“You know,” she says bitterly, “when I saw this beautiful woman who was to marry my son, I was thrilled. Beyond thrilled. I thought, perhaps, my boy had enough of me in him to break the horrible Demetriou curse. To be anyone but his father.”
“Mamá,” Aris mutters.
She shakes her head at him. “Let. Me. Finish.”
Talia of all people should enjoy this and be gloating, but she’s tense beside me.
“I thought things were changing for our family,” Mamá says, tears welling in her eyes. “I thought we’d moved past all the hate from our past, Ezio.” She edges closer to my father, patting his shoulder and making his eyes widen. “But you didn’t forget the affair, did you? No, you held onto that revenge and waited all these years to get back at me.”
What?
I glower at my father, who won’t even look at me. Again, I’m in the fucking dark and I hate it. Aris shoots me a confused look.
“Father,” I growl. “Shut this down. Now.”
“Your father won’t say a goddamn thing, Kostas,” my mother bellows and waves a gun in the air before pushing it against my father’s back.
Fuck.
No wonder he’s being quiet. She’s holding him at gunpoint.
“Your father tortured me for years, Kostas,” Mamá explains, the tears rolling down her cheeks and ruining her makeup. “Years. While you looked up to your father and wanted to be just like him, I hated him with every ounce of my being. I stayed for my boys.”
“You stayed because you had to,” Father growls, consequences be damned.
Mamá pushes the gun harder against his back. “I stayed for those boys,” she hisses. “Don’t think for a second you had me chained to you out of fear. I don’t fear you, Ezio, I hate you.”
A warm hand slides into mine and I realize it’s Talia offering me comfort. Her of all people. My hand is cold in hers. I can’t bring myself to squeeze it back. I certainly don’t pull the fuck away, though.
“I am so sorry,” Mamá says, turning her attention to Melody. “I was in love with Niles for over a decade, and selfishly, I hoped I could escape from my cold marriage and into the warmth of his arms indefinitely. I didn’t think about what it did to your family and your marriage. Please forgive me.”
It all makes fucking sense now.
“Nothing to forgive. I have Stefano now,” Melody says politely, a tremble in her voice. The woman who stole her husband has a gun. I’d be polite too.
Mamá turns her animosity on Niles. “You used me,” she chokes out. “I loved you and you used me. When it came down to it, and I was ready to run off with you, you abandoned me. You allowed Ezio to find out about the affair and then you left me to deal with the aftermath alone.” Mamá swipes a tear away. “He was cruel to me, Niles. He hurt me and belittled me. He punished me—alone—for crimes we committed together. And yet I took it all for my sons and for the love I still held onto for you.”
“You weren’t the only one punished,” Niles argues like the stupid fucking fool he is. “I’m broke because of you.” Being broke is going to be the least of his concerns if he doesn’t shut his fucking mouth.
I catch Adrian’s stare from across the room as he slowly inches closer and closer. I’m caught between wanting him to stop my mother and telling him to back the fuck away from her. Adrian is loyal to the Demetriou men, not the women.
“Talia,” Mamá says sadly, ignoring Niles. “I’m so sorry. I hoped it was a coincidence when I discovered you and Kostas were to be married. My past was a shadow that was creeping up on you, ready to shroud you in darkness as well.” Mamá looks pointedly at me. “Don’t give up on true love. If you find it, take it, and get the hell out of here, consequences be damned.”
A mixture of shame and fury rushes through my veins. Talia squeezes my hand again, and this time, I thread my fingers with hers.
“Mamá, may I speak?” I demand in a low, deadly tone.
She shakes her head. “No, you may not. You will sit and listen to every word I have to say.”
I’m not a child and yet she’s treating me like one. I glance at Aris, expecting a satisfied smirk on his face, but he’s furious too.
“Kostas, you can’t turn out like him. Your father is a monster. I know you have enough good in you that you can do better than that,” Mamá chokes out, her voice pleading. “Aris will be fine. He’s like me. Not so hard around the edges, but it’s you I worry about. I worry you’ll destroy this poor, sweet girl like your father destroyed me.”