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Odin

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

She doesn't show any emotion while she tells me about her childhood.

Some of the beatings she narrates are worthy of a horror movie, especially those against Theodoro. The entire time I'm listening, my hands are interlocked under the water.

It’s no longer difficult to understand what he ordered his men to do to Orien. If not even his own children were sacred, it wouldn't be a big deal to have someone else's child raped and killed.

Despite this, there was an escalation of cruelty towards my family.

On that day, I had gone out to play and lost track of time. I was sure I would be grounded, knowing how strict my mother was, so I decided to go in through the basement. Sometimes the door that gave access to the kitchen was open, sometimes not, but to escape the scolding, I decided to take my chances.

I was already upstairs when I heard Leandros’s words. If I had delayed any longer, I would, like the rest of the locals, have thought of it as an accidental fire.

I investigated it years later. I don't know if the police knew who was responsible, but the islanders really believed it was all an accident. Only I knew the truth, because I heard our tormentor and his men .

“You will regret choosing your family over me, woman. Pour gasoline on everything. The fire has to spread quickly.”

"Mister Argyros, are you sure? Can't we at least save the little girl?”

"Do you want to die along with them?”

“No, sir.”

It took me little more than a few seconds to understand what was going on. I ran to the top of the stairs, but there were no more voices, only groans of pain.

The door was locked, and then I noticed the flames.

No matter how much I threw myself at it, I couldn't open it. The heat became unbearable, and the door finally collapsed from the fire.

Desperate and in pain, I crawled out through the same door I had entered. I could barely breathe and had to take my clothes off because they were on fire.

After that, everything became very vague. Loose memories.

I woke up in a hospital bed, and the first voice I heard was that of my rescuer. He promised me he would investigate what had happened, and when he brought me the answer, I couldn't believe it.

My mother had been the monster’s mistress.

The last words I heard him saying to her suddenly made sense.

It was my mother who’d caused the death of our entire family with her infidelity.

Now I find out that Elina spent years under her father's yoke. The woman I already consider my mate was also one of his victims. I look at her, sitting so far away, and wonder if that distance has become an emotional one too.

Elina, like me, has her own demons to deal with.

“Why didn't your mother take her children and leave him?”

“Her children? Odin, she could barely see us. My mother has always been madly in love with him. We’ve never met our maternal family—did you know that? When I asked her about my grandparents once, she told me not to bring them up again or my dad would go crazy. As I grew up, I learned that I should forget about that part of my family. We did not even see my father's relatives.”

“You said that Theodoro was beaten more than the others.”

“Yes. I think at that time, my father already knew that Theo didn't like girls. It could only be because of that, since my brother has never had a temper.”

“How about you? I know nothing justifies beatings, but did you defy him?”

She looks away. “I learned very early on to keep what I thought and wanted inside here,” she says, pointing towards her own head. “After a while, you stop caring.”

“Did you ever think about leaving?”

“Yes. Many times.”

“Then why didn't you?”

She stands up in the water. “I don't want to talk about it anymore.”

“Come here.”I reach for her hand, but she doesn't move.

“I don't like talking about myself. I didn’t tell you all this to make you feel sorry for me but, firstly, because you revealed some of your past, and, secondly, so you can understand that even though I don't know what your problem is with my father, I believe he deserved everything you did to him.”

I give up waiting for her and get up myself. “Weren't you angry with me? At least in the beginning?”

“Not because of Leandros. I was angry that you took away the life I knew.”

“Did you love that life?”

“I loved my animals. As for the rest, I don't know what to say. I've never known anything different, but I like how things are today. I just want to know if my mom is okay.”

“She is.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I've tracked them down a few times. They have traveled to different countries, and your mother is with him.”I take a step closer.

“Will you stop?”

“Stop what?”

“When you get the rest of the money my father owes you back, will you stop?”

A conflict unfolds in me, but I opt for the truth. “Never.”

I don't know if it's my expression, but she takes two steps back. “Was the fire that killed your parents accidental?”

“No.”

