A Tale of Two Cousins (A Papaioannou Novel Book 3) Page 23

  “And just when I had decided I wasn’t going to die of embarrassment in front of Thyra and her brother,” Kiera said, hurrying forward with a small hand towel, and managing to get my braid out of Peter’s mouth and hands. “Here, take this spawn of your loins while I try to wipe the slobber off of her hair.”

  Theo—who I decided was just as handsome as Iakovos, but still not close enough to Dmitri to give him a run for the title of handsomest Papaioannou—laughed and took his son, who immediately started telling Dmitri about the puppy.

  “It’s fine, I can do it,” I said with a little warm glow when Dmitri, who was now squatting down to chat with Peter, gave me a questioning look that asked me if I was all right. The fact that he knew I would be uncomfortable meeting new people warmed me to the tips of my toes.

  Chris rose to greet Dmitri’s cousins, all of whom turned to look at me.

  “No,” I told them all, taking the towel Kiera was using on my hair, and heading into the apartment to rinse out the tail of my braid. “I did it once, and that was enough. If you want the formal introduction, Dmitri can do it.”

  “All right, but it’s going to lack panache this way.” Dmitri made a bow first to Chris, then turned to Iakovos and Theo and made bows to them, as well.

  Harry laughed as her husband and brother-in-law, evidently getting into the spirit of things, returned the gesture. Dmitri then swept a hand toward Chris and said, “Cousins, may I present His Serene Highness Christian Something Something of Sonderburg-Beck.”

  I left them, shaking my head over Dmitri’s silliness, which made me feel wonderfully happy.

  “How did I get to be so lucky as to find Dmitri so that I could meet him and ask him to save me from Kardom?” I asked a short while later, while Harry, Kiera, and I were examining my gold lace dress. Mrs. Avrabos had been as good as her word, and the dress was back to its pristine state.

  “I ask myself that question every day,” Kiera answered, then made a face and added with a little laugh, “Well, not about you and Dmitri, although I’m happy you’re joining the family. I never had any sisters, and even though you are a princess, and I feel like I should curtsy every time I see you, I’m looking forward to having friends nearby.”

  “I’m not the curtsying sort of princess,” I told her.

  “Oh, you are when you want to be. You should have seen her at the auction last night, Kiera. The way she marched into that room, I could almost hear fanfares. I thought Patricia was going to explode, and the look on Audrey’s face! It was worth all the hell of stalling Dmitri’s appearance.”

  Kiera looked confused, so Harry explained about the two women, and the events of the night before. I waited until Kiera was absent for a few minutes before asking Harry, “Dmitri says he wasn’t at all upset or shamed by me only offering twenty-seven euros for him, but I thought I’d ask what Iakovos and you thought. I wouldn’t want to insult the family, but that was all the money I had, and—”

  “Oh, lord no, we weren’t insulted! It was the best thing I’d seen in a long time. Plus, if I know Dmitri—and I do—he’ll pony up a big donation to compensate. Not that you should feel bad. All of us, Dmitri included, would much rather have had you win him than Audrey.”

  I relaxed a little, ready to let go of the worry about shaming the Papaioannous, and instead focused on enjoying time with Dmitri’s family.

  “I’m so glad you got here in time for the wedding,” Harry told Theo after dinner as we were preparing to leave.

  I froze, and glanced at Dmitri, who was talking to Iakovos about something business-related. “What ... uh ... we’re not having a wedding.”

  Harry shot me a puzzled look. “You’re not? But you’re getting married.”

  “Yes, in the registration office.”

  “Smart,” Kiera said, nodding. “It’s what we did. No fuss, no muss, just agree to be married, and sign some papers.”

  “I know you’re having a civil ceremony—it’s what Iakovos and I had—but I thought Dmitri said something about having it somewhere nice, like the National Garden, or up on Lycabettus Hill. There’s a church up there—”

  “No church,” I said quickly. “Neither Dmitri or I are religious.”

