Page 91 of Love Among the Ruins
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
DOMINIC
The first inkling that possible trouble was brewing, was a message he received mid-morning when he came out of a meeting.
Alexander had left him a voicemail saying that ‘he was on his way.’ What this meant, Dominic had no idea. His brother could be enroute from London, Paris, Rome, or … anywhere. He could even be on his way home from the airport.
He grabbed his cell phone and called him again, only to reach his voicemail, again. He decided to call Eleni, to warn her, when his cell phone lit up.
“You traded in your housekeeper for a younger model.”
Jesus.He was already here. Dominic scrubbed a hand across his forehead. “My what?” And then it hit him like meteor. He’d met Eleni. “You’re at the house?” Of course, he was. Alexander turning up at the house unannounced was a very Alexander thing to do.
“Got here about twenty minutes ago.”
“You could have told me before. Like the day before.”So that I could have been prepared.
“I left you a message, bro.”
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
That sounded about right. “I’ve been in meetings all morning.”
“You sound pissed, Dom. Are you?”
“You seem to be all over the place, lately. Are you checking up on me?”
His brother snorted. “As an older brother, I thought I’d swing by, seeing as I’m here.”
“I’m not a child. I don’t need anyone to see how I am.” Alexander was, without a doubt, checking up on him. “Where’s El—” he stopped himself in time before he said her name. “...the housekeeper?”
“She left in a hurry.”
In a hurry?That didn’t sound good. Not with her injury. He could imagine Eleni’s reaction, those soft brown eyes filled with terror when his brother turned up.
But what had made her lie about being a housekeeper?
“What happened to Basilia?” Alexander asked.
Christ. As if he had any idea. “She’s … not well?” He hoped that’s what Eleni might have said.
“Such savage working conditions, Dom. What are you doing to the poor girl?”
Wait, what?“What are you talking about?” he growled, hating that he was so uniformed and had no clue about what had been said between Eleni and his brother.
“She limped away. Said she tripped. Was that your doing?”
Dominic knew Eleni well enough, and he was sure she wouldn’t have said anything of the sort. Alexander was probing and shit-stirring as usual.
“How the hell is that going to be my fault?” He swiped a hand across his brow. “I must go. I have another meeting, but I’ll be home soon. Stay put, don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t. I’m here for a few days.”
Something tightened in Dominic’s neck. “What for?”
An uneasy laugh rolled across the line. “You’re pretty paranoid, aren’t you?”
