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It wasn’t a question but more of an edict.
‘Am I not?’ I taunted, my nerves a little too frayed to play nice. ‘I can’t promise I won’t send the next person who asks me how many undernotes I like scenting my vintage champagne packing.’
‘That’s all that’s worrying you? Or is there something else? The prenup I sent over for your signature, maybe?’
The question was a little too tight, like a dangerously coiled spring, set to explode.
My gaze slid to a copy of the prenuptial agreement a sharply dressed lawyer had hand delivered a few hours before. I frowned at the curious note in Neo’s voice.
‘What about it? It’s already signed, if that’s what you’re calling about.’
A stunned silence greeted my response. ‘You signed it?’
‘Yes. Why are you surprised?’
‘I’m not,’ he drawled. And before I could call him out, he rasped, ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’
I let the subject of his peculiar attitude over the prenup go as I toyed with sharing my worries about my mother with him. The reminder that the baby I was carrying was the only thing Neo was interested in stopped me.
>
‘I’m not changing my mind, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
He exhaled audibly, making me realise he’d been holding his breath. Had he been prepared to launch another vanquishing skirmish should I have responded differently?
‘That’s a wise course of action.’
For some reason that response hurt. I smothered the sting. ‘Was there something in particular you wanted?’
‘Yes. To give you the date for our wedding. It’ll happen two weeks from tomorrow. That gives you a week to finalise your affairs before you come to Greece.’
Since the internship was at the head office in Athens, I’d agreed to the move.
‘My mother’s coming with me. A change of scene will help with her outlook on life.’
‘I’m not a monster, Sadie. Regardless of where she chooses to stay, she’ll receive the counselling she needs. But you must accept that our agreement includes not overburdening yourself with tasks that are out of your control. I will not allow it.’
I knew he was dishing out the hard truth, and I wanted to hate Neo. But deep down I knew that had circumstances been different, had I been granted other choices, I still would have chosen this. An internship at Xenakis. A chance to live in a different country, experience another culture. All of it.
Except staying within the orbit of this man who turned my equilibrium inside out?
Maybe...
The objections I wanted to hurl at him died in my throat, and exactly two Saturdays later my breath caught, as it had been catching seemingly every other second, as the ten-seater luxury helicopter my mother and I were ensconced in circled over a large island in the middle of the Aegean in preparation to land.
The island was mostly flat, bursting with green and pink foliage and large stretches of stunning white beaches. But on the northernmost point a bluff rose sharply over the water, where towering waves crashed against menacing-looking rocks below.
Magnificent, mesmerising, awe-inspiring—but also dangerous in places.
Just like its owner.
Several small houses, most likely staff accommodation, dotted the right side of the island, after which came extensive stables, a large paddock with thoroughbreds being tended to by stable hands.
The aircraft banked, granting a first view of the resplendent villa and grounds in the mid-afternoon sun.
‘Oh, my God,’ my mother whispered.
The sentiment echoed inside me.
