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“I do. It’s so great to see you again. What’s it been, years?”
Ambros doesn’t bother to respond to her. Instead, he looks directly into his father’s eyes. “Why won’t you stop meddling in my love life? If you haven’t noticed, I’m extremely happy, and you’re being a rude fool in front of the woman I’m dating.”
I swallow hard, realizing I inadvertently stepped right into some family drama.
His father looks right at me, slowly dragging his eyes up and down my body. “Where did you get this one? From the club? She won’t be anything you need her to be, Ambros. Stop wasting your time with women this low on the totem pole.”
Zoe finds the perfect opportunity to butt in. “I hate to be rude, but you and I know an arranged marriage between us could bring such unity to our country. We’ll be a staple, Ambros. There’s never been another union like the one we could have… and this woman, while I’m sure she’s nice, isn’t what you need. She isn’t powerful, and you need a powerful, strong woman by your side when you take everything over.”
Okay, I don’t know what comes over me… but I refuse to stay silent right now. “An Umarova isn’t enough for him?” I blink at the woman and then look at his father. “I’m sure you both know my siblings. Ruslan. Lom. Nazyr. Eset. I can’t wait to go back home and let them know that you both think I’m not what Ambros needs.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ambros
I can’t hide the shit-eating grin spreading across my face. Xava’s blown me away by coming out of her shell and putting both my father and Zoe in their place.
“That’s not possible. There are only four Umarova children,” my father points out, and Zoe begins laughing.
“What in the hell are you laughing at?” Xava asks, her tone proving how aggravated she’s becoming.
“Achilles is right. It’s not possible.” Zoe shakes her head a couple of times and then looks directly at me. She widens her eyes. “She’s obviously a crazed lunatic, Ambros. How can’t you see that?”
Xava pulls her cell phone from her small clutch purse, and I glance at the screen. She calls Ruslan and puts the phone on speaker. My father will be able to recognize his voice, and I know the second he hears it, he’s going to be very, very confused.
“Xava, everything okay?” Ruslan immediately questions, voice full of concern.
“Mmm, it will be in a second. Achilles Galanis and Zoe…”
Xava obviously seems to be waiting for someone to tell her Zoe’s last name, so I fill her in. “Drakos.”
“Zoe Drakos seem to think that I’m not your sister and that I’m a weak woman who doesn’t belong by Ambros’ side.” I know her family isn’t exactly keen on me seeing her, though Ruslan and I do have mutual respect for one another. It happens after years of running in the same social circles, plus I purchase a lot of product from him in order to do my job correctly.
“Ah, noted. I’ll cancel any contracts I have going with the Drakos or Galanis family to send a message,” Ruslan declares, and the look on Zoe and my father’s faces is laughable. Zoe’s eyes are wide, and she swallows hard while my father glares at me like I’ve done this. If he and Zoe had just left Xava and I to ourselves, none of this would have happened. This is karma in its finest form.
“I didn’t mean any offense by what I said.” Zoe is quick to try and save her ass, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. She’s too far gone at this point.
“I’m sure you only meant to be offensive by what you said, Zoe, and that’s why I won’t be doing any more business with your family. You were disrespectful to my sister, and it’s the last thing I’ll tolerate,” Ruslan speaks up, standing up for Xava.
“I’m sure we can fix this,” Zoe’s quick to say. Meanwhile, my father looks between me and Xava as if I should say something to smooth over his error. He and Zoe got themselves in hot water, so I refuse to be the man giving them the life jacket to get out of it. This is exactly why people shouldn’t make assumptions. Though, I am glad that Linus didn’t run back to our father and tell him who I was seeing. If he had told our father, he wouldn’t have walked into this situation. I have a front-row seat to him pissing off someone who he’d like to do more business with, and man, I am loving his discomfort.
“No, there is no fixing it. I don’t give anyone another opportunity to disrespect my family. Xava, I’ll speak with you later. Have a good time while you’re in Greece.”
“I will. I’ll text you in a little while,” Xava tells her brother before she ends the call.
My father swallows hard and looks right at Xava. “I apologize for doubting what you said. I don’t know if you’d find it possible to explain to your brother that I—”
“No,” Xava cuts him off.
“I’m sorry?”
“You want me to tell my brother you didn’t know who I was, and that’s why you spoke to me in the manner you did. What you want me to do is rebuild the bridge you just burned, and I refuse to do it. No one should speak to someone like the two of you just did, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my brother never renewed the contracts he had with your families. You both acted like schoolyard bullies, and man, how old are the two of you? How embarrassing.”
I slide my arm around Xava’s waist and pull her closer to me, having a complete “that’s my girl” moment. “Maybe we should get out of here?” I suggest, and Xava nods.
“Yeah, I think that would be great,” Xava says, and within a moment, I have a hold of her hand, and we’re walking away. Neither of us bother saying a thing to Zoe or my father. As we walk around the crowds of people, I spot my brother near the bar, sipping on a drink. He smirks at me and raises his glass while I give him a chin lift. I appreciate his loyalty and understand why he puts himself in the middle all the time. He’s trying to keep this family together so it doesn’t blow up in all our faces, yet one day, I think it will happen. I don’t want it to, but our father has to constantly meddle and stir up trouble. At some point, Linus will reach his breaking point, too.
We’re in Elia now, and my home is in Ornos, which is close to the hustle and bustle. All the tourists go through Ornos and the surrounding areas. Because of this, there are plenty of places to eat, but Xava’s made it apparent she wants to experience a lot of Greek cuisine while she’s here.
