Page 49 of Love Among the Ruins
“Where are you going?”
“To meet with him. He’s fucking me around and twisting my balls.”
Eleni’s mouth gaped. “I don’t understand.”
“I have a meeting with Hector Galatis. Ever heard of him?”
She laughed out loud. “Who hasn’t heard of him?” The man was a household name. Revered all over Greece for his many businesses and charmed life, for his rags-to-riches story that was an inspiration to many. Jonas had looked up to him.
“He’s one of the biggest billionaires in Greece.”
“Then you should like him, no?”
Dominic sneered. “I don’t like him. He does my head in. He’s a pretentious beast and he wastes my time.”
“Isn’t it rude of you to talk about a fellow billionaire like that?”
“I don’t mean to be offensive to the Greek people. Just this asshole. This is the third meeting with him and we’ve not discussed an iota of business.”
“But why did you bring me?”
He tapped the folder beside him. “You’ll need to get that to me if I need it. I’ll call you.”
“Why don’t you take it with you?”
“Because I have to play his game. He wants to waste my time, which is why he has me going to these places, traipsing around in the searing heat, looking at … things.” He glanced at her warily, knowing that he had to be careful about what he said around this Greek tourism ambassador. “If I turn up with my briefcase, he’ll know I’m eager to talk business.”
“Aren’t you?”
“I don’t want him to know that.”
“Why not? Isn’t that the point?”
He stared at her innocent face and those huge naïve doe-like eyes. “He can’t see me as being weak.”
She shook her head. “And you think taking your briefcase and being prepared is a sign that you’re weak?”
“You don’t understand the semantics of business, Eleni. It’s like a card game where I can’t show my hand and have to keep him guessing.”
“It sounds like he’s keeping you guessing.”
She was astute, he had to give her that.
“He’s an insanely rich man whose business could help us,” he told her.
“Just like the man on the yacht that night.”
A muscle pinched along his jaw and he wondered if she thought about that evening a lot, because it slipped out of her mouth quickly. “I wasn’t cozying up to Ioannis.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to explain. You are the boss. I work for you, and I will do whatever you ask.”
She was on fire this morning, throwing back his words. Nothing like the demure and embarrassed woman who’d come to his office earlier, apologizing for the night at the club.
The car came to a stop.
“Wait outside.”
“In this heat?”
