by Marian Tee
“I said get off me, dammit.”
It was just too bad Andreus clearly didn’t feel the same.
“No.”
Andreus’ teeth gnashed against each other. “You know I can push you off me without any trouble, right?”
“But you won’t.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. “Right?”
Andreus swore in Greek then, and she almost giggled.
“Umm…you do remember I’m also fluent in Greek, don’t you?”
He cursed some more, this time in English.
“Is it really that bad---” The rest of Hallie’s words turned into a gasp as Andreus suddenly held her by the nape…just before his teeth nipped her ear.
Ooooooooooooh.
“Now,” Andreus whispered into her ear, “do you get it?” He bit her ear again, and she made the most delicious jerk against his body. When he tried prying her off him, she no longer resisted – but she didn’t let him leave her bed either, catching hold of his hand before he could sit up.
“Please just stay?”
Hallie’s plea, uttered ever so sweetly, was his downfall.
Ten minutes later, and both Andreus and Hallie were lying on their sides, facing each other in the darkness. “Andreus?”
“Did you want me here just to pester me the whole night?”
He heard her giggle, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world. He heard joy in it. Peace, too, and most of all, he could feel the way she had reclaimed her innocence through it.
“I just want to ask you a question.”
“Can’t this wait until tomorrow morning?”
“Nope.”
He released a heavy sigh of exaggeration, and he smiled at the way it made her giggle. He could listen to that sound forever.
“Just one question, I promise.”
“Just one fucking question,” he warned, “and if you ask more, I’ll be reaching for the duct tape.”
More giggles.
“I’m not fucking around here.”
“I promise.”
“Then what’s the damn---”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Andreus choked. “That’s seriously what you want to ask?”
“Uh huh.”
But it was a lie, and they both knew it. Maybe she really did want to know the answer, but more than that he could sense the pain of her father’s betrayal, still lurking like her own personal boogeyman. And so when she sat up and asked again, “Do you or do you not have a girlfriend?”
Andreus knew exactly what to say. “I plead the Fifth.”
Hallie choked back a surprised giggle. “Why won’t you just tell me?”
“Which answer is likely to get you to shut up and sleep?”
“I’m serious---”
He hauled her down and had her under him in an instant. “So am I.”
Even knowing it would be futile, Hallie still found herself squinting madly in hopes of finding his face in the darkness. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” she whispered. “Why can’t you---”
A hollow laugh played in the darkness, and her voice trailed off.
Ah.
And now, she did begin to see.
“The fact that you don’t get it is answer enough, baby doll.”
And now it was getting clearer and clearer –
“I’m saying it doesn’t matter what my answer is.”
Too clear now actually that she found herself yearning for the darkness she had once foolishly shunned.
“I’m saying that my answer doesn’t matter.”
Hallie’s breath caught when she felt his fingers graze the edge of her cheek.
“I’m saying I’m not like your brother.” His fingers touched the corner of her lip. “I’m not like Helios or Kellion. I’m not like you---”
“But you know things like that don’t matter to me---”
His fingers moved over her lips to silence her.
“It may not matter to you now,” Andreus said grimly, “but sooner or later it will.”
His fingers left her lips.
His body left hers.
And even though they were lying on the same bed and staring at the same blanket of night, it was no longer the same.
Hallie fought hard not to cry, and Andreus struggled not to say all of it was a lie.
I’ll make him realize he’s wrong, she thought fiercely.
I need to stay as far away as possible, he thought bleakly.
But in the years that passed, neither of them had been able to do what they wanted.
Present Time
Claymore, Texas, albeit vast in terms of square footage, was more a small town by definition, with its low population count and lack of commercial development. The town’s busiest street was just a mile long, and business competition in major industries was virtually nonexistent. Claymore only had one bank, one hospital, one insurance firm, and even just one barbershop, too. All of it used to belong to the town’s founding family. Now, these properties, along with 60% of the town’s land, belonged to Afxisi.
Just a few minutes away from the town center was an uphill road leading to Amaryllis Plantation, Claymore’s largest residence, and the beautifully preserved antebellum estate, like many of the town’s properties, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In honor of its history, Andreus and the others had collectively decided to continue with the tradition of opening its doors to the public. Although admission was completely free, the public was only limited to the plantation’s Great Hall and the sprawling grounds in front of the house. Everything else, such as the plantation’s four residential wings and the common areas at the back of the house, were off-limits to the public.
Hallie flipped to the next page of the ten-page brochure as Andreus’ truck rolled down the last few meters of the driveway. “Is that the allée?” She pointed to the oak-lined side road at the right, which the brochure identified as a vastly popular location for wedding and fashion shoots.
Nothing.
She glanced at Andreus in exasperation. “I didn’t make you promise not to talk to me anymore, you know.”
But the stubborn man still didn’t speak a word, and Hallie bit her lip hard. It had felt awfully good to finally get everything off her chest, liberating even, but maybe…she had been too honest?
