Page 25 of Desperate Vows

“I knew we’d get along.” He paused a beat.

“Would you mind if I stopped by the house tonight? Just to check on her?” Even if he said no, I was going anyway.

Another pregnant pause. “That’ll be fine. I’ll let Remy know.”

The line went dead, and I set the phone on my desk. “Guess you were right about Emil.”

“Yeah, I was. I knew my guy was giving me good info.” Dimitris slid down in the chair with one arm hooked over the back. “I’m going with you if you go to that house. It could be a setup.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I know what you said. Just ‘cause she works at a soup kitchen don’t mean nothing.”

Yeah, we’d gone rounds this morning. Informing him that Aunt Helen had Claire Benoit working for her for the last six months was a kick. The way he looked mirrored the way I felt the day before. Blindsided. I was done talking, though. My brother was not babysitting me while I kissed my girl.

My girl. Jeez. When did that happen?

To distract myself, I picked up my phone, checked the time, and tried Thea again. This wasn’t normal for her. She always picked up. “I haven’t been able to get hold of Thea all day. You heard from her?” She had ‘til seven straight up before I went to look for her.

The door opened, and Thea swept in. “You rang?” She smiled.

“Where have you been? Why didn’t you pick up?” Seriously, if she hadn’t heard from me all day, she would be shooting me glares if I came in all smiles like I didn’t worry her sick.

“I spent the day with Claire.”

I sat forward. “You spent the day with Claire?”

Dimitris stood, drew a cigarette from the pack, and crossed the room. “I’ll see you later.” The door wasn’t halfway shut before he lit it up.

I was so in shock from Thea’s revelation that I didn’t even acknowledge him leaving.

She crossed the room, sat in the chair Dimitris had occupied, and crossed her legs, staring at me.

“Well?”

“I like her.”

I almost pinched myself to make sure I was awake. “You like her? You don’t like women at all.”

Her lashes fluttered as she shook her head. “That’s not true. I hate women, but she’s different. She’s not frilly and stupid.”

“You didn’t want me anywhere near her, and now you’re…” I scoffed. “I didn’t tell you her plans so you could join her. I wanted you to?—”

“I know what you wanted, but I made a call. I’m glad I did.” Her lips stretched into a grin.

“Okay.” My sister was officially freaking me out.

She studied me for a second. “I told her how you found me. She didn’t get all gooey and weepy and useless. She just accepted them as facts and didn’t dwell on them. But I saw pride in her eyes. That scored you points.”

Thea doesn’t know about last night, and unless Claire told her—which I doubt she would—she’d never know. How did my woman-hating sister go from wanting to slit Claire’s throat to this? What alternate reality was I in? “I have clearly missed something here.”

“She ordered invitations embossed with the color of the Greek flag. That was an extra three hundred because it was a custom color and an extra rush.”

I shrugged. “Okay, so?”

One brow quirked up. “The cake is Greek sponge, and instead of desserts, she’s got a table of koufeta for wedding favors.” She quickly added, “I think she likes you.”

Those five words almost got me. I knitted my eyebrows together. “Did you tell her to do that?”

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