Divorcing Her Mafia Family
Chapter 23

After a long hot shower, Dimi felt ready to begin again. It wasn’t the first time Miklos had told her he loved her. As a girl he considered a kid sister, he had said it to her from the day of her birth until she was well and truly a teenager. Once she’d gotten a bit older, it had been reserved for holidays and birthdays and always with a k**s to each cheek and a brotherly pat to the back, but not once had he ever said it to her in a romantic way.

She had a memory of her at five or six sitting on his lap while he was a teenager and telling her it didn’t matter the other kids at school were jerks because she would always have him to take care of her and love her. When she was twelve and she’d crashed the moped her father had bought for her he’d bandaged her up, kissed her booboos and told her he loved her even if she was a clumsy mess, making her laugh.

Too many instances to count of him being affectionate and kind mingled with the way he would lose his patience and be ready to kill her for sabotaging him in one way or another. In retrospect, their relationship had been more sibling than anything else and her starry-eyed affection for him had been misplaced.

Today though, his words were not meant to reassure or comfort and had not been said as a big brother would. They had been manipulative and said with the intention to weaken her defenses. She half-wondered if her father hadn’t made the suggestion. How many times had she heard her own father placate her mother with an ‘I love you’ in the midst of an argument?

She gathered her laptop and made her way to the patio area and set up outside to work.

Mrs. K. brought her a fresh cup of coffee. “Are you okay? Miklos said you were quite upset with him.”

“Arrogant fool thinks he can play me like a fiddle. He has another thing coming to him.” She retorted as she accepted the cup and took a sip.

“He went for a swim after you argued in your room and then he went upstairs to get ready for the office. He said he wanted to see you before you left the house.”

“I’m not going anywhere for awhile so no need for me to seek him out anytime soon.” She rolled her eyes.

“Dimitra,” the woman sat at the table and pulled her hands from the keyboard and held them in hers. “Look at me.”

She turned her eyes to the woman and forced a smile, “Mrs. K. really, I’m fine. I had a minor setback when he tried to play emotional hardball this morning but I’m fine.”

“You slept with him.” The woman rubbed her thumbs over the top of Dimi’s hands softly. “Was this part of your plan?”

“No, it was part of his. He is fighting his battle. I am fighting mine.”

“What if you made a baby,” she flicked a glance to Dimi’s abdomen.

“Nope. I not only have an IUD, but I also went and got the morning after pill yesterday from the free clinic. I’m not stupid.”

The woman sat back blinking in shock. “Why?”

“I’d rather his s***m never make connection with one of my eggs. The pill delays ovulation. No egg, no baby.” She made a face, pulling her hands away from the woman. “If I get pregnant by him, I will be raising a first generation Lykiaos-Laskaris. Do you know the evil genius such a child would be? He would be as smart as me, as ruthless as Miklos and as stubborn as the two of us put together. Also, it would make my father much too happy, and his happiness is not anything I want to see. He doesn’t deserve a grandchild bearing both our names.”

“I understand but –”

“There is no but. I am not having his baby. End of discussion.” She looked to her screen. “Mrs. K. I am on the verge of having enough money to leave and never come back but I don’t want to. I want to be able to just live my life freely and without having to hide in the shadows forever in fear they will come after me. If Miklos signs the papers and gives me my freedom, then my father cannot stop me seeing my mother and I won’t be hunted down. You and I both know, unless he agrees, I am going to be dragged back to this house kicking and screaming every time I leave. I have two options. He agrees and I can live freely, or he refuses, and I have to disappear off the face of the earth and never see anyone I love ever again and start over elsewhere.”

“There is a third option,” she said quietly.

“Before you even suggest I try to make my marriage with Miklos work, may I remind you until Sunday, he has considered me a kid sister.”

“He hadn’t seen you in five years. He didn’t know how much you’ve grown up.”

“He hadn’t seen me because he hadn’t cared to.”

Their conversation ceased as Miklos came stomping into the patio area.

“Now what?” she rolled her eyes at him.

“What did you do to my suits?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she kept her face neutral as Mrs. K. excused herself and went into the kitchen

He was standing in his boxers and a blue shirt unbuttoned at the collar, but he had several pair of trousers over his arm. He threw them all on the table. “They are all too short.”

