Page 5 of About Love and Revenge

I find myself almost smiling back.

The girl is cute.

Then my savior's voice appears in my mind and I remember who she is.

Who we are.

“Why would that be any of your business?”

Her face instantly reddens, but she doesn't flinch, which, I must confess, is admirable.

“Why are you talking to me like that? I didn't mean to offend you. I was just trying to make friends.”

I stare for a moment at the innocent girl in silence. For the first time, I'm confused about what to do. But in the end, I know which way to go.

“And who says I want to be friends with you? Find a child your own age to play with. I'm not interested in stupid little girls.”

She takes two steps back as if she has been physically assaulted, and I feel ashamed of myself, but I don't want any ties to the Argyroses.

“I'm sorry,” she says and lowers her head, but then she lifts it again, and when she moves her whole posture changes. “I'm not stupid. I was just trying to be nice, but I shouldn't expect anything different from an employee. You people have no idea how one should behave in polite society.”

I'm not offended by what she says—I don't expect anything different from an Argyros—but the fact that she's so young and already resorts to a defensive demeanor amazes me.

I think any other girl her age who heard what I said would have burst into tears.

So while I don't want to approach her for the simple reason that she was born under the Argyros name, a small part of me admires her.

“One day I'll make you swallow every single one of those words,” I promise.

Her chin rises even higher. “I'll be waiting.”

United States’ Departure Day

GREECE

“Are you sure about this, son? I don't feel good knowing you’ll be on the other side of the world.”

I face the humble man who, along with my two cousins, is the only family I have left in Greece.

As far as I know, the part of my maternal family that lives in Scandinavia doesn't give a damn whether I'm alive or dead.

“I can’t stay. I need to study.”

“And that's the only reason you're leaving, Odin?"

He's never asked me directly about my plans for the future, but I suspect he knows.

When I came to live here a year ago, Aristeu told me that he searched for me for a long time when he heard about the fire that killed my family, and that he had already lost hope that I had survived it.

We lived on another island, and even when they were alive, my parents and Aristeu were never close. As far as I know, Mom and Dad visited him only once, and I wasn't with them when it happened.

My savior said that Leandros doesn't even know I exist. His people didn't see me on the day of the fire, so they have no idea there was a survivor.

Keeping myself isolated while I recovered was a major concern of my savior; we couldn't risk anyone getting suspicious.

When I came here, I asked Aristeu to say that I was a distant nephew, explaining to my uncle that we couldn’t really know whether whoever killed my parents would come after me.

I said that I was supposed to stay under the radar until I was ready. That way, I could start working on my revenge.

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