away, you might be wondering?
Why, yes, yes of course, I did.
I'd always had a thing for men's backs. The strong shoulders, the slope downward, the back dimples. And, well, Christopher Adamos also happened to have a pretty epic ass too.
"Oh, calm down," I grumbled to my sex, now throbbing in objection to Christopher's departure. "I will give you a session with the removable shower wand later," I added, going onto Netflix, browsing through a mix of Greek and American content until I found something to put on.
"Cora will be up in... this is what you watch?" Christopher asked a short while later, stopping suddenly, one hand still clasping his cufflink into place.
"What's wrong with it?" I asked, shrugging.
"Wouldn't you prefer making a cake yourself?" he asked.
"Do you watch sports?" I asked, getting a bit of a shrug. "Wouldn't you prefer playing them yourself?" I shot back at him. "I have never been good at baking. This lets me think that I maybe have hope. I mean if that dude can figure out how to make and use fondant, maybe I can too."
To my surprise, he moved around the couch, taking a seat at the other end. "What is fondant?" he asked, squinting a bit at the people on the screen.
"It's made from marshmallows. It is what makes cakes look perfectly smooth. Or you can make designs out of it. see?" I said a moment later when he was still sitting there, watching. "It is oddly engaging. Yet relaxing at the same time. The only downfall is it makes you hungry. I once got a craving for a wedding cake at two in the morning."
"Cora makes breakfast around six."
"She doesn't need to cook for me. I could throw something together for myself.
"Don't tell her that," he warned, gaze sliding to me. "She will be insulted."
"Good to know."
"You said you didn't have a mother figure."
"I, ah, no. I was raised by my father. I mean, if you can call it raising. But I had no mother. She died when I was two."
"I'm sorry."
"I didn't really know her," I said, shrugging it off. I never could grieve for her for that very reason, but I could grieve for the loss of that connection. Especially now, being around someone who was clearly like that. "Is Cora related to you?"
"She was my father's maid. She helped raise me along with my father who was often away on business. I had no mother either. She was American. She went home after depositing me at my father's doorstep, got married."
"She never saw you again?"
"Here and there. I used to visit my maternal grandparents some summers. Occasionally, she would happen by."
"That's why your accent is off."
"My accent is off?" he asked.
"I mean, it's Greek, but it isn't as thick as some of the other Greek men I have known."
"You've known many Greek men?" he asked, brow raising.
"I've done business in Greece before. Not often, but it has happened."
"You've worked with my men?"
"I've worked with politicians."
"So you've worked with my men," he said, lips curving up slightly.
Maybe it should have been shocking. To know the politicians were in the criminals' pockets. But I had been in this world long enough to know that damn near everyone was in some criminal's pocket. Cops, politicians, businessmen. It was how they got away with what they did.
"I guess I have," I agreed, shrugging. "You haven't heard anything else from Chernev?" I asked, knowing it was smart to get back to more neutral topics.
"I didn't expect to."
"How did he get in touch with you before?"
"Using my brother's phone," he told me, jaw getting tight.
"Were you able to track his phone?"
"No."
"Do you have any idea if he is in Greece still, or if he has moved your brother back to Bulgaria?"
"I don't," he said, angry at his own helplessness. "The call came from inside a house. There were no background noises. It was impossible to tell where they were."
"Do you have men in Bulgaria looking for him?"
"Of course. You think I am sitting around on my hands?"
"You'd be surprised how stupid some men in high positions of power can be," I told him. "I once had to explain to a man who runs a country the specifics on how babies are made."
"You're not serious."
"I wish I wasn't," I said, shaking my head at the memory of the boy wearing the skin of a man. He'd been stunted in so many ways. "It was a case of a woman he'd fathered a child with, and