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“Just because your family is happy to grub for a living, doesn’t mean I’m going to stoop to doing so,” Stacia seethed. She glared at her brother. “I will sue you. You just wait.”
“You will not cause that kind of scandal, Stacia.” Athena only despised one thing more than her daughter-in-law. Scandal. “Your brother gave you clear warning, and now you are paying the price for not listening. Perhaps if you apologized politely to Anna, Alexandros would see clear to continuing your allowance.”
Polly bit her lip, because she had no doubt that an apology would not cut it.
Once Alexandros got to a certain point, he was immovable. Unfortunately for Stacia, she had not realized that he’d reached that place before he’d issued the warning before lunch.
“I’m very sorry if something I said might have offended you,” Stacia said to Polly with one of the volte-faces Polly had grown accustomed to over the years.
Stacia could be in the middle of a spite-filled rant at Polly and turn up all smiles as soon as Alexandros was within hearing distance.
“You offended me,” Alexandros made clear. “Your words were meant to hurt my wife and your apology is not accepted. It is time for you to leave.”
Both Stacia and Athena objected then, but Alexandros would not be moved. Petros came out, closing the door to the drawing room behind him. “What is going on? You are making so much noise, I could hear you over the movie.”
Polly went toward the door, needing to make sure Helena wasn’t upset by the altercation in the hall, but Petros put his hand up to stop her. “She’s fine, totally enthralled by her warrior princess and singing along. How does she know all the words?”
“She’s got her father’s memory.” And Helena had seen the movie multiple times.
With Polly. She could sing all the words too and would rather be doing that right now than arguing with Athena and Stacia. Not that Polly was arguing at all. She’d just been trying get calmer heads to prevail. No such luck though.
Alexandros was in pure head-of-the-family, my-word-is-law mode and his mother and sister, unused to him telling them no about anything were in screeching, this-can’t-be-happening mode.
Athena and Stacia tripped all over each other to tell Petros what was happening, both women somehow managing to make it sound like Polly had started it all, when in fact she had started nothing. Alexandros took immediate exception to the implications and the argument raged again.
Polly looked longingly at the closed door.
At one point, Athena said, “If you ban Stacia from family lunches I will not feel I can come either.”
“You will have to do as you think best,” Alexandros replied without hesitation, shocking everyone, including Polly.
She stared at her husband, feeling like he’d been taken over by aliens. Since when did he do or say anything that would upset his mother? Okay, today. But it had been a first.
Not fulfill the family tradition of the weekly get-together? That was simply not possible.
“Alexandros—” Petros started, his tone conciliatory.
But Polly’s furious husband cut in before his brother could say anything more. “What, Petros? Would you allow either of them to speak to, or about, your wife the way they’ve been with Pollyanna?”
Petros’s mouth snapped shut and then he shook his head decisively. “No, I would not.”
“Corrina is everything a wife should be,” Stacia said with umbrage. “She’s beautiful, has been educated at the best schools. She’s Greek, from a good family and she has her ow
n fortune.”
“While I am none of those things and come from a middle-class American family,” Polly said with no shame. Because she was not and never had been embarrassed about her upbringing.
Her parents were good people. Her siblings were amazing, and not one of them would ever treat someone the way Stacia and Athena had since the first day Polly had stepped foot in Greece.
Polly had been all set to be the best daughter-in-law she could. She’d had all the sympathy in the world for a woman who had lost so many important people in her own life in too few years, but Athena had not wanted an American upstart as part of her family. And she’d made sure Polly knew it.
Stacia’s jealousy and spite had only added to Polly’s discomfort.
“You are beautiful. You are educated,” Alexandros said to her now. “You are American, but have adapted amazingly well to living in my home country and I don’t need you to have a fortune to know that mine has never been much of a draw to you.”
Polly’s eyes filled with tears. Darn pregnancy hormones. “I just wanted you.”
“And I only wanted you. I don’t need a wife with a pedigree. I need you.”
