Chapter 50
C H A P T E R
IT HAD BEEN A WEEK SINCE NIKOS LEFT; EIGHT DAYS TO BE EXACT.
One hundred eighty-five long torturous hours awaiting his return, and as Honey stood in the kitchen dicing garlic, she felt like a soldier’s wife, waiting for her husband’s return from war, which was a silly thought.
Nikos wasn’t her husband, and while he had been a soldier in his homeland, he definitely was not one in America.
The career he had in the States didn’t hold that same honor, but all the same, she found herself anxiously awaiting his return in the way a soldier’s wife would.
The first day, she had been okay. She busied herself entertaining Kai, who had been wondering when he could return to school or when Nikos would return so they could play, and even asking when he would see his father again.
Kai was such a handful that taking care of him was enough to keep her mind off of Nikos most of the time.
The second and third day were the same, but by the fourth day, the worry she thought she had pushed to the back of her mind had slipped to the front and wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard she tried.
It rooted its way into her mind and settled down so deeply in her stomach that whenever she thought of Nikos, her stomach would churn.
But how could she not worry?
She had already seen what Antonis was capable of, knew that he had no qualms about killing his own nephew, killing the youngest son of Giannis Drakos, and would have probably gladly kept that secret till his death, all the while smiling in the face of Nikos’ father with no remorse.
Her worry was justified, and she could do nothing but that, wondering if the last touch of Nikos would be his lips pressed against her cheek and the soft rasp of his voice as he told her he would be back the night he left.
She wished she had been fully awake and not asleep when he had done so, but, of course, Nikos had snuck off in the middle of the night.
She got occasional updates from Yanis, the guard Nikos had left behind to watch her and Kai. The few times they had gone to meet up with Olivia, Yanis had been the one to take her, watching over her shoulder to make sure she and Kai were safe until Nikos returned.
But now it was going on day eight, and the short “Boss says he’s fine,” updates weren’t good enough anymore. Her worry had turned into full-blown panic, and she could barely focus on anything, which was probably why she wound up slicing her finger a few seconds later.
“Ouch!” she yelped as she dropped the knife, and it clattered against the floor.
“Oh, no, Honey,” Ava exclaimed as she moved from the table, where she had been shucking peas. She brought a cloth over to her and then left the kitchen.
“Mommy, are you okay?” Kai asked. He had been sitting in the living room watching a cartoon and then raced into the kitchen, looking concerned.
“I’m fine, baby,” Honey said as she pressed her finger into the cloth to stop the bleeding. It hurt, but it wasn’t the worst cut she had ever had. At least she hadn’t sliced it as badly as she had seen some do in cooking school.
“Someone on your mind?” Ava asked knowingly as she returned with a band-aid in hand, and Honey could only sigh because if she hadn’t been worrying about Nikos so much, she wouldn’t have sliced her finger. As she placed the band-aid on, she heard her phone ring, and her eyes widened with hope.
“I’ll get it,” Kai announced as he shuffled over to the table where she had left her phone. Kai looked at the screen, and his eyes widened with happiness.
“It’s daddy,” he said excitedly, and Honey felt the small bit of excitement she had welling inside her dissipate in an instant.
She withheld her sigh, wondering why Andre was calling.
They hadn’t spoken since what happened at the park that day, which wasn’t surprising.
It was not as if Andre ever made the effort to call his son.
“Hello, Andre,” she said, even though she wanted to ask, ‘what do you want?’ and skip past fake pleasantries. But Kai stood in front of her, looking like a puppy wagging its tail, and she didn’t want to influence Kai’s feelings with her own dislike for his dad.
“Hey. I was wondering if we could meet up today. I have a gift I want to give to Kai. Maybe we could go to Chuck E. Cheese or something?”
Honey blinked, slightly perplexed and definitely unsure as she looked at her son, whose invisible tail still wagged with excitement from his dad calling.
If this were any other time, she would be able to answer much quicker, knowing that despite how she felt about Andre, she always put her son’s feelings first. But with everything happening with Antonis and Nikos, she didn’t like going out unless necessary.
