Chapter 14

14

A pollo couldn't believe the turn things had taken with Paige. One minute, everything was fine and they were getting ready to leave for Las Vegas and begin their life together; the next she was gone and he was struggling to figure out what she'd overheard. He was an idiot, trying to act so nonchalant about everything, as if Mick couldn't see right through him. He loved Paige and didn't want to lose her; it was that simple. His father's game with Pio had given him an easy way to get what he wanted, which was Paige. If she was nervous about moving to Greece, he could kill two birds with one stone by moving to the U.S. for her and teaching his father a lesson at the same time. Instead, it was all starting to backfire. Mick had shaken his head, telling him how stupid he was and both Melina and his mother were pissed .

"We just started to like her and now you did something to make her leave?!" his mother had reprimanded him. " Hazos ise?! " Are you stupid ?!

"She left because her friend was in an accident," Apollo had replied with a sigh .

One of his and Mick's friends from Yale was now a detective in Henderson, Nevada, and Mick had reached out to him to find out what was going on. He'd confirmed that a young woman named Raegan Warner had fallen asleep at the wheel—no drugs or alcohol found in her system—and drove head-on into a concrete crash barrier. Her passenger came away with a few cuts and bruises but Raegan had required surgery for a multitude of injuries, as well as a broken leg. According to the police report, Raegan had simply been exhausted from working multiple jobs and going to school .

Knowing Paige hadn't lied, that she'd truly had an emergency that made her leave Greece without even saying goodbye, made him feel better but he didn't know what to do now. His flight to the U.S. left in the morning and he wanted to be on it, but part of him was as reluctant to leave Greece as she'd been to stay here permanently. That was the hard part; he didn't want to lose her, but he didn't want to leave his family, the company he loved or his lifestyle. He'd enjoyed living in the States—and wouldn't mind visiting a couple of times a year—but in the summer he wanted to be in Greece. The beaches, fun evenings at outdoor restaurants and cafés, and the overall long, lazy days were things he wasn't sure he could live without. And Paige enjoyed them too. If only he could convince her that everything would be okay if she stayed—he wouldn't let anything happen to her if things didn't work out between them romantically. He'd put money in her name only, or give it to her parents—whatever she needed to feel secure .

He heard the bell downstairs, indicating someone was at the door, and he frowned. It was 3:30, siesta time here in Greece, and he wasn't expecting anyone. He was headed down the stairs when he heard the door opening and he sighed, knowing it had to be his parents or one of his sisters. Instead, his grandmother was standing in his useless kitchen, a frown on her face .

"What is this? No wonder your wife left! How is she supposed to do something with this mess ?"

"She was here on vacation, Yaya ," he said with a smile, leaning down to kiss her cheeks. "If she'd moved here, the kitchen would have been a priority ."

"What did you do?" she asked softly. "Tell me the truth ."

He sighed. "I was talking with Mick…" He told her everything he could remember as they settled into the two folding chairs left in the room .

"You'll go tomorrow, yes ?"

"I don't know." He looked at her helplessly. "I want to go after her, but it hurts that she didn't even give me a chance to explain ."

"Her friend was badly injured and she had very little time to get to the airport ."

"Then why hasn't she called ?"

"Why haven't you?" His grandmother cocked her head. "Be the man, Apollo. Don't expect her to chase you—you have to chase her . She needs to know you want her enough to fight for her. Especially since you walked away from her three years ago. Yes, you were both responsible, but you were the man. She was a scared girl who did something very foolish; it wasn't her job to hunt you down. And it's not her job now, either ."

"But Yaya , what do I say? How do I explain it ?"

"You tell her the truth—you love her and are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep her. And you'll see…it might take a little while, maybe even a year or two, but she wants to come to Greece. I could see it in her eyes. She's afraid, and I don't blame her. What young bride wants to go to a foreign country with a man she's only truly known a few weeks ?"

He closed his eyes, nodding. "You're right. I know you're right ."

"Here." She pulled the gold chain from inside her blouse and unhooked it. Taking her wedding ring off the chain, she handed it to him. "Give this to her. I know you'll want something nicer, more modern, but for now, give this to her as a promise. Tell her it's hers, even if things don't work out between you. She brought so much love and joy to my heart in the time we spent together, I want her to have it ."

"But Sophia and Melina — "

"Neither of them want it. Sophia would never lower herself to wear something so small and cheap, and while Melina would wear it to please me, she's not truly sentimental. Paige—Paige would wear it with love. Eventually, maybe on a chain around her neck, but for now, it's the only ring you have ."

"Thank you, Yaya ." He leaned over to hug her .

