“Nico...don’t keep me in suspense.”
“We have to talk, but not on the phone.”
This had something to do with Dimitra she wasn’t going to like. Maybe she was planning to move out because she couldn’t stand to be around her mother anymore. “I’ll meet you wherever you say.” She felt desperate.
“Why don’t I come by for you? How soon can you be ready?”
Her eyes closed tightly. This was serious. “Right now.” It was close to four o’clock.
“Then I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
She clicked off and freshened up in the bathroom. Makeup would help put some color in her cheeks. With a coat of coral lipstick and a quick brushing of her hair, she felt a little more presentable. Not that Nico would notice. What an irony that the man she’d turned into an enemy was turning out to be the only person she could appeal to for help. Nothing was making sense right now.
CHAPTER SIX
AFTER LEAVING A NOTE on the fridge saying that Alexa was with Nico and would be back later, she walked out to the curb in front to wait for him. The sight of the black car and striking male driving it shouldn’t have excited her. The way she was feeling, she could be seventeen again. Once the car came to a stop, she got in before he could walk around and open her door for her.
Their gazes collided. “If the news is bad, please drive us somewhere away from the house. I don’t want Dimitra or my grandfather to come home and see me too upset to face them.”
He started the car and they took off. “I thought we’d drive to Pella and enjoy the Roditis wine you used to love.”
She panicked. “You think I’m going to need it?” He’d taken her there one glorious day long ago. They’d been delirious with love while they sampled the pink wine from a vineyard under a hot sun.
“I think we both do.”
Alexa fastened her seat belt, not knowing how to deal with that remark. “Why didn’t you just tell me what this is about before I left you earlier?”
Nico drove with a mastery that was reflected in everything he did. “I left the office right after you did, but I didn’t hear the news until I dropped by Irena’s. Kristos and our daughter got engaged last night.”
The news wasn’t what Alexa had expected. She was so surprised, she didn’t say anything at first.
“What’s made you go quiet?”
She bit her lip. “I thought you were going to tell me that Dimitra was moving out. That’s been my greatest fear.” Her voice had started to wobble. “I thought she despised me so much she couldn’t stand to live with me anymore. I wouldn’t have blamed her. In fact I’ve had nightmares about it since I saw you at Irena’s.”
He reached out to cover her hand. His warmth enveloped her whole body. Nico could have no idea how much she craved his touch. “If you’d heard the marvelous things she’d said about you to my parents and Giannina, you’d know the thought has never crossed her mind.”
Nico’s words broke Alexa down and she sobbed. He held her hand a little tighter before letting it go.
“Thank you for being so kind to me, Nico.” She wiped her eyes. “I don’t deserve it after what I’ve done to you. In truth I don’t know how you can stand to be around me.”
She heard his sharp intake of breath. “This afternoon Irena reminded me that you and I will always be involved in our daughter’s life. It will help all of us if we get along and do what’s best for her. That’s why I wanted you to come with me. Sharing Dimitra is a new experience for both of us. I’m trying to tread carefully.”
“And doing a beautiful job of it!” she declared, lifting her head to look at him through tear-drenched eyes. “I mean it, Nico. Besides everything else, you really are an exceptional human being. Our daughter has already figured that out.”
“Then let’s decide what to do next. I believe you and I and Irena are all in agreement about Kristos and Dimitra moving too fast. But that ring on her finger has made it a fait accompli. It’s my opinion that if the first thing we do as her parents is fight them on this engagement, then—”
“Then it would be the worst thing we could do,” she broke in. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”
By now they’d reached the vineyard outside Pella. Nico slowed down and drove along the road to the winery. A few tourists came out the door. “What do you say we go in and plot.”
For a moment he sounded just like the old Nico, filling her with thrill after thrill. She laughed all the way inside the winery’s front door. It astonished her she could do that when she’d been sobbing so hard before. He found them a table and ordered the same wine they’d once enjoyed. “This is like a window in time for me,” she said.
Over the rim of the wineglass his dark eyes stared at her with an intensity that made her quiver. “For me too. I haven’t been back here since.” His deep voice pierced her insides.
She sipped her wine, unable to believe they were together like this again. But it was dangerous to go down that road of the past. To break the spell he’d been casting on her since they’d been in the car, she changed the subject.
“I’m thinking something should be done to celebrate their engagement. If I show Dimitra I support her, maybe it would help our relationship.”