Page 71 of About Love and Revenge

Not having a chance to prepare, I say the first thing that comes to my mind: “I work for him."

A heavy silence falls over the table, but I pretend not to notice. I settle the napkin on my lap as calmly as possible, but in fact I'm so uncomfortable I feel physically sick.

I feel Odin's eyes on me, but I don't have the courage to face him. Maybe I should have changed the subject, or even not answered at all.

And now?

Minutes later, when the matter seems forgotten, I excuse myself and go to the bathroom. I need to get away for a while or I won't be able to get through this night.

I've been so relaxed in my little world with Odin that I've forgotten that high society is basically made up of mean people.

Elina

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Two Weeks Later

I domy best to remain calm, but it's not easy.

Today, Odin's cousin Christos and his wife are coming for dinner at our...athishouse.Iconstantly need to remind myself that I'm here on a temporary basis.

He's been a little pissed off with me since the business dinner he took me to. I think it was because I said I was his employee, but what did he want me to answer? That I'm his girlfriend? I don't know what to call the two of us, and I was nervous about the woman's questions. Since then, he wears a frown.

During sex, we're still as hot as ever, but out of bed he doesn't tease me anymore, and sometimes he looks like the same Odin from that day at the party when he humiliated my father.

Quiet, gloomy.

Maybe I should go. Theo said he would help me.

Despite this distance that has come between us, I still go to the library at night. Odin suffers from insomnia, and it’s become a habit for him to read to me and then discuss with me what he’s read afterwards.

For a few hours, we have a bond stronger than sex.

I love those moments, and I don't think they bother him, because he seems to like when I have questions about our readings. Odin has infinite patience to answer, which has gradually made me more confident to ask questions.

I've just added the finishing touches to my makeup and dried my damp hands on my dress.

It's time to face the guests.

"Would I be too indiscreet if I asked what kind of relationship you two are in?" Zoe asks as soon as we enter the apartment's kitchen. I dismissed the staff for the night and decided to make the dessert myself.

I'm not upset by her direct manner. Zoe is so sweet she couldn't be mean even if she tried.

"I don't know. He's my first . . . I don't know what to call him, to tell you the truth."

She looks a little startled, probably because she realizes I'm older than she is, but then she shrugs. “I can say much the same about Christos. I mean, I've been married before, but only for six months, and that relationship was totally toxic."

"So you guys got divorced and then you met Christos?"

"No. My first husband died."She stares at the floor.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to be so intrusive."

"It's not that. It's just that, despite being in the past, that time of my life still bothers me."

She tells me everything, and strangely, I find myself gathering the confidence to vent and sum up my problems to her as well, from leaving Greece up to my involvement with Odin. I don't mention the sheik, though. It's hard to say out loud that my father traded me as if he was selling a piece of meat.

I don't know what it is about her that makes me want to confess it all. It's like we've known each other for a long time.

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