Page 61 of Slightly Married
Giorgos glanced between us before turning abruptly, leading us through an archway into what had once been a grand receiving room. Without offering us seats, he collapsed into a leather armchair, reaching for a half-empty bottle.
“What’s this about, Kostas?” he asked, his tone attempting nonchalance even as his hands trembled.
“Your gambling debts with the Kanellopoulos syndicate,” I began, watching his face carefully. “Eight figures deep before Theo’s death. Mysteriously reduced after you cashed in his life insurance policies and liquidated your son’s entire estate.”
The bottle froze halfway to his lips.
“And what you couldn’t cover from stripping your dead son’s assets,” Aris added, “you’ve been paying with the monthly checks Konstantin has been giving you out of misplaced guilt.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Giorgos attempted, but the tremor in his voice betrayed him.
I gestured to the unopened envelope in his hands. “Open it.”
His eyes widened as he scanned the documents, then looked up at me with shame. “You don’t understand,” he whispered hoarsely. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
“Explain it to me then,” I demanded coldly.
Giorgos took a ragged breath. “The debt was crushing me. Eighty million to the Kanellopoulos syndicate. They were threatening my family, my business... everything. I was desperate.”
“So you arranged to have me murdered,” I stated flatly.
“Not killed!” Giorgos protested. “Never killed! Just held for ransom. You’re worth billions. The money would have been nothing to you or your family, but it would be enough to clear my debts and save what remained of my business.” His voice broke. “Theo wasn’t supposed to be in Greece. I didn’t know my hothead son would be with you.”
Giorgos was right about one thing. Theo had been a hothead. He threw punches first and asked questions after. When the fallout with Yiorgos happened, Theo had been the one to fight Yiorgos.
“But he was there, and his attempt to overpower armed men you sent got him killed,” I added.
Giorgos’s face crumpled in genuine grief. “My son... my boy...” He covered his face. “But the syndicate wouldn’t let me go. They said I still owed them. The failed operation had cost them resources. They threatened Stella next if I didn’t pay. I’d already lost one child. I couldn’t lose another.” His shoulders slumped in defeat. “And then they kept demanding more. The monthly payments from you were the only thing keeping them at bay.”
I stared at the broken man before me, torn between disgust and pity. “You arranged for armed men to board my yacht, and you expected no one would get hurt?”
“They were professionals,” Giorgos muttered, not meeting my eyes. “It was supposed to be clean. I knew your brothers would easily pay the ransom. No violence necessary.”
“And yet my best friend is dead,” I replied coldly. “Because of your gambling and your cowardice.”
“I live with that every day,” Giorgos whispered, with tears rolling down. “Every single day.”
A heavy silence fell over the room, broken only by Giorgos’s ragged breathing. This man’s actions had cost Theo his life, nearly ended mine and created ripples of destruction through countless lives.
The sound of the front door opening sounded through the villa, followed by light footsteps. “Papa? Are you home?” Stella’s voice called.
My jaw clenched so hard I could feel my teeth grinding. Dimitrios moved to stand behind me, while Aristides shifted closer to us.
“In here,” Giorgos called weakly.
Stella appeared in the doorway, freezing when she saw us. Her eyes darted between her father and me, then to my brothers. “Kostas? What’s going on?”
A revulsion so intense swept through me. I forced myself to meet her gaze. “Come in, Stella. Your father was about to explain how you knew there were four men on my yacht the day Theo was killed.”
“What are you—” She began, but Giorgos cut her off.
“He knows.” The defeat in Giorgos his voice was unmistakable.
Something shifted in her expression before tears tracked down her face. “Kostas, you must believe me. I was only helping Papa. No one was supposed to get hurt.”
“You were my assistant at the time,” I stated. “You provided them with my itinerary.”
Dimi’s features hardened with disgust. “You deliberately set up your own brother to die.”
