Chapter 6 Aristides
Ireached across the silk sheets, seeking Dede’s warmth, only to find emptiness beneath my palm.
Right. I hadn’t been with her last night.
I’d spent the evening at the hospital instead, watching a doctor splint two of Chrysanthos’s knuckles. Hairline fractures from putting his fist through a wall. My son had inherited many of my traits, but impulse control wasn’t among them.
I checked my phone. No response to last night’s message. Unusual for Dede. She typically replied within minutes, even to say she was busy.
The silence nagged at me more than it should have. But Dede would have to wait. I had a more pressing problem.
When I’d returned to the estate with Chrysanthos near midnight, the discovery of Tia’s absence had transformed his pain to panic.
Dimitrios informed us she had departed with her mother, who had been summoned from America after an absurd accusation from Chrysanthos’s former girlfriend claiming we were holding Tia against her will.
The wild desperation in my son’s eyes compelled me to promise my assistance in finding Tia today. We would track down whatever hotel or rental the mother had booked and smooth things over if possible.
I rose from bed and moved toward the bathroom. I turned the shower to its hottest setting, and as water cascaded over tense shoulders, I mentally reorganized the day.
There was an executive call at eleven, lunch with the Khurat investors at one, and a factory inspection at three. All could be delegated or rescheduled. Helping my son find Tia and her mother took precedence.
Perhaps after locating Tia, I might have time to seek out Dede. I reached for the soap, irritated by how readily my thoughts turned to her.
The eagerness to watch her work, completely absorbed in her projects, and occasionally glancing up to share a thought was becoming difficult to dismiss as simple physical attraction.
Pathetic, really. A man my age, rearranging his schedule around a woman who couldn’t be bothered to return a text.
But as I toweled off, I knew I’d make time to see her.
I selected a light gray suit from my wardrobe with no tie. The Macedonian cufflinks Chrysanthos had gifted me last Christmas completed the look.
Before heading downstairs, I stopped at Chrysanthos’s room, rapping my knuckles against the mahogany door. No response.
I entered to find the bed undisturbed and his personal items scattered in a manner that spoke of a hasty departure. The balcony doors stood partially open, allowing the sea breeze to disturb the curtains.
“Chrysanthos?” I called, though I knew the room was empty.
I checked my watch—barely ten. Had he already gone searching for Tia himself? Or had he spent the night elsewhere, drowning his frustrations?
Coffee and warm bread scented the air as I descended the grand staircase. Voices carried from the breakfast room, which meant my family was already gathered, discussing the day ahead.
Living at the family estate had its advantages. Proximity to my brothers, oversight of Chrysanthos, and my mother Domna’s insistence on proper meals.
My father’s sister, Aunt Irida, and her son Matthaios also lived with us, though my cousin hadn’t been around much in recent years, running his tech company from California.
I maintained an apartment in Athens for late business meetings and the occasional need for privacy, but this sprawling property on the coast had been home for all my life.
“Did Chrysanthos leave? I told him...”
The words dissolved.
Theó mou.
Dede sat at our family table, coffee cup halfway to her lips, those brown eyes I’d memorized locking with mine across china and fresh flowers.
Time fractured. Slowed. A freight train of recognition bore down while my body remained frozen in the doorway.
“Father,” Chrysanthos said, his voice pulling me back into real-time. He switched to English. “This is Deanna White. Tia’s mother.”
Deanna.
Not Dede. Deanna.
My gaze cut to Tia. The young woman who’d been living under my roof, whose architectural drawings I’d approved, whose shy smile now reminded me unsettlingly of the woman beside her.
Chrysanthos sat on her other side, his bandaged hand cradled in hers, their bodies angled toward each other in the way of reconciled lovers.
When I spoke, my voice carried none of the chaos ricocheting through my skull. “Ms. White. A pleasure. I hope you have found our home comfortable, yes.”
I moved to the table and took my usual seat. The woman I’d been sleeping with for two months was my son’s future mother-in-law.
“Very.” Dede’s voice held the faintest tremor, audible only because I’d learned the cadence of her breath in darkness. “Your family has been most welcoming.”
Our eyes held for a fraction too long. I saw her as she’d been two nights ago straddling me, fingers gripping my shoulders, head thrown back in ecstasy, and teeth catching her lower lip as I brought her to climax.
“How are you finding Greece, Ms. White?” Kostas’s question cut through my sexual thoughts.
“Please call me Deanna,” she said
“Mom only arrived yesterday,” Tia added, drawing my full attention.
“Yesterday?” I echoed, unable to keep the pointed emphasis from my voice.
I caught her silent plea not to expose her deception. Whatever game we were playing now required discretion, at least until we could speak privately.
Kayla stood suddenly, tapping her glass with a spoon. Everyone quieted and turned their attention to her.
“Since everyone’s here, I have an announcement.” Kayla looked down at Kostas. “I’m pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
The room erupted. My mother clapped, her face transformed with joy. Aunt Irida stood and disappeared toward the kitchen, muttering about lunch preparations. Dimitrios pulled Kostas into a rough embrace while Chrysanthos and Tia offered their congratulations.
I raised my coffee cup, adding my own well-wishes. This baby secured more than our family’s joy. Thalassía’s deed would finally return fully to Christakis’ hands.
“Children are life’s greatest blessing,” Dede offered.
“They are,” I agreed, our eyes meeting briefly before we both looked away.
Breakfast stretched interminably, each moment an exercise in restraint. I observed how Dede interacted with my mother, responded to Dimi’s charm, and assessed Chrysanthos with maternal scrutiny. She fit seamlessly into my family, which was the most unsettling realization of all.
Chrysanthos and Tia slipped away, and I envied their ability to escape. Dede remained trapped at the table by my mother’s enthusiastic questions about her skincare routine.
