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“No,” he said a bit harsher than he meant to as he stared down into her eyes. “No, I would have married you myself had that happened.”
“Instead, you’re marrying me to keep it from happening, why not give Olympia that same chance? She no more wants to marry Demetrius than I do.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m a woman Stefano. We know when we’re putting up a front and Olympia’s is desperately thin.”
“She seems happy to me; her eyes are more vibrant than when I last saw her in Greece.”
“She likes the area, she loves your mother, but when Demetrius nears, she pulls into herself, quiets, says very little. She’s miserable Stefano. Please rethink this,” she said resting a hand on his chest as they pulled up to the curb outside her place. “If you find her someone who makes her smile, who will gladly marry her, then you can send Demetrius to Cleveland where he’s unlikely to find a fully Greek daughter to play, forcing you to insist he honor her. If it happens before June, then we could even get away with not having to get married…”
“It is too late for us to back out of this marriage Hailey. Our mothers sent out ‘save the date’ alerts to all of their contacts. Our wedding is likely going to be the social event of the decade and we cannot disappoint our mothers. But I will think about your suggestion. If I can find someone who will love Olympia and she can be happy with then I will happily allow her to end the engagement. Our wedding would be the perfect way to appease my mother and grandfather if that happens.”
“I can’t get rid of you, can I?” Hailey mused incredibly happy about that fact as he kissed her lips softly helping her out of the car as Karl got her bags.
“Not a chance,pethi mou, you’re stuck with me for life, always and for all eternity,” he stated kissing her hand where his ring sat.
“I suppose if you’re promising all eternity then I’ll accept you, I am an all or nothing kind of girl after all.”
Except when it comes to you, you I’ll take whatever I can of, she silently added in her mind as he walked her inside her building. She would take as little or as much as he gave her and be content living with her love.
“The best kind,” he said kissing her lips seeing her neighbors watching them. “Do I get to come up to visit?”
“I might kick something delicate if you don’t,” she countered letting him sweep her into the elevator with a bright smile. Yes, she would take this and be happy just being with him, for all eternity her heart said, and her soul echoed it loudly.
Chapter 8
“K
nock, knock,” Elena said poking her head around the door of Hailey’s office.
“Elena, Mom, what are you all doing here? Olympia, you look amazing,” she added with a glance at the time seeing the girl. They had a staff meeting in less than thirty minutes, so this wasn’t good.
“We have an appointment for you with Alberto Moncar to design your dress,” Leann said, and her jaw dropped in surprise.
“I hope you don’t mind I tagged along,” Olympia said, and she shook her head no at the idea.
“I’m glad you did, you can be their tie breaker,” she stated giving her a smile as she grabbed her bag and shut down her computer. Stefano would be all right with her missing the meeting; actually, he’d probably say it was a great reason to miss it. “Let me just pop upstairs and let Stefano know and I’ll show you around a bit.”
Hailey pushed open the outer office doors giving Xavier a smile as he said hello, his gaze flowing over the women with her, resting on Olympia for a few extra moments and an idea came to her. “Is he busy?”
“Never for you Miss Hailey,” Xavier stated making her laugh lightly.
“Mom, Elena, Olympia, this is Xavier, he’s now Stefano’s assistant. He sent Athena back to Greece to work with Hector last week,” she added when Elena’s brow lifted in surprise.
“Why would he do that?” Elena asked.
“Because she was being positively rude to my Hailey,” Stefano said hearing their voices. “She’s lucky she works hard, or she would have been out of the company entirely.”
“Why’s that?” Elena asked him with a light smile as he stepped up behind Hailey and pulled her back into his chest, wrapping himself fully around her it seemed.
“She tried to claim they were sleeping together,” Hailey answered, and Elena’s eyes widened in full disbelief. “She was incredibly jealous when she learnt we were getting married.”
“Her attitude towards Hailey woke me up to the fact and I transferred her to Greece into a position where I will not require contact with her when I go for business. Someone was a little minx when she broached the subject with me, and I found myself looking for someone to replace her using her guidelines as reference.”
“What were those guidelines?” Leann asked as Hailey smiled.
“That he should find someone male or a grandmotherly type because should he be travelling with his assistant and I’m home with our eventual children, the last thing I want on my mind is a tall leggy brunette who’s lusting after my husband going with him. I may trust Stefano implicitly when it comes to not betraying me, but a woman like that…I would never trust Athena or someone like her from trying to entice him or worse.”
