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Zeus

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Hours earlier

We've just fastened our seatbelts on our private plane, and I can hardly believe that we've finally succeeded.

"The alternative wasn't what we expected," I say.

"It doesn't matter; what matters is that you're definitively free from any deal with that fucking Gordon. Now, let me ask you: could you have married the daughter of that worm who got involved with our mother?"

"I didn't intend to touch her. The agreement was for us to be together for two years, more than enough time for me to wipe GordonBank off the map."

"For someone as intelligent as you, old man Emerson had a lot of faith in you."

I shrug. "I think he believed I would succumb to the beauty of his granddaughter, which only shows he has no idea how much I hate his dead son and all his relatives."

"Men like him only see opportunities. He probably thought the possibility of becoming a few billion dollars richer would make you forget all the harm his heir caused us."

"Or maybe he doesn't know the whole story. He might not realize that our father left us a letter." I look at him curiously, wondering at his indifference as we discuss this. "You don't seem as affected as I am by what caused our father's death."

"You and Hades are the vengeful ones. I'm practical. Nobody can keep a wife by force. As much as Gordon's son pursued our mother, he didn't force her to yield. It was her choice, Zeus."

"A choice that destroyed our father."

"Yes, but still her choice."

I decide to change the subject. "Thank you for offering to be the new guardian for the girl. I don't think we would have gotten that missing one percent without your intervention. He wanted someone to replace him in that role."

"I think so. No problem, brother. She's seventeen. She'll stay another year at the boarding school, and when she's old enough to leave, I'll let her live her life, with light supervision."

"I doubt it," I say and take a sip of whiskey, needing to relax. "None of us takes responsibilities 'lightly.' The old man has no idea what he did by putting the responsibility for his ward in your hands."

"She's not my responsibility yet. She still needs to be formally acknowledged in front of the judge."

"Yes, but the agreement made with the lawyers is binding. What matters is that now, together with Odin and Christos, we own the majority of those wretched Gordons' shares."

"Zeus, our grandfather had no right to ask you that. It was too heavy a burden to place on someone only twenty-two years old."

"Looking at it from the outside, I agree. But he was hurt, Ares. He had lost his only son, our father. Revenge seemed like the natural path."

"But it could have destroyed any chance of you being happy. When you closed the deal, you didn't know Madison. If Odin and Christos hadn't managed to buy the shares, would you have gone ahead with the original plan?"

"I've asked myself that question a thousand times."

"And found an answer?"

"Yes." I swirl the drink in my hand. "I would have found an alternative. I'd rather die than betray her trust. Madison has already been hurt enough by her father."

"Is that the only reason? Not to hurt her?"

"It's a good enough reason."

"But it's not the true reason, Zeus. You're in love with that girl."

Before I can say anything, my phone rings, and I almost smile when I see who's calling. "I just left New Orleans. We closed the deal. We're majority shareholders."

"I know," Odin replies. "I'm calling to let you know that I'm coordinating with Christos to schedule a video conference to decide on the creation of the third company that will hold the fifty-one percent."

"You sound relieved."

"Not yet. Only when I find out what else old Gordon is hiding."

"What do you think it could be, Odin?"

"Soon, cousin, we'll have all the answers."

"He's more tense than all of us put together," Ares comments as soon as I hang up.

"None of us knows how to trust."

"But you trust her."

I lean my head back against the seat. "Yes, I do."

Just over half an hour after the plane takes off, my phone rings again with a call from Clark.

"Mr. Kostanidis, it's urgent."

"What happened? Is it Madison?"

"I don't know how to tell you this..."

"Clark, this is not the time for formalities. Tell me what happened."

"Miss Madison had a confrontation . . . well, not exactly a confrontation since the poor thing didn't even open her mouth. She was attacked by a young woman who introduced herself as Celine Gordon."

I stand up quickly, already feeling my anger rising. "What?"

"It seems to me—and forgive me if I'm mistaken—that you had a future engagement . . . um . . . with Miss Gordon. She went to the office to confront Madison, I mean, Miss Foster."

"Fuck me! What happened?"

"She humiliated Madison in front of everyone, using foul language, sir. Some employees laughed at the grotesque scene, and I think it was all too much for her."

He finishes recounting what happened, from the employees laughing to Madison fainting.

I feel my blood turn to ice.

I've never wanted to kill someone so much in my life. I know who Celine Gordon is—a spoiled and arrogant girl—even though I've never met her.

To me, she was a stranger. Someone I had no intention of ever cohabiting with.

"Where's Madison now?"

"I took her home, sir. Actually, I'm here with her."

"I'll send a doctor to see her, but I want you to do something, Clark. Call the security room and have them send me the footage of the incident. After they do that, erase everything from the security center. I also want to know which employees were present. Names and positions. Anyone who disrespected her will be fired."

"It will be done, sir."

"Fuck!" I roar as soon as I hang up.

"What happened?"

"The worst. I failed Madison. I betrayed her trust by not protecting her."

After I call the doctor who attends our family, asking him to go check on her, I tell my brother everything that Clark reported to me.

My head is boiling with rage. I try not to think about her suffering, only about revenge. That I can handle. Causing Madison pain, I can't.

"How did they find out she danced at SIN?" Ares asks.

"What?"

"How could they have found out, Zeus? I've owned this club for two years, and the law of silence prevails. I don't believe that one of the clients leaked the information, so the only alternative would be an employee. I assume that when we arrive, you'll go straight to see Madison, right? I'll head to SIN. By the end of today, I'll have an answer about who betrayed us, and when I find out, that person will pay dearly."

When the plane finally lands, I'm almost losing my mind. I've called Madison countless times, and she hasn't answered, letting it go straight to voicemail.

As I get into the car, I complete another call because I need to start venting my anger. "Our deal is off, Gordon."

"What? You can't do that! The penalty?—”

"Go after the rights you think you have in court," I say because I want to see him squirm. I won't reveal that we already hold the majority of the shares. "Now, a piece of advice: look at your past and that bitch you call a granddaughter. Pray very hard that neither of you has forgotten any skeletons in the closet, because if there are any, I'll find out."

He doesn't even try to pretend he doesn't know what I'm talking about. "You were disrespecting Celine in front of society!"

"I've never been with her, never touched her. All we had was a contract. She, on the other hand, disrespected my woman. I don't threaten, Gordon, I act. Now, the only thing you need to know about me is that I never forget an offense."