Christian ended the conversation with Calinico, and decided to look for Ana. She wasn't in the kitchen nor in the first bedroom. Ana wasn't in the second one either. God! What has she done?!
"Ana!"he called.
At that, Christian's heartbeat had kicked up two notches. Has she gone inside the third bedroom? No… As he reached said bedroom, he noticed that the door was open. And there Ana was, picking up a toy. It was Demetrios' favorite one.
"Ana, what are you doing here?" he asked, his face expressionless.
She immediately let go of Pooh bear and observed Christian.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy. I thought that you said that it was OK for me to take a look around." Ana managed to say, a bit startled at the expression on Christian's face. It made her feel very uncomfortable, like she just had done something awful.
He tried to mask it, but Ana was able to see the pain in his eyes. At that moment he looked so broken.
As Christian saw the toy, he felt a gut wrenching pain in his heart… Demetrios, my baby boy. Everything that reminded him of his little boy was still just as Demetrios left it. Christian never had the courage, never had the heart to get rid of any of the stuff that was inside the bedroom. Demetrios' bedroom in the villa was in the same state; everything was just as he left it. Every piece of clothing was still in the closet and every toy was at the same place.
Now and again, Christian looked at Demetrios' picture that was hidden safely in his desk drawer at the office. But just looking at it or thinking about his baby boy, made Christian miss his son oh so much. The feeling was too excruciating to put down in words.
At a certain point Ana noticed that Christian had trouble standing on his own feet, so she walked towards him and led him out the bedroom. Silently they sat on the couch, while Ana watched him.
"I know that it's a stupid question. But… uhum, are you OK Christian? Right now you are scaring the hell out of me. Do you know that?" she asked, genuinely concerned, as she gently placed a hand on his upper arm.
After a minute or two Christian was able to collect himself, and he took a deep breath, while getting up.
"Now I'm OK. Let's get out of here, Ana." he said, sounding calm again.
Ana wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she decided not to press the matter. She noticed also that he had that look on his face again. The look that showed that he had his feelings and the situation under control. At that, Ana reluctantly got up and together they walked out the cottage.
XXX XX XXX XX
When Ana and Christian had reached the villa, Calinico was already waiting impatiently for them at the garden.
"Mr. Christian! Thank the Gods that you're here! I really need to talk to you in private." He said, the tone of his voice sounding strange in Ana's ears.
At that Ana furrowed her brows, and said."OK, I'll wait for you at the terras?"
"No!" both men said in unison.
At that, Ana placed both her hands on her hips and said."OK, you both should stop acting so mysterious. What's going on here?"
"Please, Ana. Can you wait here for a couple of minutes?" Christian asked politely.
Ana wondered what in heaven's name was going on. Christian was acting like himself again, being oh so calm and in control. She was curious why the two of them were acting so mysterious, but decided to let it go...For now.
"OK, I won't go anywhere. I'll stay right here. Satisfied?" She replied, and took a seat on the bench, while the two men walked over to the other side of the villa.
XXX XX XXX XX
"What are we going to do, sir?" Calinico asked concerned.
At that, Christian let out a deep breath."We, as in you and me, Calinico. We're going to protect her from Yorgos. I'm going to call her father and invite the both of them over to the villa." He said.
"But Mr. Christian, you are going to invite the lam to come meet the wolf?" the butler asked in disbelieve.
"Calinico, the best way to protect miss Ana is to be close to her at all times. You know that Yorgos will find out in which hotel and in which hotel room she's staying at. Do you want him to go look for her and find her there?" he asked, his voice low.
"No,of course not. You're right, sir." the older man replied.
"Good. Don't worry, I'll make sure that my cousin won't be able to harm Ana." Christian promised.
"Sir, are you going to tell her about 'you know what'?" Calinico asked worriedly, his voice a mere whisper.
At that, Christian let out a deep breath, and said."She has been through so much, Calinico. I don't want to scare her. Let's take it one step at a time, OK?"
The butler nodded in agreement." OK, sir. You're right."
"But Mr. Christian, you are going to have a talk with Yorgos as soon as possible, right?" the butler asked, concerned.
"Yes, of course." Christian replied.
Yorgos was very stubborn. Christian didn't think that it was going to be easy to convince his cousin to stop trying to go near Ana. But Christian was definitely going to try his utmost best to get through Yorgos' thick head!
"OK, let's go back to Ana before she gets impatient of waiting alone." Christian advised.
At that, both men walked towards Ana with heavy hearts.
XXX XX XXX XX
"So are you guys finished plotting?" Ana asked, one hand on her hip.
