“She’s right here,” Nico says, his voice a little angry. “She’ll tell you herself.” “Anthony?” I ask. “Oh my god, Iris,” he gasps. “Are you okay!?” “I’m fine,” I say, all in a rush, “seriously, I’m fine, are you!?” “I am – what the hell happened last night!? One second you’re counting cash,
Christian breaks our gaze first, clenching his jaw and glancing down at his phone. “I have work to do,” he murmurs, pushing off the counter and brushing past me, already dialing and lifting his phone to his ear as he walks through the door to his room. “Come on, Bambi,” Frankie says after a long m
“Pencil’s smudged left to right,” Nico murmurs, pointing at Steven’s notebook, which holds who-knows-what. “Frequently happens in leftie bookkeeping.” “Iris is right-handed,” Christian murmurs. He sits up then, handing the notebook to Nico, who explores it further. “Just because you didn’t write
“Christian!” I shout again, pulling the door shut behind me. He spins at the end of the hall by the elevator, worry all over his face as I hurry towards him. “Iris!” he says, putting a hand around my waist and tugging me close protectively, look around for whatever is attacking, “what’s wrong!?”
“Nico?” I say, as the sun starts to go down. He flicks his eyes to me. I flick mine to my cell phone. “I know I’m not supposed to ask,” I say quietly, “but can you please just tell me if my brother texted me? He’s…he’s not well. You don’t even have to tell me what it says – just…if he texted?”
I blush a little to hear Christian’s private nickname for me on Nico’s lips. “How do you…know about that?” “Oh my god,” Nico says, shaking his head and staring at me as he sits slowly down next to Frankie. “Whenever Christian ever does talk about the years before he came home, he changes names so
Nico only gets up once, pouring a glass of wine and pushing it generously in my direction when I’m finished unloading the groceries. “Here,” he says. “Thank you for organizing the kitchen. That is not…something that’s precisely in our skill set.” I shrug, a little pleased to have made inroads with
There’s a long, tense moment when I do seriously wonder if Christian is going to punch someone. But he shocks us all, I think, when Christian flicks his eyes to Nico’s beer. “Is there more of that?” he asks, his voice dry. “Yeah,” Nico says, immediately jumping out of the chair and heading for t
A small smile creeps on Leo’s lips. “Yeah, okay,” he says, relaxing back against our chair. “Our secret.” I grin at my baby, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek, because my boy can’t resist a secret.“What’s all this?”I turn to see Christian standing at the open door, peering into the dining
The danger. It’s…it’s far too poignant.My heart breaking, I open a private browsing tab on the web browser and quickly search for Craigslist in both this city and Athens, Greece. As I do my memory goes back to a conversation I had with Frankie, when he told me that this is the best way he knows for
I stand frozen, staring down at the letter as it sits on the little hall desk, my breath coming in fluttery little gasps.The words are very simple.There are vineyards in Greece as well. I’ll take you there.I read it again and again as my heart pounds in my chest, each beat echoing with a mix of h
“You don’t know anything about my life,” I whisper, my voice barely audible, turning my eyes back down to the dishes. “I had no choice.”“You think you’re the only one who suffered?” Lucy whispers. “You think I wanted to be in this position? We were friends once, Iris. We were good to each other. Bu
“Mommyyyy,” Leo says, looking anxiously towards the kitchen door, shifting from foot to floor. “Hurry up! Aunt Bianca says we have to go!”I laugh, glancing down at my little boy, who looks so adorable in the private school uniform he wears to Kindergarten – crisp white shirt, navy blazer, his dark
But…was it? Was it me, missing Chris? Wanting to have yet another piece of him, even if I long denied wanting any ties to my past life?I look down, my heart heavy, not truly understanding what I think or what I feel.“I mean it, Iris,” Chris says, his voice steady and cool. “I’ll be a father to her
My heart sinks as I look Christian in the eyes – because beyond all hope, I had been praying that he hadn’t noticed that Leo is his son. But how could I have been so naïve? Leo looks just like him - dark hair, striking grey-blue eyes. The resemblance is unmistakable. I feel a wave of guilt crashing
“Yes,” he answers, a growl in his voice. “That should suit just fine.”I laugh at the irony in this and shake my head, looking away. “So now you want me to come back, to pretend as if nothing ever happened? You expect me to just accept this, the way things are now?”Christian opens his mouth to resp
Disappointment floods my chest, a sense of disbelief washing over me. “You think I would trust you again after everything? After how you treated me? You expect me to just come back and forget?”His eyes narrow, disappointment etched into his features. “You were faithless. I thought you’d be loyal. I