And yet, she had always had a hard time denying her son, and she knew that these were some of the rare opportunities that Kai got to bond with his father, even if only for a few hours.
“Okay, but we can’t be out long,” Honey said, hoping that this meeting wouldn’t be more than a few hours, especially going to an arcade.
“That’s good,” Andre said, and Honey could tell he had been holding his breath. He probably thought that after what happened last time, she would say no, and a part of her wishes she was that spiteful, but being a mom meant that you always had to consider your child’s feelings above your own.
“We can meet at the one in Flatbush,” Andre suggested.
“Let’s meet at the one in Hempstead instead,” Honey said.
“Isn’t that one a little far out for you? The one in Flatbush is closer.”
She knew that, and usually, she wouldn’t waste her gas going miles out to an establishment when there was another one closer, but she didn’t want to be anywhere near her home or the club. It was best to stay out of sight, especially when she knew Antonis probably still had people looking for her.
“Okay. Whatever suits you.”
They exchanged a time to meet before hanging up, and Honey looked at her son with a smile, who jumped up and down excitedly.
“Get ready. You’re going to meet your father today, and he has a gift for you,” she told him.
“Yay!” Kai yelled as he raced upstairs to the room they had been staying in at Ava’s place.
“That’s good that Kai will be able to go out so he won’t be so couped up in here,” Ava said warmly, and Honey agreed.
Kai had been having fun with some of the kids in the neighborhood when they got out of school, but in the mornings, he mostly spent his time inside and would miss his friends from school.
“Yeah, it’ll be good for him to get some of that energy out at the arcade,” Honey said, thinking that it might also be good for herself to have a bit of a distraction so she could keep her mind off her worries.
“I’ll finish this up, and you go get ready. I’ll tell Yanis that you’re going out today.”
Honey nodded before taking her leave upstairs.
***
“Yay! I love it, Dad,” Kai said as he admired the video game he received from his father. It wasn’t long before the young boy burst out of his seat and into his father’s arms, giving him a tight hug. Andre hugged his son back, looking pleased with himself, and Honey smiled.
They sat at a table in the bustling arcade filled with young kids and their parents. Kai had just finished eating his slice of pizza when Andre finally allowed him to open it.
“Thanks so much, Dad,” Kai said, pulling back with a smile that rivaled a million-watt voltage.
“You're welcome, Kai. I know how well you’ve been doing in school, and I wanted to get you something for your hard work. Keep up the good work, and you’ll get more like this.”
Kai nodded at the incentive before turning his bright smile on her.
“Mom?”
“Hmm?”
“Is Nik coming back today? I want to play the game with him. It’s going to be so much fun!” he exclaimed, and Honey tried to hold her smile, even though it wanted to fall from the mere mention of his name.
“I’m not sure, honey. But when he does, he’ll definitely play with you.”
Kai nodded before his eyes drifted off to all of the kids playing around him.
“Can I go play?” Kai asked, looking back and forth between the two of them, waiting for who would give permission first.
“Go ahead, Kai. But stay in my sight,” she told him firmly, and Kai nodded before he sped off to the toy bin. Honey watched him, glad to see he was having a good time.
“Thanks for getting him the gift,” Honey said gratefully.
“Yeah, I can take care of my son too,” Andre said, and Honey sighed. She hadn’t had a cordial conversation with Andre since her pregnancy eight years ago, and she didn’t even know why she bothered to try now.
“Please, don’t start,” she said. She already had enough on her mind as it was, and she didn’t need to add irritation to it. “I’m not in the mood to argue with you, so let’s just make this about Kai.”
For the next ten minutes, they both sat quietly without exchanging so much as a word together.
Andre shot texts on his phone, making the occasional call, while Honey wondered if Nikos was okay.
The last time he had gone off, he had returned to her with three bullets in him, barely surviving.
She didn’t want to imagine how it would be this time around.
Now she wished she had told Nikos to let someone else handle it, like his brother or his father.
Why did he have to be the one to handle someone as crazy as Antonis, who clearly had lost his mind after coming out of a coma?
It was all so frustrating. She sank into her seat with irritation.
Andre cleared his throat. “Kai hasn’t called in a while.”