“Thank you, Cassia. Nikos is sleeping and you should too. Get some rest. I know how difficult the past few days were for you. I’ll wake you up when we’re in the docks.”
Cassia nodded and obeyed Alex’s orders.
About two hours later, they reached Athens. The moment they arrived at the docks, there was already a large crowd waiting for them. Most of them were people from the media. Immediately after they went down, there was a barrage of flashes from their cameras. Also, microphones were thrust at them from every direction.
There were so many questions thrown from left and right that Cassia couldn’t even properly hear one. Her mind reeled from the sudden noise.
“Is it true you’ve been kidnapped?”
“Please tell us what happened, Mr. Demakis!”
“Is it true that the Greek drug cartel is involved here?”
“How much did you pay as ransom?”
Alex barked an order and his men began to circle them and herd the reporters back.
Nikos turned towards them and said, “No comment for now. You’ll receive a detailed statement from our public relations team.”
After that, they were led to a waiting limousine.
The instant the doors opened, someone that Cassia recognized from the past exited and threw herself against Nikos.
“Cherie! I was so worried! It’s all over the news and I flew here as fast as I could to see for myself that you’re safe!”
She hugged Nikos tightly and rained kisses on his face. Through it all, Nikos just stood there.
Suddenly, it was as if Cassia was plunged in ice-cold water.
Maybe he slept with her. Maybe he didn’t.
But what was clear now was that they had enough of a relationship for her to fly all the way here and act this way. Nikos didn’t even push her away which just cemented all her beliefs.
How could he do this to her again?
Cassia felt her heart breaking once more.
Everything that happened between them was a mistake. They were all lies. It was just part of the elaborate game that Nikos was playing with her.
He lied when he told her he wanted her. He lied when he said he wanted another chance for their marriage.
Nikos saw her walking towards the other limousine and he was snapped out of his trance. He pushed the clinging Marietta away and grabbed her arm.
“Cassia...it’s not what you think...”
“Yes. You’re right, Nikos. I thought you were sincere with everything you said. Turns out I was wrong.”
She climbed aboard the vehicle and slammed the door. She was surprised when Alex climbed in beside her.
“Cassia...it’s not—“
“Not a word, Alex. Please. Let’s just go.”
Thankfully, Alex did not push the issue further. He just patted her hand and let her be.
She faced the window and let her tears fall...
Three days later and she was on the plane back to America. Again, she left without saying goodbye.
She laughed for her situation was really nostalgic. Ten years ago, she fled Greece in the same situation. Before, her heart was broken and so was her pride. Because of that, she vowed revenge against Nikos.
Now, her heart was broken but there was no more of her pride to break. It was her own damned fault that she was in this situation. She never learned.
As the old adage went:
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
CHAPTER 19 - CHASE
November 26, 2013 (The Next Day)
Athens General Hospital
Athens, Greece
It took one more day after Cassia left before Nikos Demakis awakened.
His body was battered and bruised, and he needed the time to recuperate. He had a broken wrist, two broken ribs, and several cuts and bruises. When he woke up, the first thing he asked for was his wife.
But she was nowhere to be found. Instead it was his personal assistant, James and Alex who sat beside his bed. He never got to talk to her after she saw him with Marietta, and they rode in separate vehicles to the hospital. When they arrived, they were treated immediately and separately. He was heavily sedated for he had more injuries than her.
“How’re you feeling?” Alex asked.
“Like I’ve been run over by a truck. Where’s Cassia?”
James and Alex looked at each other.
“Err...she’s gone back to America.”
“What?!” he roared.
He struggled to sit up and his friends helped him.
“When did she leave?”
“Yesterday. I think she misunderstood Marietta’s presence here, Nikos. I saw the look on her face. That was how she looked like ten years ago when you threw her out.”
Nikos flinched. Marietta truly brought him nothing but heartache-- along with a pounding headache.
“For years after our affair ended, she wanted to get back with me. I told her it was over. But she kept coming back. Maybe I should have asked for a temporary restraining order,” he sighed.
“I think I can have her assassinated. Say the word,” Alex teased.
Nikos rolled his eyes. He wanted to go to Cassia right now and explain. He wanted to see her smile again and know that it was him who caused it. This time around, he wouldn’t let a misunderstanding separate the two of them.
“No need, Alex.”
“I’d do it for free for Cassia. I hated how she looked when she boarded that plane. I knew what she felt was killing her and it damned near killed me too,” Alex groaned.
“Prepare the private jet, James, and prepare all necessary documents. We’re going to America.”
His assistant flinched and paled.
“Sir...I’m sorry but that’s not possible at this time. First of all, you’re not yet cleared for discharge. Second, the board of directors is already waiting for you and your report. I have already given a statement to our PR Department for damage control but the board members themselves want to see you. Then, there’s the Higeshima Deal which will commence in about a week.”
