Page 170 of Love Among the Ruins
“What?”
“You’re going home again?”
Because you were in Santorini last weekend, remember?
Eleni stared at her friend.
“Did you go home or not?” Miranda asked, “because you keep forgetting.”
She didn’t want to talk about it. “It wasn’t such a great weekend. But I’m going back. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Can I?”
Eleni nodded. For the first time in a long time, the idea of returning home felt good. She longed to see Spetses and to connect with Stefanos, to get back to the familiar, a place where she belonged.
* * *
DOMINIC
What the hell was he supposed to tell Eleni?
Howthe hell was he supposed to tell her?
Hector Galatis, the crazy old Greek, is your father.
Dominic was a mess. The hurt in Eleni’s eyes had wrecked him. She’d looked excited to see him, for about two seconds, until he’d gone all cold on her.
How could he not have?
She’d told him she’d missed him.
She’d said that she thought them being together meant something.
But he couldn’t let her see how he really felt. He couldn’t react. He hadn’t been able to think properly ever since he had understood the weight of what Hector Galatis’ had unwittingly revealed.
And now he was conflicted.
When Eleni had come bounding into his office, looking like the picture of happiness, he hadn’t known what to do, so he’d done the only thing Dominic Steele knew how to do.
He’d behaved like an ass. He’d pushed her away.
Because the deal was paramount. Nothing mattered more than the deal.
Right?
The deal his father and brother were waiting with bated breath for him to complete successfully, and it sounded to him as if Galatis was coming around to forming an alliance. He wasn’t happy with the profit split, but that was something they could work on later.
Galatis coming to see him in his office had been a move that was unheard of, but now Dominic understood. One look at Eleni’s hair slide had triggered Galatis’ suspicions. That’s why the man had been so impatient to see him. That’s why he turned up here, at his office.
Dominic hoped he’d thrown him off the trail by telling him that Eleni’s aunt had given her the accessory.
He’d done what he could to protect her. Galatis was coming back with a response to Dominic’s proposal and if it looked good, his work here was done.
That’s all he needed to focus on.
Enough of Eleni. He couldn’t afford to get constantly wrapped up in emotions that didn’t serve him. She was still heartbroken over a dead man.
And she still didn’t even know the half of it.