“It happens to me sometimes too. I get a little too much junk in the trunk and it makes the pants a bit shorter. Have you been doing extra a*s building exercises or maybe you changed your diet, and your a*s is a bit bigger?” she leaned sideways to check him out in his boxers.

“It is not funny!” he slammed his fist on the table. “Dimitra, you are not a child, and these pranks are not funny. Grow up. You will take these back to wherever you had them altered and get them fixed.”

“I didn’t alter anything,” she wasn’t lying. Darya had done it in Mrs. K.’s cottage. “Did the dry cleaner f**k you over? Did you forget to pay the last bill? Maybe they have new equipment?”

“My wardrobe isn’t one I can go to the mall and replace like yours. Many of these came from Italy and Greece.”

“Ooh, fancy,” she mocked him. “Vanity will be your downfall. I’m sure there’s a Greek tragedy written about it somewhere.”

He took a deep breath, expanding his chest and one of the buttons off his shirt popped and landed on the table and he gritted his teeth furiously.

“Hey, don’t look at me for it. You shouldn’t puff your chest up like you just did. Clearly, you’re putting on weight or something.”

“If I replace out,”

“What?” she cut him off, “what will you do if you replace out I did something to your precious suits? Will you beat me? Punish me? Maybe,” she clapped her hands excitedly, “maybe you’ll sign the divorce papers. I went ahead yesterday and contacted a lawyer to have them drawn up. All they need is your signature. I can have them couriered to you at the office. Just sign them. I’ll pack up my s**t and leave this house and never come back. You will never have to worry about me and my pranks again.” She smirked, “if I screwed with your suits, not saying I did.”

He yanked the sleeves of the shirt down and another button popped off and he growled at her, “you are not getting a divorce. You and I are going to work through this situation. We are going to come to a mutually agreeable solution.”

“Yeah,” she drawled the word out and gave a half laugh, “there is not solution I want other than my freedom. Emancipation baby.”

“We are having dinner tonight with my parents.”

She looked up and scrunched her nose at him. “What for?”

“My mother misses you. She wants to see you.”

“I saw them at the hospital when the old man had his heart attack. Your mother barely spoke two words to me. In fact, she avoided both me and my mother the entire time we were there. I don’t want to go.”

“You will go, and you will respect my parents. Otherwise, I will call your father and let him know you refuse to see his best friend.”

“Ugh,” she shook her head, “what time?”

“Seven.”

“Fine. Where?” He named a restaurant and she nodded, “I’ll meet you there.”

“No. We will drive together.”

“No, we won’t.” she refuted his demand. “I have an appointment today at the bank at four-thirty. The bulk of my clothes are at the beach house, and I won’t have time to go to the bank and then come all the way back here after getting a change of clothes at my place.”

“Move your clothes home. Put them in my walk-in closet upstairs.”

“It’s a big no from me,” she openly laughed at his demands. “My goal is you signing papers by Friday.”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“It will happen.” She argued with a smirk, “now if you don’t mind. I have work to do.” She shoved her headphones on and the beat of Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now began blaring in her ears and she nodded her head and started singing aloud, ignoring him standing there glaring at her. When the lyrics fit, she looked back up, “did the heartbreak change me, maybe but look at where I ended up. I’m all good already, so moved on it’s scary. I’m not where you left me at all.” She held his eyes as she sang the lyrics and grinned when he turned on his foot after swiping the pants off the table and storming back into the house. “Sucker,” she muttered under her breath as she settled into her work.

Twenty minutes later he was back in front of her, and he slammed her laptop lid shut and yanked her headphones off.

“What is your problem?”

“All of my shirts? All of them have buttons coming off. I know you did it.”

“You don’t know squat.”

“Shall I call your accomplice and replace out?”

“Can’t have accomplices to what I didn’t do.”

“Mrs. Kyriakos, could you come here a minute?” he stared at her. “I’d hate to fire the woman who helped raise me because she’s plotting to cause strife in my marriage. If there are only two people in this house apart from me, then if you didn’t do it. She must have.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she clenched her jaw

“Try me.” He leaned over her. “Did you f**k with my clothes?”

She swallowed at the rage on his face. “No.” she watched as Mrs. K came onto the patio and called his bluff.

He turned to face her, his face impassive and cold, “Dimitra is denying tampering with my clothing. Which means there is only one other person it could have been. Did you destroy thousands of dollars worth of my clothing.”

