Attending the Christmas Gala at the Morelli mansion in Bishops Landing meant only one thing for me: The start of all the crazy family antics that would last until my New Year’s wedding.

“Third,” Penny continued. “You’re using a property owned by your overprotective cousin, my husband, for a game night. Which he is clueless about. And fourth, you’ve checked the door three times in the last hour as if you’re expecting one person in particular to appear.”

Penny’s husband, Hagen Lykaios, was one of my three cousins in Las Vegas, related to me through my mother’s side of the family. Luckily for me, the Lykaios brothers were protective but not insane like my four brothers when it came to watching over me. And as long as I continued to perform well as the managing horticulturist in the botanical garden at the Ida Casino, no one was the wiser about my other activities.

Well, Penny and the other two Lykaios wives, Amelia and Henna, knew. But that was because they enjoyed betting in an underground game or two, and they could keep secrets.

“I only checked the door once,” I corrected, trying to resist the urge to look at it again.

“Once is more than you normally do.”

She was right. I hired the best when it came to security.

If my six-foot-three, gorgeous green-eyed Greek showed up, nothing would stop him.

“What’s actually worrying you?”

I remained quiet for a moment before saying, “In addition to telling my fiancé to fuck off, I had a courier deliver my rings to him with a note attached saying the same words.”

A decision, I’d regretted within minutes of handing off the package to the courier.

“But aren’t you guys already—”

“Yes,” I responded, cutting her off.

“Then why would you do that? It’s not as if you changed anything.”

“He pissed me off.”

“A bit dramatic, even for you.”

I shot her a glare over my shoulder. “You’re one to talk, Miss I-flew-to-a-Greek-island-because-my-man-hurt-my-feelings. Besides, as you like to remind me, we’re Greek. We have tempers.”

“Whatever. All I can say is good luck to you when Simon gets you alone.”

“Hopefully, if my luck holds out, it won’t be until after the gala tomorrow night.”

“Keep dreaming, Mykos. As soon as Hagen learns we never landed in New York, Simon’s going to know.”

I glanced at my watch. “Our flight isn’t expected to land for another two hours.”

“The shit I get into with you.”

“I’ve kept your life interesting for the last few years.” I glanced toward my lead dealer, who tilted her head to the left. “This set is about to end. Let me go freshen up, and then I want to play a few rounds. Maybe it will help the night go faster.”

“I’m always willing to take your money, Mykos.”

“Keep dreaming, Lykaios.”

Chapter Two