Page 58 of Beyond Enemy Vows
I type back.
Be mine. Tonight?
Her reply comes quickly.
Can't. Ares is taking us someplace.
My jaw tightens. Of course he is. Keeping her close like she's his property.
Tell me where.
She hesitates. I can feel it in the pause before her next message appears with an address and time.
A dark smile spreads across my face.
I don't care where he takes you. I'm coming to find you.
Niko!
Skip dessert, orea mou. Tonight, we'll enjoy each other.
17
CALLI
The Acropolis glows against the night sky like something out of myth, omniscient and knowing, towering over the city like it's watching everything.
It should be breathtaking. Instead, I can barely register its magnificence through the fog of my anxiety.
I sit at a candlelit table on the terrace of one of Athens' most exclusive restaurants, pretending to listen as Katerina and Ares talk about some vineyard in Santorini.
My phone sits in my lap, hidden beneath the crisp white cloth napkin. I glance down every few seconds, my fingers lifting the corner of it slightly to check it again and again. Still, nothing.
"I'm surprised Theo isn't joining us," Katerina says, taking a delicate sip of her wine. "His recommendation, and it's so nice here."
Ares shrugs. "Something came up. Business."
"You all work too hard," I say, reaching for my water glass to hide my impatience.
"It's what keeps us alive," Ares says, swirling a red wine in his glass. "And we have to find out what happened, Calli. You know that."
"Of course she knows," Katerina says, interrupting. "We just like family around, where we can see them. Not off doing business stuff," she says, smiling at me.
"Yes, exactly," I say.
I look down at my own plate. I've barely touched the food. My stomach's been in knots all day, from the worry about being pregnant, from seeing Niko at the market, from the dangerous game we're playing.
I look back up at them, but my brain tunes in for about five seconds before drifting again and looking down at my phone.
God, hurry up, Niko.
Then.
My phone lights up.
I nearly drop it in my haste to read the message, trying to remain calm.
Turn left when you walk out the entrance, then another left down the first alley. I'm waiting.
