Think, Kostas.
My mind wanders to the day she disappeared. We fought like fucking hell, but it wasn’t a relationship ending fight. Too many times I’ve allowed myself to blame it on that. That she was pissed and finally left me. She’d met up with Selene and asked for money. Another big mystery.
I’d assumed she took the money and used it to get away.
But what if she was being blackmailed?
Rushing back inside, I sit at my desk and unlock my computer. When she went missing, I made sure the backups of our security footage were being stored in another place. I’ve scoured through tons of it, but often, I get frustrated sifting through hours and hours of footage that leads to nothing. The footage that never made sense was the night she supposedly took the money from Selene. I want to view it again. I pull back the footage to that night and find where we last enter the villa. Then, I skim through the night, waiting for her to leave. It eventually skips to the next day when she storms out to leave for school. I check all the cameras surrounding the villa, and nothing shows up.
Selene claimed Talia borrowed money from her, but it didn’t happen that night.
She never left.
Which means either Selene confused the events or lied to me.
Why?
I assess Selene’s behavior over the past year. She’s obsessed with Aris. I bet she was even jealous of Talia, even though Talia was my woman and not Aris’s. Would she lie to us to make Talia seem like a bad person who left me? And why?
She’s a catty cunt, but she’s not smart enough to pull off some grand kidnapping of my wife and keep it from me all this time. Most likely she just wanted to make Talia look bad. Regardless, I’m going to find out why the fuck Selene would lie because it doesn’t help me get to the bottom of this shit with her meddling.
“Frown any harder and your face may stick that way,” a familiar voice booms from the doorway.
As soon as I see my brother, I click out of the video footage and pop open Google on my browser before turning to him. “This is my face. It’s been stuck this way since I turned thirteen.”
He snorts. “I can’t believe Dad actually gave us lessons on how to look fierce and intimidating.”
“You failed,” I grunt out.
“And you passed with flying colors. But seriously? What kind of father teaches their kids that?”
I shrug and glance at the clock, before watching every tick of my brother’s face. “Want to have dinner?”
His brown eyes flash for a second before he schools his features, not taking my bait. “Of course.”
“Actually,” I mutter. “I need to get ready for my trip to Thessaloniki.”
Aris’s shoulders relax slightly. “Raincheck then. We could always go visit Dad and have dinner with him.”
It’s sad how much he desperately tries to gain Father’s favor. Even now. Even with Father being practically an invalid and meaner than a snake. My mother’s death has killed him more than he’ll ever let on.
“Sure,” I tell him with a shrug.
“Anything new?” He walks over to the wet bar in my office and pulls out two tumblers. After he fills them with ice and a little water, he heads back over to my desk. I’m silent as I watch him fill them with ouzo. He pushes a glass my way and then he proceeds to sip his.
Not touching the glass, I cross my arms over my chest and lean back in my chair. “Nothing.”
His lips purse together. “We’ll come up with something eventually.”
My stare on him must unnerve him because he waves a hand at the ouzo. “Drink up, man. I have to get home to Selene soon or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Sure are pussy-whipped,” I say, picking up the glass and swirling the ice around in it.
He snorts. “She knows her place.”
“Where is Estevan Galani?” I ask, setting my tumbler down.
His eyebrows hike in surprise at my question and then he gives me a one-shouldered shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine. Went silent after you blew his cock off.”
I scrub at the scruff on my face. “Galanis aren’t known for their silence. They have the biggest goddamn mouths on Crete.”
His lips press into a thin line. A worried line. It makes me scrutinize him further. “I’ll look into it.”
“Good,” I grunt. “So will I.”
“Cheers to dealing with the Galani infestation,” he says, raising his glass and imploring me to drink.
I rise from my seat and walk over to the door. “I’ll never toast to a fucking Galani. Go on and get out of here before your viper girlfriend tries to make a meal out of your balls.”
He drains his glass and slams it down with a hard clunk. Then, he stands, shooting me an unreadable expression. With a deep breath, he inhales and then exhales whatever was threatening his composure. A wide grin spreads across his face.
“Have a good night, Kostas,” he says with a smug grin. “My night will be a helluva lot better than yours, I can assure you.”
He walks out without another word.
I glance over at my untouched ouzo and straighten my spine. I’ve been a cloud for far too long.
It’s time to wake the fuck up and find my goddamn wife.
Talia
“I need more formula,” I yell over the screams of my pissed off daughter.
Selene glares my way. “I was just in town a few days ago. Aris told you to make a list.” She eyes me accusingly, but I just shrug nonchalantly, not bothering to settle Zoe down. Her screaming always flusters Selene. For the sake of the human population, the woman should be sterilized so she can never reproduce.
“I did make a list.” Zoe’s screams get louder. “But Zoe had a growth spurt and I ran out sooner than I expected. Babies grow,” I challenge.
“And you don’t have any left at all?” she questions. I can see it in her features, she’s about to reach her limit. Her hands are shaking, and her eyes are twitching. Come on, bitch…
“If I did I wouldn’t be asking. Look, if you don’t want to go, I can.” I shrug with a smirk that I know will piss her off. “Zoe isn’t going to stop crying until she’s fed.” As if on cue, Zoe’s screams get louder. Every wail from her squeezes my heartstrings, but it’s for the greater good.
“Jesus!” Selene shouts over the loud crying. “Fine. I’m going.” She knows damn well she’ll be in trouble if my daughter is unhappy in any way. A pissed off Zoe leads to a pissed off Aris. And a pissed off Aris never ends well. We’ve both learned that the hard way. The only difference is Aris actually cares about me since I’m the mother of his daughter, whereas with Selene, he views her as nothing more than a human pincushion. Poking every hole when he feels like it. The thought has me gagging. Better her than me, though.
Frustrated, she quickly unlocks the key box right in front of me, just as I hoped she would. Seven-two-two-four. She grabs a set of keys, slams it closed, then heads over to the garage door. I watch as she types in the code. Four-nine-nine-five. The light flashes green and she opens then closes the door behind her. I wait until I hear the garage door open and close and then I run into the kitchen. I type in the code to the key box and it clicks open. Grabbing the pair of keys, I pull one off the ring and put the other one back. As I’m closing the box, I spot Selene’s cell phone on the counter. Holy shit! She forgot her phone.