Page 66 of Love Among the Ruins
“Say hello to your brother.”
“You take care. Hector.”
He needed to call that dumb assed brother of his and find out what the heck he was doing speaking to Galatis in the first place, let alone what he was doing here.
He flung open the car door and climbed inside, sinking his back into the seat. He closed his eyes, needing a moment to calm down.
Sweet baby Jesus.
That man was going to be the death of him.
* * *
ELENI
Dominic returned an hour later looking visibly vexed.
When he sat in the car and closed his eyes, remaining silent, Eleni said nothing. Whatever had happened between him and Galatis must have been bad.
After a few moments, Dominic opened his eyes, sat upright, then ordered Kostas to drive. Quiet moments passed and still he looked as stressed as ever.
“This is madness, Dominic,” she said softly, watching him run a hand over his neck before wiping his face with a tissue. She was about to ask why he put up with the old man’s games, but she already knew the answer. Dominic was trying to strike a deal to prove something to his father, and she didn’t want to rile him up further, so she said nothing.
They drove on. The silence weighted by something heavy. When enough time had passed and she assumed he might have calmed down, she asked him if he was any nearer to getting the deal he was after.
“No. Fuck, no.”
Okay.
Don’t ask another question.
“Galatis wants my balls.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she smiled weakly. Any talk of Dominic’s private parts, hypothetically or not, seemed inappropriate.
“You’re always so angry, Dominic. Have you ... um ... ever considered getting therapy for your anger issues?”
“I don’t have anger issues.”
She smiled weakly at him.Don’t say it.“The people around you don’t walk, they tiptoe.”
He stared out of the window and she examined his beautiful side profile, could sense, more than see, the bunched-up emotion under his skin, making those sculpted bones of his even more remarkable.
“I don’t mean to be an ass.” He turned to her, his eyes blazing as if they were on fire. “But the pressure of trying to get results when the people you love are waiting for you to fail, is hard to ignore.”
“Are you referring to your father?”
“My brother was always his favorite”.
“And you?”
“My mom’s, maybe, but she has no say in the business, not much, not in a way that counts, and she’s okay with that. She likes the social privileges she has, being patron of charities and museums.”
“Sometimes, you have to let it go, Dominic. Just breathe and give it up. Being angry isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
“Be like you, you mean? A ray of sunshine, believing everything is going to work out.”
“I am not a ray of sunshine. Don’t you remember that first day we met?”
