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You are mine.
This was something she knew from her study. A blissful smile pulled at her lips, but the lure of sleep was too strong for her to respond.
You are mine, too.
Marianna had been looking forward to having lunch with Alethea, after being introduced to her at the Precision Investments party a few weeks ago. It would be nice to have a friend in Corfu, especially another woman. For some reason, Marianna never had girlfriends in the past. It had been difficult to find peers who enjoyed the same things she did, like languages and culture. It wasn’t like she’d been treated poorly, but she’d never managed to find her tribe, either.
Perhaps it was because she’d been surrounded by her brothers and Jules. She related better to men, but had always wondered what it might be like to have a close girlfriend. And when she’d gone to university several years ahead of most people, the gap had been prohibitive to making friends. She couldn’t legally drink or get into bars and clubs. And she was still swooning over boys in magazines. Her isolation had only grown, the opportunity for making friends whipping past her like a stormy wind. Jules had been the only person who’d enjoyed her company.
Getting the package from him last night had been like getting a warm, familiar hug. She’d even shown Nico how to do a Tim Tam Slam at breakfast that morning, and had regaled him with stories of all the weird and wonderful things she loved about Australia. He’d chuckled at all the strange slang words and cultural quirks that made her home country unique.
But a text from Jules had set off warning bells. Marianna frowned as she looked at her phone. He wasn’t the kind of guy to be cryptic. Hell, he was a computer technician who lived in the binary. It was the one thing she’d always liked about him, in fact. He said what was on his mind, answered questions in yes or no terms. But something about this message rankled.
JULIAN: I can’t bear the thought of you being stuck there all alone. So much opportunity wasted.
What on earth did he mean? What opportunity had been wasted?
She didn’t have time for that now. Alethea was walking toward her, waving a hand adorned with a huge gold ring. She wore a black sundress that hugged her slim figure and swirled around her ankles above a pair of flat gold sandals. Between her oversized sunglasses, a large sunhat dangling from one hand, and beautifully bronzed skin, she looked every bit the glamorous socialite.
“Hi Marianna.” Alethea leaned in and kissed both her cheeks, a soft cloud of perfume wafting in the air. She smelled like lemon cake. “So nice to see you.”
“You too. This looks like a cute place.” The café was in an old building but was bustling and bright, with white tables and gold accents. One wall had a mural of birds painted in a million shades of blue. “I’m glad you suggested it.”
“And that’s before you’ve had the coffee.” Alethea winked. “Let’s grab lunch and a table.”
A few minutes later they were seated with an assortment of mezé spread out in front of them. Alethea’s presence encouraged VIP service. There were grilled baby octopuses, melitzanosalata, a green salad laden with juicy tomato pieces and chunks of feta, halloumi, skewers with grilled lamb, and a bowl of spiced olives.
“How did you find out about this place?” Marianna asked. It was off the beaten path, down a little lane where the houses were close together and the walkway was barely more than shoulder-width.
“It was one of my father’s favorite places.” A sad smile flittered over her lips. “He used to bring me here when I was younger.”
“You must miss him a lot.”
“I do.” She speared a baby octopus with her fork. “Has Nico said much about him?”
Marianna frowned. It was kind of an odd question. “Not beyond what was said at Dion’s party.”
Alethea nodded. “That shouldn’t surprise me. I don’t know why it matters. I guess I wanted to know if he missed my father.”
“He was an investor in the company, right?”
The expression of Alethea’s face shifted from sad to confused. “Well, yes. But I mean because Nico lived with us for a few years.”
Marianna tried to hide her shock by taking a moment to rifle through her salad for a decently sized chunk of feta. “Oh yes, of course.” She pretended like this wasn’t the first time she was hearing it. “I didn’t put two and two together initially. So many names.”
“That must be quite a challenge.”
“How did Nico come to live with you, anyway? He never told me that part.”
“My father hired him,” she said. “He was eighteen and looking for work. So my father put him on as an assistant gardener. He didn’t have anywhere to live so we let him stay with us. There was an old building in the back, which our maid used to live in before she retired. Nico stayed there for five years.”
“Your father sounds like a generous man.”
“He cared about giving young people a chance.” She bit down on her lip. “I don’t know what he’s told you about how it all went down in the end…but I still have such guilt over it. He and my father were so close. The fact that Nico didn’t come to the funeral broke my heart. I’d hoped…” She sighed. “I’d hoped that his death might’ve given some perspective to it all. But perhaps not.”
