Adonis in Athens - Page 66

Without missing a beat, Apollo reached out and shoved Tom against the wall, his left hand gripping Tom’s forearm as Apollo’s right forearm pressed against Tom’s sternum. “Did you just call my wife a whore?” he hissed under his breath.

“What would you call a woman who was screwing someone else while married?”

“Someone who was separated,” he said in a quiet but deadly tone. “Apologize.”

“Fuck you.” Tom grunted as Apollo dug his elbow into his chest.

“I said apologize.”

“I’d do it if I were you.” Mick ambled by, his six foot five inch frame dwarfing both Apollo’s and Tom’s as he leaned over. “He’s been in love with her since the first time he laid eyes on her—he might get grumpy if you don’t apologize and then we’ll all wind up in jail ’cause I’ll say you hit him first.”

Tom narrowed his eyes.

“Paige said you’re up for a promotion,” Mick continued, a toothpick appearing in his mouth as though he didn’t have a care in the world. “Getting arrested would be bad.”

“Damn you!” Tom hissed, meeting Apollo’s eyes heatedly.

“For fuck’s sake, say you’re sorry!” Mick rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry!” Tom huffed. “Jesus, did it ever occur to you that I loved her? That finding out she was already married might have hurt me?”

“Is that why you’re determined to fuck her best friend?” Apollo groused, releasing him abruptly.

“Yeah! Aside from the fact that Raegan’s hot, I wanted to hurt Paige the way she hurt me.” He suddenly sighed. “But I guess that backfired.”

“Look, man.” Mick was still chewing his toothpick. “Let it go. Paige and Apollo—I didn’t hear about anything else until he left to go back to Greece. They were stupid back then, but there’s obviously something special between them and after three years apart, they need to work it out. None of this is Raegan’s fault, so why drag her into it? This car accident was really bad—she could have died—and she doesn’t need the drama. If you want to be her friend, maybe make some phone calls to help her with the police reports and insurance or something. Maybe send over a meal when she gets settled.”

“I don’t even know where she’s going!” Tom protested, suddenly defeated as he leaned against the wall. “They wouldn’t tell me.”

“If you’d behave like a gentleman, that might change.” Mick patted him on the shoulder. “Go on home, man, and do something helpful for Raegan. Then send her a text and apologize for trying to manipulate her and tell her what nice thing you’ve done—with no talk about sex or moving in with you. Come on, you’re a good-looking guy with money—the chicks have to be crawling out of the woodwork.”

Tom looked away. “I guess. They’re just kind of boring.”

Apollo narrowed his eyes. “Paige isn’t boring at all. She would’ve been willing to meet you halfway but she said you wouldn’t compromise.”

“I didn’t realize what I had,” he admitted in a gruff voice. “I didn’t know how boring other women were until Paige went to Greece. I went out on two dates and after the second one was so bad I couldn’t wait to get away from her, I wound up at the casino talking with Raegan and realized she was a lot like Paige—funny and quirky, but real smart and hard-working. A little bit more of a mess than Paige, but she had that…something. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed it until after she was gone.”

“Paige is mine,” Apollo said quietly. “And she loves me too, but there are lots of smart, quirky women out there that are strong and professional, but still want to live a little before having kids and all that.”

“I guess so.” Tom seemed sad.

“You’ll find someone,” Mick said. “Stop pushing so hard.”

Tom paused and glanced back over his shoulder as he started walking away. “Are you taking her on adventures?”

“You bet your ass I am.” Apollo grinned.

“What kind?” Tom’s eyes were guileless, genuinely confused.

“I don’t know yet.” Apollo didn’t know why, but he felt a moment of sympathy for the guy; he was obviously genuinely confused about what that meant. “I mean—here’s an example. The day she came to see me in Greece I asked her why she didn’t mail me the papers and she said even though it was something done in a drunken haze, it didn’t seem fair to end a marriage without a conversation. So I took her to lunch. Once we started talking, I realized that no matter what we decided about the marriage, I wanted her to think back kindly on our time together. I drove us down to Cape Sounion and watched the sun set over the Temple of Poseidon. It was romantic and scenic, a little mini-hike up to the temple, and the most gorgeous view… She said it was her first adventure in Greece. That’s when I knew what she needed.”

Tom still seemed a little confused, but he nodded. “I, I guess I get that. I, uh, I appreciate your honesty. I have a lot to think about.”

“Good luck.” Apollo watched him disappear into the elevator and then glanced at Mick. “You’re starving, aren’t you?”

“Do you know how many awesome breakfast places there are here?!” he demanded.

“You didn’t care about any of that stuff you said—you just didn’t want to wind up in a fight or in jail!”