Painless (60 page)

I jumped in the air and screamed for joy. I was so excited! I’d made it through my first year in college!

“Hey, crazy girl,” Christos said, walking out of the shade beneath a tree beside the entrance to the lecture hall.

“Christos!” I jumped into his arms.

The last time Christos had been waiting for me outside of a final exam had been last December. At the time, I’d thought we were broken up. After Damian Wolfram, I thought I’d never find true love. How wrong I had been.

Christos gave my butt a good squeeze while he kissed me briefly. “How’d you do,
agápi mou
?” he asked, setting me back on the ground.

“Great! I totally aced my final!”

“I think we need to celebrate,” he said, flashing his dimpled grin.

“Hells yeah!” I cheered. “What did you have in mind?”

He opened his mouth to speak and his cell phone rang. “Hold on a second,” he smiled, fishing his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen. “I need to take this call.” He suddenly looked nervous.

“Okay,” I said hesitantly. His nervousness was catching. So much for celebrating.

Christos held the phone to his ear and said, “Hey!” as he walked toward the lawn across from the lecture hall. He obviously wanted privacy.

Not this again.

I was determined not to feel deflated, no matter what bad news he might have after he hung up.

Crap.

I looked skyward and started searching for silver linings. The blue sky was flawless and empty of all clouds. The only cloud in the area was the dark one inside Christos’ stupid phone.

I wanted to break that stupid thing.

===

CHRISTOS

“Russell!” I said as I answered the phone, trying to sound casual. “What up?”

Russell Merriweather chuckled on the other end of the line before he said a word. It was always good to hear from him, no matter what the news. “Christos, my boy, how have you been?”

“Awesome,” I said, grinning.

“Any more fights?”

“Not lately,” I chuckled. “But I seem to remember you saying something about being able to kick my ass. When are you going to back that shit up in the ring?” I was grinning as I said it.

He laughed, “You don’t want to mess with me, son. You know I throw bricks when I put the gloves on. I’ll break your face.”

“Bring your bricks,” I snickered. “They’ll be powder by the time I’m done hammering your ass.”

“Considering that thick head of yours is made of solid rock, you might have a point,” he chuckled. “But I suggest we keep your pretty face intact, for the sake of your lady friend Samantha. I like her a lot.”

“Yeah, she’s awesome,” I smiled. “So, what’s up? I know you didn’t just call to harass my ass.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Russell sighed. “I wanted to get you up to speed on the civil suit that your pal Hunter Blakeley is still waving over your head.”

Shit, I think I’d blocked it completely out of my mind. I’d been too busy with a thousand other things to give a shit about Hunter Fucking Blakeley and the bloody nose I gave him months ago. Besides, Russell was on top of things and I trusted him to handle it.

“And?” I prompted.

“And, my people didn’t have much luck with the wait staff at Hooters. Those girls remember you and Jake better than they did Hunter Blakeley and his pals. Apparently,” he chuckled, “you and Jake are excellent tippers.”

“We try,” I said dryly.

“And I think one of the waitresses is sweet on you. She remembered exactly who you were. She even had the audacity to ask my guy if she could get your phone number,” he laughed. “At any rate, she mentioned she saw you and Jake having drinks with two young women?”

“Oh yeah. They were law students over at USD.”

“Anything I should know more about?” Russell asked with a hint of amusement. “It seems like everywhere you go, the ladies throw themselves at you, son.”

“What can I say?” I grinned. “But no, they were gone before Hunter showed up.”

“Also,” Russell continued, “I’ve had a chance to go over the statements from Hunter Blakeley and his three friends in detail. They are all very similar, and they all point to you being the aggressor in the fight. As things stand right now, it doesn’t look good. I had my people check every nearby bank security camera, traffic camera, convenience store camera, everything we could think of. Nothing is on video. All we have is the word of Hunter and his friends against you and Jake, who, by the way, is a fine young man. After I had Jake come to my office to give his deposition. Rhonda and Brianna couldn’t stop talking about him when he was gone. Those two were drooling over him so badly they needed bibs,” Russell chuckled.

I blurted a laugh, “That’s my boy. Yeah, Jake is awesome,” I shook my head, smiling at the thought. Then I sighed. Back to business. “So, where are we at?”