Her gaze turned ahead, where the whole gang was waiting for them by the steps.
Six-foot-seven Helios Andreadis, often described as a sun god because of his leonine looks and powerful build, towered everyone else even when he was standing at the back, his gaze trained on his young family. For a change, his two-year-old twins appeared to be behaving themselves, standing behind the skirts of their violet-eyed mother like the cutest pair of charmers.
Next to them was Kellion Argyros, the charmer of the group, with his arm around his pregnant wife Aria.
And then there was her older brother Yuri – cut from the exact same cloth as Hallie with his identical black hair and blue eyes – standing next to his newly expectant Greek heiress wife. Kalliope was waving energetically at them, and the younger woman was the first to run as soon as Andreus’ truck rumbled to a stop.
“Welcome home, Hallie!”
She happily hugged her sister-in-law back even as Kalli’s tight squeeze threatened to crack her ribs.
“How about giving others a turn, sweetheart?”
Yuri’s words had the younger woman reluctantly stepping back. “I just wanted Hallie to know for certain how much I missed her,” Kalli said with her usual disarming innocence.
“You did,” she assured the other woman right away.
In the midst of kisses and hugs being exchanged, Kellion noted the way Andreus kept himself apart from the rest, a brooding look on the other man’s face.
“What’s up with him?” he asked her.
Seeing Kellion nod at Andreus’ direction, Hallie said cheerfully, “Don’t mind him. He’s just adjusting.”
Helios raised a brow. “Adjusti
ng?”
“To the bombshell I dropped on him,” she told them with a sheepish smile. “I realized that the best way to get over him is to let nature take its course.”
MJ blinked. “Which means…what exactly?”
“I’m, umm, done pretending I’m not in love with him?”
The noise level around her plunged into such absolute silence that only the sound stridulating crickets made could be heard.
But even so, Andreus’ silence remained persistent, with his handsome face stoic as everyone turned his way.
Oh no, you don’t, Hallie thought. The time when he always had the upper hand was over. If him permanently breaking her heart was inevitable, then she was determined to get away with as much fun as she could before he left her for good.
And so after clearing her throat, she then announced, “In return, Andreus will act like he can’t ever get it up---”
Andreus, who had been leaning against the side of his truck, leapt off with a hiss of incredulity. “What the fuck?”
“No matter how much I try to seduce him,” she finished with a sweet smile at Andreus’ direction.
The other men tensed as Andreus took one threatening step towards her. All of them had witnessed multiple times the violent edge of Andreus’ temper, and numerous individuals had been sent to the hospital for a much lesser slur.
“You---” Andreus broke off, and Hallie knew the exact moment he remembered what he had promised, with the way color suddenly darkened his cheeks.
The men exchanged looks of disbelief when Andreus simply threw a look of impotent anger at Hallie before stalking away.
“Oh, wow.” Aria began to clap. “I don’t know what the heck Tokyo did to you,” the redhead exclaimed admiringly, “but you go, girl!”
A moment later, the door slammed shut behind him with a loud bang, and as the sound worked to release everyone from their mutual state of astonishment, the men’s low, rumbling laughter blended with the softer peals of merriment coming from their wives.
After all these years, it appeared that Andreus Economou, the most badass member of Afxisi, had finally been brought to his knees.
A little over an hour had passed when Hallie was finally shown to her third-floor bedroom in the southwest wing, which was Yuri’s side of the plantation. “If you want to talk,” her too-handsome brother began.
Hallie rolled her eyes. “Do you really want me to talk about my sexual frustrations---”
Yuri blanched.
“Exactly.” Her brother’s gaze turned thoughtful then, and Hallie did her best to keep her face blank.
After several moments, Yuri asked, “What is all this really about?”
Nothing.
“This isn’t like you,” he pressed gently.
No, she thought, it isn’t.
“You understand there’s a very high probability this – whatever this is – will hurt you more in the end?”
Hallie slowly nodded.
“And you’re okay with that?” Yuri drew a heavy breath at his sister’s silence. Sometimes, when he saw her like this, he couldn’t help blaming himself, knowing that if it weren’t for him Hallie would never have met Andreus. If it weren’t for him, she would have never known how it was to have her heart broken.
But if it weren’t for Andreus, would Hallie ever know how it was to fall in love?
“No more questions,” Yuri said finally with a brief smile. “I’m just glad you’re back with us.” He kissed her forehead. “Hopefully for good this time.”
Hallie worked hard to keep her smile in place as she saw Yuri out of her room. But the moment she closed the door, her legs literally gave out, and she crumbled to the floor.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
OH MY GOD.
It was as if her life had suddenly turned into a sequel to Jim Carrey’s Liar, Liar and she had been cursed to speak the truth and nothing but the truth –
Or so help me, God, Hallie prayed fervently.
I’m seriously praying here, God.
Please.
I’m really counting on you here.
After keeping her feelings to herself all these years, how was it that she couldn’t keep her mouth shut about it now?
