Page 117 of Betraying Family Vows

I've been staring at the blue accents in this suite for so long I think I'm starting to imagine they all have different shades of the same color.

My back aches from sitting in the same position, but I can't bring myself to lie down, to make myself comfortable when everything around me is in chaos.

The food they brought me sits uneaten. My appetite is nonexistent. What is present, however, is my focus on the clock on the mantel.

Two hours have gone by.

Two hours of waiting, of mapping out every possible outcome in my head that I can think of, and I'm sure it's not even half of what they're talking about.

I’ve often heard that anticipation is worse than reality, but I'm not so sure anymore. The reality I'm living in involves mafia families, murder, and the kind of betrayal that spans decades. What could be worse than that?

I trace the embroidered pattern on the throw pillow I'm clutching with my fingertip. One loop, two loops, back around to where I started. Just like my thoughts, a never-ending cycle.

What if his brothers convince him that I'm a liability and to cut me loose? What if Stavros finds us here?

The questions cycle through my mind like a carousel I can't stop, each one more terrifying than the last. I'm so lost in these thoughts that when the door finally opens, I nearly jump out of the bed.

Dimitri walks in, his broad shoulders filling the doorframe. I can see the tension in his jaw. He looks like a man carrying an impossible amount of weight.

I sit up straighter on the edge of the bed, heart racing in my chest. In addition to all my thoughts, I've also been replaying everything else: the ambush, the escape, the look on Ares's face when he realized who S was. And every time my mind goes through it, I end up here, wishing Dimitri would come back so the room wouldn't feel so big and empty.

And finally, he's here.

"Hey," I say in a tentative tone.

He walks over and sits next to me. His familiar scent fills my nose and a satisfying level of comfort washes over me.

"Hey," he says, his voice rougher than usual.

We sit in silence for a moment, both of us staring at the wall as if it might offer some answers.

"So what happens now?" I ask, rubbing his thigh.

Dimitri turns to me, his blue eyes catching the lamplight. "Now we kill the man who started this," he says. "But we can't do it the way I normally do."

"Which is?" I don't know why I ask. I already know.

"Guns blazing," he says with a sigh. "Hard and fast."

I tilt my head, pretending to consider this seriously. "So what you're saying is, we have to be sneaky like an Alepoudítsa?

He smiles, “Exactly.”

"Well, it's a good thing you have me to help now isn't it?”

l laugh and lean my head against his shoulder.

"He'll be tricky to get. More dangerous than anyone we've gone up against. So, patience as Theo says."

Dimitri reaches out, his fingers brushing my cheek with unexpected tenderness. "But after that…" His voice trails off. He clears his throat and tries again. "After that, I want something else."

"What?" I ask.

He turns my head to have me look at him.

"I want you," he says simply.

I let out a shaky breath and look into his beautiful eyes. "You already have me."