Chapter 13
Thirteen
T heo
The fury on Nerine’s face flowed out in wave upon wave. Her eyes burned with rage, embarrassment, and a feral need for violence unlike anything I’d ever seen.
She glanced in my direction for a split second. I immediately shifted, barely managing to keep her from grabbing my gun as she crossed the threshold into the bedroom.
Xander tried to follow behind her, but I blocked his way and shook my head. “Let her handle this. We step in only if he touches her.”
“That dress,” Xander said.
“I know.”
Simultaneously, we turned our heads, not wanting to see any more of the situation in the room.
Nerine’s ultimate dream was to have worn the gown all the women on her mother’s side of the family had worn when they married their spouses. The dress had passed down for five generations, only changing in design to adjust to the era. So the fact Andraius had pulled it from the storage in the mansion’s attic meant he wanted to hurt Nerine in the ultimate way.
This was deliberate. Robert had staged the whole incident with him and Nerine. The fact the fucker had placed his hands on her was just something he wanted to do.
I curled my fingers into a fist tight enough for my knuckles to crack. Once Xander finished with him in the Caves, I’d take my turn.
“You bastard. What the hell are you doing?” Nerine shouted.
“I’m fucking my woman. Get out. Or take a seat and watch how you should take it.”
“Take a seat. Take a seat,” Nerine shouted. “I don’t need to learn anything from you. I’m done with this shit. I’m tired of you disrespecting me. This ends now. I am done with all of you. Get that dress off her, now.”
The bed squeaked as if Andraius had moved. “You don’t tell me what to do. I gave the dress to her.”
“You can’t give something that doesn’t belong to you.”
“I own everything in this house, including you. This woman is having my child, which is more than you can say. She can have anything she wants.”
“Is that right? What’s your name?” The way Nerine asked the question had me bracing as if she intended to throw something at the woman.
“Lidia.”
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“How many weeks?”
“N…nine.”
“Did he tell you I’m the problem?”
“Yes. Andraius said you have weak eggs.”
“Why are you wearing my mother’s gown?”
“Are you hard of hearing? I gave it to her,” Andraius interjected.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. I didn’t ask you. I want to know what he told you before you put it on. Did he tell you that he wanted to see you in the gown he planned to marry you in once he got rid of me? Did he say that he is the true Angelos, so there is no need for me and that you will become the Angelos bride now that there is an heir?”
“You don’t need to answer her. She had one duty, and she couldn’t do it. She isn’t of any use.”
“You don’t need to say anything, Lidia. I already know the truth.”
“What’s the truth?” Lidia asked, a slight quiver now in her tone.
“There is no way in hell that kid is his.”
“I’m not?—”
Nerine started laughing, cutting her off. “He’s sterile. The doctors know it, and so do you.”
“This is his child. I swear it.” Fear laced Lidia’s voice.
“The doctors have tested him every other week for the last three months. He can barely produce a viable sample.”
“That’s not true. I won’t let you talk about me like that before the men.”
“Or what? Will you smack me around as you do in front of Robert? Go right ahead. I doubt these men will take kindly to that type of treatment of the true Angelos.”
“I’m warning you.”
“Remember when I told you that you can’t do anything more to me than you’ve already done? Well, fuck you. I am done with you. I am done with everyone. Go to hell.”
Nerine shoved between Xander and me and then turned to the group of soldiers. She scanned all of their faces, pure resignation in her eyes as if she expected an end of some kind.
“Listen up. This boss of yours. The one that keeps everyone nice and comfortable in wealth stolen from everything Papa built. He’s sterile, and his dick doesn’t work half the time. I hate his fucking guts. The kid that woman is carrying isn’t his. And I will never let him claim that baby as an Angelos.” She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “If you find me dead by morning, know the bastard in there with his whore did it. And you know what? I’m not afraid. He beat the fear out of me long ago.”
She smiled and laughed, shaking her head, and just as fast her face grew hard and angry. “Besides, my blood is the only way his claim is legitimate, and I will never give him a child. Never. I have no more fucks left to give. I am just done. Do you hear me? I am fucking done. That woman will not be in my house when I return, or I will kill her myself. I forgot whose daughter I was, but not anymore. He’s called me a cold venom-filled bitch so many times. He’s about to learn what kind of cold-hearted, evil viper bitch I can be.”
