The Billion-Dollar Marriage Contract (26 page)

“We’ve had this argument before, Nikos. I have a life here. I can’t just take off on a whim.”

“You can. And does that life still include Hector Petrides?” he snarled.

Cassia lifted her chin.

“I heard he was hiding from the drug cartel. Alex told me he lost an entire shipment worth about a billion dollars. There’s no going back from that Cassia. Either he finds the shipment or he’s a dead man. He’ll never be with you. Have you spoken to him in the last few days?”

That struck something deep inside of her. Hector hadn’t talked to her for more than a month already. During that time, over and over, she had thought about their relationship. They were great friends but they never really had much when it came to a romantic relationship.

Hector was never there.

When he was, he was busy and preoccupied. He was never open to her and she lately found out about the dark secrets he harbored - secrets which nearly cost her life.

How were they going to have the family she wished for when he was never going to be free of a drug cartel?

They never released their people. Once you were in, you were in for life.

She glanced down at the ring she wore. She slid it off her finger and placed it in her bag. She was waiting for Hector to talk to her so they could end their relationship. Once she spoke with him face to face, she would be returning his ring.

They were really better off as friends; they would never work as lovers. She had to talk to him and end it all before it got even more complicated. It wasn’t something easy and it hurt, for he’d been there for her for the longest time.

But it had to be done.

“He’s not in my life anymore,” she whispered.

“Good. It will never work between the two of you,” Nikos said as he knelt in front of her and took her hand.

“And you think it will work out between us, Nikos?”

“I know it would. I’ll do
everything
,” he vowed.

“This is all going so fast. Can’t you give me some time to think about it instead of forcing me to Greece?”

“I can’t. I’ve waited for a month already,” he groaned.

She sighed.

“Then at least give me tonight, I have a night out with my friends. I’ll take as many bodyguards as you want. Just let me go.”

“Tell me where you’ll go and I’ll drop you there and pick you up myself. And you must always be within the line of sight of your bodyguards.”

She nodded but sighed and rolled her eyes, “Fair enough.”

“So what time are you supposed to be there?”

“Around two hours from now.”

“Great.”

He grinned and took her hand.

“Where are we going?”

“Dinner, of course.”

Nikos didn’t let go of her hand as they made their way from the penthouse suite to one of the most elegant restaurants in his hotel. It was always full and you had to have reservations a long time prior to eating there. Unless of course, like Nikos you owned the hotel.

Like a perfect gentleman, he helped her to her seat. The waiter introduced himself and they were handed their menus.

“I’ve heard of this restaurant for a long time now but it’s the first time I’ve actually been here.”

“This is a great place. It is owned by Antonio, by the way. His restaurants are in all of my hotels. Antonio is an excellent chef and a businessman. We started this when we were fresh out of college.”

“Wow. I never knew Antonio was a chef.”

They placed their orders and resumed talking. Nikos told Cassia all about Antonio, his wife and their newest addition to the family. He told her how adorable baby Anton was and how he drove his parents crazy.

Cassia laughed and she realized she was really enjoying herself tonight. Nikos kept on entertaining her with his brilliant stories about his travels, the business and almost everything else under the sun.

She was never bored and she found herself wanting to visit the places he’s been. He told his stories so vividly that it was as if she was experiencing it firsthand.

She also marveled at how fun it was to eat dinner and talk. Usually, when she was with Hector, she was silent as he had to talk to somebody on the phone. If he was not on the phone, he was busy checking his emails. They never really talked.

Cassia glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost time to go to her friends.

It was true what they said: time really flew when you were enjoying yourself. 

December 23, 2013
Club Harmony
New York City

“I’ll pick you up at exactly 2AM. Would that be all right?”

She nodded.

“Have fun then. And please always stay where your bodyguards can see you.”

Cassia nodded and watched as Nikos sped off in his black Lamborghini.

She hurried inside the club and was met with the loud music and crazy lights. She went through the throng of people who were grinding at each other on the dance floor. Several men stopped her and asked her to dance, but she just smiled and shook her head.

She and her friends had a VIP booth on the second floor of the bar. Cassia evaded more men asking her to dance and quickly climbed the stairs. She entered the VIP room reserved for them and breathed a sigh of relief when the music wasn’t so loud anymore and she could hear her own thoughts.

Going to clubs and dancing wasn’t really her
thing
.

“Earth to Cassia,” her friend said as she waved her hand in front of Cassia’s face.

“Hmm?” she murmured distractedly.

“You’re zoning out. Repeatedly,” Arlene, another one of her friends and most loyal customers pointed out.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just that I really have a lot of things on my mind right now.”

She thought of Nikos and how much she enjoyed their dinner. She kept on telling herself they had nothing in common but
it turned out that they had
a lot
. They never ran out of anything to say and she found herself immensely enjoying his tales.

“Humph. Maybe in your head, you’re still in bed with your handsome hunk of a husband,” Arlene giggled.

A few weeks ago, Cassia’s concerned friends called her and she told them every single detail of what happened when she and Nikos were kidnapped.

She frowned and then snorted, “I’m not.”

Arlene raised her eyebrows and then leaned closer and stared into her eyes.

“Did he finally send enough flowers to make your house and your shop collapse? What is up with you guys now? Did you forgive him?” another long-time friend named Isobel asked.

