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Pollyanna relaxed back against the sofa, taking a sip of her tea. “I think he learned from our mistakes.”
“You mean my mistakes.”
“No. I didn’t argue moving in with your family and then it took me a while to realize your mother’s and sister’s behavior was intentional.”
“Because you could not imagine my mother and sister trying to break us up. Your family would never do something like that.” And she hadn’t argued moving in because her tender heart had been moved by the losses his family had suffered and his mother’s plea they all continue to live together at the villa as a family.
As generations of the Kristalakis family had done.
“No, they wouldn’t. My mother? She despised my oldest sister’s husband when they first married, but she never said a word against him.”
“How did you know she despised him?”
“I didn’t like him either, and I went to my mom for advice. She told me it didn’t matter if we liked him, my sister loved him.”
“But you like him now.”
“I do. So does Mom.”
“What changed?”
“The easy answer? He did. We did. The hard one? My sister got ovarian cancer. It’s a terrifying disease that kills more women than survive it. My sister survived and a lot of that is down to how well he took care of her. He found an experimental treatment program in Canada, and even though they told him there was no room for my sister, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He got her in. That pushy certainty he was always right saved my sister’s life, and I learned that he loved her as much as she loved him. Just because he wasn’t touchy-feely and had a sometimes acerbic sense of humor didn’t mean his emotions weren’t just as engaged. Mom and I love him now.”
“My mother thinks you are a saint.” His mother had spent their time apart as a family doing some soul-searching of her own, and she had admitted to Alexandros she hadn’t liked what she’d found.
“In six months, she can tell me that herself if she really thinks it.” Again, there was no give in Pollyanna on this.
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“On purpose, no, I don’t think you would.”
“But unwittingly, you think I would.”
“Something like tha
t.”
“What else?” he asked, more than a little worried what other “un-compromises” his wife wanted.
“I want to stay in the penthouse.”
That, at least, was easy. “Done.”
“Corrina thinks we can convert the corporate apartments into more usable space for visiting family, our security team and some kind of indoor playroom-slash-gym for the children.”
“Whatever you want.”
“I want this space to be family friendly.” She indicated the rooftop garden with an all-encompassing wave.
“What does that mean?”
Pollyanna listed some things she and Corrina had brainstormed the day before.
“I will find a nearby building to move the helipad to. I would prefer a more parklike setting for our children.” Which would require the entire space of the rooftop.
If they were going to live in a penthouse, his family was going to have the best that lifestyle had to offer.
“Are you sure?” Pollyanna asked, as if she really thought he’d balk at something so simple.