“Where we’re at is that your court date is in a couple weeks. I don’t think there’s much else I can do besides spend more of your money chasing dead ends. All we can do now is hope that by virtue of some miracle, we can hold our ground in court. I suggest you start practicing your sad eyes for the jury. I want them looking at you like you’re Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.”

“God bless us, everyone,” I muttered.

“That’s the spirit,” Russell said. “I’ll do what I can, Christos. But there are no guarantees. I’ll be honest with you. This feels like it’s going to be a closer race than I’d like.”

"Thanks, man.”

“We’ll be in touch.”

I ended the call.

So much for celebrating. I’d do my best to keep a game face on for Samantha. My sad face could wait until court.

===

SAMANTHA

While Christos was on the phone, I grew more nervous by the second. Despite the warm weather, I wrapped my arms around myself to stop from shaking.

When Christos finally hung up and walked toward me, he looked haggard.
 

“Who was it?” I asked. “Or do I not want to know?” I’d had enough bad news lately. Maybe it could wait.

“I’ll tell you, if you want,” he sighed.

What was love without a few troubled spots along the way? “I may as well know.”

“It was Russell. About the Hunter Blakeley trial.”

“Oh.”

“It’s looking pretty grim,” he sighed.

“Oh,” I sighed with him. “What does that mean?”

“It means I might owe Hunter a pile of money after the trial is over.”

“What’s a pile?”

“The last estimate Russell gave me, which was over a month ago, was anywhere between two hundred fifty K and eight hundred.”

“What?” I gasped.

He nodded.

“That’s absurd! For a broken nose?”

“Hey,” Christos chuckled sourly, “they were asking for more before. Russell has been negotiating with Hunter’s attorney since this started. Russell is trying to settle out of court, have me only pay for Hunter’s medical bills, which are minor, and save everyone a bunch of time and money. Because, let’s face it, I hit the guy. Too bad Hunter and his attorney haven’t accepted any of our offers. I suspect someone working for Hunter’s attorney did some digging and found out my family has more than a few dollars to our name.”

That was an understatement. Between Spiridon and Nikolos, the Manos family had mountains of money.

Christos continued, “I’m sure Hunter’s attorney would like to take a big bite out of the Manos financial pie. He’s probably thinking he can get to my dad’s cash through me. That’s never gonna happen,” he said confidently.

But I could tell a vein of nervousness pulsed beneath the surface of Christos’ bravado. The seriousness of his situation was sinking in. It was possible that he would lose in court this time. There wasn’t a secret surprise witness like me to save the day. All the facts were on the table, as far as I knew. And I didn’t think Christos was holding anything back this time. He might very well lose his case and end up owing Hunter a huge sum of money that I couldn’t even imagine. Christos had said on the low end, it would be $250,000. Gulp. Who had that kind of money? I said, “Can you afford $250,000, or whatever, if things don’t go well in court?”

Christos shook his head, “Not even close.”

“Can you ask your dad for the money?” I asked tentatively. “I mean, if you had to?”

He rolled his eyes. “No. That would be playing into Hunter and his attorney’s hands. My dad isn’t a part of this.”

How lame was it that both of us were having money troubles at the same time?
 

“If I end up having to pay out,” Christos said, “I’ll figure it out myself,” he said grimly, a far away look in his eyes.

I didn’t like the sound of that. If there was one thing I knew about Christos, when he was backed into a corner, he did whatever it took to survive, no matter how crazy dangerous it was.

Whatever it took.

Gulp.

My celebratory mood was officially dead and buried.

“Anyway,” Christos said resolutely, “fuck all that shit. Fuck Hunter. It’s time to celebrate!” His face glowed with a huge smile. “You finished your first year in college,
agápi mou
! I’m so proud of you!” He squatted down, grabbed me by the hips with both of his big hands, and shot me up into the air like I was weightless. Despite his crippled financial situation, Christos was physically stronger than ever. I caught air before falling back into his arms.

“Christos!” I shrieked. “Put me down!”

He chuckled and set me on my feet before leaning down to kiss me passionately. I circled his neck with my arm and we kissed for a long time under the San Diego sun.

