Chapter 33 ATHENA
ATHENA
I smiled at the woman passing by, her red lips parting into a bright, familiar grin as if we were old friends, but I didn’t know her.
Still, I smiled back, because in this world, appearances are everything.
Honestly, someone should hand me a damn trophy for how well I navigate this carefully curated facade.
Here I am, still in the ballroom, still pretending, playing the role of the perfect daughter because this isn’t about me.
You’re doing this for your parents, Athena.
My father’s orders had been clear: show up, smile, pretend. Like always.
“Many will feast on our downfall. Showing weakness in front of enemies is like bleeding before a shark. The result is always the same—death.”
The most recent reminder? The six-figure hush payment to make Uncle Angelo’s “situation” disappear from the headlines.
I scanned the glittering crowd, the orchestral music swelling as couples danced. I could almost laugh at how grotesquely beautiful it all was.
A chair scraped beside me. Ace dropped into it like a storm disguised in a suit—jaw clenched, eyes haunted, tapping the table like he wanted to crush it. We were alone at the table, while the Rivera siblings entertained my mother across the room. Laughter floated from their corner.
“You good?” I asked softly.
“I should be asking you that.” His eyes finally met mine. “If it gets too much, say the word. I’ll get you out.”
I let out a humorless laugh, crossing my legs beneath the shimmering folds of my gown. “And give all these people the satisfaction of watching me run after everything that’s happened? Not a chance.”
The ghost of a smirk tugged at his mouth.
“That’s my sister,” he muttered.
“How’s Uncle Angelo?”
He paused. I could see the storm rising in his eyes.
“Still no change,” he said flatly. “The doctors say he’s stable, but it’s like he’s trapped inside his own body.”
I swallowed hard. The bitterness was back in my throat. Ace let out a heavy breath, dragging his hands down his face before pressing his fingers into his temples like he could force sense into chaos.
“I can’t fucking wrap my head around this, Athena,” he muttered, his voice raw.
“If what you believe is true, then none of this makes sense. None of it. You were held for two months. Two. Months.” His tone cracked at the edges.
“He had every opportunity to kill you, torture you—hell, do worse. But you’re here.
Alive. Barely a scratch on you. Why would someone who wants to destroy us keep you alive? ”
I didn’t answer right away. I leaned back in the chair, swallowing the burn in my throat. Dominic only used you, and you let him. Never forget that.
“We need to focus on staying alive,” I said finally. “Nothing else matters now.”
He didn’t push, though his eyes told me he wanted to. His phone buzzed—our father’s name lighting up the screen. Ace stood abruptly, his chair scraping behind him.
“I’ll be right back,” he muttered, grabbing the phone and disappearing through the crowd. I scanned the room. The Rivera siblings were gone.
You’re on your own, kid.
I stood, smoothing down the silky folds of my dress, and walked toward the minibar with the kind of elegance my mother spent years forcing into my spine.
One drink won’t hurt. Just one.
“Pink gin,” I told the bartender. As he turned to prepare it, I felt her before I saw her—my mother. She moved with her usual grace, every inch of her designed perfection.
“Everything alright, Tini?” Her voice was soft, her hand a gentle on me.
“Fantastic,” I replied with a bright smile as the bartender set the drink in front of me. I took a slow sip under her scrutinizing gaze.
I wasn’t twenty-one. Technically, this was illegal, but who cares? She didn’t say anything, but I saw the disapproval flicker in her eyes.
“You didn’t tell Ace what I told you, did you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t.” Then she ordered a glass of water before adding, “I’ll tell him after the celebration. When we have more privacy.” I nodded, a pit forming in my stomach. There was no escaping it. She reached over and caressed my hand.
“You made the right choice, Tini,” she said gently. “We are Kings, and Kings always look after their own. Even if that means making tough decisions.”
I glanced over her shoulder toward our table. The Rivera siblings—Mason, Isadora, and Seraphina were back, sipping their drinks, laughing lightly. A slow melody swelled, drawing couples to the floor. My cue to disappear.
“I’m going to join my friends,” I said, already catching Mason’s gaze from across the room. “We’ll talk later.”
My mother nodded. This time, the smile she gave me was real.
Not the one she gave her guests. But then…
her eyes drifted behind me, and something shifted.
Her smile didn’t vanish, but it froze. She wasn’t looking at me anymore.
She was looking past me at someone. His scent hit first—leather, spice, and something darker.
Masculine and intoxicating. My heart stilled.
“Miss Athena King.”
My grip around the crystal glass tightened, knuckles bleaching, breath caught mid-air. I genuinely feared the thing would shatter in my hand, sending splinters slicing into my skin the same way his voice just did through my nerves.
That voice. It wasn’t a hallucination, and it wasn’t a memory playing tricks.
He was here, behind me.
I felt him step closer, his presence like ice down my spine—chilling and suffocating. His scent invaded my lungs like poison disguised as perfume. With trembling legs, I turned, slow and mechanical, my heart stuttering violently in my chest as I clung to a single desperate prayer:
Please… let it be someone else. Just someone who sounds like him. Please, let it be anyone but—
No - there he was.
Dominic Stone from flesh and blood wearing a midnight-blue suit like a second skin, as if he were born to haunt ballrooms he didn’t belong in.
I nearly collapsed where I stood. My hand instinctively gripped the edge of the bar for support.
I needed something—anything—to hold on to while the world tilted violently beneath me.
