Chapter 27 Calli
CALLI
The gates of the Kastaris estate are closing in on me. I haven't left in days. My brothers are so preoccupied with everything they've left me alone. But being here, doing nothing, makes me feel like I can't breathe.
So I do the only thing I can. I leave.
I don't even make an excuse. If they want to stop me, they can try, but I've spent enough years letting them box me in. I slip on my coat and sunglasses, sliding into the waiting SUV I called.
"Where to, miss?" the driver asks, glancing back in the mirror.
"Michigan Avenue. Drop me by the shops."
It's not a lie, exactly. I tell myself retail therapy might take my mind off the nightmare my life's become. Katerina texted me earlier suggesting lunch, so I plan on meeting her too. Something normal. Something girly and light and safe.
The moment I clear the gates, I exhale like I've been holding my breath for days. Maybe I have been. So worried the truth is written across my face and at any moment my brothers will appear knowing everything.
I still haven't spoken to Niko. I just don't know what to do. I have to work on what Keira said, give my brothers a chance, tell them, then I can deal with Niko. One thing at a time.
We arrive in the city and I get out.
"I'll be going home with Katerina later, so you don't have to wait," I say to the driver.
"Yes, ma'am," he says, nodding.
I start walking and take a deep breath, and I feel like the city embraces me, indifferent to the war brewing between families, indifferent to the tiny heart beating inside me.
Normal people living normal lives. I continue walking, moving through crowds on Michigan Avenue, watching couples holding hands, mothers pushing strollers.
All these people who've never had to choose between the family they were born into and the family they're creating.
I feel a bit of jealousy rise in me. It's something I've never really experienced, but I suppose at one point or another in anyone's life, being anyone but themselves becomes appealing. The unknown is how long that feeling lasts.
My phone buzzes. Katerina.
Booked a table at Gianni's for 1:30 p.m. See you then!
I text back.
Can't wait, beautiful!
It's not technically a lie, but not 100% true either. I don't even know what I'm doing out here except breathing air that doesn't taste like fear and secrets.
I walk past a baby boutique and I stop at the window. I look over their collection of baby clothes, impossibly tiny sweaters and booties. My hand drifts unconsciously to my stomach.
And just like that, my mind circles back to him.
Niko.
It's been days, but Rome already feels like another lifetime ago. The way I left gnaws at me constantly. I thought leaving would protect him. I thought if I cut him off, my brothers wouldn't dig deeper, and he'd live, but now I'm not so sure.
And every night, when I close my eyes, I see his face. The betrayal. The heartbreak. And I know I've wounded him in ways that may never heal.
Because that's what love does. It gives you incredible highs and the lowest lows.
I shake my head and start walking again, pushing my sunglasses up against my face, trying to stay hidden from everything.
And then I feel it. That sense women have when out.
Someone is walking behind me. Too close.
Like I'm being followed. I quicken my pace, and someone rushes me.
I feel a strong hand clamp around my upper arm, pushing me sideways into a narrow service alley between buildings.
I gasp as I'm pushed up against a brick wall, but before I can scream, a familiar body is up against mine.
"Niko," I say breathless.
His face is inches from mine, jaw tight, eyes burning, wild with fury and something even more dangerous.
He looks like he's angry and relieved, or maybe I'm projecting that.
Stubble darkens his usually clean-shaven face, and of course, he still looks handsome.
"You think you can walk out on me and vanish?" His voice is low, but I can hear the rage beneath it. "You don't get to do that, Callista. You don't get to say nothing and disappear."
"Niko, please—"
"Four days," he cuts me off. "Four days of nothing. No calls, no texts. Just gone. You think you can ghost me like I'm some fuckboy you picked up at a bar? I'm not disposable, Callista. His hand still gripping me. "I told you I loved you, and you walked out the door."
"You don't understand—"
"Then make me understand," he demands and slams his palm against the wall near my head, making me flinch. "Was it all a game? Getting close to me? Was that your plan all along?"
"No!" The word tears from my throat. "How could you think that?"
"What else am I supposed to think? You just left, Calli. No explanation. Nothing."
Tears sting my eyes. "I didn't have a choice."
He shoots hot air out of his nostrils. "There's always a choice. You just didn't pick me."
"I had to, okay," I say, wiping tears from my eyes. "I—"
"Don't give me these vague excuses," he says, cutting me off. "Your brothers called, and you ran. Just like that."
I pause for a moment as he towers over me, boxing me in. "Your father killed mine, okay. That's why I left."
