“Do you think you’ll finally cut ties with your uncle?” she asks.

“Yes.”

If all goes to plan, I should do more than cut ties with Georgios. I’ve been laying the groundwork for weeks now to help pull off a coup in his organization. Andreas, one of his top men, is sick of watching him push too far with the police. Even Nicholai is in on it.

I can’t tell anyone about the plans, though. I know they’ll tell me it’s too dangerous, and without a doubt it is, but I can’t let my uncle pull my strings all the time. I’m not going to live my life as his puppet.

“Are you excited to be going back to Greece? Do you miss living there?”

“It’s beautiful, but no, I don’t really miss it. It makes me think of my parents, and I do miss them. But America has been home for so long now and Emerson and Declan are my family. You’re my family. Anything I could ever want is here.”

“That’s a good answer.” She relaxes against the seat. “You’re part of my family now, too.”

I smile and lift her knuckles to my lips.

“But I am excited for Greece. I hope we can do some touristy things while we’re there.”

“We can do whatever you want,asteraki mu.”

I’d carry her up Mount Olympus on my back if she asked. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, or the guys for that matter. Even Banks is now included in that sentiment.

We’ve got a few hours before the match, so we head to the hotel. Luckily there was still a room available for us at the hotelwhere the team is staying. It’ll make it so much easier for us to all be together after the game this way.

“Do you want to take a short nap before the game?” Harper asks as she drops her purse on the desk. “Banks said he’d just meet us at the stadium. I know you didn’t sleep much last night.”

“If that means I get a few extra Harper cuddles then count me in.”

She slips off her shoes and pulls the duvet down before getting in bed. I toe my shoes off and pull my hoodie over my head. I’ll get too hot if I leave it on while we sleep. While I’m doing that, she sets an alarm just in case we oversleep.

As soon as I’m down in bed beside her, she turns to me and tucks her head under my chin. I rest one hand on her hip and the other gently scratches her scalp. She presses into my touch like a lazy cat stretching and purring. I press a kiss to her forehead and inhale the orange and vanilla scent of her shampoo. I’ve noticed that she uses two different types. It makes for a fun guessing game every morning.

My pulse jumps when she presses her lips to the base of my neck in a soft kiss. I have to force myself not to get hard by thinking of the least sexy things. She probably doesn’t even realize the effect she’s having on me right now. Or maybe she does.

She’s a quick study of everything we enjoy. Not just sexually but day to day stuff, like how I take my coffee. Or that Emerson always has to have a bottle of half frozen water before he goes to bed. The other day I came home from class and found all of my aprons had been washed and put right back where I prefer them to hang.

Her thoughtful nature is one of my favorite things about her, even if I hate how she came to be like this. I know she grew up anticipating her father’s needs, catering to his whims. All in aneffort to avoid his wrath. Which of course didn’t work because he still managed to concoct reasons to hurt her.

Evil fucker.

I still need to finalize plans for his demise. I thought I’d have to wait to take my uncle out until he fulfilled his side of the bargain, but luckily Andreas is his point person for those arrangements anyway.

“What are you thinking about so intently?” she asks while tracing my tattoos with her fingers.

“That if you don’t stop touching me like this neither one of us is going to get much napping done.” I smile as I cover her hands to stop them from wandering any further.

“No fun.” She pouts. “But since you were up all night and then refused to let me drive, I’ll stop.”

She rolls over, so I can curl my body around hers. After a few minutes, I hear her breathing deepen as she falls asleep. I follow soon after.

Harper is sandwichedbetween Banks and me with Cillian and Annabelle behind us. Their bodyguard, Felix, sits on Annabelle’s other side, alert and tense. I feel Cillian’s hand squeeze my shoulder and look back at him. He gestures over his shoulder indicating he wants to speak privately. I lean over and tell Harper I’ll be right back.

He leads me up the stairs and finds a quiet alcove. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Harper and Annabelle, but we’re closing in on whoever is harassing them.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“It is.” He glances around us. “But it’s also making them more aggressive. Felix chased someone off the property last night. They broke into the house while we were gone.”

“Did they take anything?”