Claiming the Drakos Heir

The truth was she had no right to be so happy. How was she supposed to have the perfect family and the perfect life when her sister had been robbed of her happiness? Life was not fair. Not at all.

Popi didn’t know how long that she’d sat there when someone bumped her suitcase and jarred her back to reality. She needed to get on that ferry before it pulled out without her. And then she’d have to spend another night alone in a hotel room, with nothing but her memories and regrets to keep her company.

She got up from the bench and lifted the handle on her suitcase. She started to roll it toward the busy dock when she thought she heard her name being called out. She glanced around but didn’t see anyone she recognized. It was probably her imagination, combined with her abysmal night’s sleep.

“Popi! Wait!”

That time she was certain of what she’d heard. It was Apollo’s voice. She stopped and turned, but there were so many people behind her. And they were none too happy that she had stopped and held them up.

She should keep going. There was nothing left for them to say to each other. But then she thought of Seb. Maybe there was something wrong. She worried her bottom lip for a moment and then got out of line.

Apollo approached her. “We need to talk.”

“Is it Seb?”

“Don’t worry. He’s fine.”

“Then I have to go.” She couldn’t bear to drag this out any further. The pain of loss was still so deeply etched in her heart. “Please leave me alone.”

“Not until we talk.” His tone brooked no compromise.

She turned to him, pleading with her eyes. “You don’t know how hard leaving was for me. I just can’t drag this out.”

“Not even for Seb’s sake?”

Worry for herself ceased. “Is Seb all right?”

“Yes. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. But he misses you. He wants you to come back. Let’s talk.”

She gave a determined shake of her head. “There’s nothing left to say. It’s time I go home.” She turned to walk to the end of the long line of people heading for the dock. Some people were day laborers. Others were heading out on boats bound for various destinations. And some were like her and going home—at last.

“Popi,” he reached for her arm. “Please don’t walk away. Not until you’ve heard what I have to say.”

She didn’t know what he could say that would make a difference. Surely he’d read her note that she wasn’t going to fight him for custody of Seb. Even if she wanted to, she didn’t have the resources to challenge his deep pockets. But she still planned to have regular access to her nephew. She hadn’t written that in the note. She’d been too worked up at the time to think to include it. Maybe now was the time to make it clear that she wasn’t totally backing out of Seb’s life. She wanted a binding agreement written by their attorneys.

She turned back to him. “I’m listening.”

“Not here.” He glanced around at the crowd of people. “How about over there?” He pointed to a vacant bench off to the side of the marina.

She followed him to the bench and sat down. She turned to him, knowing she had to say this quickly before she lost her nerve. “Before you say anything, I want you to know that I’m not abandoning Seb. I still plan to be a part of his life and visit him as much as possible. I think that’s what my sister would have wanted under the circumstances. I can tell him about his mother. Things that no one else would know.”

Apollo stared into her eyes. “I would never keep you from Seb.”

“Thank you.” Her heart was breaking as they were talking. All she wanted was for this conversation to be over. It was too painful to be this close and yet this far away from him. “I should go.”

“Not yet.”

The truth was she didn’t understand why he was here. She’d given him everything he’d wanted—a life with Seb. There was nothing left for her to give.

A couple blasts of the ferry whistle let her know the boat was about to pull out. But not without her. She had to get back to Infinity Island.

She jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to go.”