Chapter 3



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Chapter 3

Dark ominous clouds had gathered in the sky, that had been a clear baby blue until now. Anna watched through the glass window of the cafe, where Eros had bought her after they had that very public altercation in the middle of her office's lounge.

Even the thought of half the things she had said out there, in front of all those people bought on a blush to her face. 'God! How is she supposed to go back there, after this?'

"What are you thinking about, that brings the pink hue to your cheeks glykia mou?" He asked, once he returned after ordering their drinks at the front and settled himself on the chair across from her.

"None of your business Mr. Kozakis plus, you never cared what I was thinking about, during our marriage! In fact you were rarely there at all! I was more like an old song - forgotten and discarded somewhere in the backwaters, which you only took out and played to your tune, when you had nothing better to do in your hi-fi exciting city life. So, why pretend to care now?" Anna hadn't planned on saying all that, in fact she had decided to stay cold and aloof to him through this unfortunate meeting and deal with whatever bad news he had bought for her.

But like most things, she couldn't control the anger and bitterness that besieges her, when this man is near.

She looked up, Eros Kozakis had stiffened at the mention of their marriage and was grimly surveying the sky outside. "I didn't know you felt so neglected in our marriage.....you should have said something to me, glykia mou."

"When?" She snapped. "When should I have said something? On those long nights that you spent at your city apartment, leaving me alone in that giant mausoleum of a house to live my life alone? Or should I have said something, during the glitzy glamourous parties that you attended in Athens with those beautiful women, while I remained ALONE, and miserable in your empty palace?!" Her anger had burst forth again, but this time it had also bought forth one of the most painful memories of her life - to the forefront. And Anna hated that!

She wanted to remember none of it!

"You really think, I was enjoying that? Do you really think that I wanted to be separated from my young bride, so soon after our wedding?" This time Eros was looking straight at her and Anna was shocked to find the amount of bitterness housed in those green of his.

"It was business! I needed to attend those parties, because I needed to build new contacts, and revive and reassure the old ones. My father had just died and I needed to do my best, to fill into his shoes. And I don't know what the hell you are getting at, by - beautiful women! Because every time I went somewhere, I went alone and returned alone to the apartment!"

"Oh sure!" Anna snorted under her breath. There were plenty of women, a new one every night, photographed with him - that were published the next morning in the papers.

Plus, there was his mistress too - the Gorgeous American model Grace Anderson, who lived in his Athens apartment and swanned freely through out the capital with him, while Eros wined and dined her in famous restaurants of the city. 'Huh! So much for business!'

'While she used to cry herself to sleep, every night in his empty home, so far away from the city.' But this time Anna didn't say any of that. She stampeded onto the bitterness that was rearing it's ugly head and forced herself to look cool and composed. "Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore." She shrugged, looking away.

"It's all in the past now. We have both moved on in our lives and we don't need to rehash all those bad memories."

Eros didn't look very happy with that statement and was openly glaring at her, as the waitress bought their coffees to the table.

"Was our marriage really meant so little to you? That you mention it as a passing mistake and a bunch of bad memories? Was that all it was?"

'What else could it be but a mistake, when her husband had taken a mistress within a few months of their wedding?' She wanted to shout at him, for reminding her all of this, when she finally had some lasting peace in her life.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She said instead, in a tense rigid stance.

And surprisingly enough, he nodded. "Very well, plus I was here only as a curtsy to warn you about an upcoming problem." He said grimly. His eyes had darkened to the point where they looked like two fathomless pits of darkness.

"What problem?" Suddenly the anger had leached out of her system within seconds and trepidation had taken it's place. 'This was it.' She thought. 'This was where, he will finally reveal his real agenda of coming here.'

"Where is your brother, Anna?" He asked, with a grimace on his face. "Still in the states, or had he already flown the coop?"

"Of course, he is still in the states, b-but why are you asking about him?" A shiver ran down through her spine, as she watched the Grimace on Eros's face become something way more darker. 'God! What was going on?'

"Good." He nodded, looking at his watch. "As of now, the cops must be out looking for him, already!"

"What?" It was more of a painful gasp than a word. "What are you talking about? Why the hell cops are looking for Daniel? What had you told them?"

Anna had wanted to kill him at that moment, or at least hurt him as badly as she was hurting. He had already destroyed her life, her career and her self-confidence, and yet he wasn't leaving her alone! And now that she had nothing else to give - he was going after her own living family - her brother, Daniel.

"Let me ask you something first, Anna." Eros Kozakis spoke calmly as he looked at her with the sharp eyes of a hawk. "Where is your wedding and engagement rings?"

"I don't have time for this! Goddamn it! Tell me where is my brother and why have you called the cops on him?" She was practically shouting now, once again obvious to the fact that they were gaining a lot attention in the cafe.

"I will answer your question, after you have answered me. Anna, where are your rings?" He repeated like an over-patronizing interrogator, which pissed her off even more.

"They are in my safe, at home." She hissed, sick of this situation and sick of this man.

"Now tell me about Daniel..."

But instead of giving a straightforward reply, Eros started rummaging in his black Armani suit's pocket, before finally taking something out of it and placing the on the wooden table right in front of her.

The two rings fell on the table top, with a slight clunk as Anna watched it aghast. One was a princess cut 22 carat diamond sitting encased within a whole layer of little sapphires around it. It was her engagement ring. While the other was her wedding ring - a platinum band encrusted with a single piece of diamond.



"H-How did you get them?"

"I had to buy them back, from a pawn owner in Toronto." He spoke with such venom in his voice that Anna felt like flinching with every word he spoke. "Can you imagine my shame when I got a call from this man in Toronto that my family heirlooms had just been sold to him for a few meagre millions? That engagement ring belonged to my grandmother!" It was his turn to look accusingly at Anna.

While she could do nothing, but look blankly back at him. "B-but how is that possible? They were in my safe. This couldn't have happened!"

"But it did darling." Eros replied with sarcasm, "All thanks to your amoral brother, who stole the rings from you and sold them to a pawn shop in Toronto.....I have the proof too! Would you like to see the cctv footage, my lovely wife?"

"B-but...but..." Tears of helpless anger had gathered at the back of her throat, while she still couldn't come to terms with the fact that her brother could have done something like this!

"Could you imagine my humiliation of having to find a Kozakis heirloom, in a cheap little shop, which had been in my family for generations? I had to buy it back from that drunk bastard for double the money that it's worth!"

"And you already know, Glykia mou - that nobody crosses with Eros Kozakis and gets away with it! Your brother is going to pay for this, I am going to make sure of that!"

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