  “I don’t blame you at all for not wanting a big ceremony,” Harry said. “But I think getting married on Lycabettus would be terribly romantic.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that romance had nothing to do with our wedding, but the thought occurred to me that perhaps Dmitri hadn’t told Kiera and Theo the real reason we were getting married, and although I had a twinge of guilt over that, I let it go. I loved Dmitri. He said he loved me. In the normal course of events, I’d be with him anyway, so what was a marriage but a legal confirmation that we were together? “I suppose something outdoors wouldn’t be objectionable, but I didn’t anticipate having an actual wedding, if you know what I mean.”

  “But your brother came all the way out here,” she pointed out.

  “Yes, well, he is my only sibling, not that I expected him to come, but he feels he has to do the family thing properly. Oy. Which means he brought ...” I stopped, feeling way too awkward to continue.

  Luckily, Harry didn’t seem to notice. She pursed her lips. “Small and intimate is nice. You can always have a party at a later date to celebrate with friends, if you want. You’re going to let us come, right? Oh, man, that came out pushy. Let me try this again. Iakovos and I—and I assume Theo and Kiera—would be delighted if you allowed us to be there when you get married, no matter if it’s in a registry office or out on the side of the mountain.”

  “That should be all right,” I said, trying hard not to sound ungrateful or unwelcoming. I reminded myself that just because the actual marriage was nothing but a formality to me didn’t mean others held the same belief. And then perhaps Dmitri wanted his cousins and friends there.

  “Iakovos will have a hissy fit if I have to do too much walking, but eh. So long as I take it slow, I’ll be fine. I still have almost two weeks to go, and none of the other babies were early. Hmm. I wonder if I have something appropriate to wear. I assume you don’t want evening wear for the event. I have a dress I bought years ago in New York that I can have brought out from the house. ...”

  “Oh, good point on a dress for the wedding.” Kiera looked thoughtful. “I have a nice sundress. If I wore a shrug over it, I don’t think it would look too informal. We want nice, but not too nice, yes?”

  “I think that would be best.” Harry nodded, pulling out her phone. “I’ll just call home and see if Rosalia can pull out my red dress and have it brought out here. I bought it when I was pregnant with the twins, and I always thought it was cute, but Iakovos doesn’t like how much leg it shows.”

  The two women discussed what would and would not be suitable in their individual wardrobes. I looked down at my mother’s dress, wondering if I shouldn’t get something else to wear. Was Dmitri dressing up for this? I had a sudden panicked thought that I didn’t know him, that he was a stranger, but the second that thought went through my head, I realized just how stupid that was. Of course I knew him. He was my Dmitri, the man who made me happy just thinking about him.

  Except when he was trying to have a wedding that was more than a simple legal arrangement.

  I left the two women still discussing the various merits of semidressy versus comfortable, and went out to find Dmitri.

  He sat on the arm of the couch, a tall drink in his hand, chatting with Chris, Iakovos, and Theo, the last of which was on the floor playing with Peter while he colored.

  I poked Dmitri on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted an actual wedding?” I asked when he looked up at me.

  He looked surprised. “An event, you mean? A party?”

  “A wedding where there are guests dressed up, and which is held at a scenic spot. Where people watch us get married.” The meaning behind my words was crystal clear, or at least it should have been to Dmitri, but Theo and Iakovos were in a differe
nt situation.

  “Why shouldn’t people watch you get married?” Theo asked, looking up from where Peter was coloring on his sneakers.

  “Er ...” Dmitri made a face. “You know how I feel.”

  “About getting married? Yes, but I assume that changed when you found Thyra,” Iakovos said.

  “How do you feel?” Chris asked, his eyes narrowing on Dmitri.

  “Please do us all a favor and turn down your brotherly suspicions,” I told him. “Dmitri isn’t going to dump me at the altar. He simply feels the same way I do about marriages.”

  “Oh, that,” Chris said with a little roll of his eyes. “Just so we all understand that I’ll have his balls if he hurts you.”

  “You leave his balls alone—they’re mine,” I said a little crossly. I’d about had enough of Chris’s overprotective brotherly concern.