Christian locked eyes with her and replied."Yes, Ana. We're done with the thing."
At that, she rolled her eyes at him and began to walk away.
Christian followed her and said."Ana, would you like to spend a week in the villa? Ask your father also?"
Ana was very curious about their behavior. She so wanted to find out what was going on.
"OK, I'm interested. I'll stay here for a week. When can I come over?" she asked.
"Is it OK if Calinico went along with you now? He will wait for you and your dad in the limo. Then you three can return here?" he asked calmly.
Ana had a feeling that something was up, something huge. But she just couldn't figure out what, and boy does she desperately want to find out what it was.
"That's fine by me." she replied, as a smile graced her pretty face.
XXX XX XXX XX
After Ana and his butler drove away in the limo, Christian walked up the stairs. He knew exactly where Yorgos was going to be. Before stepping inside the library, Christian took a deep breath. The moment he walked inside, he got chills up and down his spine. Yorgos was so freaking creepy. The table was filled with pictures of Ana! Has his cousin gone completely insane?
"Yorgos, what in the hell are you doing?" he asked loudly.
Yorgos turned around and looked at his cousin. The look on his face was creeping even Christian out.
"She's here, cousin. She has finally returned. We will be free from the curse!" Yorgos replied, his voice sounding so desperate.
Christian shook his head and said."The curse is not real, my cousin. We are not going to drag her into our totally messed up lives. Leave her be."
At that, Yorgos slammed his hand hard on the table where the photos of Ana was laid."Our family has been waiting so long for her. She's finally here! I'm not letting her slip away, Christian! You do what you have to, but I'm going to break the curse! Aren't you sick and tired to always be on alert? Don't you for once just want to let go of your control? Just rip things apart?"
As those words reached Christian's ears, he clenched his hands into fists. He was on the verge of losing his control, so he did the exercise. Christian closed his eyes for a few moments, and let out deep breaths.
When he felt the anger fade away, he opened his eyes and looked at his cousin." But you have it under control, Yorgos. Why would you do this? Please, let Ana be. She doesn't need to know about us. We can live like this, you and I. You and I haven't hurt anyone like our ancestors had. I know it's tragic and the Niarxos family has always had to endure pain and sorrow. But please, you don't want to drag an innocent young woman into our messed up lives!" Christian pleaded.
At that, Yorgos shook his head furiously."No, Christian! I cannot let her be. I too want happiness. And I too want to have a family. Now is our chance, cousin. Please, make her fall in love with you. Let her break the curse. If you do that, you and I will be free. You and I can be happy again. Don't you want that? I too loved Demetrios. I too felt the pain, when he died. He was our precious little boy. The curse has made every single member of our family broken men and women. I lost my love also, because of the curse. Deep down inside you know that the curse is real. You KNOW it, cousin! Please, I can't control it anymore. I can't. I'm not strong like you, cousin. I cannot be in control all the time, like you do. Please. I beg of you, Christian." He pleaded while tears pooled in his eyes.
At that Christian took a seat in his favorite chair, and contemplated what to do next.
Yorgos watched as Christian sat silently in the chair, so he broke the silence. "Cousin, I have done something horrible! I lost my temper and had harmed a man. So you see, I cannot control it anymore! And I'm afraid that I will be hurting more people if you don't break the curse. Please, Christian." Yorgos pleaded.
At that, Christian let out a deep breath, while shaking his head."But Yorgos, didn't you do as I have thought you? The moment you feel anger rising inside, you have to take deep breaths and think of things that calm you down. That's how I do it. That's how I keep my control." Christian said.
"Mentally I'm not as strong as you, cousin. And don't even try to talk me out of it. You and I both know that this what we have to battle every second of the day, is not a disease! It's a curse! Its inside our bodies and it wants to come out and destroy everything in its path! Does she know about the family secret?" Yorgos asked.
Christian shook his head at that, and said." Ana does know about the curse and everything else, but she doesn't know about this part of the curse. Calinico left that particular part out, when he told her. He didn't want to scare Ana."
"Please, cousin. I cannot take this anymore. I cannot control what is inside of me. Lately I have been keeping myself locked up. Please." Yorgos begged.
At that very moment, Christian believed in the curse. That it was real. In that moment, he silently looked at his cousin, the wheels in his head turning. Yorgos had almost convinced Christian the opposite of what he initially had planned. He should be thinking about protecting Ana. Instead, Christian thought what it would feel like to be free of the curse... Like Yorgos, Christian also wanted to be free. But using this beautiful, young woman in order to reach his goal? Was Christian that selfish?!
