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"What do you intend to do? From what I’ve heard, the girl is at a boarding school in Germany."
I don't wonder how Hades knows these details. The four of us are extremely controlling, but my brother is a whole other level.Other people's privacyis a term he doesn't understand if our interests are at stake.
"She was. Serenity turned eighteen yesterday, but she’d already moved back to New Orleans a few days ago."
"Do you have any plans for her?"
"As I said before, if her current guardian accepts me as her new guardian, I will supervise her from a distance. I'll assign some of my men to watch her, of course, but apart from that, she’ll have her freedom—on condition that she doesn’t do anything stupid. She is very young and must be naïve too, as she’s been at a German boarding school from the age of five."
"Fuck me! Was she practically a baby when she was orphaned?"
"Yes. I know there is a nanny who has been with her for a long time. Still works for the girl. This woman, I believe, is the only connection to the past that the girl still has."
"And the current legal guardian?"
"As I mentioned before, he is almost a hundred years old and sick. That’s the reason why he’s so hesitant to authorize the sale of the shares. He wants to ensure that his ward will have some assets when she is older."
"Does that mean he’s protective of her?"
"I don't think so. He’s fulfilling a legal obligation, nothing more."
He stares at me in silence, and I know he wants to say something more.
"What?"
"Serenity will be the perfect target for sons of bitches. Regardless of whether she is beautiful or ugly, they will be all over her like flies on honey. Young, orphaned, inexperienced, and an heiress. The girl is the complete package."
I drum my fingers on the wooden top of the bar counter. It's a bit of a tic I have when I'm making a decision.
I've thought about what he's saying, of course. Kostanidis blood is like a damn disease—we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. When someone belongs to us, whether permanently or temporarily, we become fierce defenders.
"Maybe I could convince her to move to New York."
"It won't work. She’s studied ballet her entire life. She’s just been accepted by one of the best schools in the country, in New Orleans. She wants to become a professional."
"She could audition for the Joffrey Ballet School. Our family has been donating to this dance school for decades and I am confident that we could get the girl accepted."
"I've already thought about all that, Hades."
"And?"
"As I said before, I don't intend to make our relationship so personal. Serenity will be fine in Louisiana. I will make sure that she has everything she needs, and I will organize a veritable army to look after her, with well-trained bodyguards."
"Do you think she'll stay single until she's twenty-five?"
"As far as I know, she's never dated, but if her intention is to get married at twenty-one to get her hands on the money she's entitled to, she'll need my approval. That's what's in the will."
"And do you intend to intervene if you think the chosen one is no good?" He gives me a semblance of a smile, and even that, for my brother, is rare.
"If I think she's making a bad choice, I won't just intervene. I will make her understand that she will have to obey me."
Serenity
CHAPTER FOUR
Two weeks later
NEW ORLEANS