“I’m not. My wife is dead.” He said the words so matter-of-factly. They sounded so naked in the silence of the cabin. So achingly sad.
“I’m …” Her throat constricted. “I’m sorry.” That made her feel foolish. Weak. She’d been complaining to him about getting married, whining about her fate, the headlines. Talking to him about love as though she were some sort of expert and the whole time she’d been talking to a man who had loved and lost.
While she had never truly loved anyone outside of her family. Though she’d had loss there. Tragic loss. Her mother … and then Xander leaving when she’d needed him so badly to stay.
“She was … ill. It was time when it happened. There was nothing more to be done.” His tone was flat, devoid of emotion. She could feel it, though, not in his tone, but coming from within. She wasn’t sure how, only that she did.
“I … my mother died,” she said. “Very suddenly. I don’t … really remember her, but I miss her anyway. I don’t think it’s ever easy.”
“No,” he said. “It never is. I’m sorry about your mother.”
“I’m sorry about your wife. Truly.”
“Thank you,” he said, in that same monotone as before.
“Will we land soon?” she asked. The subject of his wife was closed, she could feel that radiating from him. He didn’t want to go into detail, and she didn’t blame him. But she wanted to know. She wanted to help somehow, even if she knew it was impossible.
“Another hour. Hopefully the weather will be clear.”
She grimaced. “I don’t really like flying all that much. The rough-landing thing doesn’t appeal.”
“The chalet is up in the mountains. It’s very snowy and the winds can get intense. But don’t worry, if it’s bad we’ll circle, or we’ll get permission to land at the airport and take a helicopter up later.”
“I’m liking the helicopter idea even less.”
“I’ll put a word in with the one who controls the weather and see what I can do for you.”
“Now you really are making me feel silly.”
“I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, you aren’t.” He paused. “I would rather fly than drive, but driving is more practical for quick trips.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem driving me around Thysius.”
“Yes. I do it anyway. But I don’t care for it. So I understand.”
That simple olive branch made her eyes sting. He was trying to understand her. Trying to make her feel that he cared, even if it was only because he was good at reading people and would rather have her soothed than edgy.
It was still more than she’d come to expect from people.
Stavros was wonderful, but he was distant. He ran a corporation that provided a huge portion of the funding for the national budget of Kyonos. And as hard as he worked, he played just as hard. Which left very little time for the two of them to see each other.
She was also thirteen years his junior, which had always made her far too young for him to relate to as a peer. Even if things were catching up now. And Xander was gone. His duty abandoned. Off doing whatever he pleased, not sparing a thought to his family. So he didn’t do her any good either. “Thank you,” she said. “For that. For … making me feel better.”
“That’s just the champagne talking.”
She laughed. “No, I think it’s you.”
His expression changed, his face hardening. “Well, don’t get used to it. I can’t maintain any level of charm for an extended length of time.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“No, Eva,” he said. “It’s true. On that you can trust me. I’m not a nice man. The sooner you realize that the better.”
His words sent a shiver through her. “You say that. But you should know that I’m a very stubborn woman. I’m not going to believe that simply because you told me it was true.”
“You would be better off if you did.”
“And I think you’ll be better off if I challenge you.”
He shook his head and pushed the call button on his chair. “Now I need a drink. It’s going to be a long two weeks.”