So... what will he do?
For just one split second, Christian wanted to give in to the idea of being free. His whole life, he had to keep his anger in control. When he was a little boy, his grandmother and Calinico brought him and Yorgos to the best doctors in the world. They thought at first that it was a disease. A genetic one, but no matter what the doctors did to them. It didn't help at all. When they both were 10 years old, they had been injected with all kinds of serums and medicines.
The day Christian almost died after being injected with a 'medicine', his grandmother decided to stop it all. She couldn't handle seeing the two little boys suffer again and again. They were so young and already had to endure pain of that magnitude.
Christian had asked her countless times."Grandma, will the medicine work this time?"
It pained his grandmother so much to hear the hope in his voice, expecting a positive outcome. But the doctors never gave them good news. She didn't want the two cousins to suffer anymore and have false hope, so that day Christian's grandmother accepted the fact that he and Yorgos would never be 'cured'.
Calinico and Christian's grandmother decided that day to teach the two boys to control their anger and rage. By the time Christian was 11, he had mastered to control his temper. Since that time, he was always friendly, polite, in control and very calm. No matter what happened or how much someone tested Christian, he always stayed calm and in control of his anger. In his whole life, he could count how many times he had let his anger get the best of him. When Christian lost control, whenever that happened, he felt like he was on top of the world and felt like no one was able to touch him! But the aftermath of him losing control was beyond devastating!
So that's why Christian always had to be in control. When Demetrios died, he had lost control over his emotions, his rage, and almost harmed Leila. But luckily the others had kept him at bay. If they weren't there, he was pretty sure that the consequences would've been disastrous for Leila.
That day, Christian immediately filed for divorce and gave her a big amount of money. Calinico gave her the message and from that day, he hadn't seen her again.
Christian wanted out, Yorgos' suggestion to use Ana so they both could be free was very tempting at that moment. He really didn't want to be a prisoner in his own body anymore... But getting to know Ana, even if he had just met her, made him feel a lot of things that were so new to him. With Leila, he never felt this way. He 'thought' that he once loved his ex- wife, but he sure was mistaken. But with Ana, he felt an immediate connection, a very strong bond. With her he felt comfortable. With her, he felt like he could tell her anything, like he could tell her his deepest, darkest secret.
Even if Christian had just met Ana, he felt protective of her. He would never ever do as Yorgos wanted. He could never use her in any way. So even though he wanted to be free, Christian decided that she deserved a life of her own choice. He could never deceive her in any way. Christian could never have the heart to ask her to give up everything for him, even though it meant that he was going to live like a prisoner till the day he died…
Christian had made his decision, and wanted to make that clear. "No! No, Yorgos. I will not do it. I will not drag Ana in our messed up life! Get out of my house now. And don't you dare come near her!" Christian threatened.
The thought of Yorgos trying to get near Ana was making him feel sick to his stomach. Christian began to feel a sharp pain in his fingers and around the gums in his mouth. His head felt like it was about to explode… No.. he had to control himself! As his eyes fluttered shut, he took deep breaths and thought about Ana's pretty smile, making him relax. The sharp pain that he felt moments ago slowly faded away till it was gone completely.
At that, Christian opened his eyes and looked at his cousin. In an instant, Yorgos' mood changed. His sadness changed instantly into desperation and rage! He couldn't believe that his own flesh and blood, his own cousin, would choose that woman over him! At that moment, Yorgos felt his control slipping away…
Christian was on full alert, but wasn't afraid of Yorgos. Christian had always been the stronger one and Yorgos knew that too. He was no match for Christian.
"I will break the curse, cousin! I will find a way, even if I have to force your precious Ana!" Yorgos shouted, his body trembling with anger.
"You cannot force her, Yorgos. It won't work. You know that. Now leave and don't you dare try to touch one hair on Ana's head." Christian said calmly, but still on full alert.
At that, Yorgos threw Christian one last deadly glare." Don't think you have seen the last of me, cousin. I will get to that precious Ana of yours. Mark my words." he threatened, and within minutes he was gone.
Note:
To the new readers: I told you this was going to be one hell of a ride! And remember, this is Greece, and this island has its legends and myths! ;)
To you all: Hey guys! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and support! :)
So... Ana had discovered Demetrios' room in the cottage.
What did you think about Yorgos' and Christian's history? When they were ten years old?
And what do you think Yorgos is planning to do with Ana? OH, BOY!
Let me know what you think?
Thanks in advance, you guys! I hope you enjoyed.
J
