Page 65 of Betraying Family Vows

I close my eyes, feeling the water glide down my back, but I can't help it.

There's something about her. Something real. I want to peel away those layers until I find the woman underneath. The one who shot a man to save me, who didn't run when I gave her the chance.

I shut off the water and grab a towel, drying quickly. I get dressed in a shirt and jeans and head back down to the office.

I sit down and take a breath.

I know I need to call them, but what the fuck do I even say?

Hey, brother, I was kidnapped, shot at, and now I'm harboring the daughter of the person who ordered our father's murder, who, by the way, was also working with people who work for "S." Oh, and I've also slept with her. So, how's your week goin'?

Christ.

I press the call button before I can overthink it any further.

I dial Theo first. He'll be the most rational.

He answers on the first ring.

"Dimitri? Where the fuck have you been?" His voice is stern.

"I'm alive," I say, cutting straight to what matters. "I'm at the house in Piraeus."

"Jesus Christ." His exhale is shaky. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"Had some trouble," I say, keeping my tone light. "Got a little lost."

"Lost? Is that what you call it? Because from the tapes it looks a lot more like you were fucking kidnapped. Shit, Dimitri. We thought you were dead."

I rub a hand over my face. "Okay, I was taken. Drugged, actually."

Silence on the other end. I can practically hear him shifting into business mode, all emotion buried beneath calculation.

"Who?"

"People connected to Cosmo Kouris and 'S.'"

"Encrypted phone 'S'? The one Cosmo was working for?"

"Yes. But I think we're getting close to finally identifying who 'S' is."

"We? You're not alone?"

I pause, weighing how much to tell him.

"No," I say carefully. "I've got someone helping me. Someone with information."

"Who?"

I pause, unsure how to deliver this.

"Who, Dimitri?"

"Cosmo's daughter. Athena."

"His what?" Theo's voice sharpens. "Since when does Cosmo have a daughter?"

"Since twenty-five years ago. Kept her a secret. Her and her mother. An affair. She was the woman in red at your wedding."