Dimos cast a vicious glare. “Even I knew as a teenager that Jodie isn’t the type of woman you marry,” he said. “She’s the disposable lover. Try her once or twice and then discard—”
Hot fury flashed through Stergios and he grabbed Dimos by the tie. “Don’t.”
Dimos grappled at Stergios’s hand. “Let go of me,” he said weakly, glancing at the interested spectators around them. “People are watching.”
“I don’t care,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before,” he choked as his face turned bright red.
“That’s going to change,” Stergios announced as he let go of his cousin.
Dimos coughed as he loosened his tie. “Are you going to threaten every relative? You’ll be popular at the next family dinner.”
He didn’t need to be liked. He needed Jodie happy and content living in Greece. “I will do whatever is necessary for Jodie to be accepted.”
“That’s never going to happen,” his cousin predicted as he took a cautious step back. “You are going to be the laughingstock of all of Athens if you marry a woman like that. They will shun her.”
“Then give them a message from me,” he said in a chilling tone. “If you disrespect Jodie, you disrespect me. Hurt her in any way and I will come after you. Got that?”
“You’re making a big mistake,” Dimos said as he slunk away. “But you’ll figure that out soon enough. I just hope you don’t take the Antoniou family down with you.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A WEEK LATER Stergios cautiously approached Jodie’s bedroom as he planned his next move. He felt like he was flying without a net. What he said or did next could ruin all of the groundwork he’d covered so far.
The door to her room was ajar. There was a clatter of something hitting the floor and Jodie’s muttered expletive followed. Stergios tapped his knuckles on the door before he pushed it open.
His eyes lit up with appreciation when he saw Jodie. Her lime-green tank top and charcoal-gray yoga pants clung to her curves. She was stretching, extending her arm as she reached for something at the top of her closet. Wisps of her blond hair were escaping from her short ponytail. It took him a moment to notice the open suitcase on her bed.
His chest tightened. “What is this?” he asked in a low, dangerous tone.
Jodie jumped at the sound of his voice and whirled around. Her face was red with exertion and her eyes gleamed with anger. He suspected she could tear up at any moment.
“What does it look like?” she asked defiantly as she bundled up a dress and tossed it in the case. “I’m leaving.”
Panic flared deep inside him. Suddenly he was at her side and grasped her arm to stop her. “No, you’re not.”
“I have to,” she insisted as she shook off his hold. “I swore I wasn’t going to live like this again.”
“What happened?” He was glad he had followed his instinct and had arrived home early. He couldn’t afford the time off but he had felt his relatives’ seething anger just under the surface in the breakfast room this morning. He knew the Antonious resented Jodie’s presence but he couldn’t tell how it affected her.
This was his fault. He had not expected his family to question his choices. They hadn’t before but now they felt Jodie had seduced him down a different path. A mutiny was brewing. A week ago he couldn’t have imagined any of the Antonious dissecting his decisions. They used to congregate around him like devoted servants wanting to please their master.
Stergios never took their obsequious manner as his due. He knew they only wanted his advice, his help and his money. He had often found it irritating. Maybe that was why he found Jodie’s attitude a refreshing challenge.
“I know I’m a burden, just like I was when I was a teenager.” Jodie placed her hands on her hips and looked away. “My father is embarrassed by me and he’s worried that he’s going to be penalized just by being related to me. And Mairi wants me out. Out of the house, the city and their lives. Sound familiar?”
It did. He had thought it would be different this time around. She had him as her ally, her protector. But he was not at home enough to be a physical barrier between Jodie and his family.
“And how do I respond to all this? I’m hiding again.” She angrily tossed a pair of shoes into the suitcase. “That had been my strategy when I first came to live here. Then I did the opposite only to find more grief. I’m trying to become invisible because this family refuses to make room for me.”