Chapter Nine
IT WAS ONLY WHEN EVERYONE was settled in their seats in the common room of the Afxisi’s private jet that Kellion finally asked, “How did MJ take the news?”
Helios answered curtly, “She dumped me.”
Silence.
“Fuck.” Andreus was the first to speak. “Did you explain to her that the photo was taken years ago?”
“She doesn’t believe me.”
“You want me to talk to her?” Yuri offered.
Helios shook his head. “This is between the two of us. We’ll find a way to fix it.” And they would , he vowed. If he had more time, he would have forced MJ to stop being blind to the truth. She still loved him. He could feel it, even if she never spoke of it. He could see it in the way she looked at him when she thought he was busy with something else. Only a girl who was fucking in love would be able to gaze at a guy’s sleeping face (or at least someone who was pretending to be asleep) for hours without ending up sick of it. She did all the things a girl in love did except say the words.
MJ loved him , Helios told himself, and one way or another he’d find a way to make her trust him again. But for now, he had something equally important and serious to attend to, and the sooner he had things resolved here, the quicker he could go back to MJ’s side.
“Have you asked your contacts about this?” Helios asked Andreus.
Andreus nodded. “The news can be traced back to Herod.”
Helios was stunned. “My brother? We haven’t had anything to do with him ever since that time he threatened Rick. Why the fuck would he suddenly butt into our business and make trouble for us like this?”
Andreus grimaced. “I don’t have any answers to that, unfortunately. It’s the only thing I’ve confirmed so far.”
Kellion rubbed his jaw. “Herod Andreadis might be an asshole, but he isn’t an idiot. I don’t see him doing something like this without a reason or a motive.” He glanced at Helios. “Do you?”
He didn’t, and that was what worried him.
It was already night when they arrived at Athens. When they got to their hotel, Helios excused himself immediately, wanting to make a call to MJ. It should be about three in the afternoon in Florida, which meant her classes had ended for the day.
Her phone rang several times, but his call remained unanswered.
Helios hesitated for one long moment before his worry got the better of him and he logged in to the private network that hosted the dorm’s CCTV system. He tapped on the camera assigned to MJ’s floor at the dorm, and there were no signs of movement.
He pressed rewind and watched intently, alert for any appearance of MJ – and got it a little after midnight.
MJ and Jack climbing the stairs to her floor, both of them soaking wet—
MJ talking to Jack in front of her door—
MJ looking up straight at the cam, looking up straight at him, it seemed, as if she wanted him to know that she knew what he was doing.
And then MJ allowing Jack inside her room – and the other man only leaving in the morning.
His phone crashed to the floor.
“ARE YOU SURE THIS IS cool with your guy?” Jack asked as he stepped inside her room, shivering. They had been caught by an unexpected rainstorm on their way back home, and even though they had made a run for it, they had still ended up dripping wet.
“Uhh...” MJ was carefully unwrapping her SLR, which she had bundled up inside her sweater. She was okay with being sick because of being out in the rain. But her SLR being damaged was not okay since that meant expensive repairs that she couldn’t afford at the moment.
She sighed in relief when, upon trying the power switch, her SLR came to life right away. Thank God it was okay!
Jack suddenly appeared in front of her, making MJ almost jump back in surprise. “MJ?”
MJ blinked. “Sorry. You were saying?”
“Is it okay with your boyfriend that I’m in here?”
Was it okay? It was the exact thing she had wondered when she had caught sight of the CCTV camera and thought of Helios seeing her about to enter her room with another man. She hadn’t any idea what the right answer to that was then – and she still didn’t know it now. All she knew was that she should stop thinking that what Helios thought mattered. She had to move on. She had to. She wasn’t the kind of girl who could survive the drastic ups and downs of being a girlfriend to someone like Helios Andreadis. She just wanted something stable – something normal.
MJ said finally, “He’s not my boyfriend.”
If he wasn’t , Jack thought ruefully, then it shouldn’t have taken her so long to answer . But out loud, all he said was, “Well, whatever you call him or whatever he is to you then. Is it okay that I’m here with you?”
“He doesn’t have a say about it. Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong.” When she saw him give her a leering look, MJ rolled her eyes even as she smiled. “Stop it.” Peeking outside through her window, she said with a frown, “But I think you should stay here for the night. The weather’s crazy right now.”
While Jack went to change in the bathroom at the end of the hall, MJ busied herself by taking out a comforter and laying it on the floor. By the time Jack came back, pillows and blanket were already laid on top of it.
Jack whistled. “You’re like a Girl Scout.”
She shrugged, not wanting him to know that she had learned to be this way because she had been too afraid of displeasing James if she was anything less than neat and orderly in her room.
When they got to bed, she and Jack talked about the seminar they had attended in the afternoon and the kind of photos they planned to take using the new techniques they had learned. When Jack suddenly sat up, she thought it was to grab a glass of water because talking had made him thirsty.
But instead, he leaned down to kiss her on the lips.
MJ recovered a second too late. “No, Jack.” She pushed him, and he immediately moved away. The kiss left her body shaking. She had never thought Jack would do something like that. He was a friend. She only ever saw him as a friend. She was still trying to get over Helios, and it was the reason why they had gotten to know each other in the first place. Had he forgotten that?
“I’m sorry,” Jack said in a flat voice after a while. He was lying on his back on the comforter, one arm thrown over his head while he stared sightlessly at the ceiling.
MJ had a pillow over her head, and her voice was muffled when she answered, “I’m sorry if I led you on or something. I didn’t mean to.”
“You didn’t. It was wishful thinking on my part.” Jack paused. “But MJ?”
“Y-yeah?”
“I know about you wanting Helios to be a normal guy. And I’m being completely honest here – and not being a jealous vindictive jerk – Helios Andreadis can never be normal. It will be a daily routine to be involved in catfights, brawls, and scandals as long as you’re connected to him. If you really want a normal guy, how about dating me? I don’t think his pride will allow him to go after you if he knows you’re already going out with someone else.”
She said uncertainly, “It’s not that easy—”
Slowly, Jack lifted his hand and sought MJ’s. Twining his fingers with hers, he said, “It’s that easy. It’s really that easy – but maybe you just don’t want it to be.” And then he let her hand go, allowing her to think about whose hand she really wanted to hold.