She wiped the tears from her face, lifted her chin to look each of us standing before her in the eyes, and then she shot Andraius the most hate-filled glare I’d ever seen her give anyone.
“I want a fucking divorce. You piece of shit.” Turning, she walked straight past us in the direction of the corridor leading to the back of the compound.
Silence filled the space as the weight of her grief and words descended on all of us.
Then, Andraius roared, “Come back here, Nerine.”
He charged toward the door, ready to follow her. However, before he could take one step outside of his room, in unison, all the soldiers blocked his path.
“Get out of my way. That’s an order.”
“You disrespected the Angelos Angel in the worst way,” Clay said. “Everyone knows the legacy of that gown. She has a right to her upset. Leave her alone.”
“I’m in charge. You do as I say. Move.”
At that moment, Stefano, Nerine’s original head of security, stepped forward, blocking Andraius from a different side. “You will never disrespect her again.”
“Xander, get your men out of my way. I need to discipline my wife.”
Before I could stop him, Xander grabbed Andraius by the throat. “Do you mean like this? Isn’t this how you held her up, nearly suffocated her, and left your fingerprints dug deep into her delicate skin?”
A group of twenty other soldiers rushed up the stairs and stopped, unsure of what to do. Either they’d heard the commotion or listened to everything going on with Nerine over the hallway surveillance feed.
Andraius grasped at Xander’s arm, and the fact no one helped save the asshole meant everyone had chosen sides.
“If you lay a hand on her again, I will break you. She is the true Angelos, don’t ever forget.” Xander threw Andraius to the floor.
He gasped in air and then said, “She’s sleeping with you exactly as she was with the others. That’s how she turned you against me. I knew it.”
I stepped forward, glaring down at him. “That woman has more integrity than you ever will. Don’t you dare play virtuous when you have a woman in the room behind you pretending to carry your child.”
“There are consequences for this.” The warning in Andraius’s tone conveyed he hadn’t realized he held none of the cards.
He pushed to his feet and then glared at me.
“Have you not figured it out?” I shifted toward him, letting my body mass crowd into his space. “You can’t run your organization without people like Xander and me.”
“And you think that dumb bitch can run it?”
“I know she can. And she is far from dumb. She knows the operation ten times better than you ever will. Theios Peter taught her, and while you made us play bodyguard, we brought her up to speed on current business. She’ll step right in, and no one will miss you.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying, start treating her right, or the rebellion you will face will destroy you within seconds.” I leaned down, bringing my face closer to his. “And if you even think about making what she believes you will do to her a reality, the psycho they say I am in the Caves will be the least of your concerns.”
“It was you.” He narrowed his gaze, cocking his head slightly.
“Me what?”
“Who she whored herself to before she married me?”
Without blinking an eye, I responded with, “The Angel never whored herself to anyone.”
I spoke the truth. What Xander and I shared with her would never be something dirty as this bastard wanted to make it. Unconventional, yes. Dirty, no.
“So she lied when she said she’d given herself to others?”
“I wasn’t there to know what she said to you. And it looks as if you’ve chosen to believe what you want. We, the original Angelos soldiers, know she has never been nor will be the whore you labeled her.”
“Did you forget that all of you pledged your loyalty to me?”
“No, we pledged our loyalty to the Angelos family. Not you, specifically.”
“And you think that one of you will replace me by getting rid of me?”
“None of us want your seat. As I stated, treat her right, and we won’t have a problem.” I stepped back, aligning myself with Xander, who still hadn’t gotten himself under control enough to keep from lunging at Andraius if he dared to go after Nerine.
“Stay in your room with your expectant paramour or leave, but do not go anywhere near Nerine.”
“And the event at the botanical gardens in a few days. The Drakoses expect us there since she spent the summer working on it with Nyx.”
“You’ll meet Nerine there per the itinerary sent to you earlier in the week.”
“Not everyone in the family is as loyal to her as you believe. Remember, I came into power with assistance.” A calculating smile touched his lips.
“True. But that loyalty only lasts as long as you keep all the betrayers happy. You haven’t delivered on any of the promises you made them.”
