Chapter 30
KRISTA
Istood at the edge of the production site watching the absolute circus unfold around me, and for the first time since Athens, I felt completely invisible. I was not needed. Unnecessary. Irrelevant.
Adrian, Briggs, and Dash were going over last-minute details. Elizabeth was coordinating with the models, her eye for detail evident in every adjustment she suggested. Even little Bucky was there, strapped to his mother’s chest, his chubby hands reaching for everything within grabbing distance.
And Mandy was everywhere at once, her enthusiasm infectious as she chatted with crew members and influencers alike, making everyone feel like they were part of something special.
I felt like an outsider. This wasn’t my show. I’d been hired to do a job, and that job was done. Dash had pulled it together. The runway show was going to be spectacular. Mission accomplished.
So why did I feel like I’d been punched in the stomach?
Everything was perfect. Everything was handled. I wasn’t needed anymore.
A production assistant rushed past me holding a bundle of power cables, nearly knocking me over. She didn’t even notice. Why would she? I was just a consultant, standing on the sidelines while the real family took over.
I watched Dash laugh at something Briggs said. He looked happy. Confident. Like he belonged exactly where he was, surrounded by people who loved him. He didn’t need me. He’d never really needed me. He just needed someone to kick his ass into gear, and now that he was in gear, I was obsolete.
“Krista.”
I turned to find Adrian approaching. I had been too busy sulking to notice he was walking toward me. I forced a smile and slipped back into a professional headspace.
“Adrian. Everything looks great. You must be proud.”
“I am.” He stopped beside me, following my gaze to where Dash was now talking with the lighting director. “He did good. Really good.”
I nodded. “He stepped up.”
We stood there and watched Dash before I shook it off.
“You’re planning to leave,” he said finally. It wasn’t a question.
“The contract is done,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Unless you feel any of my responsibilities were overlooked?”
“Quite the contrary,” Adrian said. “You did exceptional work.”
“Then I think we’re finished here. Dash has it under control. You’re here now. He doesn’t need a handler anymore.”
“Thank you for all your help.” Adrian looked over at his brother. “It feels like he has his head back in the game, and it seems like I might have you to thank for that.”
“Well, thank you for the opportunity. It was a fun job.”
He smiled. “Thanks for taking it on such short notice.”
“You’re welcome.” I shrugged. “I had an opening and you offered me an insane amount of money.”
Adrian nodded and chuckled. “Win-win.”
He excused himself and headed back toward the runway. I watched him go, feeling more alone than I had in years. I needed to get out of here. Now. Before I did something stupid like cry in front of everyone.
I would book a ferry back to Athens and be on a plane to New York by tonight. Clean break. Professional exit. No mess, no drama. Then finally, my life could go back to the way it used to be.
“Krista! Wait up!”
I closed my eyes briefly, recognizing Elizabeth’s voice. I sighed. So much for a clean exit.
I turned to find both Elizabeth and Mandy hurrying toward me. Elizabeth’s face was flushed from the heat and she still had her son strapped to her chest, but somehow she managed to look stylish and in control.
“Hey,” I said, putting my professional face back on. “Everything okay?”
“That’s what we were going to ask you,” Mandy said. “You looked like you were about to bolt.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it bolting. I was just going back to the villa to pack.” I shrugged like it was no big deal and it didn’t feel like my world was ending.
“We wanted to catch you before you disappeared,” Mandy said. “You’re leaving already?”
“I’ve completed my contract,” I said. “Dash doesn’t need me here anymore. He’s got everything under control, especially with his family here to support him.”
Elizabeth kissed Buck’s head while watching me. “Is that really why you’re leaving?”
“What other reason would there be?” I asked innocently.
“Maybe because you guys hit it off and you’re terrified of admitting it,” Mandy said bluntly.
I actually flinched. How the hell did she know that? Did he tell them we slept together?
“Mandy,” Elizabeth said, but there was no real admonishment in it.
“What? I’m right.” Mandy looked at me. “I’ve seen that look before. I’m a wedding coordinator. I spend my days with couples that are crazy about each other.”
“We’re not—” I stopped, not even sure what I was trying to say. “This is different.”
“How?”
“Because Dash and I aren’t that,” I told her.
Elizabeth reached out and touched my arm gently. “Krista, can we sit for a minute? Please?”
Every instinct I had was screaming at me to say no, to make an excuse and get the hell out of there. But something in Elizabeth’s expression made me hesitate. She looked genuinely concerned.
“Okay,” I heard myself say.
We found a shaded area away from the main production zone, three chairs arranged in a loose circle. Elizabeth settled Buck on her lap, and he immediately grabbed for her necklace. Mandy pulled her chair closer, and suddenly I was surrounded by these two women who were looking at me like I mattered.
It felt foreign. Uncomfortable. Like trying on clothes that didn’t fit.
“I don’t really do this,” I said, gesturing vaguely at the three of us. “The whole girl-talk thing.”