First she had told Andreus himself that she was still in love with him. And now her whole family knew, too. Who was next? US Weekly?
It took a while before she could get her ungainly legs to work, and after managing to sit on the edge of her bed, Hallie finally had the chance to look around her. In her world, no girl was ever too old for pink, and her bedroom was a perfect reflection of that. As with her stationery shop, she had relied on phone calls and video chats to convey her wishes to the team handling her room’s renovation. Faded floral pink for the wallpaper, whitewashed floors, and a birch canopy bed – all white, zero curtains, queen-sized, and with four large drawers underneath. The rest of the room was a minimalist’s take on shabby chic: birch furniture that didn’t take up much space, a slim, wall-mounted cabinet to stow her giant TV screen out of view, a pull-down writing desk that hid her laptop and craft supplies, and a cottony loveseat placed next to the window.
This room symbolized the start of her new life, and everything in it was it should be.
So why didn’t it feel right? Why didn’t it feel enough? Why was it never right – why was it never enough whenever he wasn’t around?
Closing her eyes, she pictured an infuriated Andreus in her mind – the way he had looked earlier when she told the others about her feelings for him – and her lips curved in a helpless smile.
But then another image of him supplanted this, of Andreus looking at her as she told him she still wasn’t over him, and it was how he had always looked at her – everything he ever wanted, but nothing he could ever have.
Five Years Ago
It was, according to every media outlet there was, the wedding of the year. Hallie thought so, too, but for vastly different reasons. Although the wedding ceremony was only held at a university chapel and the reception that followed took place at what could be described as an impossibly large and luxurious “frat house”, no one really cared about those things.
With events like this, it was always about who was invited and who was eager to come, and this wedding definitely had one of the most enviably star-studded lists. The handsome groom, after all, was no ordinary post-graduate student. Aside from being a member of one of Greece’s most famous political clans, Helios Andreadis was also the president of Afxisi.
Afxisi meant ‘rise’ in Greek, and on paper, it was the name of just one of the many collegiate clubs in Christopoulos University. In reality, however, Afxisi was a billion-dollar underground racing club, and tonight, its mercurial leader had just sworn his love and fealty to nineteen-year-old MJ Vlahos.
Hallie tried her best not to smile as the bride asked the university’s sun god to dance with her.
“Dancing is for sissies,” she heard the President mutter with a pained expression, but when his bride’s face fell, that was it.
“Don’t give me that look.”
“What look?”
The innocent question only had Helios shooting a more violent glare at MJ. “That look. Like I’m breaking your heart or something.”
“You’re not.”
A valiant smile accompanied the protest, and the sight of it had Hallie grinning. That look was always a winner, and just as she expected, the President had succumbed to it with a sigh. “Fine, brat,” MJ overheard Helios grumble. “But only for tonight, because it's our wedding day, and I want you to know how much I love you."
And so it was that MJ Vlahos-Andreadis blushed the whole time Helios danced with her. She also ended up laughing out loud as Helios, who hated dancing, whirled around every second, faster and faster, so no one could ever capture their faces clearly with their cameras.
It was surreal, seeing the couple together, looking blissfully happy and in love, after what they had gone through in the past year. It was
even more surreal that in this huge crowd, only a few of them truly knew what had happened.
Other people would look at Helios and MJ and probably think that a tomboyish Cinderella had found her Prince Charming in the person of a handsome, rich, and notoriously aloof bike racer. But Hallie and the rest of Afxisi knew better. And because she knew better, it made her want so much to have her own fairy tale ending with the man of her dreams.
The thought had Hallie searching the crowd for a glimpse of Andreus, and eventually she found him at the back of the room. Tall, dark, and dangerously beautiful, exuding such raw power it just left her speechless at times, wondering how it was that being born with a silver spoon in his mouth hadn't been able to smooth and polish the rough edges of Andreus' personality. It was as if he was born with a gritty kind of manliness that no amount of sophistication could ever soften, making him stand apart from the rest without ever trying.
Wherever he went, whatever he was doing, he always looked like he was just one roar away from losing his temper, and always…always…always…
His gaze found hers, and just like always, there was so much in it she could barely breathe.
She and Yuri had been living in Miami for two years now, which also meant it had been two years since she started running after Andreus, continuously, but also ineffectually. And yet here she was, still in love with him, more than ever.
Which was his fault, too, Hallie thought with a sigh.
The problem with Andreus was how he treated her differently – and how everyone knew it, too. He would be a grouch with everyone else, but with her he was almost…sweet. Well, as sweet as someone like Andreus Economou could be that was.
If someone had dared wake him up with just one hour’s sleep, that idiot would’ve ended up in a coma. But if it were Hallie, a scowl and maybe a curse word here or there – but never directed at her – would have been Andreus’ equivalent to a light slap on the wrist.
Hallie peeked at him from across the room once more, and this time she saw one of the club’s so-called volunteers come up to him, cleavage rubbing against his arm as she rose on her toes to whisper something into his ear.
