Page 144 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 5-8
Her hand didn’t relax. She remained stiff next to him, her fingers clenched. Still, he left his hand atop the fist. There was something fascinating about the way tension coiled there, knowing she could do some damage if she’d like.
He ran his index finger along the bumps of her knuckles. Power changed to tension, to bracing. She was a myriad of reactions.
“Have you decided which facility you would like your mother to go to?” he asked, keeping his hand over hers.
She did not pull away, but she didn’t relax into the casual touch, either. She took a careful breath before she spoke. “The one in Mykonos felt like the best fit, but—”
“Excellent choice,” he replied over her excuses or objections or whatever was meant to come after thebut. “I will make the arrangements, and then we shall take a trip to drop her off.”
She eyed him. Would that wariness always poke at his temper? “We?” she demanded.
“Have you ever been to Mykonos?” he returned, keeping his voice casual. No one made him lose his temper anymore.
She looked ahead, a strange expression on her face he couldn’t quite decipher. “No, I have never been anywhere,” she said flatly.
“Well, that is about to change. You and I are about to see Europe together,glikí mou.”
She frowned at him—not the usual response to finding out you had just earned yourself some all-expenses paid holidays. He convinced himself she simply didn’t trust him to deliver. Once he did, all her reticence would leave, since that was what good sense dictated. She’d survived this long. She must havesomesense.
“Do you have some objection to seeing Europe?”
“Of course not. I just… I do not know how to relax and trust this,” she told him earnestly. A kind of earnestness that felt too…naked. A softness that would be crushed by all the world had to offer.
But no doubt Ariadne had already been crushed in a myriad of ways.
“Perhaps you should endeavor to try,” he told her.
This did not change the soft confusion on her face, even as the car pulled to a stop, and he got out. He skirted the car himself and opened the door for her.
He helped her out of the car, tucked her arm into his, turned to face the elegant restaurant. “Enjoy yourself, Ariadne,” he said, gesturing at the building in front of them. “Pain and suffering will no doubt come soon enough. Why not enjoy the respite while it’s here?”
Ari chewed over Zervou’s words the entire dinner.Enjoy yourself.Had she ever had such a luxury?
She’d certainly never had a meal in any place nearly this fancy. The tablecloths were a crisp white, the candlelight gave everything a romantic glow. The silverware gleamed like it was polished in between every use. Fresh flowers unfurled in a vase in the middle of the table in pretty pastels.
Everything felt gilt and wasteful almost, but it wasn’t…overstated. The feeling of waste came from her own life of scraping by for the bare minimum.
And in two days she would go to Mykonos. He’d mentionedEurope.
She had never been any of these places, not because there hadn’t been opportunities. Her skill in the boxing ring had garnered her many an offer. Athens. Bulgaria. A bout in Poland.
But she’d never been able to commit to leaving her mother, even if she would have been able to raise money to cover her travel expenses. So she only took local fights.
Perhaps with her mother in a facility, she could take on some upcoming fights outside of Corfu. Zervou had said he’d let her continue to box.
Enjoy yourself.
Mother would need to be settled. Happy, or whatever Maria’s approximation of happy could be. Hopefully.
What would it look like to allow herself to enjoy this little windfall, knowing the rug would be pulled out from under her once her father was taken care of? Would it really be such a risk? Or would it simply be…a rest?
Bodies, muscles, reflexes required rest to grow stronger. Perhaps this would allow her the same. She had felt lately that she’d been failing her mother on a larger scale than ever before. Maybe this…break would allow her to fortify herself to do better.
The meal itself was exquisite. Even Zervou’s company wasn’t terrible. He was arrogant but not…pompous. With his buildings venturing into sporting arenas, they had some common ground on which to talk—at least, common ground that did not involve her father being the root of both their problems.
“Tell me, how does a young girl find herself in a boxing gym?” he asked after ordering dessert from the waiter.
Ari did not know how she could eat another bite but was tempted all the same. His question was less tempting.
