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Ares

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Three days before

NEW ORLEANS

The same night that I arrived with Serenity in New York, I needed to return to New Orleans.

I got a call from the hospital about Warren Van Lith, her old guardian. The old man was dying, and someone from his medical team contacted me, at his request, because it seemed the old man had no one else.

When I arrived at the hospital, I only needed to look at him to know that his case was terminal. I was with my paternal grandfather in his final moments, and he had the same farewell expression with which Serenity's former guardian looks at me now.

Seeing him on the verge of death, alone in a hospital, affected me more than I would like to admit.

He's a rich man, from what I can tell, and yet that didn't do him any good at the end of his life.

Invariably, my thoughts run to Serenity. She also doesn't have anyone other than Debra and JeAnne, and neither of them are family.

No, it will be different for her. Serenity is beautiful, young, and rich. She will find a man who will love her and with whom she will have an incredible future.

I feel a fucking ball lodge in my throat when I try to visualize this scenario. Instead of calming me down, it makes me feel even worse.

"I don't want her to know," Van Lith says weakly from the bed. "Tell her only after I go."

Even in his final moments, the man is the image of dignity. Even though he is weak and thin, with a slightly haggard look, he commands respect.

"The way you raised her, both you and JeAnne, shielding her from everything, is not the best way to prepare someone for life."

"In our own way, the nanny and I tried to meet the girl's needs."

I won't retort. There is no reason to argue with a man on his deathbed, although I think the opposite of what he is saying. Giving love to a child does not mean raising them in a rosy scenario where everything is perfect. Because, if my guess is right, they both failed miserably. Aside from dancing, Serenity is insecure about everything else.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth about the size of her fortune from the beginning?"

He gives me a weak smile. "I wanted you to be the man who would take over her guardianship. Even if there was no argument over the one percent of GordonBank , eventually I would have to get another guardian for her. I knew I was running out of strength and wouldn't last long. I can only attribute it to fate that our paths crossed."

"Why me?"

"I didn't want you, personally. Any of the Kostanidou would have done. I know your family's reputation. I knew that if she remained in your care, she would not be taken advantage of. You are honorable, and you are Greeks. It is said that your people place a high value on family."

"Serenity is not my family."

"By blood, no, but she would never have been just business to you, just as she never was for me."

"That’s not what you've indicated all this time."

"I'm good at hiding my emotions. Serenity, or Miss Blanchet, as I call her to her face, has always been the sweetest, saddest child you could imagine. Closed off, not given to smiling, and I felt sorry for having to send her to that school in Germany. But there was nothing I could do. Her parents' will was very clear."

"She doesn't remember them."

"The human mind is a labyrinth, Ares." He pauses. "I think I can call you that, right, son?"

I nod.

"As I was telling you, the human mind is a labyrinth. It is likely that she has blocked out any memories of the past. And that's one of the reasons I called you here. First, I want to thank you for agreeing to take care of everything when I'm gone."

I don't say anything. How the hell do you react to something like that? How fucking heartbreaking is it that he needs a stranger to take care of things after his death?

"I have a box in my office containing documents and photographs from various stages of the first five years of Serenity's life. I don't know why, but her parents made sure the girl had memories of them, almost as if they knew they wouldn't live long. So, along with the will, they gave me this box. When they both lost their lives in the plane crash, I already had every possible means of organizing the little girl's life, but I fell ill, and it was a blessing that JeAnne was able to continue caring for her in the two months it took me to recover."

"But why haven't you given these belongings to Serenity already?"

"I'm an old coward. I became fond of the girl, and even after she grew up, I didn't want to break her heart. The letters her parents left her were a goodbye." He shakes his head. "It's very sad to see a family suddenly torn apart."

"I'll stop by your office to pick up the box. Tell me what you need, Van Lith. You have my word that I will fulfill all your requests."

"I was right to choose your family, Ares. I can die in peace. Serenity will be in good hands."

Now

NEW ORLEANS

Seventy-two hours later, I leave the cemetery where I just buried, with only the priest and two gravediggers present, Warren Van Lith.

He asked me not to tell Serenity, and I will respect his wishes for now, but eventually I will. I'm not going to act like she's a fragile flower in a bell jar. Anyone who can withstand the absurd amount of training she does for ballet has a lot of strength within them.

I turn on my phone, which I had turned off for the funeral, and it vibrates with the arrival of two messages. The first is from Eleanor, Madison's stepmother:

Eleanor: Bring your girl to Sunday lunch. It’s past time for her to meet our family.

I shake my head, unable to hold back a smile. My brother's mother-in-law is the most gregarious person I've ever met. Ever since Zeus started dating Madison, she's made a point of getting us all together for weekly lunches, and this only intensified when Brooklyn married Athanasios. Even the surgeon's parents are invited.

And now, she wants to add Serenity to the equation.

I hold the phone, and my selfish side wants to keep her separate, keep her all to myself, but I think about the last three days and how depressing it was to see the old man alone.

No, she deserves to be with us. I already crossed the line, anyway, when I kissed her. I would have done more if we hadn't been interrupted by Debra. Our relationship went beyond the concept of forbidden some time ago. Especially when I put her over my knee and spanked her ass.

I reply to Eleanor and move on to the next message.

It's from Serenity:

Serenity: I know what you did.

I tap the call button.

"Ares?" she answers, breathlessly, after the phone rings half a dozen times.

"I'm going to buy two dozen more of them. I don't want you to use any others."

"What?"

"You heard me. I want to imagine you in that G-string every day."

"I . . ."

"Throw the others away, Serenity. I'm going to fill your drawers with new lingerie, the kind I like."

"That’s not part of your guardian duties."

"No, but I am expanding my duties from this moment on."

"I should say no."

"But you won't?"

"No. I want you to think of me dressed in that lingerie."

"Fuck!"

"You started it. When do you get back? By the way, where did you go?"

"We'll talk about that another day. I'm arriving in New York early in the morning, but I’m taking you to lunch with my family tomorrow."