Page 105 of Thorns of Desire

“And you aren’t?”

“No. My intention is to marry the woman everyone presumed dead.” I stared at him, waiting for an explanation. I didn’t have to wait long. “Mei Long.”

“How does one marry a dead person?” I said, my voice cool and detached.

The room went silent as we stared at each other.

“See, that’s just it,” he said, throwing his arms out. “Alexandra let the Triads believe she killed the girl, when in fact she’d taken the baby to the States.”

I frowned at him. “Why would she do that?”

“Haven’t you learned yet?” Danil stated, his expression dark. “Alexandra Kosta is a vindictive, spiteful bitch. Think about it, what better way to get back at my father than to make him a permanent target?”

“Except it backfired,” I pointed out. “She became the target too.” And so did Athena.

“It did,” he confirmed. Something was still off. Alexandra wasn’t that stupid to think the Triads would have let her live. The Triads knew Atticus wasn’t anywhere near Greece when his home was set alight.

“I’m assuming Atticus told them Alexandra did it?”

“Yes. When the Triads learned Atticus’s mistress had started the fire, they went after her, but she had long disappeared.Then she reappeared in Italy with a child, and they went after Athena. It was only then that my father learned he had another daughter.”

“Because they stopped coming after him.”

Danil nodded. “Instead, they got their hands on Athena while her mother was on a fool’s errand to get her lover back… You.”

“I was never her lover,” I gritted. “And if you did your homework, you would know that.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t give a shit back then and I still don’t now. My sister was all that mattered; she’s innocent in all this.”

“You’re the one who paid Nico Morrelli to wipe all traces of Athena.” That was the reason finding her was impossible. Until destiny put her back in my path.

He nodded.

“I did. When she left her at boarding school, I stopped covering Alexandra. It was better that way, what with her being an opera singer and easily trackable.”

“Why didn’t you approach Athena?” It was impossible to miss the bitterness in my voice. “She could’ve used a family.”

“It was safest for her. But then my father, in his own quest to find her, inadvertently exposed the truth that she was alive and well. So the hunt for Athena resumed.” Danil pushed his hand through his hair. “He considers Athena his second chance in life.”

It was incomprehensible that Atticus Popov—the man who traded flesh—had a weak spot, and that it was his illegitimate daughter.

Unless he wanted to use her too.

FORTY-THREE

ATHENA

Iwas going to throw up.

Not seeing where we were going, my motion sickness was flaring up. I kept swallowing hard, trying to think about anything other than this nausea or rising panic.

The car door creaked open and someone yanked the hood off my head, the bright sunlight blinding me. Before my vision could adjust, a hand wrapped around my upper arm, dragging me along.

I struggled against the man’s hold and tried to get my bearings when I realized I was being dragged toward a freaking super yacht.

No, no, no.

I was being taken further away from Manuel with each minute. My legs were shaking, but I kept going. I couldn’t show them I was weak.