Her mouth opens and closes again, and I can see her mind putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

“My father . . . Did he have anything to do with it?”

I feel my jaw clench. “Our conversation is over.”

She's not talking to me.

Yes, I know our last interaction didn't end well, but I couldn't lie.

How could I say that I won't stop until I kill her father?

Despite what she has told me, family is family. I know this better than anyone.

Talking to Elina about my past made me remember everything, including what my rescuer said on the day he died. I really want to read her the letter he left me, but I’ll never break my vow to him.

Given what Elina revealed earlier today, I don't question for a second that Leandros is responsible for more deaths than I thought, although my investigations haven’t revealed any direct link between him and the murders that took place in Greece.

It's all just rumors.

After what the islander told me about the missing girls and the police being on his payroll, I’m sure he will never be brought to justice in the usual way.

I've been thinking a lot about the young girls who never came back to see their families again. A quick search was all it took to guess what happened to them.

They were all in high school, and in theory it was really an excellent opportunity to win a scholarship with the future possibility of entering a university.

But of course, that never happened. The daughter of the islander who came to see me, for example, has never been seen anywhere else.

I've sent Grigori to take care of it himself, but I don't have much hope of finding her. Three years is too long for a girl to survive sex slavery, and I think that's what he wanted them for. To sell them.

Every time I think I can't hate Leandros anymore, I discover another one of his sins. It's as if fate guides me along the path of justice, not allowing me to deviate from my mission.

A voice in my head says that I must end things with Elina before I hurt her further. I have no hope that she will accept the situation when I finally finish my reckoning with her father.

Despite all these certainties, however, I can't seem to let go of her. No, actually, I don't want to get away from her.

I want more and more of everything we have. Far beyond what I had planned in the beginning.

I'm sitting in front of the fireplace wondering if I should go look for her. We've never been this far apart with both of us at home at the same time, and it feels so fucking uncomfortable, as if I'm missing some piece of me.

Me, who has always been a loner.

I hear footsteps and I know she's back. The bodyguards would never enter here without being called. I stare at the entrance of the room, not knowing what to expect, but as soon as I see her standing still, my first instinct is to go after her.

Long ago, I would have waited for her to make her way to me, but I haven't touched her for over an hour, so to hell with pride. Not even knowing if I'm welcome, I pick her up and kiss the mouth I long for every day.

“I don't wanna fight,” she says, pulling back a little and cupping my face with both hands.

I try to give her something in return. “I'll never lie to you. Don't ask me what I can't answer.”

“Why can't you answer?”

“Because if I tell you the truth, you'll leave.” Before she can say anything else, I add: “Don't you think we've dealt with plenty of bad things today? Enough for now. I have an idea.”

She hesitates a little but then smiles. “Sex?”

“Who's the wanton now?”

“With you I always will be. I can't keep my hands off you for long.”

I pull away to look at her. What's the name of this confusion between desire, affection, and the lack that she makes me feel every time we are apart? “You don't have to keep your hands off me. I am your boyfriend.”

“That's only for now, although women don't seem to take it very seriously.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Me? No.”

“Because I am. All the time. Men can't take their eyes off you.”

She simply rolls her eyesat me. Fuck, I'll never get tired of her sassiness. “You cannot be serious.”

“Yes, I am, and I've come to the conclusion that it's past time we announce our relationship to the world.”

“We always appear in public together. We've gone out to dinner several times.”

“Not like that—in a way that leaves no doubt we are a couple.”

A flicker of worry lines her forehead. “What about Naim?”Just saying the unfortunate man's name makes her shudder.

“Don't worry. Nobody will hurt you.”

“How about you? I couldn't bear it if something happened to you because of me.”

“He's not my first enemy, Elina. I know how to take care of myself, and I will protect you too. Now, enough about that bastard. I'm thinking of going to a local ranch. They serve typical American food there. None of the luxury of New York. What do you think?”

“Do they have desserts?”

I smile. I've noticed that she loves sugar. “Maybe...”

“Then I think I'm very interested in seeing this ranch.”