* * *
Stergios leaned against the stone museum wall as he typed on his cell phone, replying to an urgent message. He didn’t notice his cousin approaching until the man stood next to him. “Dimos,” he said by way of greeting. “I didn’t know you were attending. Is Zoi here, too?”
“I don’t have to be joined at the hip with my wife,” Dimos said with a scowl before he pointed accusingly at the center of the room. “What is she doing here?”
“Jodie is my guest for the evening,” he said as he pocketed his cell phone.
“Why?” Dimos broadly gestured at the crowd. “There are too many photographers and journalists here. You’re supposed to be courting the Diamantopoulos heiress.”
Stergios tried to remember what Aleka Diamantopoulos looked like. It had only been a couple of weeks since he had been pursuing the woman. He had found her docile and ultimately forgettable. He knew Aleka had been raised to marry a powerful man but it had taken a great deal of patience and energy to tamp down his natural aggression when she was around. He couldn’t show his true self or it would have frightened her.
Unlike Jodie, he thought as he watched her tilt her head back and give a bawdy laugh that rang in the pretentious museum. The woman had seen him at his worst and she didn’t walk away. She wasn’t afraid to disagree with him or prove him wrong. Jodie was also under the misguided impression that she needed to protect him. It was during those moments when she’d unwittingly displayed her loyalty.
Dimos winced as everyone looked at Jodie. “The Diamantopoulos family isn’t going to be happy that you brought another woman to this important event, even if it is your stepsister. They want to see you pander to their daughter. It’s a power play.”
“I am no longer pursuing the Antoniou-Diamantopoulos merger.” It was strange that he felt no regret. The alliance would have given him everything he wanted. But now his focus was on marrying Jodie. That pursuit filled him with anticipation.
Dimos’s shoulders slumped as he gave a sigh of disappointment. “Because you got Jodie pregnant?”
Stergios swung his head around in shock. How did Dimos know about that? Jodie wouldn’t divulge that kind of information. He studied his cousin and was immediately on guard. He didn’t like the flint of bitterness and envy flashing in the man’s eyes.
“Yes, I’ve heard,” Dimos said bluntly. “Your mother is trying to keep the rumors from spreading. It’s no use. People are going to find out.”
“Good.” He had a strategy in place to present Jodie to society in the best light.
“Good?” Dimos repeated before he took a fortifying sip of his drink. “How can you say that? I don’t know why you’re taking a public stand on this. You know, you’re not the first Antoniou man who has had children outside of marriage.”
Stergios arched an eyebrow. “Is there something I should know, Dimos?”
His cousin waved away the question. “You don’t have to throw out everything we’ve worked hard for just to acknowledge a child. There is no need to give the kid your name. Why support it when Jodie has money of her own?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” He would protect his heir even if it meant extending that protection to the mother of his child.
Dimos finished his drink in one gulp as he watched Jodie talk animatedly while she stood among a few socialites. “Oh, hell, no,” he said in a low tone as his eyes widened. “Jodie is wearing the Antoniou amethysts?”
Stergios nodded with satisfaction as he watched the violet stones twinkle from her ears and throat. Jodie was made to wear the amethysts.
“Well, there’s no hiding it now.” His cousin raised his hands in defeat. “No wonder all of high society is flocking around Jodie. Even the reporters will know what this means. You are telling everyone that she will be an Antoniou.”
But Jodie didn’t know that the jewelry was more than heirlooms. One day he would tell her that the stones were part of family legend and ritual. When he had draped the necklace around her slender throat, he had been declaring Jodie as his intended bride. He claimed Jodie as his own and now everyone knew that she was his.
“Does your mother know that woman is wearing the jewels?”
“Show some respect,” Stergios warned in a growl. “That woman is going to be my wife and the mother of my child.”
“Why are you doing this?” Dimos asked in a hiss. “Is she so good in bed that she’s twisted your mind?”
“You’ll never know. Is that what’s eating you up?”