Demetrios Leventis lives in a quiet part of Chania, away from the more touristy sections but still close enough to the docks to make his commute reasonable. His house is typical of the area: boxy, red roof tiles, white walls, two floors, lots of windows. It used to be a middle-class neighborhood, but globalism spiked the prices and now homes that were built eighty years ago sit next to luxury condos and million-dollar mansions. Adrienne looks around, soaking in the unfamiliar town. I love the way she looks at new things, like she can’t get enough of them.
“Let me do the talking,” I say as we approach. “He knows we’re coming. Because of what happened a few days ago, I’ll have to bribe him double, but it should be okay.”
Adrienne nods and looks around, her eyes shifting from car to shadows like she’s searching for enemies. Ever since the attack in the bathroom, she’s been on edge, except for two places: out in the yard during our training, and in bed during our fucking. Those are the two places she can relax and let me take charge.
Out here though, I can feel her anxiety. Her hand drifts toward the gun at her hip, but she catches herself and lets it drop again. I taught her well: don’t give away where she keeps the weapon if she doesn’t have to.
“Explain something to me,” she says as we approach the door. The house is quiet and the whole neighborhood feels abandoned. It’s strange—it’s early in the evening and families in this part of the city should be sitting outside, drinking and having dinner and chatting with neighbors. But this place is a wasteland. “Why are Greek men such misogynists?”
“I don’t know if it’s misogyny so much as Greek life is very patriarchal.”
“Spoken like a true man. That explains why Greece is such a mess at least.”
He laughs and elbows me. “Easy there.”
“Just stating a fact.”
“It’s all for show, really. You saw what Katarin is like. Balaska pretends he’s the leader of the family, but Katarin is the brains. She’s the one that came up with this operation and put me in touch with Reina. Did she tell you that?”
“No, she didn’t.” Adrienne looks thoughtful. “I can’t say I’m surprised she didn’t mention it.”
“I tried to warn you. Katarin’s trouble.” I knock on the door and squeeze Adrienne’s hand. “We’ll be fine. You good?”
“I’m good.”
We wait a moment until the door unlocks. It swings inward and Simion looks out me. I tilt my head, surprised to see him here, and he gestures for us to come in. “Demetrios is waiting,” he says, looking nervous.
It took a lot to secure this face-to-face meeting. I had to make a lot of promises and pay a lot of bribes and in the end, Demetrios nearly backed out. But this morning I got a call from the union boss himself inviting me to his personal home and he swore it would be a good place to talk business. I’m not a fan of doing something like this in the guy’s personal house—who knows if someone’s planted bugs on him or what—but I don’t have much choice.
“What’s the deal with this? I thought it was a casual meeting. I didn’t know he was bringing muscle.” I grin at Simion, trying a joke to lighten the mood, but Simion only flinches.
“Please. Inside.” He gestures with his head.
We step into the foyer. He closes the door and frowns at me, wringing his hands. The vibe is completely off and the tension rolling from him is palpable. I look around, trying to see what’s making him act like we’re at a funeral, but from what I can tell it’s just a regular Greek house. Crosses on the walls, pictures of family, an average place. Maybe a touch cleaner than most, but nothing weird.
“What’s wrong, Simion? Is Demetrios still pissed about what happened at the bar?”
“No, no, not that, forget about that. There’s no need to worry about that. It’s forgotten already.” He waves his hands dismissively and tries to smile, but he looks like he’s attempting to squeeze a soccer ball through a tiny pipe.
Something’s completely wrong. It’s nagging at me but I can’t figure out what it is. Adrienne looks at me like she’s feeling the same thing and I try to give her a reassuring squeeze but that doesn’t seem to help. Simion moves past me, heading deeper into the house. Adrienne follows him and pauses when she notices that I’m not going with her.
This place is too quiet, and from what I understand, Demetrios has a wife and three children. This doesn’t make any sense, and Adrienne’s about to say something when Simion turns the corner up ahead, and another figure appears in his place at the end of the hall.
I feel like my world explodes into blood.
I go stiff, utterly rigid. My heart pounds in my ears.
I stand there, mouth open, trying to find words.
Adrienne must see the look on my face, because she turns and sucks in a sharp breath.
My father lingers in the entryway to the kitchen with a gun in his hand, aimed at the floor. “Hello, Peter. Hello, Adrienne. Please, come join us. Demetrios was gracious enough to let us use his home.”
“Who is us?” I ask softly, but Father’s already turning away.
I walk after him slowly, woodenly. Adrienne comes to me and puts her hands on my arms. “Peter,” he whispers. “What do we do? Should we run?”
I shake my head. “It’s too late.” I want to rage and punch and kill but I feel powerless. I’ve never been caught so off-guard before. I should’ve seen this coming from a thousand yards away. Demetrios’s sudden reversal this morning, the way he insisted on meeting at his house, it all screamed of a trap but I’ve been so distracted by sleeping with Adrienne and training with her and falling for her that I wasn’t paying close enough attention.