Immediately, Penny jumped up. “Sorry, this is a priority. We don’t get many opportunities like this. If one of the brothers decided to take my boys for the weekend, I’m going to make use of the opportunity.”
“I see how it is. Leaving me for sex and food.”
“Exactly.” Penny smiled over her shoulder and then tucked her arm into the crook of Hagen’s.
Hagen gazed down at Penny with something that I could only describe as reverence. Even after a decade together, he always seemed so in awe that he’d married his dream girl.
Never would I have thought Hagen, the cold-as-ice former mob-enforcer-turned-hotel-magnate, would fall head over heels in love with a pint-sized, takes-no-one’s-shit whiskey maker.
Sometimes opposites were the perfect match.
Maybe one day I’d find my ideal partner.
And for that to come to fruition, I had to convince Simon Drakos to free me from this engagement.
It really sucked that he had the ability to end things but I couldn’t.
What the ever-loving fuck?
I adored my Greek culture, but some of those old traditionalist aspects really pissed me off.
Then again, it had been my great-aunt who’d run away, and so they’d put into place an extra clause making it impossible for the bride to do anything but show up to the wedding without it costing her family everything.
My phone beeped, giving me the signal to wrap up my work and head to my apartment in the Ida residential tower. I had a long evening ahead of me and needed to prepare.
First was a meeting with my hopefully temporary fiancé. Then I’d meet up with my ride-or-die, Akari Ota.
Tomorrow I’d spend my day conducting in-depth research, from debt history to reputation among business associates, for prospective game-night attendees.
This was another reason I needed to get out of this asinine marriage contract. No way in hell would I give up a business I’d built from the ground up. And that was exactly what Simon Drakos would expect me to do as soon as he learned of any aspect of my venture.
He couldn’t really want to marry me, could he? The Mykos Hellion?
God, I was giving myself a headache stressing about this.
Releasing a deep breath, I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind and gathered all of my tools.
Once I had placed them on the cart near me, I set my hand on the edge to stand, but the cart rolled, and I lost my balance.
Before I could catch myself, I fell onto my knees.
Fucking fabulous.
Wiping the sweat and soil from my face, I sighed.
Looking at me now, no one would believe I was anything more than a clumsy nerd in a garden. Then again, I wouldn’t lie and say I hadn’t used this misconception to my advantage, letting others underestimate me.
It kept people from snooping too deeply. If the truth about my extracurricular activities ever got out, it could cause a whole world of trouble. Some things were better kept in the dark.
Maybe one day, I’d find someone to share all of my secrets, someone who accepted the wildness in me, someone who wouldn’t try to tame me.
Leveraging myself up against the viewing glass, I shifted back onto my heels. Just as I was about to stand, my eyes connected with piercing green ones.
My pulse jumped, starting a hammering beat in my chest, and a shiver shot down my spine as goosebumps prickled my skin. I couldn’t seem to move, as if I were frozen in place, and this crackle of energy surged between us.
Holy shit.
Who the fuck was he?