How? How the hell did he get inside my house?
My mother stepped forward with a gracious smile, still in the dark.
“Excuse me,” she said politely. “I don’t believe we’ve met before, have we, sir?”
Please say no and leave. My eyes begged him, but Dominic only smiled, that damn, devastating smile that lured people in just before he destroyed them.
“I’m afraid not, ma’am,” he replied smoothly, taking her hand without hesitation and brushing his lips against it like a perfect gentleman. I felt bile rise in my throat. How dare he.
“Nic Russo,” he introduced, completely unfazed. “Nephew of Colt Russo. Unfortunately, Colt couldn’t make it tonight, so I took his place instead.”
The calmness in his tone, the calculated grin curling at his lips—it all told me one thing: Colt Russo is probably dead and his killer just used his name as a backstage pass to my family’s inner circle.
“How thoughtful of you,” my mother smiled. “Colt is a good man. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing to worry your mind with, ma’am.” His voice was polite, but his gaze? It was on me the whole time. Cutting through me, drinking me in. Every molecule in my body was vibrating with rage and fear and something far worse—longing.
“I’d like to ask your beautiful daughter for a dance,” he said casually. “If you don’t mind, of course.”
“Not at all,” my mother replied, delighted. “Please.”
No. No. No.
I wanted to scream when his hand reached toward me, palm up, patient, but his eyes weren’t asking. A dark promise lingered in his smirk. Across the room, I could feel the stares burning into me—Mason, Seraphina, Isadora. All of them.
I reached for his hand, and the second our skin touched, the air snapped. His fingers wrapped around mine, warm and strong. Electricity rushed through me, zapping straight to my core in chaotic, terrifying waves. He interlaced our fingers, then turned to flash another charming smile at my mother.
“Excuse us, ma’am.”
“Please, the pleasure is mine.” She nodded graciously, but she had no idea.
No idea that the man who had stolen her daughter’s freedom was now dancing with her in the middle of the ballroom like nothing had ever happened.
No idea that the man leading me to the floor was the monster she ordered dead.
With trembling legs, I followed Dominic onto the dance floor, melting into the sea of swaying couples. Every step felt heavier than the last, like my shoes were stitched with lead. I could feel the eyes on us—see them.
The whispers. The speculation. The silent judgment.
Maybe no one else heard them, but they were screaming in my ears.
Dominic, however, moved like he owned the floor.
Like the ballroom was built beneath his boots.
His hand slid around my waist, firm and commanding, guiding me to the center like I was something his.
Across the room, I caught Mason’s gaze. He was watching us with an unreadable expression, glass gripped so tightly in his hand I thought it might shatter.
His stare didn’t leave us—not once. Dominic’s hand pressed more deeply into my back, pulling me closer until our bodies aligned.
The contact was minimal, but the impact? Devastating.
“What are you doing here?” I swallowed hard.
“What do you think I’m doing here, Athena?”
“You came to finish what you started.”
The music swelled around us, enchanting the guests, pulling them into their own worlds. Even my mother watched with a smile, completely unaware that her daughter was dancing with the devil. Dominic’s lips curled up in a smirk. He spun me, then yanked me flush against his chest.
“Careful, dollface. That sounded like an invitation.”
“I didn’t know your arrogance had grown this insufferable,” I snapped, right as he spun me again. “You attacked my uncle and dare to show your face here?”
“Oh yes,” he drawled, “I heard about that little incident. Tragic, really.”
His voice was laced with mockery. I couldn’t see his smirk, but I could feel it, slithering down my spine, and then he pulled me in. Bodies pressed, breath mingling. His lips hovered by my ear.
“Let’s talk about something more important, yeah?
” His fingers traced a slow, venomous path down my spine.
“Like the fact that if you don’t meet me in five minutes, I’ll turn this sweet little sentimental party into a bloodbath and I’ll make sure there’s not a single fucking soul left standing in this ballroom. ”
“I could scream,” I hissed. “Call the guards. Have your head in a box before your next breath.”
“Are you flirting with me now, dollface?”
The song ended, applause rising like a funeral hymn. My mother clapped, oblivious. She could die because of me. All of them could. Dominic leaned in one last time, his breath ghosting over my skin.
“Make sure no one notices your absence,” he said. “And keep your brother and your little boyfriend out of it, or I swear, it’ll rain fucking red in here.”
“Where?” I whispered, defeated.
“Somewhere private.”
“The VIP bathroom. First floor.”
He nodded once, satisfied.
“It will be my pleasure, little rebel.”
And then, just like that, he vanished, blending into the crowd like a ghost. Like he’d never been there at all, but he had, and I could still feel the noose he wrapped around my throat.
I waited, a beat too long. Then turned toward the exit, my eyes scanning for Ace.
Mason stepped in front of me. His hand grasped my arm, not violently, but firmly enough to stop my breath.
“What’s going on, Athena?” he asked, his voice tight. “Who was that man?”
“No one.”
“It didn’t look like no one to me,” he said, jaw tight. “Do you know him?”
“Just a business partner of my father’s,” I lied effortlessly. Lies were easier now. Natural. “I need to find Ace. We’ll talk later, okay?”
I didn’t wait for his reply. I pushed past him, my bodyguards falling in line behind me like shadows, and as I walked, my heart beat with only two possibilities: This night would end badly, or it would end drastically worse.