Page 50 of Beyond Enemy Vows

He walks back and sits down in his chair. I imagine jumping across the desk and strangling him. Watching the light fade from his eyes. Feeling nothing but relief when it's done.

All these thoughts should disturb me, but they don't. Not anymore.

"You have nothing to say to them," I reply.

"No? You think they'll take kindly to a Petrou defiling their princess? You think they won't come for your head?"

"Is that what this is about? You're concerned for my safety?" I laugh. "How touching."

His hand slams down on the desk, making the crystal decanter jump. "This is about business. About power. About everything I've worked for that you're pissing away for a piece of ass. I gave them your cousins to get to this point. Things are in motion. Don't fuck with this or I'll kill you myself."

My blood feels molten.

"End it before I have to." His eyes narrow, something cruel flickering in them. "Wouldn't be the first time with them."

"What do you mean it wouldn't be the first time?"

He waves a hand dismissively at me. "You're not ready to understand how real men operate. But you'll learn. Faster, if you keep that Kastaris bitch around."

Something shifts inside me, plates of tectonic rage grinding against each other.

"Don't call her that," I growl, stepping forward.

He doesn't even blink. "I'll call her what she is. Now, get the fuck out of my office before I teach you the lesson I should've given you years ago."

I turn to leave because for the first time in a very long time, I think I could act on my thoughts.

"Remember who pays for your lifestyle," he calls after me. "Who gave you everything. Who made you and who could take it all away."

I pause with my hand on the doorknob. "You didn't make me. You tried to break me. There's a difference."

I walk out into the hall and my arm sweeps across a credenza by the door. A framed photo crashes to the floor. Glass shatters, skittering across marble.

One day, I'll kill that motherfucker.

I swear it.

And I won't feel a thing.

My pulse is still thunder in my ears when the phone buzzes in my pocket.

For a moment, I think it's him again. But it's a text from her.

Calli.

Guess where I am?

As I'm trying to type a response, her beautiful face appears. It's a picture of her, the Parthenon behind her.

Wait. You're here in Greece?

My brother surprised me.

I need to see you.

I don't know. I’m with Ares and your cousin.

I'll figure something out. I'm coming to Athens.