The words hang between us. Niko goes absolutely still, his face draining of color, and the fury in his eyes is replaced by shock.
"What did you just say?" His voice is tense.
"Your father." I force the words out through a tight throat. "Stavros. He killed my father."
Niko releases me and steps back like I've struck him. "No." He shakes his head. "That's not—"
"It's true. My brothers have proof." I shrug, tears falling more now. "They showed me."
He rubs the back of his head, pacing the narrow alley. "No. There has to be a mistake. That's not... We're business allies. No. He would've told me. I would've known."
"You didn't know," I say gently, taking a small step toward him. "Because he hides things from you. Because he's a monster."
He stops pacing and looks at me. "All this time and I had no idea."
"That's why I left Rome. My brothers ordered me home, and I thought leaving would protect you. If I stayed and they tracked me down, they'd kill you. And if I told you... I mean, I wasn't even sure it was true. I just didn't know what else to do."
"God, Calli," he says. "I had no part in this. Nothing. I respected your father. Your family. You have to believe me. I would have prevented it if I knew."
I wipe away more tears. "I know, Niko. I didn't think you did. I don't know a whole lot about how I'm feeling with everything, but I knew that."
He comes up and hugs me, and I break. I start sobbing into his chest, and as my tears blur my vision, I can't hold it back any longer.
I lean back up, looking up at him.
"There's more." My throat locks. I almost swallow the words, almost choke them back. But if I don't say it now, I never will.
His face tightens. "What else did my piece-of-shit father do?"
I shake my head. "Not him. You."
Confusion crosses his face.
My voice breaks. "I'm pregnant."
Niko stares at me, his body tense, every muscle in his body flexing.
"Are you serious?"
I nod. "With your child."
"Are you sure?" His voice tight.
"I had a doctor confirm it."
"You're..." His hand hovers over my stomach, not quite touching. "We're..."
"Yes."
"Holy fuck, Calli," he says and hugs me hard. I laugh and cry at the same time, so relieved he knows and he's not upset or running or whatever my brain thought he'd do.
He leans down and kisses me.
"I only found out for sure after Athens. I was going to tell you in Rome, but then Dimitri called, and everything fell apart."
He brushes the hair out of my face, wrapping it around my right ear. "That's my child. I don't care who your family is or what my father did. That's my child."
I rest my head against his chest.
"Who knows?" he asks, kissing the top of my head.
"Just Keira. She went with me to the doctor."
"No one else? Not your brothers?"
I shake my head. "I couldn't. I was afraid."
He pulls me in tighter. "You don't do anything alone anymore. Not now. Not ever again."
"Niko—"
"I mean it, Calli. I'm not letting you face this by yourself. I'll do anything for you. I'll destroy everything between here and Greece before I let anyone touch you. Or our child."
"I need to tell my brothers," I say. "If I don't, they'll kill you."
"And you think telling them will stop that?" His mouth twists bitterly. "A baby doesn't erase blood debts."
"It has to," I insist. "They have to understand. You had nothing to do with this."
"Men in our world don't care about things if there's business to be done."
I pull back, anger flaring. "Why? They're my brothers. They love me. They want me happy."
"They want you safe," he corrects. "Those aren't always the same thing."
"Will you do anything?" I ask suddenly. "Really, anything? For me and the baby?"
He doesn't hesitate. "You already know I will."
I take his hand, twining our fingers together. "Then come with me. Right now. To my brothers. Let's tell them the truth together. You had nothing to do with this, and any more time we waste might make things worse."
Niko's expression darkens. "It won't be that simple."
"It has to be," I insist. "Why do men always say that anyway?" I snap, tears streaking my face. "It doesn't have to be complicated. They can't kill you. You're the father of my child."
He studies me, weighing something in his mind. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out my necklace, the one he gave me, the one I left behind in Rome.
"I held onto it," he says. "Even when I was mad, upset. Even when I thought you didn't—"
"I do," I say, not letting him finish because I know what he's going to say. "I do love you, Niko. I love you with all my heart and soul."
He smiles, unable to speak, and I lean up and kiss him. "I never stopped being yours. So," I say, lifting up my hair, "put it on. I'm yours. You're mine."
His fingers brush my skin as he clasps it around my neck. The cool chain settles against my skin, but it feels like fire. When he bends down and kisses me, it's desperate, hungry, everything we've been holding back since Rome.
When he pulls away, his voice is ragged. "Alright. Take me to your brothers."
"So you'll come with me right now? To them?"
Niko nods. "To hell itself if I have to."
To hell itself, I think. He doesn't even know how close to the truth that is.