Saved By The Greek Doctor (Greek Gods #3) - Holly Rayner Page 0,48

I’d come out the other side stronger and a whole lot more confident than the Trish that Bryan had once taken advantage of.

So instead of standing back, I reached out and jerked Bryan away from Nikos.

“That,” I said clearly, “is none of your business. Because I’m not your girlfriend anymore. I haven’t been for about two weeks. In case you hadn’t noticed.”

I glanced at Nikos, who looked both confused and annoyed. “Nikos, may I present my ex, Bryan. He was here when I arrived, evidently having stalked me halfway around the world, thinking that we needed to talk.” Then I directed my gaze toward Bryan. “But he was wrong about that. I said everything I had to say back in Texas. So he was just leaving, having spent an awful lot of money to come all the way to Greece for a very disappointing conversation, I’m afraid.”

Bryan glared at me, his face full of anger, and took a step toward me. “So you’ve already replaced me? Well, that didn’t take you long, did it? Certainly didn’t sit around wondering whether you’d done the right thing leaving me, did you? Did you even think about the fact that this whole thing might have been your fault, too? Did you—”

He stopped when another hand snaked out, grabbed his arm, and almost pulled him right off his feet. Nikos whirled Bryan around to face him, his face a mask of cold, icy fury.

“The lady said you were just leaving, friend,” he said, his voice holding an edge of promised force if Bryan didn’t mind his manners. “I suggest you take her advice before someone has to remind you that when it comes to ladies, you’d do best to mind your manners. She doesn’t want you here. She’s finished with you. This is her hotel room, and that means, I think, that she gets to say who comes and who goes. I’ve known her only a few days and I already know that she deserves someone many times better than you. So I suggest you go peacefully before this gets ugly. Got it?”

Bryan had the nerve to snort in Nikos’ face. “What, she deserves someone like you? Some guy who doesn’t know enough to see her faults yet?”

I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but Nikos somehow pivoted, slid out of the way, and shoved Bryan past him and right through the door into the hallway—where he hit the wall opposite my door and then stumbled down the first few steps.

“Yes, like me,” he said quietly. “Now get out of here before I call the cops and tell them you were harassing her. Greeks don’t take well to that sort of thing, you know. We protect our own.”

Bryan cast one glance at me, his eyes filled with disgust, but he seemed to realize that he was completely outmatched—or at least think that it wasn’t worth the difficulty of continuing to fight—and turned and hustled down the stairs, the very picture of a retreating villain. I narrowed my eyes at him, realizing that it had always been thus: him running away and refusing to fight for me.

Then I grinned at his disappearing back. The truth was, I’d never been happier to see him leave.

I’d never been happier to have someone claim me as their own. I’d been waiting for days that felt like years for Nikos to finally take down his walls for me, and it seemed that all it had taken—all he’d really needed—was another opportunity to rescue me. Or maybe… maybe it had been the idea that he was going to lose me—had lost me—that made him realize how much he didn’t want to.

Either way, now that he was starting to open up—now that he’d showed up in my hotel, being the hero of the moment—I never wanted him to stop.

Chapter 24

Nikos

I took her back to my favorite restaurant for dinner. And I ordered the moussaka and red wine again. Not only because it was the best thing on the menu, but because it was starting to feel like some sort of tradition we’d started.

Oh, stop looking at me like that. Like you’re actually surprised that I did exactly what everyone knew I would do. Seriously, what choice did I have? It was set up so perfectly that it was almost as if someone had written it for us in a script.

Maybe it was cheesy, but I didn’t hear Trish complaining. And I thought that when