“Cancel everything, I need to go to America,” he said without preamble.
“Sir. I strongly advise against this. You would also have to release your statement to the press. Give me two weeks sir and after that I will clear your schedule.”
“Two fucking weeks?! Is there no other way?”
“I’m afraid not.”
He sighed and flopped back down on the bed.
“Call a flower shop in America. I’d like to send Cassia flowers.”
“Excellent, sir. I’ll choose one and have them sent to her right away.”
He shook his head. “Ochi, James. Call them and I’ll choose one, myself.”
Nikos didn’t know who was more shocked with his declaration: Alex or his assistant. Alex raised an eyebrow at him while his assistant hid his surprise better and proceeded to do as he was told.
A moment later, Nikos was lost in a wide selection of flowers. At first, he spoke with the shop manager who then tried to explain to him in great detail how the bouquets looked. But Nikos couldn’t choose based on words. He wanted the best for Cassia so he asked for a video call so he could see everything. He even asked the shop manager what the different colors and blooms meant.
It took him nearly an hour before he was able to make a selection.
December 23, 2013
Cassiopeia
Fifth Avenue, New York City
“Delivery for Mrs. Cassia Demakis?”
Her staff all rolled their eyes at the same time. They looked at each other to check who would be accepting the deliveries. The task fell to Anna, Cassia’s best friend and General Manager for Cassiopeia.
“When is he going to stop? It’s got to the point that it’s irritating and pathetic.”
“I’ve told him to stop but he says he won’t until I forgive him,” Cassia replied with a sigh.
For the past month, Nikos had been sending her flowers thrice a day. The firs
t week, it was accompanied by letters. He kept on explaining that there was nothing going on with him and Marietta.
He explained to her that they’d broken up a long time ago and were only acquaintances but she refused to let him go and had been pestering him ever since. He explained that he knew he was mistaken for not setting her right and telling her they didn’t really have any future together.
Cassia ignored all of it and threw the letters in the trash. She didn’t care if Nikos was with Marietta or not. She was done with him. She’d been a fool twice and she wouldn’t open herself up for a third time.
Cassia pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen.
Still no word from Hector.
She returned to New York as he came out of hiding just to make sure she was safe. He picked her up at the airport then drove her to her apartment. She ached to tell him about the ordeal she suffered but he was too busy talking on the phone to notice her.
She just sat there in his car as she waited for him to finish.
Then, he dropped her off at her apartment and told her he couldn’t stay. He ordered her to stay put and that he would contact her.
But it had been nearly a month and still there was nothing from him.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Anna handed her another wooden case for her to stack on the shelves.
“I’m just curious, you know. He wants to apologize but he’s never been here and it’s been a month. If it was me, I’d have come here in the flesh.”
“He’s busy. There are a lot of things that have been going on with the company. There’s this deal that’s been falling apart and then he had to handle the media after our kidnapping.”
“Why are you even defending him?” Anna glared at her.
Cassia shrugged, “I’m not. I’m just stating facts.”
The doorbell rang again.
“I’ll get it,” Anna said as she ran towards the door.
Cassia finished placing the boxes back on the shelves and dusted her hands. She was so tired and she just wanted to return home and buy herself take-out dinner.
“Err...Cassia, speaking of the devil.”
“What?” Cassia grabbed her purse and followed her friend to the front of the shop. There, she saw Anna glaring at Nikos.
Her breath caught in her throat as she saw him in the flesh. He was still as handsome as ever. He wore a finely-tailored gray suit and was holding another bouquet of flowers in front of him. This was the biggest and most elaborate one yet.
“What are you doing here?” Cassia spat.
“I came to see you. I would’ve come sooner but there were a lot of things I had to do.”
He handed her the bouquet of roses and Anna took it from her.
“Okay. You saw her. Now you can go.”
Anna shooed Nikos away and the two glared at each other.
“I was hoping we could talk.”
“There’s nothing for us to talk about, Nikos.”
“There’s a lot for us to talk about. Hear me out, Cassia. Please?”
“No.”
Cassia grabbed Anna’s purse from the table near the register and handed it to her. She tugged her friend outside the door and both of them locked-up the shop as quickly as they could.
“Let’s go.”
She grabbed Anna’s hand and went to the other side of the street where her car was parked.
Suddenly, she was lifted off her feet and carried over Nikos’ shoulder.
“Put me down you brute!” she shrieked.
“Hey!” Anna shouted.
The people in the vicinity all turned to look at them with curiosity. Some looked at Nikos warily.
Nikos smiled that charming smile of his at everyone who turned to look. “Just settling a domestic dispute with my wife. She’s being stubborn,” he told them. The others turned away and continued what they were doing.
“Miss, is this man really your husband?” one man shouted. Nikos heard the man’s companion order him to call the cops.
“No need! He’s my husband. Unfortunately.”
