She had truly been happy that she had been able to give her mother this time, not even caring that she had had to sacrifice her anonymity to achieve it. In that week they had only gone to one more event, a garden party, in which she had noticed that Nikos had met her there and left before her, full of apologies that work was pulling him away. With a small frown, she had began to wonder if he was deliberately avoiding being alone with her, shaking the thought from her head as she had realised that she was not somebody that he would care about one way or the other.
Nikos had groaned seeing Mina as she had mingled around the guests at the prestigious garden party. Wearing a chic A-line dress which dropped to her knees she had looked stunning. For that event she had pulled her hair into a clasp allowing the delicate curve of her neck to be visible, Nikos dropping his eyes as his mind had remembered running his tongue down the long milky column, holding back the moan of want that rose within him.
For over a week he had tried to avoid her, the desire for her not diminishing as the days had passed. He had hoped that she would have shown herself to be shallow, self serving, but each day on returning he would be bombarded with stories of how wonderful she was from all of the others within the house, Dina especially devoted to her.
Frowning down into his drink, he had once more reminded himself of her parentage, of the fact that she was Alexander Mentis’ daughter, each day realising that this meant less and less to him, clinging to Claire’s declaration that she was made to be a mistress. With a determined rise of the glass he had once more vowed that she would not be his. As she had turned, Mina had finally seen him, her warm grin instantly lighting her beautiful face as she had smiled and waved to him, Nikos feeling the flip flopping of his stomach as he had moved over to meet her.
Settling into her second week at Nikos’ house it had been Mina who had volunteered to take Dina to get her clothes for school. She had treated the young girl to ice-cream after they had purchased her uniform, Dina excited and nervous all at the same time to be starting school. Mina had laughed as she had corrected all the horror stories of school told to her by Yanis. Scowling, the little girl had vowed to ‘deal with him for making her worry so much, Mina glad not to be in his shoes seeing the determined look on the small girl’s face.
Looking around she had given a small groan seeing Alexander walking towards her. Too late for either of them to pretend not to have seen the other, he had moved over to her table, nervously smiling at her.
“May I?” he had asked softly, Mina surprised at the difference in his behaviour as she had nodded “Yes…yes of course Alexander”.
He had looked at Dina, who was glaring at him, her dislike of the man beside her so clear on her face.
“Hello Dina” he had managed, trying his best to ignore the obvious glare from the girl. Pulling some money from his pocket he had offered it to her.
“Why don’t you get yourself a drink Dina?” he had offered, the young child looking doubtfully at Mina who had given her a nod before taking it and moving off to the small kiosk not far from where they sat. As she had moved out of earshot, Mina had prepared herself for the verbal assault, but had been surprised as he had fixed her with a nervous smile, his eyes so unsure.
“Mina…I owe you a huge apology” he had began, seeing the surprise on her face.
“I truly did not believe that you were my half-sister…I …well I guess I thought that you were somebody Nikos had made up to get himself out of a sticky situation”.
Clearing his throat he had continued “When the results from the DNA came in I felt so ashamed at the way I had treated you…my own sister. I really hope that you can forgive me…I really would like another chance for us to get to know each other”.
Mina had stared at him, her eyes showing the shock of his statement, before she had smiled warmly at him, her beautiful eyes shining so brightly “Oh Alexander” she had breathed softly “I would love that…I really would” giving a small half laugh “I guess that it was a bit of a shock for you…but I really hope that we can…well be family”.
She had watched as his features had softened in relief, nodding and smiling as Dina had skipped her way back to their table.
Rising he had nodded to them both wishing them a good day, brother and sister smiling happily at each other.
The rest of the week had passed in a daze for Mina, growing so used to the relaxed pace on the island, loving the people in the villa, finding them accepting her as one of their own very quickly. Some afternoons after visiting her mother she would stop to see Francesca, the two women often having coffee together as she had confided in her about Yanis and her plans for their wedding the following year.