Mrs. Kyriakos paled, “Miklos. I would never.”

“Well, my wife is saying she didn’t do it. She is my wife after all, and I am to believe and trust her so then who could it be?”

“If you are accusing me of such a thing, Miklos, you should be ashamed.” Mrs. K bristled furiously at him. “Fire me now if you have to but I did nothing wrong.”

He waved his finger between the two of them. “You’re both plotting.”

“Mrs. K couldn’t plot a garden.” Dimi scoffed at him. “You heard her. Fire her. I dare you.”

He wheeled on her, “admit what you did.”

“Why would I touch your clothes? It’s kind of creepy. Do you think I just spent an afternoon amongst your things smelling your undies?” She was desperately trying not to laugh and saw Mrs. K. turn her head away. “I think you need to have a conversation with your dry cleaner. Or” she pointed as if having a sudden revelation, “maybe Eve did it. Ooh, ooh,” she flapped her hands excitedly, “maybe Wren snuck past the security agents and did it. She’s a model so maybe she knows how to sew buttons and stuff.”

“Eve wouldn’t dare, and Wren doesn’t know our address.”

“Doesn’t she,” she wiggled her eyebrows and watched him pale.

“You didn’t,” he swallowed hard

“Not yet but seeing how panicked it makes you, I just might.”

He slammed his palm on the table, “Dimitra Dionisia Leonora Lykiaos-Laskaris.”

“Oh my god, he’s using my full name. Did my mom teach you the trick?” she giggled at the fury on his face.

He marched over to her and ripped her headphones off her neck and yanked her out of the chair. She shrieked when he flipped her over his shoulder and marched through the house.

“Miklos, put me down!” She was rewarded with a firm slap against her a*s, and she screeched with it, hating to admit, she kind of liked the spanking. “This is abuse. Put me down.” As he strode furiously through the side garden doors to the pool, she knew what he was going to do. “No. Miklos. I don’t want to go in the water.”

“You want to act and behave the way you did as a child; I will do to you what I did when you were a child.” He dropped her to her feet and as she tried to bolt, he swung her sideways into his arms and tossed her with great ease into the deep end of the pool.

She sunk like a stone to the bottom and shoved hard off the floor up towards the surface, breaking through sputtering and gagging on the chlorine and water she had taken in. She treaded water and noted he was nowhere to be found. He’d tossed her and bailed.

“Miklos Laskaris, you’re a coward. You threw me in here and couldn’t even stay and fight? p***y!” she screamed at the top of her lungs into the air.

She noted Mrs. K coming out of the house with a towel and grinned at her.

“I warned you it was going to get ugly,” she swam to the side of the pool and hoisted herself up.

“You almost got me fired,” the woman scowled at her but there was light in her eyes. “If I’m honest, I haven’t seen him this emotional in years. It’s good to have him behaving something other than a horny robot.”

Her words sent Dimi into gales of laughter. “He would never fire you. I called his bluff. I got thrown into the pool because he lost the round, and he knows it. Asshat.”

“What is the next round? Dare I ask?”

“We’re having dinner tonight with his parents. Apparently, Nerida misses me.”

Mrs. K’s face pulled back in surprise, “really?”

“That’s what I said. It’s been no secret she’s been pissed at Vasili for forcing Miklos to marry his fat daughter. I believe her exact words when she saw me in my wedding dress was someone should hide the cake.”

“I love Nerida and she has always been good to me but her devotion to her only son is nothing short of psychotic. There has never been a girl good enough for him. She was always content with you because you were the little sister, but the minute Vasili demanded the pairing happen on your birthday, she was a different woman.”

“Maybe she wanted Vasili to give him everything and let me just do whatever girls do.” Dimi shrugged as they walked towards the house. “It’s fine. I can handle her. It’s Miklos I’m a,” she held her fingers apart a fraction, “smidge worried about tonight.”

“Why?”

“I have a surprise for him. It will be ready once he comes back here to get in his own car. I know he has Ajax driving him into the offices this morning and I will be long gone when they come back. He will want to show off for his parents so he will go to the garage and get one of his precious sports cars.”

“What is in the garage?” the woman paused in front of her suddenly terrified.