Some laughed. The man and his companion turned and walked away. When no one else paid attention, Cassia pinched Nikos’ arm.
“Put me down now! You’re causing a scene!”
“Ochi.I’m kidnapping you so we can talk and you can’t do anything about it,” Nikos told her as he brought her to his car.
He nodded to his bodyguards and they opened the door. Their faces remained completely blank to what Nikos was doing. One of them even held Anna back.
“We’re going to talk, you and I. And you can’t run away this time. I refuse to have another misunderstanding keep us apart.”
He gently placed her inside the car and climbed in after her.
She tried to get out but the doors were immediately locked and only the driver could unlock them.
“Let me out of here!” she screeched.
“My hotel. Drive,” Nikos told the driver who quickly sped off.
December 23, 2013
Nostos Hotel
New York City
Nikos dumped Cassia on the bed and sat beside her.
He pinned her arms by her sides so she couldn’t escape and looked straight into her hazel eyes.
“What’s the matter with you?” he hissed.
“Me? It’s you who kidnapped me here!”
“I mean what happened to you? I thought that we were okay back on the island and then you suddenly disappear on me! You didn’t reply to any of my letters or emails and did not answer any of my calls.”
“Well, I thought that since you already have Marietta with you, you have everything you need.”
Nikos stiffened and then he sighed. He finally realized what was going on here. Alex was right.
“That day back at the docks...it was nothing. Alex told me she wanted to come see for herself that I was fine. She thinks we’re still together but we’ve broken up a long time ago. She keeps on thinking there’s still something else between us. There’s nothing, Cassia.”
“Lies! From the looks of that, she’s still your mistress—“
“After I was kidnapped, I didn’t sleep with anyone for two years!” he cut her off.
Nikos took several deep breaths to calm himself. He stood up and faced away from her.
“I told you I am a broken man, Cassia. I’ve never even slept peacefully after I was kidnapped. I can’t because every time I close my eyes, I am drowned by nightmares. I haven’t been with anyone else because I can’t trust them to look at my scars...I can’t trust them enough to fall asleep and let them hear what torments me. If you want, I can contact all the doctors I’ve seen and ask for my medical records.”
“N-no...” She remembered waking him up from his nightmares well enough.
“I just want you to know I have wanted to come here since the day you left me at the hospital. They asked me to stay for three more days before they cleared me for discharge. Then there was the media frenzy because of our kidnapping. Then I had to fix the Higeshimadeal.”
“I am aware what happened with that and I am happy that it pulled through.”
“Ne. But it took me almost a month before I could come here. So I sent you flowers and letters in my stead.”
Cassia scoffed, “Your assistant did, you mean?”
“No. I remembered what you told me when we were in that island. This time, it was me who chose all of that.”
Her jaw dropped.
“Y-you did?”
Nikos nodded.
“I am serious about wanting another shot at our marriage, Cassia.”
For the first time tonight, she was speechless.
“I am never letting you go. You are going back to Greece with me.”
Her ire came back in a snap just like that. “What?!”
Nikos just raised an eyebrow for he was sure she perfectly heard him.
“We are not going back to Greece! It was a disaster last time! And I could not leave my shop jus
t like that!”
“It’s final, Cassia. We are going to Greece. I hired more security this time. We are going to Athens by plane and then we are going to take a helicopter to go to my island. I am not taking any chances with our safety now.”
“We’ve had this argument before, Nikos. I have a life here. I can’t just take off on a whim.”
“You can. And does that life still include Hector Petrides?” he snarled.
Cassia lifted her chin.
“I heard he was hiding from the drug cartel. Alex told me he lost an entire shipment worth about a billion dollars. There’s no going back from that Cassia. Either he finds the shipment or he’s a dead man. He’ll never be with you. Have you spoken to him in the last few days?”
That struck something deep inside of her. Hector hadn’t talked to her for more than a month already. During that time, over and over, she had thought about their relationship. They were great friends but they never really had much when it came to a romantic relationship.
Hector was never there.
When he was, he was busy and preoccupied. He was never open to her and she lately found out about the dark secrets he harbored - secrets which nearly cost her life.
How were they going to have the family she wished for when he was never going to be free of a drug cartel?
They never released their people. Once you were in, you were in for life.
She glanced down at the ring she wore. She slid it off her finger and placed it in her bag. She was waiting for Hector to talk to her so they could end their relationship. Once she spoke with him face to face, she would be returning his ring.
They were really better off as friends; they would never work as lovers. She had to talk to him and end it all before it got even more complicated. It wasn’t something easy and it hurt, for he’d been there for her for the longest time.
But it had to be done.
“He’s not in my life anymore,” she whispered.
“Good. It will never work between the two of you,” Nikos said as he knelt in front of her and took her hand.
“And you think it will work out between us, Nikos?”
“I know it would. I’ll do everything,” he vowed.
The Billion-Dollar Marriage Contract Page 25