Page 38 of Beyond Enemy Vows

I trace the rim of my wine glass with my finger. "I was thinking that this is nice. Just being here. With you."

His eyes darken, and he sets his pizza down, wiping his hands on a napkin before taking mine. "It doesn't have to end, you know."

My heart races. "Doesn't it?"

"No." He brings my hand to his lips, kissing it. "This could be the beginning."

I want to believe him, but reality hovers at the edges of my consciousness. My brothers. Our families.

"What would that even look like?" I ask, not sure if I'm asking him or myself. "This isn't just about us, Niko. Nothing in our world is."

"It could be." His voice is low, his eyes never leaving mine. "We could make it about us."

I nod slowly. "It's just, my brothers. With them around. It's like being wrapped in a blanket so tight you can't breathe. I love them. They'd die for me. But it's suffocating sometimes."

I stop and rub my forehead.

"They still see me as this version of myself that hasn't existed in years," I continue. "The little mafia princess who needed protecting. And maybe I did, back then. But not anymore."

Niko rubs my cheek. "They can learn to live with it," he says. "Or not. I don't particularly care."

I laugh sarcastically. "Easy for you to say. You don't have to deal with them."

"We would deal with them together," he says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm not afraid of your brothers, Calli."

"You should be. Do you know what Ares did for your cousin on their wedding night?"

Niko's expression doesn't change. "Let him try."

"This isn't a game, Niko," I say, because I need him to understand. "This is my family. My life."

"I know exactly what this is." He moves closer, and I can feel the heat of him even through the blanket. "Look, you can keep choosing what they want for you. Or you can choose what you want for yourself. And if that's me, I'll stand between you and anyone who tries to take you away. Anyone."

His words should scare me. Instead, they make something warm rise in my chest.

"You make it sound so simple," I say, looking down.

"It is simple," he says. "You're mine now, orea mou. It’s probably best you allow yourself to be."

I want to believe him. God, I want to so badly. But I can picture Ares's face when he finds out. Theo's. Dimitri's. The betrayal they'll feel. The rage.

"What happens when I go back to Chicago? And you to Greece?" I ask. Because I have to, eventually. This cottage, this moment, it's a bubble, separate from reality.

"I won't."

"What do you mean?"

"You have to go back to Chicago. I don't have to go anywhere for now. I'll follow you. Meet you anywhere in the world, Calli. I mean, I came here."

I smile. "I know, and I'm glad you did."

He leans in and kisses me.

"So like, you want to try and what? Be together? Not just here, but when I go back?"

His smile is slow, devastating in its intensity. "Yes, that's what I've been saying."

"It won't be easy," I warn him, but I'm already leaning into him, already giving in.