Chapter 14 - Athena #2
Giggling at myself, I check the message.
Adrian: Good morning, kitten. I hope you like your gift. I already programmed my number in. Let me know if you need anything. I had to go to an early meeting. I’ll bring something nice home for dinner. Do you have anything in particular in mind, or shall I choose?
I grin as I type out the reply. My first message on my new phone.
Me: I love the color! I’m excited to try out the camera too. Thank you so much for this. It means a lot. For dinner… I think we should have some fun and make homemade burgers.
Adrian: Well, making burgers with you sounds like way more fun than the takeouts I had planned. I’ll get all the ingredients and see you around five this evening! PS. I loaded the bank card onto the phone. Go wild. Browse some online shops. Get whatever you want. X
I stare at the x.
It’s just an x. It doesn’t mean anything. I can’t read into it, even though my heart is fluttering at the sight of it. I can’t help it. I just lost my virginity to the man, and he was so gentle with me. So wonderfully thorough in pleasing me. How can I not have a fluttering heart?
With a smile on my face, I drop the phone onto my bed and head into the shower.
***
It’s four, and I’m excited for Adrian to get home. I got a fire going downstairs, and I’m lying on the sofa playing on my phone while I wait.
This afternoon I went out into the snow and took beautiful wintery photographs of the trees, and I can’t wait to show him.
I’m busy playing with a photo editing program, increasing contrast for a more dramatic effect, when my phone rings.
At first, I thought it had to be Adrian. But it isn’t.
I answer with my brows knotted.
“Hello?” I say cautiously.
“Pumpkin?” His voice sears through me.
“Dad?” I stammer in disbelief.
“Hi pumpkin, how have you been?” he asks as though everything is totally normal and as though it’s not a complete shock to hear from him.
“I’m ok,” I say quietly.
“That’s good. I thought to myself this morning, you know, I haven’t spoken to Athena in a while, and I figured, hey, why not give you a call?”
“So, today was the first day you tried to phone me?”
“Well... uh, I was a little busy. And I didn’t have airtime. Uh. I would have called earlier but…”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say quickly, not really interested in the thousand excuses he could come up with.
“So how are you?” he asks.
“I’m alright dad.”
“That Adrian guy, you aren’t still hanging around him, are you?”
“The Adrian-guy who you kind of sold me to?” I ask with heat in my tone.
He laughs nervously. “Oh, come on now. It wasn’t like that.”
“Ok,” I say coldly, not really wanting to have this conversation.
“Listen, kiddo, that guy is bad news. I don’t know if you know, but his brother is a mafia leader. The whole family is part of the Bratva. Adrian has killed people. Ask anyone who knows him, and they’ll confirm it. That family has done terrible things. Murder, stealing, violence….”
I sigh loudly, interrupting his little rant. “Apparently, thievery is common,” I mutter, pointing the finger back at him. My dad can tell me what he wants to tell me. I’m not the same person I was when I last saw him. I’ve grown enough to not believe everything he says.
“Athena, he even sabotaged his own siblings. Ok. Who does that to family? If you are still with him, you need to get away.” He says hurriedly.
“Dad, I’ve got to go. I hope you are taking care of yourself,” I mutter. Then, before he can say anything else, I quickly add, “Please don’t call me again.”
As I hang up, I hear him calling my name, but I cut it off.
My heart is tight in my chest.
Tears are burning the back of my eyes.
I hear the front door opening and quickly sit up, pulling myself together.
“I’m home!” he calls out from the foyer.
“I made a fire,” I call back from the living room.
He walks in, carrying a bag of groceries. “It’s so warm in here. Lovely. I got the best-looking burger patties. I’m pretty excited to make them,” he grins.
Adrian leans over to kiss me on the cheek, catching me by surprise. “Did you have a nice day?” he asks.
“I did. I took some really beautiful photos of the garden covered in snow,” I say, doing my best to forget the fact that my father even called or the stuff he said. He will try anything to get his way, including lying.
“Let me see,” Adrian says, smiling. “I’m going to put this down. Do you want to cook now or later?”
“Now is good,” I say, standing up and grabbing my phone so I can show him the pictures. I need something to do. My head is clouded.
In the kitchen, he is unpacking the groceries while I flick through the various photos and show him each one. He pauses between unpacking to admire and comment on every photo.
“Nice editing, too. Where did you learn that?” he asks.
“Oh, I taught myself a bit today. I got a new app, and it’s really fun to play with. But I’ve never had such a good camera before, so I think the camera can be given most of the credit.”
He scoffs. “A lot of people have access to a good camera, kitten. It takes someone with a special eye to take photos that good.”
I grin proudly. I really want to enjoy myself. I really want to forget about the call from my father, but I can’t ignore it. It won’t stop looping in my head.
“Um, my father called me,” I say tensely.
Adrian stops what he’s doing right away.
“Your father? How did he know you had a phone?” Rage spikes in his eyes as they darken.
I notice how his fist clenches and his jaw tightens.
“He said he just randomly called me this morning. I even asked if he’d called me before, and he came up with a hundred excuses, so I just cut him off. But… he said some really horrible things about you. Look, I know he lies…”
“He lies a lot, kitten. I know you want to trust him, but you…” His voice is filled with anger.
“I don’t trust him. And I told him not to call me again.”
Adrian cocks his head to the side and studies my face.
“You really said that to him?” he asks, looking relieved and impressed.
“I did. I don’t want that type of energy in my life.
Lies. Manipulation. Whatever his reason for calling me…
it wasn’t because he cared how I’m doing,” I sigh, shrugging a little.
Adrian steps closer and slips his arms around my waist. “I’m proud of you, kitten. That can’t have been an easy thing to do,” he says.
He steps back, smiling, and turns back to the groceries. I can tell he’s still upset, though.
“Shall we cook up a storm?” he asks.
“Adrian,” I say nervously. I have to ask. I can’t stop the nagging thoughts, so I have to ask.
“Mm?”
“Did you sabotage your own siblings?”
He stands up dead straight. His shoulders tense and his jaw set firmly.
Slowly, he turns toward me, his expression heavy. “Kitten…”
“I just want to know the truth, that’s all.”
Adrian closes his eyes.
He leans against the kitchen counter and shoves his hands into his pockets.
“There is a history between Anka and me.”
His voice is strained, and his face is dark with regret as he tells me the story of what he did to try to drive Anka and Viktor apart.
For years, Anka suffered in heartbreak, and Viktor was driven to dark revenge.
He tells me how he thought it was for the best at the time.
He thought he was keeping her safe, but all he was really doing was controlling her.
He speaks with remorse, telling me that it still weighs down on him. He still feels guilty about it, and he’s working constantly to make it up to her and fix their relationship, which is getting better all the time.
He’s completely honest with me and doesn’t hide any details, which I appreciate.
But the problem is that my father was telling the truth.