Page 107 of Betraying Family Vows

Ares leans forward, hands clasped on the desk. I force myself to look at him. This is the man who runs everything, and in typical fashion, Ares doesn't waste time.

"Okay, Athena Lianou," he begins, his voice calm. "Normally, when people try to harm our family, they die. Yet here you are, sitting next to the man you attempted to kill, on top of the fact that Cosmo was your father." His eyes narrow. "Why?"

The silence that follows is suffocating. Theo and Ares watch me with the focused attention of predators. I can feel Dimitri's body tensing beside me, ready to intervene.

I've been rehearsing this conversation in my head for days, crafting and discarding explanations, justifications, pleas, anything that might somehow make them understand. But facing them now, none of them feel right.

So I say the only thing I can, the truth.

"I've been having this conversation in my head for days," I admit, my voice steady. "Everything I'd say, how I'd say it. But after everything that's happened," I glance at Dimitri. "Truthfully, the only person's opinion I care about on this earth is the man sitting next to me."

Theo raises an eyebrow, but I continue before anyone can interrupt.

"I won't pretend I don't want you two to like me, or Calli, when she comes back, but I've spent my whole life in the shadow of my mother. The daughter to someone who was only acknowledged behind closed doors." My throat goes dry. "In an industry I didn't like, where no one liked me since they all thought my mom got me the job." I shrug. "They were probably right, but still."

I straighten up, looking directly at Ares.

"Bottom line. When Cosmo died, my mother killed herself. And the guilt, the feeling that I wasn't enough to keep her alive, made me spiral." The admission costs me, but I push on. "So I focused on revenge. Not for my father, but for her and for myself. A purpose, granted a fucked-up one, but something."

I let out a shaky breath. "And then I realized I had been lied to. Turns out S was just using me too."

I glance down at my hands, fingers trembling slightly, and feel the old shame trying to crawl back up my throat.

Dimitri's grabs my hand, squeezing gently.

"I didn't know what Cosmo did to your father. I was told completely different things during the most fucked-up time in my life, and I believed it, but Dimitri helped me see the truth." My voice softens. "He helped me realize so much, like that I am a worthy person. Capable of living in my own light rather than someone else's."

I turn to look at him, emotions threatening to spill out. "And I'd like to think I helped him realize he's not just a piece of this family with a job or purpose outside of himself, but someone who deserves love and to live his own life too."

I can feel their eyes on me, assessing, judging. I face them again.

"I don't think I could sell either of you on me, even if you gave me all the time in the world." My eyes drift back to Dimitri. "But he can. If he's sitting here next to me, if he came for me, that speaks louder than I ever could."

Ares leans back in his chair, exchanging a look with Theo.

"Well, shit," Theo says finally. "That was a good speech. If you ever want a job in politics, Marco Bonventi, back in Chicago, is a friend."

I blink, completely thrown by the unexpected response.

Ares, however, doesn't say anything. His face remains impassive, eyes drilling into me before shifting to Dimitri.

"Well," he says, "what do you have to say?"

"One hundred percent it's the truth," he says simply. "I care for her, and maybe once S is six feet under, we can go over it all in more detail. But she's mine." His voice deepens. "She's here with me, and if she goes, I go."

Ares nods. "Still doesn't change who her father was, Dimitri," Ares finally speaks.

"No, it doesn't," I say, speaking up. "But I'm not him."

"She unlocked Cosmo's phone," Dimitri adds. "Without that, we wouldn't know who S could be, the person who's been trying to destroy us."

Ares's expression doesn't change, but something flickers in his eyes. "Okay then," he says. "Let's plug in your computer." He gestures to the laptop on the table. "You said she'd deliver S. We're waiting."

34

ATHENA

Dimitri moves to the laptop, plugging in cables while I stay seated, hyper-aware of Ares and Theo watching our every move.