"Now, go. Pack, get ready. You have a very long trip and an even longer journey to winning over your wife. Don't come back without her, Apollo ."

He smiled. "I'll do my best ."

B etween Nora's incessant nagging that Raegan move home to Phoenix, jet lag and lack of sleep, Paige was in a horrible mood. She'd left Greece a little more than 48 hours ago and she'd only managed about five hours of sleep on the flight and five more in an uncomfortable chair at the hospital. In addition, Tom had been texting her repeatedly, under the guise of concern about Raegan. When she questioned Raegan about it, Raegan admitted he'd been visiting her at work and giving her big tips to get information about Paige. Although Raegan hadn't told him anything about Apollo, Paige had a feeling he was planning to use those big tips as a way of manipulating Raegan into helping him win Paige back .

"Great," Paige muttered as they talked about it. "Now he's blowing up my phone and threatening to come visit! Raegan, you need to cut him off. I know the money he was throwing at you was great, but I'm going to be the one taking care of you and I can't have him up my ass all the time ."

"I know. I'm sorry. I won't respond to his messages anymore." Raegan looked down .

"Raegan?" Paige knew her friend well enough to know she was hiding something .

"Have you talked to your mom?" Raegan asked after a moment .

"Yeah. We'll figure it out. I'll sleep on the couch and you can have the futon in my old room. My mom turned it into a sewing room, so the double bed is gone, but that's no big deal ."

"Oh, hell, Paige, I'm sorry." Her blue eyes filled with tears and Paige shook her head .

"Stop apologizing—it's okay. My mom is worried about you going home and Nicky could probably stay with friends on weekends so I can sleep in her bed. It's going to work out ."

"But you have to go to work and you need your rest and — "

"Would you shut up?" Paige scowled at her. "If roles were reversed, you'd be taking care of me, so just let it go! I want you to rest and get better ."

"Can you bring me my laptop—I need to let my professor know what's going on. I have a paper due next week that isn't done ."

"Should I write it for you?" Paige asked dryly .

Raegan chuckled. "That would be nice, but no, I'll get an extension." She sighed. "Damn, I've got so many bills and no money coming in. I'm really in deep shit, Paige ."

"Didn't I tell you—" Paige broke off abruptly as a huge bouquet of flowers came in, completely covering the identity of the person bringing them .

"Surprise!" Tom peered around the massive bouquet. "I thought these might cheer you up ."

"Oh! They're so pretty." Raegan's eyes lit up but Paige had to resist rolling her eyes .

"How are you feeling, kiddo?" Tom put them on the table and then went to stand by Paige, though he was talking to Raegan .

"Tired, sore…you know ."

"When are they letting you out of here ?"

"Not sure yet." Raegan shook her head. "They want to watch the lung a little longer ."

"I was thinking about that—and your leg," he said slowly. "There's no way you can get up and down the stairs at your apartment, so why don't you come stay with me? I can set you up in the downstairs guest room and Paige could even stay with you so — "

"Tom." Paige clenched her jaw as she spoke in a tight voice. "I need to talk to you. In the hallway ."

He glanced at her. "Paige, I know you're still upset with me but this is about what Raegan needs ."

She took a breath. "Outside. Now ."

He sighed. "Fine." He turned and walked out .

Paige gave Raegan a look before following him and Raegan gave her an apologetic shrug .

Out in the hallway, Paige walked until they got to the lobby by the elevators, wanting to make sure they had a little privacy .

"What's this about, Paige?" he asked, leaning against the wall and raising his eyebrows .

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but bribing my best friend isn't going to work ."

"I don't know what you're talking about ."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you planning to buy her loyalty or her love or what?" she asked quietly .

He narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck does that mean ?"

"Why were you hanging out with her at the casino while I was away? You two were never best friends before. Suddenly you were spending all your time with her? To what end, Tom? Big tips to bribe her into getting info about me? To get her on your side so she could help change my mind ?"

"You're kind of full of yourself," he said with a huff. "You think you're the only woman in the world who might go out with me? You think I'm going to wait for you forever? What do you think we've been doing these two weeks since you've been gone ?"

Paige raised her eyebrows. "What, exactly, were you doing, Tom? Sleeping together ?"

"Yes. Exactly." He gave a little smile of satisfaction. "And now she knows what you're giving up ."

Paige felt a moment of revulsion—both at him and at Raegan—but managed to keep her disgust at bay. "All I'm giving up is a boring guy who doesn't know how to have fun ."

