Page 5

Odin

CHAPTER FOUR

That same night

Finally.

After waiting for more than twenty years, the day has come for my revenge.

I should be anxious, but I feel empty as ever.

Unfortunately, the conversation with Theodoro before the party started went as I had expected.

Despite being sure that Leandros's youngest son was with Orien the last time he was seen, I never believed that Theodoro was at all to blame for my cousin's disappearance.

Now, I have confirmation of what I had already guessed.

There's only one person responsible for it all: the patriarch Argyros.

I knew, at a very young age, about his psychopathy and cruelty. What happened to my family is not unusual for the bastard, as I discovered many years ago. He will trample over anyone to get what he wants.

The world is full of sick people, but Leandros is on the top of the food chain when it comes to heinous crimes.

It took me quite a while to track and counter his actions. Apart from my own personal reasons, it gave me satisfaction to undo his evil deeds. It's like cleaning up the human waste he represents. After all, I've been waiting since I was twelve years old for my reckoning with him.

Nobody knows what I went through. Not even my savior could imagine how it still haunts me.

The smell of death that follows me wherever I go.

The screams of my family.

And mainly, the guilt for having survived.

Now, as if that isn’t enough, there's also Orien.

Given the information Theodoro provided me, I already have someone on the hunt for Ciro, Leandros's head of security. Theodoro said that on that day, by the cliff, it was Ciro who took Orien to the boathouse. It will be a matter of time before I get confirmation on what they did to my cousin.

Not that I need any. Orien would never have left his family like that, for sure, but most of all, he would never have given up Theodoro.

I saw them getting closer and closer, and I knew it wouldn't end well. However, I never imagined that Leandros would go so far as to hurt his son's best friend, nor that he would manage to get rid of the boy. I never thought that the bastard would be stupid enough to hurt someone on his own island, but apparently, his hatred for his son's sexuality overcame his reasoning.

Or perhaps, his certainty of impunity.

However, the time is coming when he'll have to answer for all his crimes.

Now, after what Theodoro has revealed, I know Orien didn't make it out of here alive. Although I still can't prove it, tonight I'll give Leandros a taste of what awaits him in the near future.

I want to watch him writhing in agony as he watches his world crumble. To look into his eyes when I take away everything he holds dear.

Something unexpected happened today, however, that caused my plans to change.

I have microphones in every room of his house, and I overheard an interesting conversation between Leandros and Sheik Naim, one of the guests.

I had a speech ready. Like everything else in my life, the words spoken here would have a certain target: afflicting the pride of Leandros Argyros.

The thing is that I've just discovered that my enemy is trying to find a way out of his financial collapse, and in order to solve that, he’s traded his own daughter.

Elina, the ice maiden.

Does she know about the deal? I can't be sure.

In any case, I won't allow that to happen. By marrying his daughter to the sheik, Leandros will free himself from his current misery and spoil my carefully crafted plans.

I'll make him beg on his knees, humiliating himself, honoring the souls of my relatives with his shame.

Just killing him is not enough. It wouldn't even come close to relieving my wounds.

No. I'll do whatever is necessary to stop him from negotiating with Naim.

I'm still stuck with that thought as I walk into the main hall. It's time for my speech.

As I pass through one of the rooms, I hear what sounds like anguished moans or the sounds of an injured kitten. I'm immediately alert because I know there are no animals here. The sounds come from a person, a woman, probably. The door is closed, but I don't have to knock to enter any room in my own house.

I pull the handle and, at first, try to understand what I'm seeing. Then a hot rage spreads through my bloodstream.

Elina is being pressed into a wall by the sheik. He has his hand around her throat, holding her head in place and stroking her hips as she tries to get away. At that moment, she reveals the same vulnerability I witnessed last night and is no longer the indifferent woman the world knows.

I must have made some noise because they both look at me, the man seeming to dare me to interrupt him.

I know his type. He thinks that having been born to a powerful family makes him immune to any rules imposed on the rest of humanity.

What Naim doesn't know is that I don't care about rules either. I overturn them guiltlessly whenever it suits me, and I don't give a damn about who he is. I fear no one, least of all a spoiled fucking heir who has never moved a pen to make a living.

I have no words to express how much the scene disgusts me. Taking physical advantage of this woman in order to control her is simply despicable. I have many flaws, but I would never take a woman by force.

Elina's expression tells me she'd give anything to get out of here, but despite that, even in an unfavorable situation, she still doesn't beg for help. Not with her mouth, at least, because her whole posture tells me that she's terrified. Even against my will, I am touched by her ability to disguise her fear and also by her persistent pride at the scene.

“What's going on here?”

The sheikh gives a fake half-smile. “My fiancée and I are in the middle of an argument, but it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Although I'm already aware of Leandros's intentions to trade his daughter as if she's a piece of meat, hearing the possessiveness in the man's voice stirs something inside me. An uncomfortable, unfamiliar sensation that I don't want to try to assess right now.

“Is that what I'm seeing, Elina?” It's the first time I've spoken to her since that day at the beach, twenty years ago. I feel surprise mixing with fear.

“Are you doubting me? Would you rather believe a woman than the word of Naim Ayad Badawi Faheem?”

Fuck, how arrogant does an asshole have to be to talk about himself in the third person?

I stare at him silently for a while, and I think he has a feeling I'm going to back off.

He is mistaken.

“Answer me, Elina. I'll ask one last time, and then you'll be on your own. What I'm seeing is a simple couple's disagreement?” I'm sure it isn’t, but I need her to confirm it. I don't know how deeply involved in her father's plans she is, although my instinct says that, like me, the blonde despises the sheik.

Instead of speaking, she shakes her head from side to side. Only then do I realize she hasn't answered out loud because the son of a bitch is applying excessive force to her throat .

“Get out.” With two words, I release the warning. There is no change in the volume of my voice. On the contrary, it's perhaps even quieter than usual, but a man would have to be very stupid not to fear the implied threat in my words.

Naim is a bastard, but he loves himself too much to risk it. He's just a jerk who was raised never to get into a fight, always having some security guard to defend him.

“You don't know what you're doing.”

I take a step closer. “There won't be a second warning.”

Finally, his hand leaves Elina's neck and the jerk starts to walk away, but not before stopping one last time. “This will not end like this. You shouldn't have gotten involved. You don't know the trouble you've just created for yourself.”

I don't look away from him for a second, and in this silent war, I'm the absolute winner. I almost smile when I see the fear that, until a few minutes ago, he imposed on Elina, now shining in his eyes.

“Perhaps you don't know the trouble you've just created for yourself by threatening me, Naim.”