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“We argued. We got to the hotel and I asked him what was going on. We argued and he told me that if he was a criminal, you were too. That’s when it got ugly.”
Simon bit his lip. “It’s the truth, Athena. He was my business partner.”
Athena nodded. “I know.”
“So… what happened? Where did the police find you?”
“Korinos. I’d hitch-hiked down the E75. That bastard had tossed me in the trunk of his car, but he forgot there was a crowbar in there. I popped the lock, and managed to escape. He was headed toward Thessaloniki, and from there he said we were going to Turkey.”
Just as Simon had thought. With any luck the police would pick Kosta up before he left the country.
Once reunited with Athena, Simon was ready to take her and Eirene home. He was so tired. He’d been awake for two days, and that, and the stress of not knowing what had happened to his sister had finally caught up to him. On the way back to Halithos, he fell asleep, leaning against Eirene’s shoulder.
The police picked Kosta up just outside of Komotini, less than a hundred miles from the Turkish border. It didn’t surprise him. He knew that Simon would turn him in.
That had been a misstep. The old Simon would never have done it, he’d have covered his own ass and Kosta’s with it. But ever since Simon had fallen in love with the Dimitrios girl, he’d changed, had become a better man, to Kosta’s eventual loss.
Athena had been a misstep too, a monumental one. If Kosta had stayed away from her, he’d be a free man now. And yet he couldn’t say he regretted marrying her. Athena was the brightest, funniest woman he’d ever known. She had a delicious temper, a wicked sense of mischief, and the sex? Astoundingly hot.
The crazy thing was that Kosta could have made her his mistress, could have carried on an affair with her for months, maybe for years without Simon ever knowing, but he got greedy and sloppy, and wanted to press his advantage.
No. That wasn’t true, or at least not wholly true. He liked the idea of marrying Athena. Though he resisted the idea, there was a part of him that knew he’d married her because he’d fallen in love with her. Not that he’d ever have admitted it to anyone, even Athena. And maybe that was one of his great regrets in all this, that he’d never said “I love you,” to her, no matter how many times she’d said it to him.
The trunk thing… that was an easy out for both of them. He’d provoked the argument, said things that weren’t very nice, and when she reacted as he knew she would, he’d dragged her out to the rental car and tossed her in the trunk. He knew there was a crowbar in there because he’d put it in there before they left the hotel. He also knew how to fix the latch so it wouldn’t catch properly. It would keep the trunk closed, but not locked securely. If Athena had half a brain, she’d get out easily. In fact it surprised him that it took as long as it did. He finally had to stop and walk away from the car in hope that she’d take the opportunity to escape.
So she probably hated him now, and that was just as well since he was going to spend some time in prison. Well it couldn’t be helped. He’d fucked up. What surprised him was that Athena came to visit him while he was in jail.
“Hello you jerk.”
“Nice way to talk to your husband.”
“I’m going to fix that.”
“Good. It was a stupid thing to do. I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” he told her. God but he wanted her.
“Why did you marry me, Kosta? Was it the money?”
“Of course!”
She stared at him. “You broke my heart.”
“Oh come on, Athena, it wasn’t love for either of us, not really,” he lied. If she believed that, severing all ties would be simpler for her.
“It was. For me.”
“No, it was an adventure, and you wanted to stick it to your brother.”
Athena’s jaw set in that lovely, stubborn way Kosta had come to cherish. She was annoyed with him, but he was willing to bet that any moment she’d see the humor in what he’d said and… yes, there it was, the ghost of a smile. “You’re a shit.”
“Count on it. We had a good time though, yes?”
“Yes, she replied grudgingly.”
“Good sex,” he said, voice pitched low.
The smile betrayed her. “Yes,” she admitted. “Very good.”
“Well then.”