Cassia sighed and took another sip of her cocktail.

“Aha! I knew it!”

“So, spill.”

Cassia rolled her eyes heavenward.

“I don’t have anything to spill.”

“Clearly, you do,” Jenna disagreed.

“Cassia, come on! Are we not your friends? Tell us what’s bothering you! Maybe we’d be able to help. We’re also married, you know,” Arlene persisted.

“Yeah, we could give you great advice,” Isobel quipped.

“You’re not married, Isobel! How can you give her advice?” Jenna laughed.

“I’m not. But I know that men are devious little creatures. Also, I know how much pain they can bring and I’ve dealt with it. So if that’s what is happening to our friend here, I think I can give pretty good advice in that area.”

They were all silent after that for they knew Isobel’s past.

Cassia sighed. “Thanks, Izzy,” she said affectionately.

“Don’t keep us in further suspense!”

“All right, all right...” Cassia murmured under her breath. “It’s just that...I don’t know what to do with Hector anymore and Nikos just complicates everything!”

Isobel scoffed. She really hated Hector right from the start.

“What did Hector do now?” Arlene asked in an irritated tone.

“Besides never being there, you mean?” Isobel interjected.

Cassia rubbed her temples. “I don’t know what to do anymore. I thought he was the perfect guy—“

“Excuse me, Cassia. Pardon the interruption but...he’s not.”

“I agree with Isobel. You were just too blind to see all his faults.”

“We’ve told you this over and over again. You keep on telling yourself he’s great but he’s not. First of all, he’s never there for you. When you guys talk, it’s always about him.”

“Plus the fact that there’s just something evil about that man,” Isobel shuddered.

“True. When you look at his eyes, it’s like he’s hiding something deep, dark and sinister.”

For another ten minutes, her friends continued to rant about how they hated Hector and outlined his faults. For the first time, Cassia listened to them and compared what they were saying to the things she experienced when she was with him.

All of it was the truth.

She had her eyes closed during their relationship and now they were finally opened. It seemed she was wrong about everything and she kept her eyes and ears shut during the entire relationship. He stayed by her side throughout the years but he was preoccupied with his own business. He wasn’t there or he was late during her accomplishments but she was in every one of his.

Then, there was the issue of his temper.

“I swear he’s bipolar or maybe he has multiple personalities,” Isobel pointed out.

“How come?”

“When we’re with him, he’s like sweet and all. Then he gets this call and he flies into a rage! So scary! Then, it’s like he switches off everything, and he’s back to being sweet. It makes me feel like he’s just acting.”

Jenna was right. That always happened. There was even one time that Hector slapped her. He quickly apologized and told her that it was an accident. She believed him but since then, she did everything not to rile his temper.

Cassia sighed. She truly had to end things with Hector. There was simply no future for them and it looked like she was just convincing herself he was perfect all along.

“You all know how my marriage started, right?”

Cassia decided it was finally time to talk about Nikos. She needed some advice on what to do about him. He was the only aspect of her life wherein she couldn’t think rationally.

“Yes, we do. Which brings us to another important topic. Have you forgiven him? Has the relationship between the two of you gone from enemies to lovers?”

“It’s not like that...I don’t really know what’s going on right now,” Cassia groaned.

“So spill the story,” Isobel said with a wave of her hand.

“On our tenth wedding anniversary, we had dinner and he told me that he wanted us to start being a true husband and wife. He wanted us to start living together and for me to provide him with an heir. I threw it back to his face and laughed. Then we got kidnapped.”

She breathed in deep before continuing

“...I’ve spent time with him on the island and found out several things from our past. All of it
was a lie and a misunderstanding caused by my grandfather. He orchestrated all this and we were both victims.”

“Victims? What about what he did to you after your wedding night? He slept with another woman, remember?”

“No. He didn’t. Marietta climbed into the bed just as he was showering. It was his grandfather’s suite. He didn’t know she was there.”

Her friends looked at each other as if they did not know what to say. Some looked as though they weren’t sure if they would believe what she just said.

“When we were together it resurrected feelings I’d buried deep. I felt things I shouldn’t. When I look at him now, I see the guy I fell in love with ten years ago. Sometimes it’s also as if he’s giving me a promise of what’s to come if only I gave in and decided to stay with him for good. It freaks me out because I like it! I like how being with him feels! It’s bad because when I’m with him, I forget the past ten years and instead hope that I’d have ten, twenty, maybe even a hundred years with him if I could...”

Cassia’s words trailed off and she found that all pairs of eyes were on her. Her friends knew exactly what she was feeling, especially the married ones. They knew that when love hit, it hit hard. Love made you forget past mistakes and gave you hope for the future.

“So what’s the problem dear? What’s holding you back?”

“A lot of things! I still have Hector to consider—“

The moment she said Hector’s name, everyone else groaned.

“We’re done discussing him. He’s old news,” Arlene declared.

“You deserve someone better and I think if you open your heart. Nikos is that someone,” Jenna told her.

“Amen to that,” Isobel replied.

She raised her glass in a toast.

The others also raised their shot glasses and drank. When the alcohol was done burning a path down their throats, they turned back to Cassia.

“What do I do?” she moaned. She covered her face with her hands and wished that the ground would just swallow her right now and end her torment.