“That’s what Christos said!” I smiled.
Nikolos nodded proudly.
We eventually made it to the parking garage where my VW was parked. Nikolos gently lowered Christos into the back seat, then the rest of us climbed in.
After dropping Spiridon off at Christos’ Camaro, I took Nikolos to where Spiridon’s car was parked in another garage. He pulled Christos out of the back seat of my VW and put him in the front seat for me. There was no way I could’ve done it myself. Nikolos moved Christos like he didn’t weigh a thing. He was pretty damn strong.
“Thanks for everything,” I said as I hugged Nikolos.
“I can tell, Samantha,” Nikolos said as he patted my back, “you’re a good girl. I’m glad my son met you. I’m just sorry it was that idiot Horst Grossman who brought you together.”
“Oh, I don’t care,” I laughed. “That guy was a jerk and now we can forget about him. But if he hadn’t been such an ass master in the first place, I never would’ve met your son.”
“Ass master?” Nikolos chuckled. “In the old days, when I was young, I would’ve called him a fucking asshole and left it at that.”
I shrugged. “But that sounds like any random asshole. Horst Grossman was like the master of all assholes. He’s the one who gives all the orders,” I grinned.
“I like how you think,” Nikolos laughed. “Do you need me to follow you back to my father’s house to help get Christos out of the car?”
“I think I can manage. If not, he can sleep in the car.”
“Spiridon has a wheelbarrow in the garage if you need one. Well, good night, Samantha. I look forward to seeing your art sometime soon.”
“Me too!” I smiled. I waved as he got into Spiridon’s car and drove away.
I hoped that Nikolos would come by the house for a visit at some point. He seemed really nice. I don’t know why Christos never spent any time with him. Based on the way Christos had talked about his dad in the past, I’d imagined Nikolos would be some rundown drunk. That’s not what he seemed like tonight. He seemed healthy and was definitely sober. Christos had been the one doing all the drinking.
Maybe Christos and his dad would start spending more time together. I’m sure it would be good for both of them.
Despite all of the day’s drama, I felt like things were starting to look up for me and Christos.
Finally.
My good mood took a nose dive when my phone rang on the drive home.
My parents were calling.
There was no way I was going to answer them right now. I couldn’t deal with one more drop of drama tonight. After our last call, I could only imagine the nastiness they would slam me with if I answered.
I let it go to voicemail. I’d deal with them later. Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe never.
Maybe if I never called them back, my parents would slowly forget they ever had a daughter. I could hope.
So, so, so, SO GROAN!!!
I rolled my eyes and concentrated on the road as I drove toward home.
Home. To my new house where I lived with Christos. Swoon. The drunk guy slumped against the door of my VW. Sigh. Oh well, nothing was perfect. So what if he was drunk? It was better than him being in jail.
Besides, I’d been drunk plenty of times in high school as an outcast teenager. Sometimes things got so bad, it was the only thing I knew how to do to block out the pain and rejection when I was alone. Sometimes, not even ice cream was enough. But my drinking hadn’t turned me into an alcoholic. I’m sure Christos would be fine. If his drinking somehow became a problem, I’d be around to help. I wouldn’t let him throw his life away. We’d find a way through whatever obstacles life put in front of us. Together.
Spiridon was already back at the house when I pulled into the driveway. He helped Christos out of the car with ease and didn’t need a wheelbarrow. All the Manos men were very strong physically. I didn’t know how old Spiridon was, but he had to be at least sixty. He pulled Christos out of the car like he didn’t weigh a thing. I couldn’t have done it without a forklift.
Spiridon walked Christos upstairs and lowered him onto the bed.
“I can take it from here,” I said.
“Okay. I feel like some tea. I’m going to go make some. You can join me if you’d like.”
“All right.”
Spiridon smiled, “It’s so good to have you living with us, Samoula. It was far too quiet with only my grandson around. It’s nice to have more family in the house.”
My heart warmed at his words. “Thank you, Spiridon.” The implication that I was family brought tears to my eyes. I’d known him for all of five months and I felt completely at ease around him. Maybe he could adopt me officially. Oh wait, wouldn’t that make me Christos’ sister? No, that would only be if Nikolos adopted me. If Spiridon adopted me, that would make me Christos’ aunt. Not gonna work.
“What’s so funny?” Spiridon asked.
“Nothing,” I smiled. “Just random thoughts. Let me take care of Christos and I’ll join you downstairs.”
“Perfect. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
I hung my blazer in the closet and slipped off my heels. Then I slid Christos’ dress shoes off. He was still in his suit, which was now quite rumpled. He’d been truly dashing in the courtroom. Now his rumpled face looked like it could use a press as badly as his suit. I loosened his tie and opened his collar. He moaned sleepily, but didn’t seem interested in opening his eyes.
“You’re completely at my mercy, Christos. Think of all the things I could do to you. Draw a mustache with a marker?” No, that reminded me of Tiffany’s yacht and her painting. “Shave your head?” Why would I want to get rid of that perfect hair of his? I wouldn’t be able to run my hands through it. “Oh, forget it. How about I give you a striptease then let you have your way with me?”
Yeah, that sounded like what the doctor ordered.
Christos moaned sleepily. He didn’t seem to agree.
“How about I let you sleep?”
Silence.
I wasn’t sure how drunk Christos was, but I didn’t want to risk him choking on his own puke. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto his side, just in case. I had to really put my body into it, he was so heavy. I had a good sweat going by the time I finished. Who knew all that muscle could weigh so much?
I blew a wisp of hair out of my face when I was finished. “Sleep tight, agápi mou. I’ll be downstairs.”
As I walked toward the bedroom door, I remembered my parents’ recent phone call. I pulled my phone out of my purse and looked at it. They had left me a voicemail.
The phone that had kept Christos out of jail was now the phone threatening to put me in a different kind of jail.
Screw my mom and dad.
They could wait.
I dropped my phone in my purse with a scowl and left the room.
Screw them.
Chapter 10
SAMANTHA
I left Christos to sleep off his drunk.
Spiridon poured me a cup of tea in the kitchen and we made our way into the living room.
As tired as I was, all the stress of the past several days had my thoughts bouncing around inside my skull like a thousand ping pong balls. I needed to unwind.
I stretched out on the couch while Spiridon sat down across from me in his leather easy chair. He told me stories about his art career for hours.
The living room was the perfect location because Spiridon’s glorious landscape paintings hung all around us. They set the perfect mood as he wowed me with tales from his life as a world famous painter. He recalled all the celebrities he had met, the countries he had visited, and the awards he had won in the course of his illustrious career.