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“It’s not necessary. I know everything.”
“I was very stupid to get involved with him, and my family almost paid the price for it. Bia could have died.”
“Naive, hasty, yes. Not dumb. He was a friend of your family’s.”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“There is something I need to tell you. I told you I investigated Howard, but what I didn’t say is that I ended his career at the university. That same day you left New York, right after finding out he’d assaulted you, I destroyed his professional life.”
She looks surprised but not shocked. “Is that what you meant by punishing him?”
“No, that’s what I did because he dared to hurt you. For trying to kill you, there’s no forgiveness.”
“If I said that this side of you didn’t scare me, I’d be lying.”
“But it’s who I am, Zoe. For better or worse.”
“And yet, as relentless as you were, you wanted me back.”
“It’s not something I can control.”
“And would you do it if you could?”
“I don’t know. This thing between us, I’ve never experienced anything like it before. I have never been jealous of a woman, never considered anyone as mine. But I was furious when I heard about your wedding. I wouldn’t have hired you if I’d known you were married.”
“Am I a horrible person if I say I’m glad you didn’t find out until we closed the deal? Otherwise, I don’t think we’d ever have gotten close again.”
“I don’t believe that. Life always finds a way to line up the pieces on the board. Our game wasn’t over. We barely started, and you soon abandoned the match.”
“And how much longer do you think it will take to get to the end?Even this feeling, this madness that takes over my body when you touch me, that makes me forget my own name . . . will it end?”
“Perhaps never.”
I hope never.
But she’s not ready to hear that yet.
Christos
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
A Week Later
“Mom,you can’t leave the house.”
Jesus, I’m trying my best not to lose my temper, but I swear to God, she drives me crazy, not taking anything seriously. I’ve lost count of how many times she’s told me over the last few days that she’s not going to give up the few years she has left—which I think is an exaggeration, as the women in her family have lived to over a hundred years old—stuck indoors.
One would think they’re in a tiny studio, not in a nine-bedroom mansion.
“Christos, I’m not saying I’m going to take a stroll through the city, but we don’t know how long this situation will last. We have to find a way to see each other.”
“The safest way to do that is if I drive there to see you.”
“It’s a seven-hour drive.”
“Mom, even though I have a private jet, there are still flight attendants who are in contact with other people. I won’t risk contaminating you.”
I run a hand through my hair, frustrated. I’m very close to myparents. Although work doesn’t allow us to get together regularly, we visit whenever possible, even back on my island in Greece.
