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“We are together.”
“That could be complicated by the fact that you have a legal relationship.”
“Yes, I already thought about that. The solution I found was to transfer her guardianship to you or Christos. If I gave it to any of my brothers, it would also create a delicate situation.”
“I’ll take it if you need me too,” says Odin. “Have you talked to Serenity about it?”
“I have. She needs to be involved in every decision about her future. She’s been kept inside a glass dome, overprotected, but soon she’ll be twenty-one.”
“I agree. Even a control freak like me wouldn’t raise my three children so unprepared for life. Her only finding out she was amillionaire through you is unforgivable.” He pauses. “Did you know that Serenity’s father had a partner?”
“No. I never went that deep in my investigation of her. I only focused on the moment she became an orphan and onwards.”
“Her father had a business partner, but their partnership did not end well.”
“How come?”
“They were not always rich. Serenity’s father made his fortune as a builder, but he started at the bottom. From what I could see, before becoming a millionaire, Roger Blanchet suspected that he was being robbed by his partner and put an end to the partnership.”
“Robbed?”
“Yes. It appears that the partner was embezzling part of the profits. As soon as the partnership came to an end, Serenity’s father closed a big deal in the Middle East with a sheikh and suddenly turned a local construction company into a world-renowned one.”
“Yes, I know that part, but not about the partner.”
“Like I said, the partnership was dissolved before Serenity’s father expanded the business and became rich. Long story short, the former partner did not accept the end of the partnership well. There were fights in court, and when the man, Edgar Hazen, lost the case, there was even a physical confrontation between them.”
“Fuck. Van Lith certainly knew this. Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Perhaps he believed it was not relevant.”
“But do you think differently?”
“I don’t reason like a regular person, Ares. When faced with a problem, I analyze every nuance until I find the bit that doesn’t fit the picture.”
“And you think it could be that partner who is somehow trying to harm Serenity?”
“He’s the only enemy she could have. Your girl spent practically her entire life locked away at boarding school. She said that the feeling of being watched began as soon as she left and returned to New Orleans. It’s a very short time for someone to become so intensely obsessed with her.”
“Do you think he’s the stalker, then?”
“I don’t know. Pursuing someone like that seems like the action of a younger man. I don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet, Ares, but you can be sure that I won’t stop until I solve this mystery. In the meantime, keep your girl under observation.”
Serenity
DEBUT NIGHT AS NEW YORK CITY BALLET PRIMA BALLERINA
I take several breaths to calm my heart.
It finally happened. I reached the top, the highest point of my dreams. I debuted as prima ballerina for the New York City Ballet.
Ares’ family just left my dressing room.
Everyone already knows about the two of us, JeAnne included, and she didn’t seem surprised. I thought, given her overprotective way of raising me, that she wouldn’t like me dating, but she just said it was nice to have someone like Mr. Kostanidis to “take care of me.”
It was a strange reaction, considering that she tried to poison me against Ares with that story about him hiding Mr. Van Lith’s death from me.
In a few days, my guardianship will be transferred to Odin Lykaios, one of Ares’ cousins. I don’t mind. I never gave a shit about money, but I know that Ares is doing it, as he explained to me, so that there is no doubt that there is no conflict of interest in our relationship.