Adonis in Athens - Page 38

“He’s hurt,” she corrected mildly. “He thinks you don’t trust him—and he’s worked very hard to earn your trust. It means a lot to him to know you’re proud of him.”

The older man’s eyes grew cloudy. “Very proud!” he whispered hoarsely. “He is…” He launched into a torrent of Greek that she didn’t understand, but it wasn’t hard to get the gist of it: how much he loved his son.

Standing just outside the doorway listening, Apollo felt a moment of shame at his earlier behavior but he had to stand his ground. The older generation often tried to micromanage everything and had a hard time letting go. He didn’t begrudge his father coming back to work, but undermining a deal he’d worked so hard to make happen was humiliating. He couldn’t let this be a precedent; hopefully, there would be a way to work past this because despite his waning anger, he knew the guys at the office would be looking to his father now instead of him. It was the way things worked in a small company like theirs, and he hadn’t put in this many hours and given up so much to go backwards.

Walking into the room, he pulled out the legs of the card table and set it in front of Paige and his father. Melina came in with a tray of coffee and some kind of sweets that she’d obviously brought with her since he didn’t have any in the house.

“You’ll have to translate,” Dimitri said. “I cannot carry on a quality conversation in English.”

“I know.” Apollo nodded, sitting next to Paige and reaching for her hand. She squeezed his fingers and he was surprised to see how clammy hers were; she was putting on a brave front despite her nervousness.

“I would like to know your plans,” Dimitri looked from Paige to Apollo. He’d said this in English though he didn’t think the rest of the things on his mind could be spoken as easily in a foreign tongue.

“We don’t know,” Apollo admitted, responding in English since his father understood the language better than he spoke it. “She’s staying for another 10 days and we’re going to try to figure it out.”

“Your mother is extremely unhappy with you,” Dimitri switched to Greek. “This will be complicated for both of you.”

“I know.” Apollo responded in kind. “But I can’t help that now. We’ve been married for three years and we don’t have a lot of time to make a decision.”

“It seems to me your hearts have already made the decision. It’s just the details that have to be worked out.”

“The details include jobs that are 7,000 miles apart,” he said dryly. “Although it appears that I may have to start looking at other options now.”

“Ridiculous!” Dimitri grunted. “The men in the office will do as they’re told or they will find themselves unemployed!”

“That’s just it,” Apollo sighed. “We can force them to do as I say, but we can’t force them to respect me. You know I’m right, Baba. I understand why you did it—I really do—but you’ve hurt me both personally and professionally. I can forgive you the personal hurt, because I know what was in your heart, but I don’t know what to do about the professional situation.”

Dimitri sighed, shaking his head as he sipped the strong espresso Melina had made. “This is something we must discuss, but for today, you have much bigger problems.”

“Mama?”

The two men locked gazes and Dimitri nodded.

Paige didn’t understand the words but she could tell something had just happened that brought them together. She’d gotten used to hearing the pronunciation of Baba and Mama—with the emphasis on the second “a” and a “b” sound instead of a “p” sound for the Greek version of dad—but when Apollo said mama this time, it was filled with trepidation.

“What about your mother?” she asked worriedly.

He met her eyes. “It’s not going to be fun.”

“The good news,” Melina said after a moment, “is that you’re going to love Yaya.” Yaya was also pronounced with emphasis on the second “a.”

“And Sophia?” Apollo asked.

Melina grimaced. “Well, maybe a present would help soften her up.”

Apollo groaned. “Look, she’s my wife. If we decide to end it, that’s our business, but I’ll be damned if it’s going to be because Mama and Sophia don’t like her or try to run her off. I’m serious—if they try to make me choose sides, I’ll be on the next flight to America.”

Melina’s eyes widened but Dimitri merely nodded. “I will attempt to talk to your mother, but you know how she is.”

“Mama is expecting you for dinner. 2:30.” Melina looked nervous.

“Could we tell Sophia not to bring Giorgios?” Apollo muttered.

Melina snorted.

Dimitri shook his head. “This is probably not the best day for that.”

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