“I can tell you nothing. You must know nothing. Just, if I were you, stay in the kitchen or your cottage. No need to be around when he’s leaving. I would imagine it will be around six.”

“Dimitra, will he get hurt? You appear a bit worried.”

She pulled her lips back in wide frown, “I don’t know if hurt is the right word. I should hope not. I know he will be very angry, irate even” she grinned suddenly. “Hopefully, angry enough to sign the papers I will be bringing with me to dinner. I am hoping his mother will be on my side and will push him as well.”

Mrs. Kyriakos shook her head in amazement, “you are going to beseech Nerida to help you convince him to divorce you.”

“Yes, the minute I mention our children could be pudgy, she’ll be all in with my plan. You know what she’s like. She’s the consummate LA housewife. It will kill her to think of her grandchildren being anything other than perfection.”

“Any child you have will be perfection,” the woman gripped her chin and held her gaze seriously. “Do not let her play with the insecurities in your head. You are beautiful and smart and there’s not a hot-blooded man alive who wouldn’t be interested. You are more than enough woman for Miklos, and she should be thrilled he even had the chance to get you and she should be ashamed he mucked it up so badly.”

“I’d hug you but I’m wet,” she gave a smile to the woman through teary eyes. “I love you, Mrs. K.”

“I love you and I don’t care you’re wet,” she pulled her into a tight hug rocking her back and forth. “Go get dried off and come out and I’ll make you an early lunch before you head back to the city.”

“Thanks,” she kissed her cheek and sighed deeply and entered the bedroom where she usually slept. She c****d her head to one side and called the housekeeper to come back.

The woman came quickly, and they both stood in the doorway with their heads turned to one side in confusion.

“Where did it go?” Dimi asked quietly

The pounding of Miklos’ footsteps coming down the stairs and into the hall behind them made her look over her shoulder in confusion. Her eyes rounded as she took him in. f**k. He was wearing dark jeans, a white v neck t shirt, and a black leather jacket. Dressed up he was perfection. Dressed down he was downright sinful, and she squeezed her knees together at the sight.

His mocking gaze told her he knew she liked what she was looking at. “The bed has been moved to my room on the third floor. It is where you will be sleeping from here on out, Dimitra.”

“I am not sleeping with you.”

“I have locked all the other guest rooms. This one has no bed since it needed to replace the mechanically screwed up one you bought for us. Also, the daisies were cute, but I bought a new tv and it’s been reinstalled. I hope you’re not upset but I let one of the guards take the print and all the pink s**t from our bedroom for his daughter. She is allegedly delighted with the new furnishings.”

She shrugged, “I don’t care. It’s your room. Do what you want. I’m not sleeping there ever again. One night was enough and even then, I had to be drunk.” She watched the housekeeper slink away and disappear down the hall.

He pulled her forward and tilted her chin, “my little wife, you are itching for a fight. I will give you one but right now, I have to go deal with issues at the office.” He searched her face. “No comment?”

“No. I will see you at dinner.”

“K**s your husband,” he ordered her.

“I’d rather k**s a lizard.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Even if you hadn’t just gone for a swim, your panties would be wet. You like me in leather, and you want to k**s me.”

“f**k you Miklos.”

“Later tonight when we are curled up in our bed. For now, I just want a k**s.” He sighed, “I can stay here all day and let you drip on the floor. One k**s.” When she balked he grinned, “who is the coward now? What was it you called me a few minutes ago? p***y?”

She stood on tiptoes and moved to k**s his cheek, but he was having none of it. He swooped down and latched his lips to hers. Skillfully his lips slid across hers and she opened her mouth to allow him to tangle his tongue with hers to savour the sweetness of her breath. He wrapped his arms around her middle and lifted her clear off the floor, crushing her to his chest as he deepened the k**s, sucking and nipping at her lips while he held her close.

Then he set her on her feet kissed the tip of her nose and chuckled at her bemused expression and heavy breathing. “That is how you k**s your husband goodbye, kopelia mou. This can be lesson number one for you in marriage one-oh-one.” He was whistling as he shoved his sunglasses on his face and walked away with the confident strut of a man who thought he had just won.

“Holy s**t,” she whispered as she leaned against the door frame for support. His game play was superb, and she was going to need to strongly regroup after his k**s. A ping on her phone notifying her delivery was on its way helped her refocus. “You can do this Dimi. You can do this.”