"Please let me explain—-"
But he's already walking away, and Theía grabs my arm to pull me back before I can go after my husband.
"Why are you going after him?"
A part of me wants to get mad at her and say this is all of her fault.
But I can't.
Theía's methods may not always make sense, but one thing that will never change is how much she loves me.
"I love him, Theía, and he loves me." I swallow hard. "Or at least I hope he still does."
"You might always be in danger if you stay married to him—-"
"I trust him to take care of me...and I trust him because he reminds me of you."
My aunt slowly lets go of my arm, and it's the first time I've ever seen her look...lost.
But when she finally speaks—-
"You're such an idiot."
A choked laugh escapes me.
"Isn't it enough that you have me as an aunt? Shouldn't you want someone more normal instead of someone like Stelios? I think you need to have your head—-"
Thump.
It's Papou smacking Theía at the back of her head, which in this case is the mafia way of asking someone to shut the eff up.
"Go after your husband," my grandfather urges me. "He's just outside waiting to speak to you."
He is?
I run as fast as I can...and as soon as I'm out of the house, I realize that 'waiting' in Papou's book actually translates to having my husband and Stelios' men held at gunpoint. It's a ratio of about 20:1 in favor of the Petinos' private army, and...just this once, I'm seriously glad I was born in a family like mine.
"Can we talk?" I ask tremulously.
"I don't think I have a choice, do I?"
"I'm sorry, Stelios," I say in a rush. "I'm so, so sorry. I know you're mad, and I get that you have every reason to be mad, but..." I look at him helplessly. "I love you. I fell in love with you within a week from marrying you, but as time went on, I also realized it would kill me to stay in a loveless marriage, and that's why I knew I had to make up some excuse that would force you to let me go. That's why I lied about wanting a baby. I thought it would make you ask for a divorce, but instead you said yes, and I just ended up falling in love with you more—-"
"How do I know you're not lying again?"
The rawness of my husband's voice is too much, and tears start falling down my cheeks.
I never thought a day would come I'd see Stelios this vulnerable, and I'm willing to do everything to make sure I never see him this vulnerable ever again.
"I love you, Stelios—-"
But my husband only looks at me wearily. "Enough of this, Bailey—-"
His words make me panic, and I grab his arm even though I know he doesn't want me touching him.
"I'm not lying. I swear. Do you really think Theía would let me go after you if she didn't think I love you?"
The unyielding harshness of his features terrifies me, but I force myself to keep talking.
"I love you. I love you. Ask me to do anything. Sign anything. I just..." My voice breaks when he forcibly removes my hand.
"No more, Bailey."
"Please."
But nothing I say seems to reach him.
"E-Even if you don't think you can love me again, I just want to be with you."
My tears keep falling while I wait for him to speak.
Is it really over?
Can I never make him believe me again?
I'm about to turn away when familiar hands grip my shoulders, and a sob escapes me as Stelios spins me back to face him, and his mouth crashes down on mine.
MY GRANDFATHER AND Theía are on their way down when Stelios and I finally make it back to the house.
"All good now?" Papou asks.
"Never been better actually," my husband drawls. "Bailey and I have talked everything out, and we've both decided to proceed with our original plan."
Theía frowns. "What plan?"
"To have a baby," Stelios says easily. "We're actually going to work on making one right now, so...I trust you and Astro won't mind seeing yourselves out?"
My grandfather is still choking as we walk past them, and Theía looks as if she'd rather jump into a burning lake than ever hear another thing about my sex life.
I know I promised Stelios I'd take my "punishment" for lying to him like a good little girl, but can't my punishment be something that's just between the two of us?
I'm about to ask him this as soon as we're back inside our bedroom, but before I can even speak, my husband is already throwing something my way.
"Catch!"
As much as I hate admitting this, my reflexes have indeed truly improved because of his training, and I actually manage to catch his phone at the first attempt.