  All four men looked at me with raised eyebrows.

  “So to speak,” I said, patting Dmitri on the thigh.

  “Dmitri’s balls aside,” Theo said, stopping his son from extending his show of artistic ability onto the rug. “I won’t say I was looking to get married, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. You’ll see, Dmitri. It’ll be the making of you.”

  “I don’t dispute that Thyra has enriched my life in ways I never thought possible, but I don’t believe that’s in question. We don’t particularly want a ceremony,” Dmitri said, slanting a glance up at me. “I suggested Lycabettus because you liked the outdoors, and I thought you’d like to have the ceremony—such as it is—in a scenic spot, but if you prefer not to, then we’ll simply have it at the registry office.”

  I felt like a heel. Here Dmitri went to the trouble of planning something nice, and I was making a big fuss about it. “Lycabettus would be fine. I just don’t want to put anyone to trouble for what is going to be a five-minute thing.”

  “Harry shouldn’t do much, if any, walking,” Iakovos said, frowning. “She could go into labor at any minute. I don’t want her out of the range of immediate medical care just so she can watch you get married.”

  “I don’t care where we get married—”

  “I understand your concern,” Dmitri said to Iakovos, interrupting my mild objection. “I don’t want Harry to be at risk, either, but this is, after all, our wedding, and if Thyra wants to get married on Lycabettus, then I’m going to see to it that we are married there.”

  “We could carry Harry up the path to the top of Lycabettus,” Theo offered. “Or rent a wheelchair. Or one of those motorized scooters that old people use.”

  “I really don’t need to be—” I started to say, but stopped when it was apparent that none of the men were listening to me.

  “She’d still be on top of the mountain, and it would take some doing to get medical aid were she to go into labor,” Iakovos pointed out.

  “You could bring the midwife with you,” Dmitri said, frowning as he puzzled out the situation.

  “Do you have private ambulances here?” Chris asked, joining in the fun. “If so, you could arrange to have one present just in case it was needed.”

  “Or a helicopter,” Theo said, nodding. “To airlift her out.”

  “Oh, for the love of ...” I went to find the women.

  “There you are,” Harry said when I stopped at the doorway of Elena’s room, where the two women were still talking arrangements.

  “I was out trying to talk sense into men.”

  “What were they saying that wasn’t making sense?” Kiera asked.

  “The last I heard, they were planning on putting Harry on a mobility scooter, and airlifting her out after the ceremony—which, again, is going to be as minimal as possible—is over. Via helicopter.”

  The two women stared at me; then to my surprise, Harry looked thoughtful. “A mobility scooter. That might not be a bad idea. I know Iakovos is going to be annoyed if I do much walking—”

  I left them and went to sit in a chair next to the door. It seemed like the only sane place in the apartment.

  Later that night, after we’d returned home (and argued with Chris until he agreed to stay with us rather than the hotel he’d checked into), and I had wrapped up the flash drive containing the game for Dmitri, I lay snuggled up against him, listening to him breathing into my hair. Our bodies were still slightly damp from the lovemaking session that had ended with me feeling like I’d exploded into a thousand bits of sheer bliss, but a tiny worry crawled around in my mind, ruining the sense of satisfaction and happiness.

  What was I going to do about the lies that Kardom was obviously spreading in Beck? I could prove who I was well enough—and provide the government with another set of the documents that I suspect had been conveniently “lost”—but I had an uneasy feeling that a dark cloud of doom was hanging over my head. Kardom was planning something. I could feel it. I could feel him out there thinking things about me, making plans, wallowing in his perverse determination to have the position that I so badly wanted. I thought about what it would mean if he convinced the newly formed government of Beck to recognize him, and what I would do to ensure that never happened.

  “I don’t know if I can stop him,” I whispered into Dmitri’s collarbone. He murmured something unintelligible and tightened his arm around me. “But I will do everything I can to make sure they pick the right person for the job.”

  They’d just better realize that person was me.

