Page 42 of Modern Romance December 2025 1-4

She spun on her heel and stomped out of the boardroom, throwing, ‘You’re an arsehole,’ over her shoulder.

Clenching his teeth, he grabbed his hair and pulled air in through his nose and swore under his breath. Not only did he have Athena to deal with, but he now had a moody PA to deal with too.

When the cat’s away, the mice will play, and with Draco holing himself up in meetings he didn’t feel the need to force her to sit through, Athena decided to play. For five minutes. That was how long it took for guilt to kick in, especially as Draco must now deem her responsible enough to be left unsupervised, and so she got her head down and did the translation work Grace had given her. It was boring but it made her feel useful and that she was playing her part, and it helped time speed along a little quicker until Draco got out of his boring meetings.

Her translation work done, she left the office to give it to Grace and found her putting her coat on. ‘Where are you going?’

‘To the hotel to pack. Are you done with those documents?’

‘Yes. Why are you packing? Are you moving to a new hotel?’

‘No, we’re flying back to Greece in a few hours. That was quick work, thank you—I was going to get one of the team to scan it for me, but I can take it with me.’

‘You’re welcome, and since when are we flying back to Greece?’

‘Since His Highness decreed it.’

‘Why?’

‘He didn’t see fit to tell me—hasn’t he mentioned it to you either?’

‘No…do I need to go…’ she stopped herself sayinghomeby the skin of her teeth ‘…and pack too?’

‘Wanda’s getting your luggage together.’ Grace planted a kiss on Athena’s cheek. ‘I need to go. See you on the plane.’

Athena watched Grace bustle to the elevator with a mixture of warmth fizzing through her veins at the affectionate kiss—no one ever gave her affectionate kisses—and a sense of trepidation swirling in her belly.

She’d woken to Draco’s sleepy kisses, shared a shower with him and some rather more energetic kisses…and other things…had dressed in front of him, dried her hair and made-up her face in front of him, had shared her first coffee of the day and a light breakfast with him, had travelled to work with his hand holding hers and not once had he even hinted that he was planning to cut their stay in California short.

By the time they landed in Athens, Athena’s trepidation had turned into full-blown fear.

The flight home had been much like the flight out, with long meetings at the conference table and plenty of food served at regular intervals. Everyone had retired to their sleep pods earlier in the journey, and though Draco welcomed her silent presence into his narrow bed and cupped her breast as he’d spooned himself into her and his erection had rested against her pyjama-clad buttocks, she’d sensed a distance that had never been there before. She’d been unable to sleep, fully aware that he was awake, too, and that something was on his mind.

She had the awful feeling that something was her.

The journey from the airport was a reverse of the journey out, too, and it was at Athena’s apartment that the driver made his first stop. With Grace sharing the ride with them, she could do nothing but wish them both a goodnight.

‘Enjoy the rest of your weekend,’ Grace said.

‘You too,’ she whispered before pulling herself together and brightly adding, ‘I’m looking forward to a lot of sleep!’

As soon as she was safe inside her apartment, she sent Draco a message:

Do you want to come back to mine once you’ve dropped Grace off? x

His reply took too long to come.

I’ll be with you in twenty minutes.

There was no kiss.

Draco took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. One short ring.

The door opened so quickly she must have been standing on the other side, waiting for him.

One look at Athena’s face and the way she was holding herself told him she’d guessed what he was going to say.

Her chin lifted and then she stood aside to let him through.