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Simone had built a thriving career as an engineering consultant and part-time teacher, and she hadn’t wanted to start over in a new city. She also hadn’t wanted to pull Jules away from her home, her school, and her friends. Seattle would have been the perfect solution, but Ned Roberts had refused to compromise and had accepted a position in Baltimore instead. When Simone had resisted going with him, he’d packed his bags and never looked back.
“You always say that. He made his choice, and that included forgetting he had a daughter who loved him. I wasn’t important enough for him to even fly back to visit, or fly me out to see him. I don’t want Ava to doubt that her father loves her. Ever. It’s too painful. I can’t tell Nik about Ava until I’m sure he will really want to be part of her life. I’m not going to let him hurt my daughter.”
CHAPTER6
Nik was wiping the last traces of shaving foam from his cheeks when he heard the chirp of his laptop’s video software. It was early evening in Vancouver, and the New York offices had been closed for hours, meaning this was probably personal. The only person who would be calling him was his mother. He let out an audible sigh and pulled his shirt over his head. He loved his mother, but a call from her could take half the night, and he had a full night of work in front of him.
After his guided tour in the morning, his afternoon had been full of financial reports and spreadsheets. Harbourview’s numbers backed up everything Nate had told him, but when he looked at the overall corporate picture, something was bugging him, and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Jules had been elusive all day, running around with a pinched look, muttering about problems with the auction. When he had tried to pin her down and schedule a meeting, she’d told him to talk to her assistant and book it for Monday. Then she’d holed up in her office with the door closed. He’d been left with no option except to do what she asked, unless he wanted to create a scene by pounding on her office door and demanding she talk to him. His frustration hadn’t reached that point yet.
Nik hit “Accept” on the video call, and his mother’s face filled the screen. Her dark hair, liberally streaked with grey, was pulled back in a ponytail, and her cheeks were pink. She looked like she’d just come in from the cold—and Toronto in February was frigid. She was smiling, making the lines around her dark eyes more pronounced. Nik could see his father pacing in the background behind her. Great. It was never a good sign when both of them called.
His father still wore the suit he would have worn to the office that day, but then Giorgio Costas rarely wore anything but a suit. Nik got his height and build from his father, and even at close to seventy, Giorgio was physically fit and could be imposing. Nik might have followed his father’s footsteps into the world of high finance, but he hoped their similarities ended there.
“Hey, Ma.” He studied her expression, searching for a clue for the reason for this midweek call. He tried to make sure they connected once a week, just to let his mother know how he was doing. It was also a way for him to keep track of her. Cassandra Costas was only in her late sixties, and she was healthy and active, but he was her only child, and on the road all the time. Sometimes he worried. Even if she was surrounded by extended family.
“Nikos. Where are you? Why aren’t you on vacation?” Her tone was a mixture of concern and admonishment.
How had they found out already? He had intended to update them on their weekly call, like he did any time he was called away to another city. “Change of plans. I had to fly out to Vancouver to close a deal. Why? And how did you find out?”
“My cousin Eleni. I told her where you were supposed to be staying, and she reached out to invite you to dinner. The resort told her you never checked in, so she called me.”
Nik swallowed his groan. The family gossip chain at work. “Why did you tell her I was going to be in Greece? It was supposed to be two weeks away from everything, not a family vacation.”
His mother tsked and shook her head. “Of course I told them you were coming. You can’t go to Greece and not visit family. They would never forgive you. The family complains we don’t come visit enough as it is.”
He should have gone to the Caribbean instead. At least down there he had no extended family. “I’m sorry your cousin is disappointed. The deal here couldn’t wait. I’ll try to get over there later this year,” he said, trying to mollify her. And he would. Maybe. At the moment, running into Jules Roberts had made Vancouver slightly more interesting than Greece.
“You need to go sooner.” His father’s face peered over his mom’s shoulder.
“What difference does a few months make? The islands will still be there.” Nik had a sinking feeling that this was more than a family dinner he had missed.
“Eleni had someone she wanted to introduce you to. The daughter of a friend of hers. Beautiful girl. Very smart. She attended the London School of Economics. We thought—”
“You thought what?” Nik growled.
“You need to think about getting remarried,” his father said. “You’re over forty. It’s time to put your bitterness away and find someone new. You can’t keep living in the past. There’s more to life than making money.”
That was rich, coming from his father. Anger burned deep in his belly, and he struggled not to tell his old man to mind his own business. He’d watched his father do nothing but work constantly—and cheat on his mother—for most of his life. Giorgio Costas was the last person Nik would accept advice from.
“I’m not bitter, and I’m not living in the past. I’m busy. I travel all the time. My work is not conducive to a relationship.” Nik delivered the lines smoothly, attempting to end the conversation. Everything he said about his work was the truth. The bitterness? A lifetime wouldn’t wash that away. Vanessa had robbed him of the family he had always wanted, and he doubted he would ever recover.
“You can’t fool me, Nikos,” Cassandra chided. “You haven’t been home to visit in months. You skipped Christmas again this year. I understand you don’t want to run into Angelo and Vanessa. But your yaya isn’t getting any younger. She won’t live forever, and she misses you.”
His mother’s words hit him like a blow to the chest. He loved his grandmother, and guilt weighed on him when he thought about how little he’d seen her in the past few years. Ever since he’d found his now ex-wife in bed with his cousin, family gatherings were just too painful. His work schedule meant he rarely made time to visit her on his own. He needed to do better.
“I’ll come visit her soon,” he promised. He would. Maybe he could swing a short stop in Toronto once he was finished in Vancouver, before he took his vacation.
“Fine, fine, you’ll visit. But what about a wife?” his father demanded. “You can’t wait much longer to start a family.”
Nik chose his words carefully, not wanting to give his father the satisfaction of seeing how frustrated he was. “I am not having this conversation with you again, Dad. I tried the family thing once, and it didn’t work out. I see no reason to put myself through that again.”
“Not all women are like Vanessa,” his mother said dismissively.
How he wished he could believe that. But the actions of his faithless ex-wife had devastated him and left him wary of emotional entanglements. Love was not worth the risk.
“Maybe not. But I don’t intend to change my life, and what woman wants a husband who is gone most of the time? Women either want my money and don’t want me around, like Vanessa, or they want me to change. You need to accept my decision.”
The sadness on his mother’s face was almost enough to make him reconsider. She had wanted a big family, like the rest of her brothers and sisters. Nik had been the only child she carried to term, and she had doted on him. Now he was thwarting her desire to spoil a half-dozen grandchildren. When he was younger and he married Vanessa, he had looked forward to the day they would start their own family. He wasn’t going to open himself up again to make his mother happy. Once had been enough.