“Ms. White. Can I have word with you in private?” I maintained a neutral tone, though I caught Kayla and Kostas exchanging knowing glances. They’d both been at the restaurant a few nights ago when I’d arrived with Dede.
Dede followed me through the west corridor to my private study. Only after the heavy oak door was secured and we stood surrounded by first editions and antiquities did her composure fracture.
“I thought your last name was Kyriakis this whole time.”
“I told you Christakis the day we met.”
She closed her eyes. “They sound the same to me. I heard it once and never thought about it again.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “This is unbelievable. Our children are engaged, Aris.”
“My forefathers, they would call this divine intervention. The gods, they amuse themselves with mortal folly.” I moved to the sideboard, pouring two fingers of brandy into a crystal tumbler.
I held up a second glass in silent question.
She shook her head. “Extraordinary timing. Precise choreography. All to bring us to this perfect hour.”
“This fling has to end. We can’t do this anymore.”
I took a slow sip, letting the brandy burn away some of the surreal edge to this situation. “Why does Tia believe you arrived in Athens yesterday?”
“I came to Greece to keep an eye on her... ensure her safety.” Dede wouldn’t meet my eyes. “She can’t ever know that I’ve been here for almost as long as she’s been.”
“You have been monitoring her this entire time.” My respect for her maternal devotion deepened. “While maintaining the fiction that you were still in America.”
“For your information, I didn’t monitor her as I never got the time.”
“We spoke of our children constantly, Dede.” A laugh escaped me. “How did we miss this?”
“Maybe if you’d mentioned your son’s fiancée by name—” Her tone sharpened. “I mean, how many Tias could there be in Greece?”
“If we are cataloging oversights,” I replied calmly, “perhaps we should note you never once mentioned your daughter’s location during our time together. If you had, we might have connected these dots sooner, yes?”
Her mouth set in a stubborn moue I found unreasonably attractive even now. Then her expression softened. “We were so caught up in each other, and with trying to maintain boundaries, that we never saw what was in front of us.”
Caught up. An inadequate phrase to describe the magnetic pull drawing me to her villa night after night.
The way she’d invaded my thoughts during business meetings, her image surfacing during conference calls.
The unprecedented disruption to my existence that I had, against all common sense, welcomed.
“Dimitrios gave me the full rundown on your gangster act when you arrived here last evening. What exactly was your plan if we were holding Tia hostage?”
That surprised a laugh out of her. “Thank God you never had to find out.” Then, her expression grew serious. “Aris?”
“Mm?”
She crossed the space between us, placing her hand over mine where it rested on the desk. “Thank you for taking care of Tia and welcoming her into your home when you had no obligation to.” Her fingers tightened. “I owe you more than I can say.”
I pulled her close, desperate for her warmth. “Your daughter, she is respectful and brave young woman. She also saved my son’s life. It has been pleasure to have her here.”
“And your son...” She leaned into me, fitting against me the way she had a dozen times before. “From what I’ve seen, he’s a good man. Accountable.”
Accountable? Chrysanthos?
If she only knew the diplomatic incidents I’d smoothed over, the compromised business deals, and the string of broken hearts. Nevertheless, I maintained a neutral expression.
My hand strayed possessively to the curve of her ass. I wanted to lift her onto my desk, push her skirt up, and tear away whatever barrier she wore beneath—to bury myself in her and reclaim what had been mine just days ago, before our kids complicated everything.
She slapped it away. “No, Aris. This needs to end.”
“What happens between our children, it has no bearing on what exists between us.” I bent my head, seeking her mouth, using our undeniable physical chemistry to override her objections.
For a full minute, she responded. Her body molded to mine, and her hands gripped my shoulders.
The sound of the door handle rattling broke through the moment. We both froze as my son’s voice came through the wood.
“Father? You in there?”
Dede scrambled away, smoothing her clothes and raking her hair back from her face. “It’s over between us,” she whispered, putting even more distance between us. “Please. Let it be.”
Restraint was the cornerstone of power and control. It took all my discipline not to reach out and haul her back.
Watching her walk away felt like watching a vital piece of myself depart. She reached the door and turned the lock. As it swung open, Tia’s voice spilled into the room.
“Mom! Everything okay?”
Chrysanthos’s gaze moved between us. “Why was the door locked?”
“I must have done that by mistake,” Dede said quickly, then turned to her daughter. “I’m fine, baby. I just need to get back to my villa.”
I followed her to the doorway, composing my features into politeness as I observed our children standing together in the corridor.
“I’m coming with you, but before we leave, Chrys and I want you and his dad to have dinner with us before you leave Greece. This will give us a chance to get to know each other better.”
“I would like this,” I responded immediately, suppressing a sardonic smile at how they’d react if they knew exactly how intimately we already knew each other.
“Of course,” Dede agreed with a tight smile. “Dinner sounds... lovely.”
Tia beamed, oblivious to her mother’s discomfort, and clasped her hands together. “We should go, Mom. I’ll show you the grounds on the way out.”
“I’ll walk with you,” my son offered. “I’ll be back shortly, Father.”
I watched as Chrysanthos led them both toward the main entrance, his arm comfortably around Tia’s waist while she took her mother’s hand, enthusiastically describing various local attractions she intended them to visit.
I permitted myself a brief smile as she listed several locations Dede and I had already explored together, often with minimal attention to the actual surroundings.
Returning to my study, I poured another brandy and settled behind my desk. The hollow feeling in my chest was unwelcome.
This was why I’d maintained emotional distance since my wife’s death. Why I’d never allowed anyone close enough to leave a void.
Dede had somehow circumvented twenty-three years of discipline in eight weeks.