Chapter 25 Dimitri
DIMITRI
I've never been one to hesitate when it matters. Not when my father first taught me to kill. Not when I left the warmth of my home behind to become the weapon he demanded. And not when I buried him.
But the moment I sit beside her and pick up that phone, I feel it, a flicker of something dangerously close to doubt.
Not because I'm afraid of what's on it.
Because I'm afraid there will be nothing.
That all the blood we've spilled to get here will have been for nothing.
I push it aside. There's no room for it here. Not now.
I reach over and grab my laptop and pull it toward me. I take the connected cable and slide it into the phone and wait, watching the loading bar crawl across the screen.
Athena leans forward, her posture rigid.
When the phone finally syncs, the directories populate in neat, sterile rows:
Voice Memos (2)
Call Logs (13)
Call Recordings (3)
Files (41)
Text Messages (6)
Contacts (1)
"Let's be smart about this," I say. "We need to be thorough."
My hand moves over the trackpad, fingers steady even though everything in me wants to start tearing through all of this like an animal.
I pull up the call history first. Numbers, dates, durations. Most calls last less than two minutes.
Athena leans in closer, her hair brushing against my arm. Her scent fills my nose, and it surprisingly calms me a bit.
"There," she points. "To S. He called it every Thursday at exactly 9 PM. For months."
I nod, seeing the calls started months before my dad's death.
"Check the text messages," she suggests, her breath warm against my shoulder. "Maybe he texted him, too."
There are only six texts, but none are to S. They're to other numbers, and each only has a few exchanges, most consisting of single words or brief codes.
"They're maybe using a cipher," I say.
I switch to the voice memo app.
"Hopefully this will help," I say and press the first one.
"...don't have a choice anymore. I made the payment, we should be ok."
Athena's fingers dig into my forearm. "Play the other."
"Six million was the agreed amount. Now it's more. I'll need personal funds to cover it."
"Someone was extorting him," Athena says.
I don't say anything. I click over to the call recordings, hoping to get more.
"Look," Athena points, "they're all from a call with S."
My finger hovers over the first one, and I press play. Cosmo's voice fills the room.
"You said once payment was over, you'd... No, I understand that, but I paid more and you're still... I get it, but what you're asking is too much."
The audio ends.
"Why does it sound like that?" Athena asks.
"It's only recording one side of the conversation, Cosmo's."
"Oh," she nods, "okay, play another."
I click the next recording.
"You never said it would go this far. You promised—"
The recording ends. Someone must have hung up.
I click the next without hesitating. Cosmo's voice comes out of the speakers again.
"I've done everything you've asked. The Kastaris contract will be honored. You'll get what you want. This better not come back to me."
The recording ends. The room feels suddenly airless.
Athena gasps and grips my forearm. "Your dad."
I shake my head, feeling the wrath build inside me.
I click the last recording.
"It's done. Vasilis won't be a problem anymore. Funds are sent. I'm done."
My chest tightens at the mention of my father.
I clench my jaw and flex my hands.
Athena makes a sound like she's been struck. Her eyes are wide, glistening with unshed tears.
"Jesus," she says, leaning back. "This is so fucked up. They used him. Threatened and manipulated my father to get to yours."
"I'm going to skin S alive, that motherfucker," I say, unable to contain myself anymore.
I look in the last area, the files.
Financial records show a pattern: increasing pressure, mounting payments. All tracked to different accounts under the umbrella of a single holding company, HS Enterprises.
"Look at that," she says, pointing at the screen, "it's all going back to S. All this money."
"Someone's building an empire," I say, turning to her.
Her eyes meet mine. "Using my father's money and your father's death."
I lean back in my chair. "Okay, so I know for sure this wasn't Cosmo's plan. He was pressured."
Athena pushes her hair back from her face. "It's all S. He gave the orders."
Athena shifts in her seat and stares back at the screen.
"Dimitri. We have the number for S. We can call it right now. Confront whoever picks up."
I turn to her sharply. "No." The word comes out harder than I intended.
She blinks.
"No, Athena." I soften my tone. "My brothers and I have been hunting this motherfucker for months. This isn't just my fight. They deserve to hear this. To see it for themselves. We'll finish this together."
I stand, closing the laptop, unplugging the phone, and sliding everything into a padded case. "We take this back to them in Kalamata."
"Wait, but what about me?"
I turn to look at her. This woman who once tried to destroy me is now the only person I'd want to come with me.
"You're coming with me."
I don't tell her the rest. That Kalamata means Ares and Theo. And that means rules, judgment, consequences. That bringing her into our inner circle is breaking every code I've lived by.
Athena nods slowly. "Okay," she says. "Kalamata it is."
I walk toward the door. "We leave in thirty."
She stands, hesitating for a moment before asking, "Do you think they'll be okay with me? To let me help?"
"You uncovered what we couldn't," I say simply. "They'll listen."
And what I really mean is that I'll make them listen. That somehow, in the midst of blood, bullets, and betrayal, Athena has become something I won't compromise on.
She walks toward me, and I stop her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"You should know," I say firmly, "once we're there, it's not just about finding out who S is. It's about what happens after."
"I know." Her gaze doesn't waver. "I've already got blood on my hands, Dimitri. What's a little more?"
I lean down and kiss her.
"When whatever comes next is over, I'm taking you someplace far away and we'll never leave the bedroom for a week."
She smiles and kisses me. "Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go."
We turn and walk in silence down the hall together.
I check my watch. 9:04 a.m.
A few hours from now, we'd be standing in front of my brothers, laying out everything we'd found.
Theo would understand, eventually. Ares, less so. And I wasn't sure what I'd do if he put a hand on her.
In a few hours, I'd know if all this had been worth it. If any of us would survive it. Who I'd have to kill to get us through alive.
One thing I did know for sure, the note that was left on my father's body, the one that's kept all of my brothers and me up at night: the sons will follow the father.
I'm going to make fucking sure that doesn't happen.