“We noticed,” Mandy said with a small smile. “But we’re doing it anyway, so buckle up.”
“Mandy,” Elizabeth said again, but she was smiling too. She turned back to me. “We’re worried about Dash. And we’re worried about you.”
I didn’t know what to do with that. When was the last time someone had worried about me? My dad, obviously. But other than him? No one. I’d made sure of it.
“I’m fine,” I said automatically.
“You look like someone kicked your puppy and then stole your lunch money,” Mandy said.
“We saw that picture,” Elizabeth said. “The longing. I still look at Adrian like that.”
“It was a moment that didn’t matter,” I said.
“Looked like it mattered to you two,” Mandy said. “If I was planning your wedding, I would put that as one of the main pictures in your wedding program.”
“It’s complicated,” I said.
“Love always is,” Elizabeth said softly.
They were trying to help, even though they barely knew me. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“Do what?” Elizabeth asked.
“Any of it. Relationships. Feelings. Talking about relationships and feelings. It’s just not my thing.”
“You could make it be,” Mandy said.
“Look, Dash is fun but nothing serious would ever work between us,” I said bitterly. “I’m rarely home. I travel. He travels. It’s just not in the cards.”
“Well, not with that attitude,” Mandy insisted.
I took a deep breath. “Ladies, thank you, but I have to go.”
“Maybe you guys will connect back in the city,” Elizabeth said.
I got to my feet. “Yeah, maybe. It was nice meeting you all. Sincerely. Thank you.”
I was gone before the tears burning the backs of my eyes could slide down my cheeks.
I made it back to the villa and tossed my things in my bag. I left the Blackwell stuff. It wasn’t mine. They had already paid me. I would never wear it anyway. There was only one man I wanted to dress up for, and I was leaving him behind in Europe.
I grabbed my luggage from the villa and didn’t look back. I couldn’t. If I stopped moving, if I let myself think about what I was doing, I would fall apart completely.
The car I had called for was waiting outside. I threw my bags in the trunk before climbing into the backseat. “Ferry terminal, please and thank you.”
He nodded and pulled away from the curb. I kept my eyes forward, refusing to glance back at the villa. Refusing to think about Dash, who would eventually figure out that I’d left without saying goodbye.
I hoped he would understand I was trying to spare us both. I wasn’t trying to be cruel.
We’d been driving for maybe ten minutes when the first drops hit the windshield. Just a few at first, then more. Then it was coming down in sheets so thick I could barely see through the window.
“What the hell?” I muttered.
The driver whistled low. “This is not good. It’s very unusual for this time of year.”
I looked up at the sky through the window. It had gone from brilliant blue to an angry gray in what felt like seconds. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. I felt it in my chest.
“The gods are unsettled,” the driver said, his tone almost reverent.
“Oh yeah?”
He shrugged. “When storms come from nowhere, people say the gods are angry about something.”
“Let’s hope it wasn’t you or me,” I said, shaking my head.
The man chuckled. “Agreed.”
I didn’t believe in that kind of thing. Not really.
I thought Greek mythology was super fun but I was way too practical to think there was any truth to it.
But watching the rain hammer down with increasing violence, I had to admit it felt ominous.
It certainly seemed like the heavens had opened to rain down divine displeasure.
Traffic slowed to a crawl. Then stopped completely.
“We might be stuck here for a while,” the driver said. “Rain like this floods the roads quickly. We have to wait for it to pass or for the water to drain.”
I twisted in my seat, looking back the way we’d come. Somewhere up there, on the highest point of the island, was the runway set. The columns. The fabric draping. The lighting rigs.
All of it was exposed to the elements. It would be ruined. I didn’t know if Dash had checked the weather reports. Was he ready for it? Had he planned for angry rain gods?
“How long do these storms usually last?” I asked, my heart starting to pound.
“No clue. Long enough to mess up everyone’s day.”
I pulled out my phone and opened the weather app. The radar showed a massive system that had appeared out of nowhere, parked directly over Santorini. Wind warnings. Flash flood warnings. The whole screen was lit up red.
This was bad. There was no way that show could go on. Everything he’d worked for was going to be for nothing. I could only imagine what he was going through.
He had worked so hard. He had finally stepped up to show everyone he was capable of more than they’d given him credit for. And now a freak storm was going to destroy it all. That was not fair.
I twisted around again, trying to look up toward where the set would be, but I couldn’t see anything through the rain. There was a sick feeling in my stomach getting worse by the second.
Then I reminded myself it wasn’t my problem anymore. I had done my job. Adrian was there. Any problems from here on out were not mine to deal with.
But even as I thought it, I knew it was bullshit. Dash mattered. The show mattered. And I was sitting in a car doing nothing while everything he’d built was potentially being torn apart.
“Can we turn around?” I heard myself ask.
The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror. “You want to go back?”
“Yes. Now. Please.”
His hand waved out the window. “I can’t move.”
I groaned and leaned my head back, hating being stuck here when he needed me the most.