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“We were,” she said quietly, but the words were thick with grief. He understood. Konstantinos’ death had been hard on all of them.
“There’s nothing like that between me and Mila.”
Her eyes bore into his; he didn’t like it. His mother was a gentle soul, but when she fixated on something, she was unstoppable.
“Mila is a kind girl. I would hate to think you’re leading her on.”
“Mila is an exceptional young lady,” he corrected with absolute honesty. “But there’s nothing between us.” He wondered why the words felt so strange to voice. After all, they’d agreed as much many times over. “She is married to her career, as I am mine.”
“But when she looks at you, I’m sure I see something more, Leonidas.”
He should have shut the conversation down, but curiosity got the better of him. “What do you see, precisely?”
“I think she cares for you, a great deal.” She frowned. “I can’t see why any woman would choose to come here at a time like this unless she had very deep feelings.”
“Her life is complicated,” Leonidas said after a beat, pushing aside his mother’s appraisal, and focusing on his denial instead. “She was in a difficult situation and I’ve agreed to help her. Helping requires her to go wherever I go.”
“Is it serious?”
“I told you, there’s nothing between us.”
“Her situation,” Maggie clarified.
“Yes.”
“And you’re helping her,” she pondered.
“For Benji’s sake,” he stressed. “Circumstances brought us together; I couldn’t walk away from her. She was in danger and I knew I could help. It felt good to help…Benji.”
“Benji,” she said with a slow nod. Then, leaning closer, “Just take care the cure isn’t worse than the disease.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That I’m afraid she might care for you very, very much. Don’t break her heart, Leo. Take it from someone who knows, broken hearts don’t easily heal, and she’s too young and sweet to have that inflicted on her.”
Stricken, he stared down at his mother. “I have no intention—,”
“I don’t doubt your intentions,” she said, pressing a finger to his lips then dropping it away. “Only your ability to be with a woman for any period of time and not have her fall in love with you.”
“Spoken with a mother’s rose-tinted glasses in place.”
“We’ll see,” Maggie said, looking towards the garden, where the table was now vacated. “Take care, won’t you, darling?”
Leonidas was replayinghis conversation with his mother, taking a moment’s reprieve to untangle Maggie’s observations, when his phone rang. He recognized Grieg’s number instantly.
“It took a lot of man hours, but I think we’ve got him.”
Leonidas straightened. “You think?”
“I’ll know more once he’s finished with the police.”
Leonidas stared at the wall opposite. He should have felt elated at this news, or at the very least, gratified, but instead, something sank inside him like a lead balloon. “Tell me absolutely everything,” he commanded, moving absentmindedly to a window and looking out. In the distance, he heard the very faint, very familiar peals of Mila’s laugh and the balloon got heavier, dropped faster, so he had to press his arm against the wall, to brace himself for the inevitable. “Everything,” he repeated, closing his eyes, as he stared down the barrel of the fact that soon, Mila would leave him. Just as he wanted.
“You’re very similar to Leonidas.”
Thanasi’s lips pressed hard. With amusement? “Are we?”
“You must know you are.”
