Ari desperately needed to cry, but she could not do it in front of him. So she firmed her jaw, blinked back the tears and met his gaze. “Yes, we are ready.”
For whatever came, she would be ready.
Chapter Seven
The flight toMykonos was uneventful. Zervou could feel Ariadne’s mother glare daggers at him. She’d said nothing to him the entire ride to the airport and now the entire flight, but he didn’t need words to understand.
She didn’t trust him. No doubt thought he was taking advantage of her daughter. He could almost accept this as fair, even though he was paying to put her into a facility that would allow her daughter not to worry or scrabble for a bit. He was doing thembotha favor.
It figured, like mother like daughter, that neither fully understood this. Not unlike his own mother.
Except, when they reached the facility, Maria went willingly. Obediently agreeing to every instruction from her daughter and the staff.
Zervou went inside with them, but when it came time to leave Maria in her room, he let Ariadne and her mother have some moments alone to stay goodbye.
It was a nice facility, with some of the best counselors and doctors money could buy. Maria would be in good hands. Perhaps she would even find some sense of healing here that would allow Ariadne to…
Well, he supposed it did not matter. The end result was not his concern. As long as Maria stayed and did not cause trouble during the duration of his plan, and Ariadne could concentrate on their ruse.
That was all he needed to concern himself with.
So he waited outside on a pleasant little patio that overlooked the sea. A quiet, restful place. To his way of thinking, Ariadne could use some quiet and restful. It seemed she had done nothing but struggle her entire life.
Which was neither here nor there except that a rested, settled, happy Ariadne would no doubt draw Erjon out of hiding. Men such as Erjon could not stand for those he considered his property to be happy. Successful. Enjoyingwindfalls. Not without wanting a piece of said windfall.
Especially once he knew who had provided it. The man who’d sent him into hiding in the first place.
Erjon could not, would not hide forever. Zervou held onto this certainty with a certain fanaticism.
The door opened, and Ariadne stepped out into the warmth of a beautiful afternoon. Tears sparkled in her eyes, but she was clearly fighting them back as she approached. “She is settled,” she told him firmly, everything she must be feeling carefully controlled behind a stoic mask.
He could not find words for the emotions that seemed to twist and churn in his chest. A kind of yearning, except he did not know how to assuage it. What would make that feeling go away.
So he shoved them away as he rose. “Come, let us go check into our hotel.”
She gave a sharp nod, and they walked out to the waiting car. He did not speak on the drive over to the resort, and neither did she. Her mind was no doubt on her mother. His on the strange feelings assaulting him.
It wouldn’t do, this strange ignorance of his own emotions. No, if he could not categorize them, they did not belong. He would excoriate them. Somehow.
They arrived at the resort, and his driver took care of everything while Zervou led Ariadne to their private beach villa.
She said nothing, but her eyes were wide as he led her into the spacious private building that would be theirs alone.
“This is not a hotel. This is…” She shook her head. “Something someone as poor as me does not have the vocabulary for.”
“Well, consider the next few months a vocabulary lesson.”
“Months, is it?”
“As long as it takes. That’s what you agreed to, is it not?”
“Yes, as long as it takes.” She said it a bit like someone enduring a punishment, which shouldn’t frustrate him as much as it did. Her feelings were fairly immaterial to his end goal.
She moved deeper into the room, all the way to the window that dominated the far wall, showing off the pristine white beach and sparkling blue sea. She painted a picture there, mysterious woman staring out at the contrasting beauty of a Greek island. The bright sunlight seemed to make her skin glow, glittering against the hoops in her ears.
There was a potency to her. Something sharp and unique that drew him to move toward her. Yet she continued to be wary of him. Continued to look at him out of the corner of her eye like he might turn into a villain. Which was neither here nor there. Her concerns or feelings didn’t matter so much as the end result.
If he reminded himself of this enough, perhaps it would stick.
