Chapter 4 - Athena #2
“Yes, we have multiple warehouses, distribution centers, and numerous teams working in each location that need management. It’s why I run such a tight ship. Things must be in order, structured, meticulous, or one team won’t know what the next is doing, and nothing will run smoothly.”
As he talks, I ask more questions, forgetting that I am gathering intel and plotting an escape. I get lost in the conversation and start to enjoy myself.
The food arrives, and it’s enough to snap me out of the daze. I pick up my wine, annoyed with myself for the hundredth time since I met this man. It’s not good that he pulls me in so easily.
Pushing my wall back into place, I point-blank refuse to be charmed by him.
He took me from my father’s home. He forced me to marry him. He can talk all he wants; I know he’s not the good guy in all of this.
We eat in silence because he asks a few questions about me, and I keep my answers so blunt and short that he gets the point. I don’t want to talk anymore. It’s risky because talking to him makes me forget to hate him.
We’re almost done with dinner when Adrian’s phone rings.
“Yes?” he says abruptly. “Yes. Alright. Thank you.”
He hangs up and slips the phone into the inside of his jacket pocket.
Standing up, he offers me his hand. “Come,” he says. Not a request. A command. And without thinking, I obey, standing up and placing my hand in his.
I scold myself afterward because why, so I make it so easy for him.
He leads me to the reception area, and almost as soon as we get close, an older man smiles at him. “Mr. Volkov, as you requested, sir,” he says. He hands him a package.
“Sit,” Arian tells me, gesturing to the velvet sofa.
I sit, wondering what in the world is going on, when Adrian kneels in front of me and pulls my foot onto his lap.
He opens the package and pulls out a pair of limited-edition Gucci sneakers in black leather with diamond-encrusted detailing.
He gently slips my stiletto off and replaces it with a fluffy black sock, then slips the sneaker onto my foot. Then he does the same with the other foot. Instantly, I feel more at ease. No longer worried about having to balance in heels that are sky-high on slippery, icy grounds.
Adrian stands and offers me his hand.
“You…did that for me?”
“I thought it would be more comfortable.”
“Aren’t we going straight home? Isn’t it a waste?”
“Not at all, the night is still young.”
He takes my coat from the hostess and slips it onto me, moving like a man in control, a man who always knows what he wants. It’s so fucking sexy to see a man take charge, even of the little things.
Outside, he still insists on taking my hand in case the ground is slippery with ice. But my new sneakers are so much easier to walk in.
He tosses the package containing the heels into the back seat and climbs into the car after me.
“Where are we going? Dessert?” I ask, curious.
“We can get something sweet,” he nods, but he doesn’t actually answer my question.
It doesn’t take long for my confusion to get worse as I notice we are heading deeper and deepening into the less welcoming parts of the city.
I shift in my seat, feeling uneasy. “Where are we going, Adrian. I don’t like this,” I complain.
“I’m sorry, Athena, but you need to see something. And to see it… We have to go where it is.”
“Stop being so cryptic and just tell me what the hell is going on, please,” I demand angrily.
He pulls the car over to the side of the road and switches off the engine. He throws me a tense smile. It doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Come, we won’t be here long.”
Walking around the car, he tugs the door open for me. I’m nervous to get out, to leave the safety of the tinted windows where I can hide away from the seedy characters roaming around outside the dodgy bar we are parked near.
“I will keep you safe,” he assures me, taking my hand and pulling me from the car.
He wraps his arm around me and leads me toward the entrance of the bar.
Across the wall above the door, a broken neon sign flickers. Casino and dancers. But the C, the A, and the O in casino no longer work, so it just says sin in bold red letters.
My skin prickles with an uneasy feeling as he nods at the bouncer, who immediately steps aside for us.
Inside, it stinks of stale cigarette smoke and weak, old body odor. There is a heavy, thick air that makes me reluctant to take a proper deep breath. I shift closer to Adrian, and he holds me tighter.
We go to the bar, and he orders two beers. The barman cracks the caps off in front of us, and I’m grateful Adrian didn’t order a drink that needed pouring, because I would have wondered what was really going into it.
It’s only once he’s led me to the end of the bar, with a number of men literally gawking at us, that I find out the real reason we came here.
I don’t see him.
I hear him.
A loud guffaw of laughter. Familiar right down to my bones.
Turning in shock, my eyes fall right onto my father.
But through the haze of smoke and stale air, I have to squint because he looks wrong.
He laughs again, tossing his head back and letting out a belch of triumph. “You fucker,” he muses. “You never stood a fucking chance.”
My fingers dig into Adrian’s side. “What are we doing here!” I demand angrily.
“Just watch, Athena.”
I want to yell at him; to demand he take me out of this place, but I can’t tear my eyes off my father.
He stands up, leaning across the table and using his arms to scoop poker chips toward himself. The other men at the table look bitter.
“You’re a fucking cheat, Ricardo.”
“Fuck off, Snake. You never exactly played fair yourself.”
“Yeah? Asshole? How about you pay back the money you owe, then we talk about fair?” The other guy stands up and leans threateningly over my father.
To my absolute shock, my father takes out a knife and waves it in the guy’s face.
“Sit down before I cut your eyes out,” he snaps.
The other man packs up laughing.
“Fucking Ricardo. Calm down, you asshole. Deal me in again. Do you want another drink?”
“Is the pope catholic?” My father laughs, looking relaxed again.
I watch in silence. I watch my father laughing.
Talking to his friends. Gambling away money that we don’t have.
I started wondering why I had to work double shifts to buy him food.
Why do I always have to help him out with the heating bill or a bit of money for smokes?
Why did I have to work my ass off while he can come here and play poker?
“I don’t… I don’t understand,” I whisper, feeling the weight of what I really do understand.
“Your father has a gambling problem, Athena. He is in massive amounts of debt with a number of these seedy casinos across the city. It’s why he was trying to steal money from my business. It’s why he was willing to sell you to get me off his back.”
“But he… he looks happy,” I mutter.
“He doesn’t care that he owes people money. He has an addiction. He only chases the high.”
“No… I mean… he doesn’t even care about where I am or if I’m ok after. after you took me,” I say.
My hands are shaking. I don’t think it’s shock. I think it’s anger. Maybe both.
I set my untouched beer on the bar and turn my back on my father. “I would like to leave now,” I say sternly.
Adrian doesn’t hesitate. He keeps me close as he leads me out of the bar and back to the car.
I don’t say a word.
I don’t know what to say.