Axel isn’t with us. He’s standing right beside me but it’s like he’s not here. He doesn’t know I know about Barry’s blackmail, and I’m not going to tell him. I wonder when he will leave, but I can’t ask.

Even as my heart constricts, I’m happy because right now I’m with him. If not for forever, at least for now.

I watch him move around the kitchen. He starts at one side of the room and ends at a cabinet, opening it and grabbing a box of cereal he must’ve chosen when we went to the market.

“I can’t believe you chose American food when we could experience something from Greece,” I say. But as soon as I say it, it’s a reminder to the both of us that he can’t experience it anymore because he’s leaving. I’m leaving tomorrow as well. I could stay longer, if I wanted.

But he can’t.

“And I can’t believe you wouldn’t let me cook.” He sidesteps closer to me, a sad look on his face. He raises his hands up in the air like he’s under arrest, feigning helplessness. “So here we are.”

“The food Selena made was delicious.” It was simple, a pasta dish with veggies. She was trying out a recipe she’d gotten from a man at the market. They’re going to end up together, I just know it.

“Does that bother you? Selena and Barry, I mean.”

He pours his cereal into a bowl and stares at me as he eats.

“Why would it?” Another spoonful goes in his mouth. I don’t know why I can’t quit watching. We’re over now. This game of pretending is getting to me.

“Because you hate him,” I begin, then realize I need to back out of this conversation. If I’m not careful, he’s going to know I eavesdropped, and he’ll see exactly what’s going on.

But he just shrugs at me. He finishes his food quickly—how can he eat that much and still stay so muscular?

He sticks the bowl in the sink, giving it a quick rinse before leaving it there. He smiles as he walks past me out the door. “Final stop in Santorini, better hurry so we’re not late!”

His forced tone betrays him. I nod after him, but he doesn’t see me. He’s already gone.

I scavenge through the cabinets myself and grab a couple of granola bars to bring along for Lark and me.

It’s our last day, and it’s going to be a long one.

“What do you want to do, sunshine?” Axel picks Lark up in his arms, calling her by the new nickname she loves so much. It’s perfect for her, and I both love and hate it when he calls her that. He loves her so much, and she loves him. It’s going to break all our hearts when he goes.

I try to clear my mind of the thought, and I hear Lark reply that she wants to go look at the little villages she saw past town, and I smile. My daughter is so simple, in the best way. She doesn’t know adult pain, or greed, any of the things that are causing us issues right now. She’s unaware of all of it.

I make my way from the porch where I’ve been standing over to both of them, and they wave to me. Selena’s decided to stay home to get packed before our flight tomorrow, but I know exactly why she chose to stay. Her leg has gotten much better, and she has a man around. I think she’s looking for some sexy time with him.

For a second, I close my eyes and daydream about what it would be like to be with Axel like that again. Butterflies flit around in my stomach, and I can feel my pussy growing wet as I imagine him on top of me, about to enter me. His skin rubbing against mine. My breath catches, and then a wave of sorrow overtakes me because I know this is not in my future.

When I open my eyes again, Axel is looking at me, and he’s about to open his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it.

“Let’s go see the little houses,” I say, smiling down at Lark as I take her hand. I can’t pick her up without hurting myself anymore—my back was sore the other day from it, and it makes me sad.

Axel’s eyes are fixed on me. That always leaves my skin covered with goose bumps. I smile up at him, too, then, and he takes my hand.

“Oh.” I’m not sure why the word decided to come out of my lips. I’ve lost a lot of control of what comes in and out of my mouth these days.

“That’s right,” he responds, and this time the smile he gives me isn’t so tight, and I feel a bit of the suffocation in my chest starting to loosen. Lark completes the moment, her little hand grabbing onto Axel’s and dragging us toward the roads made of cobblestone. We’re not taking the car today.

We’re going to look at the little houses.

On our walk back Lark finds a beautiful white rose she decides to keep for herself. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I’m pretty sure roses like that don’t grow in Santorini, so I let her believe that it came from the sidewalk where she found it.

Suddenly I realize that Axel is way out front and waving to catch my attention. There’s a flower cart ahead of us, spilling flowers out everywhere. He’s helping the man pick them up, and I’m pretty sure Lark finding this particular white rose wasn’t accidental.

Although I know Axel, so maybe he did actually knock over a cart just to see smiles on our faces. Either way, it’s working. His girls are having a wonderful time.

I keep walking away from him down to a little café where we intended to have dinner.

It’s late now, and they’re starting to close, but they have that late night menu where you can only order specific things for a small price. I’ve always wanted to go to a place like this, but I wonder if Lark should be out this late.

She assures me that she’s not too tired, even though she is yawning. But seeing as this is our last day together, I give in, and we order food. I pick something I want out for Axel, intending on us splitting both of our meals. Lark gets something with macaroni, and that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

What does surprise me are the small flowers Axel slides behind my ear when he comes up to the table. He sits next to me, and we enjoy a wonderful meal together. This is what happiness feels like—my precious little girl and the man I’ve loved all my life, who I need more than I’ve ever needed anything.

It’s easier tonight. He is so easy to love and to be with. We have fun, even if it’s our last day together.

The walk back to the villa is tougher.

But once we’re inside, it’s the hardest it’s ever been. After tucking Lark in for the night we’re at the top of the stairs before I collapse in his arms, my tears spilling out onto his chest. This isn’t the first time I’ve cried on him, but it’s the first time it’s been about him.

And he knows it.

He doesn’t apologize. He just holds me, whispering in my hair.

“I have something to show you.”

And he takes my hand and we walk the short distance back to our bedroom.

He tells me to stay and I do, wondering if I should cover my eyes, but I don’t.

He kneels down under the bed, pulling out his luggage. I notice that most of his clothing has been hung up in my closet, too, so I wonder what’s in there.

“These are for you and Lark,” he says, his voice steadier than either of us could possibly feel. “Lark deserves a father, Olive. Even if you don’t want me.”

His voice breaks, and it kills me inside. I know what this is. The envelopes, the SD cards.

“There are videos on them,” he explains.

He’s recorded all of them the past few days, and it explains all those times he seemed distant, and I thought he was mad at me. He was just busy, making sure that she was okay, that we were okay—”Even when I’m not there.”

I break out in tears again. He sets it down on the bed and goes to me, and we’re moving toward each other, and falling in each other’s arms.

His mouth is on mine, and my hands are on his skin. We touch, our hands roaming each other’s bodies like we’ll never be able to touch each other again.

“Axel.” I kiss his throat, his shoulders. I tug at his shirt and pull it away from him as he tries to touch me, kissing his chest. His hands tear away my clothes, removing my panties. I burn a slow fire I’ve never felt before, and I need to take advantage of everything I can before this is extinguished.

I fall to my knees, opening the fly of his pants. He’s hard for me, and I look up at him before I kiss the tip of his cock. I pull his pants the rest of the way down. I know how much he loves to touch me, but tonight I want to show him how much I love him.

My tongue licks his shaft, and my eyes meet his as I take him in my mouth. I suck it lightly, taking in more and more of him, until he bumps the back of my throat.

He threads his fingers through my hair, pulling at it as he groans. He spasms and comes in my mouth, and I swallow all of it, wanting to keep something of him inside me. He picks me up in his arms and carries me to the bed.

He places me down on the bed and cuddles next to me. We both want more, but not enough to ask for it.

For now, being held in his arms is enough.