  FOURTEEN

  Dmitri protested when Kiera and Theo arrived the following morning to take Thyra away.

  “Hey, it’s not like we made her spend the night elsewhere,” Theo said, shooing Kiera and Thyra out of the door. “Harry thinks it would be nicer if you didn’t get to see her until the actual wedding. More of a surprise and all that.”

  “Oh, it’s going to be a surprise,” Thyra said, shooting her brother a black look.

  Chris smiled at her. “We have the family to think of, Tee.”

  Thyra said something very rude that had Dmitri secretly amused, but he kept his expression mild when Thyra was torn from his side three hours before the time they were due to show up at the church at the top of Lycabettus. Although they weren’t going to be married inside the church, there was a very nice paved area outside that Dmitri decided would be scenic yet informal, and thankfully, Thyra had agreed to it.

  Dammit, she was a princess. He couldn’t condone the idea of her getting married at city hall.

  “I wouldn’t worry about dressing up,” he told Chris when the latter picked up a small leather overnight bag, and started to follow the women out. “Your sister made it quite clear when we came home that I am not to get dressed in anything nicer than a suit. Just in case your bag contains a tuxedo, or a kilt, or whatever crown princes wear at formal events.”

  “That would be satin knee britches and a lace cravat, and I assure you that what I have in here is much, much more horrible than those,” Chris said with a mischievous grin; then he, too, left.

  “I feel obligated to ask you if you’re sure you want to do this,” Theo said once they were alone. “Oh, Jake sends his regards, and says he’d be here doing his duty as best man, but he has to stay back at the apartment and forcibly keep Harry from what he calls ‘doing too much,’ which I gather means anything beyond getting up to take a piss. They’ll be at Lycabettus at eleven with Thyra in tow.”

  “I’m sure I want to marry Thyra, yes, and with all due respect to Jake, I’d much rather have you here than him. The last month of Harry’s pregnancies are the worst. You were lucky in that you avoided the last two, but I was stuck by Jake’s side, watching him glare at Harry if she so much as tried to lift a book.”

  Theo laughed. “You’d think he’d be used to it by now, but he told me he’s concerned because she’s forty now, and although the doctor says she’s fine, he’s convinced that only his vigilance in making her rest is keeping the baby from popping out early.”

  Dmitri shrugged. “Who knows? He may well be what keeps her healthy.”

>   Theo looked thoughtful. “That’s something to think about. Hmm.”

  “That sounds like a man contemplating having another child,” Dmitri said, eyeing his cousin.

  “We are, but we’re not in any hurry. Peter is a handful, although Kiera couldn’t be a better mother to him. And now he’s into everything, but she takes it all in stride.”

  “You’re a lucky man,” Dmitri said, pleased that his scapegrace cousin had finally found someone who gave him a purpose in life.

  “I am, as are you. Right, I know the tradition is to toast the bride with a little morning libation, but I’ll have coffee, if you don’t mind.”

  Dmitri didn’t mind at all. He was thankful that Theo had remained sober after fighting so hard to overcome the addiction to alcohol, and he toasted Thyra with a latte before getting into the nicest suit he thought she’d tolerate without comment.

  After that, he pulled from the small safe in his bedroom closet a velvet box. “I wasn’t going to give this to her now, because I figured she’d give me absolute hell over it, but since Cove told me she’d picked up a wedding present for me, I figured it was only fair for me to give her one, too.”

  “You’re taking your life into your own hands if she’s anything like Kiera,” Theo said, looking with interest when Dmitri opened the case. He whistled when he saw the contents. “Isn’t that your mother’s necklace?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s worth a small fortune,” Theo commented.

  “It is.” Worriedly, Dmitri studied the pearl, diamond, and amber necklace. “My grandfather bought it right after the Second World War. He said it belonged to some long-dead Russian princess. I thought it only fitting that Thyra should have it. Besides, the amber matches her eyes. You don’t think she’ll ... er ... refuse to take it? I thought of telling her the diamonds were rhinestones.”