and Dimitra were going to run away and get married. You’ve at least bought us a little more time to convince him to think about it.”
“We can hope.”
Deep down Nico didn’t believe Kristos could be made to see reason, not if he loved this Dimitra the way Nico had loved Mara.
In time Raisa had taught him that there were different kinds of love. Though he’d never felt the fire for her he’d felt for Mara, he’d married Raisa. The excitement of a baby coming had brought him a whole new world to look forward to. Until her death they’d been thrilled at the thought of a son or daughter to complete their lives.
As for Kristos, hopefully Nico could reason with him to the point he wouldn’t jump into anything too fast, but he wasn’t holding his breath.
* * *
Alexa had already gotten under the covers when her brunette daughter tiptoed into her bedroom, letting light in from the hall. “Mama? Are you asleep?”
She chuckled. “I was getting there.”
“Can we talk for a second?”
“Sure. Come sit on the bed. What’s so important it can’t wait until tomorrow?”
“Kristos has a birthday coming up. His mother has invited us to dinner so we can all meet.” That was news. “I’ve never met her or his younger brother. It’s on Saturday, a week from today. You can come, right?” Her light green eyes implored Alexa to agree.
To meet the mother meant things were getting more serious between her daughter and the young man Alexa had met at the university a few months ago. She’d been introduced to him when Dimitra had brought him to her faculty office. They’d talked for a few minutes and she’d learned, among other things, that his father had died in a car accident in December.
Alexa had to admit he was good-looking with a definite charm and intelligence. But after falling in love with Nico Angelis at seventeen, their brief time together in Salonica had ended in total disaster. When he’d left for the military three weeks later, he’d never gotten in touch with her again.
Four years passed before Alexa learned the true reason why he’d disappeared from her life. Because of those four years of suffering, Alexa didn’t want her daughter to be thinking marriage with Kristos. Not yet. They were both very young. If anything went wrong and Kristos ended up hurting her, she didn’t want Dimitra to go through that same kind of grief as Alexa at such a tender age.
“I’ll have to check my schedule at the university in case there’s a dinner conflict.”
“Surely you can get out of it. This dinner is important to me.”
She sighed. “When you’re young, everything’s important.”
“I love Kristos.”
“You’ll probably love several men before you find the right one for you.”
“Even if it didn’t last, you fell in love with Papa when you were my age and had me.”
Heaven help me. “You’re right.”
“Do you ever wonder where he is now or what he’s doing?”
“I did in the beginning, but it’s been years, honey.” In truth Alexa knew exactly where Nico was and what his life was like married to an Athenian beauty. He was an Angelis and rising to the top. She’d done everything possible not to think about him over the years.