Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Cassius
“Do you do anything but work?” Christopher Lykaios said as I walked up to him in the reserved section of the Cato Cosmo nightclub in the Ida Casino and Hotel.
Christopher Thanos-Lykaios was not only the eldest of the Las Vegas Lykaios children but also the heir to the Thanos Shipping empire based in Greece.
His mother Amelia’s first husband, Stavros Thanos, had claimed Christopher as his son from the moment of Christopher’s birth and had left everything to him upon his death.
Christopher and I’d grown up around each other as children, and when Amelia married his biological father, Pierce Lykaios, he’d moved abroad. However, his frequent visits and our family connections kept us close.
This was the first time since I’d moved to Vegas that our schedules matched up for us to meet.
“Duty called. Some of us weren’t born billionaires.” I shook Christopher’s hand and then took the seat near him.
A server approached and set a tumbler of whiskey in front of me.
“You want Thanos Shipping? I’ll sign it over to you right now.” Christopher shot back his drink. “Running that thing with everyone’s opinions is a nightmare.”
“I take it you haven’t told either side about your desire to cut the cord?” I picked up my glass and swirled the liquid, letting the scent of the elderflower-infused spirit hit my senses. “The pressure is only going to build.”
The last thing Christopher wanted to do was run either of the empires foisted onto him.
He wanted to follow in his mother’s footsteps and join her in the world of international sports promotion.
However, the family expected his younger sister to take over the conglomerates of Thanos and Lykaios Sports.
Luckily for him, he also had a younger brother.
However, with him only being thirteen, there was a long wait time before Lex took an interest in anything outside of school, sports, and gaming.
“It’s not easy when you have two families expecting you to take the helm full-time.”
“Lucky for you, there are many Lykaios offspring to work the business in your stead.”
Between the four Lykaios siblings, Hagen, Pierce, Zack, and Anaya, there were a total of fifteen children, including Christopher.
“Until they graduate from college, it’s me.” He smirked. “Actually, now that you’re here, they can get off my ass. You’re the eldest, at this point.”
“You forget, I work in the enemy camp. My loyalties are to Henna and Anaya, which means Lykaios International and not HPZ Holdings.”
“Traitor.”
“You sound like Hagen.”
“That’s because Theios Hagen and I agree.”
“Can we talk about something other than work?”
“Okay, since you want to change subjects. What’s the story with you and our resident architect?” Christopher’s sharp blue gaze watched me.
We shared the signature Lykaios cobalt eyes, as the press liked to call it. And the fucker always caught me off guard with his observe-everything ability. Too bad he hadn’t mastered it at the poker table, or he’d have cleaned me out by now.
How the hell could I explain something I hadn’t a clue about?
“What story have you heard?”
“Don’t give me that evasive shit. Everyone and their dog knows the two of you are an item, even if you keep things out of the spotlight.”
“You seem to have all the answers. Why do I need to elaborate?”
“Is she the reason you cut the island life for the desert?”
Instead of responding to the obvious, I picked up my drink and shot back the contents of the whole glass.
“You’re in love. This is priceless.” Christopher laughed, and it took all my will not to deck him.
“You’re an asshole. One day, it’s going to be you.”
“Not happening. First of all, I’m not in the market to settle down. And second, between running two fucking companies, I’m married to my job. I don’t have time for a relationship.”
“That’s what I said.” I scrubbed a hand over my face as the emotional roller coaster I’d ridden for the last few weeks finally calmed, and I accepted the way things would remain between Naomi and me.
“Well, fuck. It’s that complicated, I take it.”
I looked up at Christopher. “You have no fucking idea.”
“What exactly happened to you? I don’t know much except what I overheard from Mom and the theias. I’d rather get the details from the source.”
I frowned. This was news to me. None of the theias, as Christopher had put it, had mentioned anything to me, and I’d had breakfast with Henna, Penny, and Anaya this morning.
“What do you know?”
He smirked and then said, “Just that you lied about who you were, that Theia Henna set up that meeting between you and Naomi in her office, you orchestrated your move to coincide working with Naomi, and something about the two of you acting as if you aren’t shacked up in your connecting penthouses when everyone knows you are. ”
“That’s a lot of knowledge for not knowing much.”
“I’m a good listener.” Christopher studied me. “If you’re with your dream girl, why do you look like someone kicked you in the balls?”
“Let’s say things aren’t working out as I expected.”
“Meaning?”
“I want to marry her. She doesn’t want to marry me.”
He raised his hands. “Hold up. You want to get married? Mr. I have clubs in Ibiza and have women throwing themselves at me wants to get married?”
“I’ve only been with Naomi for the last three years.”
“I’m in the fucking twilight zone.” He shook his head. “You really love her.”
I glared at him. “Was that a question?”
“And she doesn’t want to marry you? That makes no damn sense. Most women would jump at the chance to join our family.”
“Naomi is the exception. She doesn’t care about any of the Lykaios shit. In fact, when she found out who I was, she didn’t want to see me because she said I was her boss.”
“Technically, you are.”
I clenched my jaw. “I’m not her boss. We hired her company.”
“Same thing.”
“Do you want to know the main issue or not?”
“Damn, you are piss and vinegar. Go on.”
“Her father is making her choose between him and me.”
“You think she will pick her father and her family.” Christopher gestured for a refill of our drinks and continued without waiting for my response. “And you’re just accepting that as your fate?”
“What do you expect me to do besides kidnap her and force her to marry me?”
“Attempting that shit will get you neutered. Not just from her family but ours.” He smirked. “But something tells me you were tempted. Especially with all of those nefarious connections of yours.”
The dickhead was one to talk, with him being the head of the Thanos Shipping empire and the new syndicate chief of his great-grandmother Sylvia Thanos’s underworld dynasty.
Sometimes I wondered if the Vegas Lykaioses were even aware of what young Christopher partook in under Sylvia’s tutelage.
I had too much on my plate to open up that can of worms.
“As much as I considered doing it, I want her to make the decision. I won’t force her hand.”
“So you’re just going to give up?”
“It’s not giving up. I’m just accepting the way things are.”
“What kind of Lykaios are you? We don’t give up, ever. You love her, then fight for her.”
“Okay, all-knowing, wise one. How do I fight when the ball is in her court, and she has to fight for me?”
Christopher’s attention shifted behind me a second before a gentle hand settled on my shoulder, and Naomi said, “There is no fight. I’ve made my choice.”