In that moment, my life was perfect.

I hoped it wasn’t a temporary thing.

Chapter 27

SAMANTHA

“What do you think?” I asked Madison, Kamiko, and Romeo as I twirled in front of them in my new dress. It was a black asymmetrical maxi with a slit halfway up my right thigh. It had a blue zippered front and blue straps that crossed in back. I wore blue platform ankle strap sandals to go with.

They all sat on my bed in the Manos house.
 

My house.

“Wow, Sam,” Romeo said, “I’m going straight.”

I winked at him.

“I love it, Sam,” Kamiko smiled.

“I’m with Romeo,” Madison said. “Let’s have a four way with Sam because she’s so damn hot.”

I grinned at them. “You guys are the best. Are we ready to go?”

“Ready when you are,” Kamiko said.

They were all dressed up too. Christos had given me instructions that everyone had to wear black tie tonight at his gallery opening, including black dresses on the women. I hadn’t seen any of his new paintings because he said they were top secret. I still hadn’t seen the portrait he’d done of me. I was excited to finally see it.

Madison and Kamiko wore sexy black dresses. Romeo wore a black double breasted suit coat with tails. He also had a high white Victorian collar, a black top hat, and his monocle. It wasn’t a tux, but he certainly looked formal enough.

I giggled, “We make those girls on Sex and the City look like fashion disasters.”

We all high fived and headed downstairs to my VW. Spiridon was already at the gallery, otherwise I would’ve asked him to drive us in his Woody station wagon so we could arrive in style.

Next time.

When we walked into Charboneau Gallery in La Jolla, it was a much different atmosphere than the Contemporary Artists Show a month ago. It was still early, and no guests had arrived yet.
 

Standing right inside the glass front doors was a huge brass easel with a large card that read simply, “Manos.”

Everything in the room was done in black or silver. It instantly felt more upscale than Christos’ previous solo show. Waiters in black with long black ankle length aprons were busy setting things up.

The string quartet from Christos’ solo show was nowhere in sight. Instead, a DJ was already behind a mixing board, playing mellow ambient dubstep soundscapes. Much hipper than a bunch of guys with violins.

The room was filled with little round cocktail tables covered in black tablecloths. The center piece on each table was an elegant black and silver metal sculpture.

Dozens of delicate silver mobiles hung from the ceiling, rotating languorously in the slight breeze coming through the front doors. The mobiles consisted of swirling shapes of metal that seemed to fold in on each other in infinite spirals. They were beautiful.

Black silk streamers draped down from the center of the ceiling, curving toward the corners of the gallery. Each painting along the walls was covered by a sheet of black silk. The gallery was filled with them.
 

I paused. I didn’t remember so many paintings around the studio at home. Were all the covered paintings painted by Christos? That seemed unlikely, but where had they all come from? Was I missing something?

“What up, C-Man!” Romeo said.

“Hey guys,” Christos smiled as he came walking up, wearing a short sleeve black shirt and tight black jeans over his boots. His muscled arms and razored tattoos were the first thing I noticed. Then I noticed his incredibly handsome face and stunning blue eyes.

“Your tattoos are showing!” I blurted. “I thought you had to keep them covered so you didn’t offend potential buyers who are too conservative?”

“That was the old me,” Christos said. “That was Brandon’s idea. This is my show now. I’m introducing my art to the world, my way.”

“I like,” I said, looking around. “Why are all the paintings covered?”

“There’s going to be an unveiling at eight o’clock.”

“That’s awesome!” Kamiko said. “I love a bit of mystery.”

“How come everything is in black and silver?” Madison asked.

“So the only color in the room is in the paintings on the wall,” Christos said.

“Smart,” Madison winked.

“Where’s Jake?” Christos asked.

“He’s coming later. He’s still surfing up at Trestles. He’ll be late,” she grinned.

“
Samoula
!” Spiridon said as he walked toward us. “So glad you’re here. We couldn’t have a Manos family event without you.” He wrapped his arms around me in a huge hug.

After the hug, Spiridon said hello to the rest of the gang.

“Holy shit!” Romeo blurted, looking behind me. “There’s three of them!”