He slowly moved towards her, squinting his eyes slightly as he leaned forward. "She's smart enough to know that money is all you need to make life fun. Something you seem to forget as you max out your credit cards in some stupid search for adventure—whatever the fuck that means. She knows now that money can make everything better…I was willing to compromise for you, you know. All you had to do was tell me what you wanted. Instead, you lied and cheated — "

"I never lied or cheated on you!" she hissed, glaring at him .

"No, but you cheated on your husband with me." He smirked. "Is he broke like you ?"

The elevator doors opened and Paige clamped her lips together, waiting for the nurses to walk past them. "I didn't know if we were actually married," she ground out. "We did a dumb thing during spring break and I was too afraid to go find out one way or the other, but that's not the same as cheating and you know it !"

"All I know is I was willing to give you the world, and you threw me away for what? Some hot, sweaty sex on a beach in Greece? Was your hubby as fun as you remembered or did you come home with a little Greek bun in your oven and a broken heart to boot ?"

Paige took a step back and forced herself to breathe. "Believe it or not, having fun doesn't mean being an irresponsible fool. I made one reckless decision three years ago—and honestly, I can't call it a mistake because he's a great guy ."

"Then why are you back here ?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because my best friend was in a terrible car accident ?"

"And where is he ?"

"In Greece, running his family's business ."

"What do they do? Are they olive farmers? No, wait—fishermen?" He was grinning at her, condescension all over his face .

She shook her head. "Does it make a difference, Tom? You want Raegan? You can have her, but she won't be interested in your little McMansion and weekend golf outings once she's back on her feet. Remember the girl with the pink hair and tattoos? Not exactly the country club debutante you have in mind ."

He snorted. "She'll do it because she wants the money, the prestige—and she'll do anything to stay away from her daddy ."

Paige stiffened, unable to believe Raegan had told him about that. "Well, that's between you and her, I guess, but I don't want anything to do with you ."

"No?" He walked towards her again, pausing right in front of her, making her uncomfortable with his proximity. "Not even a little bit jealous, honey ?"

"Not a single iota." She turned her face away, taking a step back as he leaned forward. "Besides, if you want Raegan, why do you care what I think ?"

He chuckled. "Men like me? We don't like to lose…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "You wasted nearly two years of my life and now I have to start over with Raegan, who's going to need a lot of training to learn how to behave, how to dress, how to act appropriately in front of my colleagues—time I don't have. I'm up for a promotion in January and I need a fiancée before then ."

"If you think that's going to be Raegan," she laughed, "give it your best shot. She won't give up her piercings and tattoos for anyone—much less you ."

"She gave it all up when she was in my bed last weekend," he shot back. "And I have pictures to prove it ."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "You know Raegan collects sex videos, right? Like, she has them of pretty much every guy she's slept with. It's her idea of porn ."

He growled, advancing on her until she was up against the wall. "You really fucked me over, Paige. Now I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel because I'm out of time ."

Paige felt a moment of concern but reminded herself she was in a public place and he was a big baby anyway. She remembered a time he'd hurt his ankle golfing. It wasn't even a sprain but he spent two days on the couch, moaning and whining like he'd broken a bone. Despite his bullish stance, she wasn't afraid of him; she was too ticked off .

"Leave me alone, Tom," she said in a tired voice, wondering why she'd put up with him for so long. "If you think Raegan is the woman you can mold into what you need, go for it. Take her home and take care of her and pay all her bills—she has a ton, by the way ."

He grunted. "She'll pay me back. One way or another ."

"Really?" Though she just wanted to get away from him, part of her was angry that not only was he willing to replace her with her best friend, but that he was taking advantage of Raegan's precarious situation in the process. If she'd told him about her father, he knew Raegan would do almost anything not to have to go home to Phoenix. Which left her at his mercy .

"What's the matter, Paige?" He reached out to rub his knuckles across her cheek. "You starting to see what you'll be missing ?"

Paige was vaguely aware of the elevator door opening again but she was squirming to move away from his disgusting touch and nauseating closeness. "Get away from me!" she hissed. "I don't miss anything about you !"

"How are you going to pay your rent without Raegan's share, hmm?" He chuckled. "You'll be on your knees, begging me to take you back—probably in about two months. And that's where I'm going to make you stay—on your knees ."

"Go to hell!" Paige moved to the side, trying to get away, but he closed fingers around her wrist painfully. "I'd rather be homeless on the street than living with you !"

"You're too proud for that and you know it! Maybe if you drop to your knees right now, and give me a little head, I'd consider — "

"The only thing you should consider is taking your hands off my wife." Apollo's deep, resonating growl made both of them jump, but Paige reacted first, practically vaulting herself into her husband's arms .