Chapter 35 Athena
ATHENA
For one second after Ares says the name, no one moves.
Then the world fractures.
Ares's hand slams down on the call box with a force that makes me jump. The speaker crackles once and then the line goes dead.
He doesn't stop.
He yanks the speaker free, lifting it above his head, and smashes it down on the desk.
Once.
Twice.
The third time, plastic shatters and flies around the room. A jagged piece skitters to a stop by my foot.
With a guttural roar, he hurls it across the room. It explodes against the wall.
No one breathes. No one moves. No one even blinks.
Katerina's hand flies to her mouth. All the color drains from her face and it looks like she might be sick.
"No, no, no." Tears streak down her face as she backs away from Ares. "I swear I had no idea. I swear to God, I didn't know." Her voice rises with each repetition, hands trembling as she presses them against her mouth.
Ares doesn't even look at her.
Theo and Dimitri sit perfectly still, like statues carved from ice. No reaction crosses their faces.
Ares begins pacing. "I'm going to destroy him," he growls.
"I'm going to gut him like a fish." His fist connects with the wall, plaster cracking.
"I'm going to feed him his own fucking intestines.
I will wipe Stavros Petrou and the Petrou family off the face of this earth.
" He whirls toward Katerina, his eyes wild. "I will take everything from him."
Stassi glances at Theo, who gives her a slight nod. She hurries over to Katerina.
"Come on," Stassi says, her voice gentle. "Let's go."
Katerina's breaths are now coming in broken gasps.
"I didn't know," she says again. "I didn't—"
"I know," Stassi says firmly. "You don't have to explain it here."
Katerina lets herself be guided out of the room, Ares never looking at her.
I sit frozen, my pulse hammering, unsure of what the hell to do or say.
Theo rises. "Ares, you need to calm down," he says. "We have him, but we need to think clearly. Go talk to your wife. You know she didn't know about her uncle killing our father. Christ, he gave her to you. Don't spiral on the mother of your child."
Ares's jaw clenches, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. For a terrible moment, I think he might punch his brother. Instead, he storms out of the room, the door slamming so hard behind him that one of the framed photographs crashes to the floor.
I turn to Dimitri. He stares straight ahead, his face a perfect mask, but I can see the storm raging behind his eyes.
"Dimitri," I say, "Are you ok?"
"Stavros was a friend." His voice is hollow. "My father and him..." He pauses, swallowing hard. "Fuck, and Katerina. We were all used by this piece of shit."
He stands suddenly. "FUCK!" The scream tears from his throat. "I'm going to kill him right now."
"No," Theo says. "We can't let anger get us killed. We do this clean."
Dimitri laughs.
"Clean?" he repeats. "He killed our father, Theo."
"And if we rush in blind, he'll kill more of us."
Dimitri doesn't say anything.
Theo looks down at me and then back at Dimitri.
"I'm going to find Stassi. Everyone just breathe and we can talk about this in a little while, once tensions have run their course," he says and walks out.
I stand and walk over to Dimitri and put my hand on him.
"Dimitri," I say softly.
Nothing.
I run my hand along his arm. "What are you thinking? Talk to me."
Dimitri turns to me, eyes blazing.
"My father's own friend killed him," he says and sighs. "I want to kill, I want to break things, I want to fight someone, rip someone's fucking head off.
I think for a moment about what to say.
"Hey, let's take Theo's advice. Clear our heads."
I walk in front of him.
"You have some vineyards and olive groves here," I say, hugging him. "Let's go walk through them." I tilt my head back to meet his gaze, offering him a smile. "I promise not to drug you this time."
A hoarse laugh crosses his lips as his breathing begins to return to normal.
"Yeah," he says after a second, his arms coming around me. "Okay."