Page 64 of Love Among the Ruins
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
ELENI
As soon as Dominic called her Eleni grabbed her bag and left her room, flying down the stairs. She’d been ready way before time, not wanting to give him a reason to be angry or late.
She climbed into the sleek black Merc, and her nostrils filled with the scent of musk and maleness.
“You managed to wake up early, then?”
“Just about.” She’d been up for two hours, hadn’t slept well and had woken up at the crack of dawn. A glance in the mirror and she’d been shocked to see how tired she looked.
He made a sound, then got back to looking through his paperwork.
It became so unbearably quiet that she seriously considered taking her headphones out of her bag and listening to music. Dare she do it—sitting in such close proximity to her boss? A man so wealthy and so important, that doing so, ignoring him, would be like giving him the middle finger.
Yes, she would.
She dipped her hand into her bag and fished around for the small pouch containing her ear pods when Dominic spoke up. “I’m sorry about the other night, about letting you down at the last moment.”
He’d surprised her, not only by what he’d said, but that he’d mentioned it at all. She didn’t know what to say. He must have mistaken this for an acceptance of his apology, because he continued. “I should have called you sooner. You weren’t dressed, I hope?”
She tried to remember what she’d told him. Putting on a brave voice, she lied. “I was about to start getting ready. It was a good thing you called when you did.”
“Helen … she’s my lawyer,” he said, his face pensive, his hand on the car door, which he hadn’t yet opened. He stared at his trousers, then turned and looked at her. “It made sense for her to be there.”
She was startled to hear him explain. “You don’t owe me an explanation. You don’t have to apologize.”
“But I am.”
She wasn’t sure why he was telling her this, and she had no idea why her heart was beating faster.
He hadn’t said girlfriend, he’d said she was his lawyer. Just a lawyer and nothing else.
Thankfully Dominic left the car before she could say anything, and she was left in the awkward silence. She was glad that there was a window between them and Kostas, and that he couldn’t hear anything.
Settling back in her seat, she felt lighter, as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest. No idea why. She didn’t allow herself to get too comfortable, because she expected today’s meeting to be over as quickly as the last one had, which meant Dominic would be as moody and as miserable as ever.
She braced herself.
* * *
DOMINIC
Dominic slipped on his aviators and trudged towards Galatis, wondering why he was at another Greek temple. Again.
On the bright side, he’d left Linus out of the loop, even though he’d returned to the office. This was not a bad thing. It was easier to have Eleni with him. She was low maintenance. She talked a lot, but she didn’t ask a million silly questions. She didn’t suck up to him.
She intrigued him, whereas Linus was a constant thorn in his side and now that he’d brought Eleni along with him, he had no intention of asking Linus to accompany him ever again.
“Hector.” Dominic held out his hand which Galatis shook. His bodyguard stood behind him with a sun umbrella sheltering his boss’ whale-like body from the sun. His own bodyguard was a good distance away, just how Dominic preferred it.
Being early morning, the sun wasn’t in full force yet. Dominic felt reassured that he would be fine, for a while. He wouldn’t burn to a crisp just yet on account of having no umbrella to shield him.
The old man adjusted his glasses and motioned for Dominic to follow him.
“Are we sightseeing again, Hector?” he asked, goodnaturedly.
The old man laughed, the rumble deep in his chest. “But of course.”
