Adonis in Athens - Page 71

“I’m sorry, baby.” Melina kissed his forehead. “Let’s get you dressed, okay?”

He nodded sleepily.

“Just give him to me and go out.” Sophia all but snatched the boy out of Melina’s arms.

“Sophia, please! We can find a way to—”

“No. Just go have fun with everyone, like you always do. As you like to remind me, I made my choice and now I have to live with it. So go on.”

“Is this how it’s always going to be? You angry and bitter, blaming me for everything?”

“Yes.” Sophia turned her back and walked into the other room.

Melina was furious. Grabbing her purse, she stalked out of their suite and took the elevator down to the lobby. Yes, Sophia had made a sacrifice for her, but it wasn’t Melina’s fault that Sophia’s American college boyfriend hadn’t been on board. It had been a terrible time for both of them, but no matter how hard Melina tried to make things right between them, Sophia was bitter. Melina would never understand why she’d married Giorgios—it hadn’t been necessary—but Sophia had played the martyr and done it anyway. Now she was miserable and took it out on everyone.

Walking outside where a group of men were smoking, she approached one of them with a wan smile. “I don’t suppose I could steal one of those?”

“Sure.” An older gentleman with a bright smile pulled out a pack of Marlboro Lights and handed her one.

“Thank you!” Melina smiled and put it between her lips, expecting him to light it for her. Instead, a lighter came from her right and a familiar voice said, “Thought you’d quit.”

Mick’s blue eyes met hers and even after four years, Melina felt her heart skip a beat. “What are you doing here?” she asked, frowning.

“Same as you—sneaking a smoke.”

“I haven’t had one in over a year,” she sighed. “But I just argued with Sophia… She makes me crazy!”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Sister things. Her husband is an asshole and she can’t take it out on anyone else, I suppose.”

He nodded, taking a deep drag from his cigarette. “I quit too,” he said after a moment. “But that job in Japan sucked the life out of me and they all smoke, so somehow I fell into it again.”

“It’s bad for us,” she acknowledged.

“I know.” He paused, meeting her gaze. “We haven’t talked in a long time, Lena. How are you? How are you really?”

“Don’t pretend you give a shit,” she muttered, blowing a ring of smoke in the air.

“Come on, don’t be that way. We had an argument and the next thing I knew you wouldn’t take my calls!”

“You made it clear you were only interested in one thing,” she shrugged. “And that wasn’t going to cut it for me.”

“I was in college!” he protested. “And you were my best friend’s sister—his older sister, no less! I was crazy about you but you were going back to Greece and I still had another year of college! Not to mention, you had a guy back home. You’re still with him, aren’t you?”

She snorted. “Not really. We go out on occasion, but he knows I’m not going to marry him.”

“Why not?”

She lifted an eyebrow. “None of your business?”

He sighed. “You Lakkas women sure know how to hold a grudge, don’t you?”

“Fuck off, Mick.” She stared out at the night sky, wishing his nearness didn’t still affect her and that she hadn’t had to come on this trip. She’d known she would see him but hadn’t expected it to be so hard.

“Why do you hate me?” he asked softly, moving closer to her, the smell of his aftershave wafting over her. “We had a good thing going. It was just an argument—I’ll never understand why you got so angry with me. I wish you’d explain it, Lena.” One of his massive hands came up to cup her cheek.

She closed her eyes, reveling in his touch, allowing the pleasure only he could bring her to warm her insides. Just one more second, she thought, as her eyes fluttered open. She stepped out of his grasp and put out her cigarette on the trash receptacle. “If you’d loved me, you’d know the answer to that. But since you didn’t, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m going for a walk and I don’t want you to follow.”