Control

Chapter 6.

     As John sipped his way through only half of his small glass of a fruity rioja, I was greedily filling up my third; I needed some Dutch courage to get through the night despite Cora's previous warnings about irrational use of alcohol to deal with my problems—she was adamant it would only lead to trouble. I laughed quietly. I was already in trouble and secretly, I longed to escape the constant emotional limbo I was forced to dwindle in.

     "I think you should probably ease off the wine for a bit France," John advised coyly.

     "They are late," I noted, ignoring his attempt to chastise me as I eyed the clock on the wall before guzzling the entire glass. He held my arm and removed the glass from my grip, setting it down on the coffee table.

     I was about to kick off my heels to relieve the pressure on my feet when three controlled knocks thumped on the wood of the door. John leapt up like an excited puppy, quickly putting on his mask before jogging over to the entrance to our humble abode to welcome in the Greeks.

     Tobias entered first, his calm eyes and rested confidence changing the bitter atmosphere in the room into a warm one. His eyes glittered with friendly intent through his plain white mask, and I rose as majestically as I could from my seat in order to appear relatively poised.

     "Frances! You look as stunning as a rose!" he boomed gleefully, capturing me in an embrace as he kissed my right cheek.

     "You look rather dashing yourself," I said with a genuine toothy smile.

     "Are we all ready to go? My son is waiting in the car."

     "Yes, of course," John said, "Lead the way."

     By this point I could feel the heaviness of the wine seeping into my system and polluting my blood with an alluring self-confidence. I followed the men as they walked down the hall, my heels clicking along the floor. My pulse had risen and was throbbing in my veins as I mentally primed myself for another face to face meeting with the risque Adonis.

     Parked against the curb in the middle of my neighbours' cars, a glossy black car was like a diamond in amongst a bag of rocks. The engine purred softly, and it put my father's—or John's—car to shame. I was never a woman to judge a man by his car, but I could not help but be impressed by such a striking vehicle.

     "After you." Tobias grinned, allowing me to slip into the back of the car first. "John can have, what is it you call it here... shotgun? Yes, he may have the front seat."

     I climbed in, avoiding eye contact with the perverted Greek in the front and sat against the soft leather seats. Tobias sat beside me as John got into the passenger seat. My eyes glued to the black curls of the driver as he pulled the car out on to the road. He had not even looked at me yet. A strange feeling thawed at my insides. Disappointment? No. No way. I turned to Tobias, who was staring at me.

     "So how is the restaurant doing, Mr Krieos?" I asked, my lips feeling numb. I could not have been that drunk after only three glasses.

     "Just Toby, we need no formalities between us. I am good friends with your father, you are practically family!" He beamed honestly, patting me on the shoulder. "You should come to Ouránios more often! Dimitri will let you eat for free and have the best table reserved for you and any friends you bring, won't he Alec?"

     Alec? Our driver looked into the rear view mirror and his young eyes stared back at me. He had the same dark eyes that seemed to resonate in the Krieos family, but they were not those that belonged to the man who I had found in the restaurant toilets. He was not here. I found myself instantly relax and the smouldering in my blood promptly extinguished. From the small window of vision the mirror allowed, I could make out his similar tan skin and curly hair but his was not as short as Dimitri's and instead curled around his ears and down the nape of his neck. He looked my age if not only a few years older.