Cara
We laugh together and some of my nervous energy clears up, but that doesn’t last long, because another small crowd of made men enter in a rush, followed by a tall Greek girl in a white blouse with dark wide-legged pants and perilously high heels. She stands looking around like a goddess straight from Mt. Olympus until she spots me and smiles.
Helen walks over and waves hello. Eros’s sister looks like him, but not as big, and her features are softer and much more feminine. “Hello, Cara,” she says and glances at Ophelia. “You’re the owner’s daughter, correct?”
“Uh, yeah, hi,” Phel says. “You’re Helen Khazan.”
Helen laughs lightly. “The one and only. Mind if I steal Cara here for a second?”
“Please do.” Phel gives me a look that means I’ll be talking about this with her later.
“Tell your dad I’ll be back soon,” I say even though I’m sure Demetrios would gladly let me close the entire diner down if I asked him to.
I follow Helen toward the back where her security entourage cleared some room around the last booth before the kitchen. I sit on one side, and Helen sits on the other, and I feel frumpy and weird and small compared to beautiful and chic Helen Khazan. There’s me in my diner uniform and beat-up vintage Nikes, and Helen in her designer silk top and pants, looking like a runway model.
“Well,” Helen says, smiling kindly. “I know I’m sort of ambushing you right now, and I’m sorry about that. I just heard that you were working here.”
“And you wanted to see the lord’s wife waiting tables at a diner?” I blurt it out before I can think to say something nicer.
But Helen only laughs. “No, actually, I just wanted a chance to talk to you some more. Dinner last night was… intense.”
I let out a slow breath and nod gratefully. “Is it always like that?”
“No,” she says. “Only when Eros brings home random Italian girls and announces his upcoming marriage.”
I groan and cover my face. “He does this a lot, doesn’t he?”
Helen laughs again, sounding truly delighted. “Actually, no, never. As far as I know, you’re the first woman he’s dated in-well, forever.”
“Really?” I tilt my head and study her. She seems surprisingly kind and sweet, and I expected her to hate me from the start. Instead, she’s smiling and seems sympathetic.
“Seriously. Eros’s always been tough, even before he was the head of the family. When he took over, things were bad for a while and he shut down even more, but-” She hesitates for a moment, studying me. “Ever since you came into the picture, he seems almost himself again.”
I sit back and try to process that. “From my perspective, Eros’s the grumpiest person I’ve ever met.”
“That’s one way of describing him, and you’re not wrong. But I like to think my brother is more… protective, of himself and everyone he cares about.”
I can see that. He’s done nothing but try to help me since we first met, and even though there have been some misunderstandings and false starts along the way, Eros’s been refreshingly honest and forthright about how things have to be. Even though I find him aggressive and pushy and a total asshole sometimes, he has been true to his word.
“Can I ask you something?” I don’t wait for her to answer. I’m afraid that if I don’t say what I want to say, I’ll never come up with the courage to get it out. “Why do your aunt and cousin hate me so much?”
Helen’s expression darkens. She studies my face for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s complicated.”
“Yeah, that’s what Eros keeps telling me.”
“I think you have a right to know, but I also think it should come from him. I will tell you… it has to do with the way Eros came to power.”
I shiver and glance away. I’ve only heard rumors, and mostly from Phel-but it seems Eros took control of the family through force and violence.
Were Anissa and Sophia involved in that somehow? Was the former lord of the family Anissa’s husband and Sophia’s dad, and if there was an ugly coup, did Eros hurt them in the process?
I realize I don’t know much about my future husband. I don’t know what he’s done, and what he’s capable of doing.
Only that he wants to protect me.
And he punched my ex in the face, which is a massive bonus.
“All right, I’ll wait for Eros to give me details. I just… if I’m going to be a part of this family, I want to try to get along with everyone.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I like you, Lycus likes you, and obvious Eros does too.”
“But your mother?”
Helen pauses for a moment. “Mother will come around.”
“I knew it, she hates me already.”
“Mother doesn’t know you.” She sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t come here to talk about everyone else. I really shouldn’t have started it.”
“No, that’s not your fault, I’m the one that asked.”
“I just stopped by to say welcome to the family, and I wanted to invite you to coffee. Maybe tomorrow morning? Or the day after? We could go on your lunch break.” Her grin returns and she leans forward. “By the way, how did you convince Eros to let you keep working here?”
“I didn’t give him much choice,” I grumble and force myself to smile back. “But coffee sounds great. Tomorrow should be perfect.”
“Wonderful. Honestly, Cara, I look forward to getting to know you better, since we’ll be sisters soon.” Helen beams at me before sliding out of the booth.
I want her to stay. I have a million more questions-about her, about Eros, about everyone in her family-but I get the sense I already pushed too far and she’s making a tactical retreat. She’s probably worried about telling me too much and pissing Eros off somehow, which doesn’t seem all that hard to do.