Lily ducked her head and rushed by them unable to keep
her tears from falling this time. Nancy saw her rush through the
office and got up to follow her.
―Lily?‖
―I‘ve got to go.‖ She said stepping into the elevator.
―What‘s wrong?‖ Nancy said with genuine concern seeing
the woman‘s tear streaked face.
―It‘s nothing. Tell Max I‘m fine. Thanks for being so nice
to me Nancy.‖ She said as the doors closed.
After the first couple of weeks of classes Lily began to feel
unwell. She had trouble sleeping, she felt nauseous, but never to
the point of losing her breakfast, and she lost her appetite. Is this
what a broken heart felt like? She thought. Luke had noticed her
fatigue and became worried. Try as she might, she couldn‘t help
but look depressed. It was getting hard forcing a smile when her
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brother was around and he mentioned something about her not
looking as cheerful as she usually was.
One day she came out of her building after classes and a
glorious white Limousine was parked on the curb, and leaning
against the car was Nikos wearing a navy suit and tie like he‘d
just come from a business meeting. He straightened when he
saw her and gave her a devastating smile. It may have worked on
her if she didn‘t know Max, but regardless, it was refreshing to
see a friendly face.
―Bella!‖ he called outstretching his arms as she
approached him.
She couldn‘t help but smile, as he cupped her shoulders
and leaned down to kiss her cheek. ―What are you doing here?‖
―I came with Demetrius to finish off business with your
fiancé.‖ He said glancing at her empty finger, ―or—am I speaking
out of turn?‖
―We—well, I mean—―
―Say no more. Join me for dinner.‖ He could see the
subject made her uncomfortable and Nikos wasn‘t one to make a
woman feel in such a way. He loved women. Lily, however, was
in a completely different category and he‘d come to have
affection for her like he would his little sister, and she looked sad.
Obviously the engagement was off and he felt the need to cheer
her up.
―I really shouldn‘t.‖ she said looking around at the
curious gazes from the other students.
―No one needs to know.‖ He said, ―We‘ll be discreet.‖
She cocked a brow suddenly feeling a little like her old
self, ―Max told me to be careful around you.‖
―I‘ll behave Bella, I promise,‖ he said making a sign of the
cross causing her to laugh.
Gosh that felt so good! ―I don‘t know if I should believe
you.‖
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Lietha Wards
He tilted his head at her making himself look even more
handsome, ―I can see you need some cheering up. I promise,
that I won‘t do anything inappropriate.‖ Besides, thought Nikos,
the ring may have been gone but for some reason he still knew
Lily was off limits. He knew something was wrong the last day
they were in Greece. Max was unusually cool to her and she
looked taken back by it. He wasn‘t sure what had happened
between them, but whatever it was, it was just as much as a
surprise to her as it was to Nikos. He knew he didn‘t mistake the
looks that Max had been bestowing on Lily. No man could
mistake that kind of affection even if they tried. Finally to his
relief she nodded.
―Just this one time Nikos. My brother is still very
protective.‖ She said giving him a warning look followed by a
smile. In the past she always included Max in that sentence, but
he didn‘t seem to care about her as much as he used to. The fact
that he hadn‘t even tried to contact her in the past few weeks
since she left just confirmed that. Although she guess she could
pick up the phone and call him, but she just couldn‘t bring
herself to do it.
―I‘ll agree to that.‖ He grinned opening the door for her.
She hesitated slightly before getting in the car.
A short distance away a man pulled out a cell phone and
made a call.
The restaurant that Nikos took Lily too was very fancy
and she felt out of place in her beige skirt and white blouse
regardless of how much he reassured her. Nikos requested a
fairly private table and slipped the maitre d something extra to
get his request.
Once seated Nikos asked for a bottle of expensive wine
and Lily couldn‘t help but ask how he knew where to find her.
―I have my ways.‖ He said with a knowing smile as the
waiter came over with the wine and filled their glasses. Nikos
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waited until the man left before he continued, ―I actually asked
your brother which college you attended. The rest was easy
enough.‖
―But there are quite a few buildings Nikos,‖ she said