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“Be kind,” Alia urged.

His cheek ticked once before they parted ways.

Alia smoothed over the small scene with a few remarks about how worried Daphne had been since Spiro had been injured. Her years of working in hospitality held her in good stead as she moved from table to table, mindful that each person wanted a moment of her attention while she subtly reinforced that she was an avenue to the top of the food chain.

She didn’t see Spiro again until she returned from the hotel salon, hair and makeup refreshed for tonight’s gala. She entered the suite to find him in the bedroom, showered and wearing only a towel, sipping a deep pour of scotch.

“I needed this,” he said by way of apology. He rarely imbibed out of respect for the fact they were trying to conceive.

“How is your mother?” she asked.

“Shattered.” His mouth twisted. “Khristos and Julian have taken her onto my yacht. They’ll sail to Corfu, where she has a cousin she wants to see.”

“And Lambros?”

“Has agreed to a divorce settlement that includes revoking his permission to vote her shares or benefit from them in any way. Khristos now has that honor. He exercised it an hour ago.”

“You’re in? Lambros is gone?” It seemed anticlimactic after all these weeks of stress.

He lifted his glass in a sardonic toast. “If I’m reading things correctly, he has a town house in Paris and a lover waiting for him.”

“So his leaving was inevitable.”

“It would seem so.” Weary disgust overlaid his words. “He saw a chance to steal MSPM again when I had my accident, but once our marriage thwarted that, he realized it was time to cash out.”

“Your poor mother.”

“I have a hard time feeling sorry for her.” He swallowed the last of his drink. “But I’m glad he’s finally gone. I strongly suggested he never let me catch sight of him again. Here. This is for you.” He held out a flat velvet box. “To wear tonight. Red, you said?”

“Yes, but… Spiro!” she gasped as she opened the box to reveal a stunning chain of rubies interspaced with diamonds. A giant pear-cut pendant was surrounded by more sparkling diamonds.

“It was meant to be a statement. One that is redundant now, but we’ll call it a thank-you for being the reason I finally got that bastard out of my life.”

She hadn’t, though. He’d left Daphne of his own volition. Alia had been an instrument toward that goal, one that had helped, perhaps, but it was hitting her that Spiro no longer needed her to be a shield or pawn or prop.

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s beautiful. I’m just shocked. It’s been a weird day. Thank you.” She moved closer, intending to kiss him, but he stopped her.

“I’m not in the right frame of mind, agapi mou.” His hands clenched briefly on her arms and his mouth twisted. “I’ll ruin your hair and makeup and leave you with bruises again. Let’s dress and go downstairs.”

“Will you fasten it for me?” she asked, mostly to give herself a reason to turn her back and hide her devastation that he not only didn’t need her anymore, he didn’t want her.

* * *

Hatred had been his companion for so long, Spiro didn’t know what to do with the empty space inside him once it was gone.

Work had always been an outlet for his emotions, but his drive to succeed was no longer fueled by his need to shore up his position and prove his worth and win.

He had won. The decades-long war was over. His mother was out of that man’s clutches and she wasn’t even grateful for it. She blamed him.

He knew he was being a grouch. Alia didn’t deserve his sullen temper, especially when they returned home to concerning reports from the nurse about Herena. They’d only been away two nights, but she was very weak.

Alia’s quiet agony was beyond his ability to bear, but what could he do except offer to cancel the dinner party they were supposed to attend?

“It’s no longer your mandate to perform as my wife. You can take a night off.” It was supposed to be a joke, one that would lighten his own mood as well as hers, but it came out gruff and made her send him a stark look.

She was already showered, hair still wrapped in a towel, standing in the dressing room in her robe. “I’d rather have the distraction,” she said in a subdued voice. “Unless you’d rather not go?”