Oh God, no.
He was looking at me like…
No. No. No.
Like he realized he had never truly wanted—
I couldn’t even allow myself to complete the thought, and I found myself in danger of shutting down as I fought for control and tried to convince myself I could still turn things around. “Ioniko…I’m sorry.” The words came out jerkily in a whisper that betrayed my growing terror.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
But if that were true, then why was he looking at me like he no longer cared? Why was he looking at me, I thought hysterically, like the whole world was right and that I could never ever matter to him?
I saw his lips crack into movement, knew that he was about to speak, and the panic rising inside of me threatened to spiral out of control. “Is it because I wanted to date someone else? Because if it is, I’ve already decided it won’t happen again.” I couldn’t get the words out fast enough, feeling like I was in a race, and I had to beat him from saying things that I wouldn’t be able to bear hearing.
“I know…I know it was stupid.”
I hated the way my voice kept breaking.
“So you have…you have my word. I’m not going to date another guy again. Okay?”
But there was nothing else I could do—
“Ioniko, please.”
Because I myself was starting to break, and I couldn’t seem to stop it. I just kept breaking, with the way he was looking at me.
“Say something, please.”
I was begging. Breaking. Crumbling. And all he could do was stare.
“Please.”
Asshole. Asshole. Asshole. Stop staring at me like it’s too late. Stop.
“Please, Ioniko.”
My eyes closed at the damning silence. Is this my punishment, God? For being too terrified to trust in what You had planned for me? Was it really too late?
The tears started to fall.
I’ll trust in You then.
And I made myself forget my pride. My fears. I made myself forget everything.
So please, don’t take him away.
I looked at Ioniko…and I tried.
Just one last time, I tried again and choked out, “Don’t you want me anymore?”
Part II
Two, three days, tops. That was the maximum number of days Ioniko Vlahos was supposed to spend in Miami. All he had to do was personally check the books, evaluate the profit margins of his little sister’s first business, and if everything about Associate meet his approval, then branches of it would start popping up in every property owned or managed by Vlahos Inc.
And from what he had seen, everything about the coworking place appeared promising and well thought out. While Katya’s overhead could do with a little trimming, it wasn’t anything a meeting with one of his accountants wouldn’t solve. Other than that, everything looked good to go, and he had headed to Associate for one last visit and tell Katya goodbye…but instead he saw her, and everything changed.
His presence at Katya’s coworking space normally caused a fuss, and while this type of attention used to discomfit him in his teens, it was something he now simply took in stride. Aside from inevitably showing him both the best and worst of human nature, his immense wealth had also exposed him to basically two types of women.
The female members at Associate were just like almost every other woman he met: they coveted him at first sight, some because they simply found him physically attractive while most others wanted him because they knew what he could afford to give them, which was basically the world on a silver platter.
Such women were completely dispensable, and he treated them as such.
The second type, however…there was just a handful of them, and most of them were related to him by blood, like Katya and their half-sister MJ. Aside from those two, it had been a long time since he last met a woman of this ilk who was not of his bloodline. Years, actually. And he had long accepted the idea that no other woman could be added to this list…until her.
“I told them you’re the old-fashioned type of Greek,” Kat confided to him, “and that’s why everyone’s on their best behavior now. So if there’s something about Associate that you want to double check, now’s the perfect time to do it…”
Her motives had then become clear, and Ioniko’s gaze bored through hers. “In other words, you want me to make sure you’re not going to lose money on this?”
His baby sister flashed him a cheeky grin. “And face. Don’t forget how much I hate to lose face as well.” And then she started pushing him out of her office. “Now go, and make sure you don’t come back empty-handed. I want a thirty-page report—” She caught sight of the deadly glare Ioniko shot at her over the shoulder and said quickly, “I’m just kidding. A yes or no would also suffice, seriously.” She finally managed to get her brother past the door. “Have fun!” And then she slammed the door on his face.