“I did not appreciate how old-fashioned her views on pregnancy were,” he acknowledged with unexpected candor.
Even oblique criticism of his mother was not something she was used to from Alexandros.
He was very protective of the older woman. He’d once shared how close to losing her he’d felt he’d come after the unexpected death of his father.
The Kristalakis patriarch had only died a little over a year before she and Alexandros met. She’d wondered sometimes if that was what had driven Alexandros’s uncharacteristic impromptu marriage proposal.
“Or how much she enjoyed my discomfort.”
He frowned. “I’m sure that is not true.”
And with that, they reached the end of any honest dialogue about his mother and her attitude toward Polly.
Polly didn’t bother to argue her viewpoint. She’d learned there was no advantage to it. He didn’t hear criticism of his precious mother.
And honestly? Polly wasn’t sure Athena had enjoyed her pain. It had seemed like it though, all mixed up with Athena’s and Stacia’s efforts to undermine Polly’s place in Alexandros’s life.
Regardless, Polly would not allow a few unexpected moments of understanding on his part lull her into thinking Alexandros had changed in any significant way.
This refrain, in different guises, was an old one. Athena Kristalakis had been furious with her son marrying an American nobody instead of one of the beautiful Greek socialites she’d been pushing at him for years.
Under the pretext of friendship, Athena had drawn proverbial blood over and over again in her campaign to send her unwanted daughter-in-law packing. She and her daughter Stacia had done their best to make Polly feel like the outsider she was, making sure those in their circle treated her with the same disdain they did.
Athena had even changed Polly’s first name! Calling her Anna, without asking for Polly’s approval. Which she would not have given.
Anna was not Polly’s name and she never thought of herself that way. However, as time went on, Polly had allowed her Anna persona to develop. The Anna facade stood between her and any real interaction with her detractors, and most of the time, even with her husband anymore.
“Your silence does not signify agreement,” he said as if just figuring that fact out.
“No, it does not.” It never had.
“It is your way of telling me you can’t be bothered to argue any longer.”
“Maybe.” She was reeling.
He’d gone from stone dense to insightful literally overnight, and Polly didn’t know how she felt about that.
“I think my mother has almost as much ground to make up with you as I do.”
Suddenly, Polly had her own insight.
Her husband was terribly competitive. And last night she had inadvertently triggered his need to prove he was the better husband between himself and his younger brother.
News flash—that would require something Alexandros simply could not give her.
His love.
“I’m beginning to realize just how often you use silence as its own answer,” he said in a tone she found difficult to interpret.
“You used to tell me off all the time for disagreeing with you so often.”
“Be careful what you wish for—isn’t that how the saying goes?”
“Are you saying you want me to argue with you?” She didn’t buy it. Not for a single second.
“I want you to think it’s worth it.”
“It’s a goal to shoot for,” she said with more facetiousness than she usually allowed herself with him.
His sardonic look said he recognized it. “You have an appointment with the chiropractor and acupuncturist the day after tomorrow,” he said, changing the subject away from confrontation like he never did. “I would have arranged it for tomorrow, but you’ve already got your appointment with your OB.”
“Wednesday? But I have committee meetings in Athens. Did you forget I was going to fly in on the helicopter with you?” Beryl had arranged it, as she always did when Polly needed to get into city.
Polly would come home in a car with a driver, usually after sharing lunch with her busy husband. It was one of those treats she looked forward to. Adult time during the day with Alexandros.
“There will be no more uncomfortable helicopter rides into Athens for the duration of your pregnancy.” His tone said this was not one of those occasions he wanted her to think it was worth arguing with him.
Too bad! “But my charity work!” Work he’d insisted she had to do in order to fulfill her responsibilities as his wife.
“Can be done by someone else.”
Like her efforts had no intrinsic value because she was the one making them? Thank you so much, husband! “What if there is no one else?”
“We will hire Beryl an assistant and she will take your place in committees, etc. After working for you so long, she knows your stand on things, what you would want to involve yourself in and what you would not.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “Listen to me, pethi mou. You are too valuable to me to allow you to continue putting your health at risk. And while the work you do on behalf of children at risk and the marginalized is incredibly important, it is not more important to me than you are.”
He was saying all the right things, but she wasn’t believing them.
She couldn’t afford to let herself go down that road again, where she thought he loved her, valued her and had married her for anything other than the untrammeled lust he felt for her body.
“While Beryl is invaluable to me, she is not the wife of a billionaire.”
“But she has your ear, which means she influences your donation and spokesperson power. It will suffice for this season of your life.”
Season? Did he mean beyond delivery of their second child? “I assume you’ve already spoken to Beryl about this change in her duties.” He might make it sound like he’d just thought of hiring her social secretary an assistant, but Polly wasn’t that naive.
Alexandros did not wait to act.
His hand squeezed hers. “Naturally, you are right. You know me well.”
But did he know her? “Didn’t you think that maybe you should have discussed some of these changes with me before you made them?”
“I saw a problem and I sought to fix it. What is wrong with that?”
“The problem is mine to fix.”
“Only you weren’t fixing it. You were running yourself ragged doing all the same old stuff.”