Only With Me (With Me #2)(57)

Nic sat there stunned. Not uttering a single word.

Yiayia laughed then everyone else laughed.

"I knew my Nicholaus would never prefer that food!" Katerina said.

In a sad attempt to keep my fake laugh up, my eyes scanned around the table until they fell on Dimitris. He sat there staring at me. A slight smile played across his lips as he reached for a glass of wine and lifted it. I followed suit. He took a sip while I downed the whole glass.

Yiayia made a tsking sound then said, "Well, we know she isn't pregnant with the way she drinks."

I started to choke on the wine. Finally, Nic was pulled out of the daze he had been in.

"Yiayia, Gabi isn't pregnant."

She nodded. "I'd hope not with the way she's kicking them back."

"What?" I asked with a stunned expression. "I've only had-"

Nic leaned in closer. "Let it go, Gabi. Let it go."





THE REST OF dinner was spent with Yiayia trying to shove every kind of Greek food down my throat.

Try the moussaka.

Eat the pastitisio.

Have you tried the spanakopita?

If I ate another thing I was positive I would throw up. The entire dinner Yiayia kept talking to me in Greek, like I had a clue what she was saying. All I could do was stare at her.

I was surprised to see most of the family had left, leaving pretty much just the immediate family and a few Maria's sprinkled in here and there.

Katerina cleared her throat and looked at me. "How long have you been baking, Gabriella?"

Nic took my hand in his and all the females in the room sighed. I'd also heard most of the night how happy they were their Nicholaus had found someone. Although, I did hear someone in the other room mention it was a shame I wasn't Greek.



       
         
       
        

Katerina actually looked happy to see the exchange between Nic and me, but I still felt like an outsider. If it hadn't been for Kilyn and Kira, I'd be the only person in the room who wasn't Greek.

Smiling, I replied, "Since I can remember. My grandmother taught me."

Katerina smiled big and bright. "Does she live here in Colorado?"

My hands started to sweat. I never talked about my past. Ever.

"Um, no she's passed on a few years back."

Sadness swept over her face. "I'm so sorry."

With a fake grin, I reached for my wineglass and took a hearty drink before saying, "It's okay. I was lucky to have the time I had with her."

Katerina's smile felt warm and caring. At least I wasn't lying about my grandmother.

"Are you from Colorado Springs?" Aunt Agnes asked.

"The east coast," I responded. They all waited for me to elaborate and when I didn't, Nic spoke.

"Gabi moved here a few years back."

"Gabi? Who is Gabi?" Yiayia asked.

I knew damn well she knew it was me.

Nic leaned forward to look around me and to his grandmother. He pointed to me. "Gabi. That's her name, Yiayia."

She frowned. "I thought her name was Gabriella?"

"It is. I go by Gabi though."

Her lips snarled. Oh hell.

"Why? Gabriella is such a beautiful name. It matches your beautiful eyes."

Then it happened. She spit on me. Or at the very least, made the noise and motion of spitting.

I jumped at the action. I was ninety-nine percent sure she hadn't actually spit on me. Turning to Kilyn, she raised her eyebrows as if to say, told you.

"Yiayia, stop it," Nic warned.

"Your parents?" Dimitris asked.

My chest was beginning to tighten up to the point where I couldn't breathe. I hated lying. It was why I never talked about my past. I knew of only one way to make the questions top. "They're dead." Blunt. To the point.

Gasps were heard across the room. Now to add in the final blow. "I was young, eighteen."

Katerina looked over to Kilyn. "You two have another thing in common."

"Another thing?" Kilyn asked.

Katerina looked at Kilyn like she had grown two heads. "Yes, both your parents passed away when you were young."

My heart ached for Kilyn, but at least the conversation was moving away from my past. I hated that I was lying and that this was actually something painful for her though.

"And what's the other thing?" Kilyn asked. Katerina stood and reached for my plate then Nic's. Thano looked over to his mother and gave her warning look. She smiled at him before looking at Kilyn and then me. 

"Neither of you are Greek."

"Of course," Kilyn said with a sigh as Katerina announced dessert was coming. The buffet was long gone, and I had no idea who had actually cleaned it up as we sat and ate dinner.