“The Drakos deal will accomplish this.”
“Which happened because of Nerine.”
“No, I orchestrated it.”
“Are you so sure? I suggest researching the histories between the Drakos and Angelos families.” Xander shook his head.
Instead of waiting for Andraius to say anything, I decided to enlighten him. “Theios Peter helped Drakos ascend to power when his uncles tried to keep him from taking his seat after his grandfather’s death.”
“And,” Xander added, “right before you murdered him, Theios Peter sent soldiers to assist Drakos in a territory war with one of Drakos’s cousins. Drakos viewed Theios Peter as a mentor, and you took that from him.”
Concern flashed on Andraius’s face. “You knew this and said nothing?”
“I’m loyal to the Angelos Family. This deal is best for them. Drakos knows the organization is poised for a hostile takeover and wants to honor Theios Peter by preventing such an action from happening.”
Taking hold of my shirt, Andraius jerked me in his direction. I let him, wanting to see what he’d do. The idiot knew that with a single punch, I’d knock him out cold.
“All of these months, you allowed Drakos to play me. I bent over backward to please him.” He glowered into my face, the fury almost comical.
Grasping his wrists, I twisted his hands and released his hold.
“Bullshit. You ignored every piece of advice I gave you. Do you remember when Xander and I told you to keep everything on US soil?” I shoved him back and then straightened my shirt. “You made all the decisions, and we all went for the ride. Or did you forget the number of times you informed us that we worked for you and not the other way round?”
“You betrayed me.”
It took all my strength not to clock him for his hypocrisy. “I have always remained loyal to the Angelos Family. I have never done anything to tarnish its legacy or its standing for the future. Can you say the same?”
“Andraius, be a good boy and take good care of your baby mama.” Xander stepped up next to me. “We will take up management until the Angelos Angel decides how to proceed.”
“The hell you are taking over. I am the head of this family.” Andraius shifted as if to charge Xander.
I pivoted to intercept him, and at the same time, Xander moved in front of me, capturing Andraius’s throat again in a brutal grip.
Xander shook his head in mock pity as Andraius gasped and clutched at his forearms. “Let me make something abundantly clear so there is no miscommunication. As of this point onward, your access to run roughshod over the Angelos empire ends. You are a figurehead only. Get back in that room and take care of your mistress. Your demotion is effective immediately. Nerine Nicolette Angelos is the true head of this organization.”
Xander tossed him through the open doorway of his bedroom. Andraius coughed, struggled to breathe, and slowly managed to sit up as his mistress crouched behind the bed.
“I’ll make sure you regret this.”
Even after all of this, he wasn’t putting the pieces together. I stepped forward, blocking Xander, knowing by this point Xander wanted to kill the bastard.
“If you dare stick one toe out of that door, one of my men will shoot it off. And don’t think of escaping through Nerine’s room either. On second thought, prepare your things. We are relocating you to a different wing of the house. One used for unwanted guests.”
Before Andraius launched into another rant, I turned my back on him. I gestured to three of my men to watch the idiot and run through a standard protocol. Within moments of entering, they would search the room and confiscate all electronics.
Then they would take the idiot to a room on the compound’s south wing section until Nerine decided what to do with him. With him cut off from the residential side of the house and locked away in what he liked to call the guest quarters, he wouldn’t be able to roam about freely.
“We need to find her before she does something stupid.” Xander pulled out his phone, scanned an app, and then scowled, clenching his jaw. “Fucking hell.”
“What did she do?” I asked.
Ignoring me, he dialed a number and then barked into the phone. “Your one job was to keep an eye on her. I don’t want any excuses. You know damn well she uses the passageways.” He hung up, frustration etched all over his face. “I don’t know whether to be impressed that she managed to sneak past all the security in the house or pissed.”
“Where is she?”
“According to the tracker I snuck onto all of her shoes, she is about five miles away from here.”
“After what happened, she went for a run?” I scrubbed a frustrated hand through my hair. “I am going to make sure she understands. She can’t do whatever the fuck she wants when her life is on the line.”
“We can’t touch her.”
“To hell with that. After what just happened, we’re currently operating in the gray.”