31. Dion
31
DION
S o , how’s it been going, Dion ?” Dr . Goode asks.
I sit in the familiar, slightly worn leather chair in my therapist’s office, fingers tracing the stitching on the armrest.
“ I saw her at my friend’s wedding the other day. We barely spoke. And she’d texted me a few days before that,” I say, bouncing my leg up and down, a nervous tic I can’t seem to control now.
“ What did the text say?”
“ Hey .”
“ That’s it?”
I nod. My throat feels tight like there’s a lump I can’t swallow.
“ Did you reply?”
I take a deep breath, but it gets stuck somewhere in my chest. “ No .”
“ And why’s that?”
“ I don’t know. A mixture of not knowing what to say and a little resentment.”
“ Why do you resent her?”
I clasp my hands together, knuckles turning white as I squeeze them.
“ She’s been ignoring me for an entire year, Dr . Goode .”
My therapist looks at me with that familiar, gentle expression.
“ Ah , yes. Abandonment issues.”
“ What’s with everyone making fun of my abandonment issues?”
She laughs. “ I’m not making fun of you. That would be very unprofessional of me. Why do you feel she abandoned you?”
I run my tongue over my lips, trying to find the right words. I want to talk, to let it all out, but the words are tangled up. Dr . Goode nods slightly, encouraging me to take my time.
“ Every woman in my life has.”
She leans forward slightly, her hands resting lightly on her notepad, not writing anything yet. “ Do you think you’re not good enough for people to stay?”
I shrug my shoulders. “ Maybe . That would explain why I feel unworthy.”
“ You’re worthy of love, Dion .”
“ She doesn’t love me. My mother didn’t either, or else she wouldn’t have left me.”
Dr . Goode sighs. “ I can empathize with how you’re feeling. It’s okay to be hurt.”
My throat tightens again, but I know she’s right. “ Yeah ,” I murmur. “ Since my mom left, there’s always been this...hole, you know?”
She nods, her eyes softening with understanding. “ That kind of sense of abandonment can leave deep scars, and also affect your sense of worth and trust in others.”
I take a breath, the tightness in my chest still present.
“ When you’ve been hurt so deeply, it’s natural to worry about being hurt again. But it’s important to recognize that she is not your mother. She’s a different person with her own way of caring for you,” Dr . Goode adds.
“ But she rejected me. She’s no better than my mother. Granted , she didn’t leave earth, but she still left me hanging.”
She leans in. “ She must’ve had her reasons.”
“ Bullshit ,” I spit. “ She could’ve at least heard me out.”
“ And did you take the time to hear her out?” she retorts. I settle deeper into the seat, clasping my hands behind my head, looking up to the ceiling.
I never asked Aria her reason.
I arrive at the warehouse a couple of hours later, the roar of my motorbike cutting through the quiet night. I pull up to the side of the building and kill the engine. Evander is letting me use our main warehouse to bring our guest for questioning.
I stare at the burnt spot on the asphalt where my Ducati was found charred, and where Luca’s lifeless body was lying nearby. My fists clench, anger simmering at the thought of what Andrew did.
Aside from Evan and Angie’s dinner, I hadn’t seen him since the day I told him to get the hell out of the city and vanish if he valued his life. But I know he’s still around. He’s been careful, keeping a low profile, avoiding places where he might run into me or anyone who might report back.
He’s been smart about it; I’ll give him that. No sightings, no traces—just the occasional whisper or rumor, enough to remind me that he’s still pulling strings.
I can’t wait to fucking kill him.
He thinks he can evade me, but he’s wrong. No one can stay hidden forever.
For now, though, I’m going to focus on ruining Philip’s plan.
With Dimitri’s help, Xander was able to locate Philip’s lawyer. It took a while, but we convinced him to meet us for a “friendly” talk. Though the knife and gun tucked into my waistband may say otherwise.
I shrug off my jacket, taking off my gloves to shove them in my back pocket.
When I step through the entrance, I nod at Elias , the manager from Academia who now leads our foot soldiers. When Evander abruptly left Cebrene on his love quest to win back Angelica in Antium a year ago, I assigned Elias to oversee our men, given I had to fill in for Evander .
As I push open the heavy metal door to the warehouse, my shoulders slump slightly, the weight of everything I’ve been carrying hitting me all at once. I’ve been running on fumes, covering for Evander on top of dealing with my own mess. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to do it— I’d do anything for my brother—but, damn, it’s a lot to deal with. I take a deep breath, feeling the tension knotting my shoulders and back.
We waited all these months before making a move on Philip’s lawyer to ensure it was the right moment. We wanted Dimitri to earn the trust of his father and establish himself within the clan.
I became a sort of mentor to Dimitri until we both felt confident to proceed with the plan. That time is now.
But my attention wasn’t solely on Dimitri . I was consumed by Evander’s revenge plan, making sure that every step was meticulously mapped out.
We’ve made huge strides lately. Uncovering the Sisterhood was a massive breakthrough. It’s taken months of effort, but we finally know who’s been stealing from our ship— Angelica’s father, of course. He’s responsible for all of it.
As I approach the room where Xander and Dimitri are waiting, my pulse quickens. This meeting with the lawyer is crucial. Everything we’ve planned is riding on these next steps.
I pause for a moment at the door, running a hand through my hair and rolling my shoulders back. Time to get my game face on. I’ve handled worse than this, and I’ll be damned if I let Aria down now. With a final, steadying breath, I open the door and step inside.
“ Hey , fellas,” I say, greeting Xan and Dimitri .
They both nod at me, and my eyes narrow on our guest.
“ Haris Georgiou ,” I say, letting his name roll off my tongue.
I sit across from him in our office, Xander and Dimitri standing behind me.
Xander passes me a laptop that I slide in front of Haris , who looks like he’s about to shit himself.
I lean forward as I begin to speak, pointing at the screen.
“ We need to discuss Philip’s will. There are some…changes that need to be made.”
He swallows hard, his fingers trembling as he fidgets in his seat.
“ What do you mean, changes? The will is already finalized.”
I exchange a glance with Xander , who now stands imposingly by the door, arms crossed, his broad frame casting a long shadow across the room. Xander’s presence alone is enough to intimidate, but I know we need to apply more pressure.
I pull out the knife from my waistband and twirl it around my fingers, feeling the sharp blade nip at my skin. “ I have no time to argue, Mr . Georgiou . I know many other ways I could convince you, so like I said, we need Philip’s will to name Dimitri as the primary heir again. You make those changes now, in front of us,” I command, my tone brooking no argument.
Haris’s eyes widen, and he shakes his head. “ I can’t just change it like that. Philip will kill me.”
Dimitri steps forward, his expression dark. He grabs Haris by the collar, lifting him off his chair. “ You’re going to do what Dion says, Haris , or you’ll have bigger problems than my father,” Dimitri growls.
The lawyer gasps, hands scrabbling at Dimitri’s grip. “ Please , please! I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” he cries, his face turning pale.
“ Good ,” I say, nodding to Dimitri . “ Put him down. Let him work.”
Dimitri releases Haris , who falls back into his chair, panting and shaking. He quickly turns to the computer, fingers flying over the keyboard. His face is slick with sweat, his breath coming in short, panicked bursts.
Xander steps closer, watching his every move with a steely gaze. “ Make sure you get everything right. No mistakes,” he warns.
“ Yes , yes, I understand,” the lawyer mutters. He types the new clauses, naming Dimitri as the sole heir, his eyes darting nervously between the screen and us.
When he finishes, he prints the document, hands shaking so badly that the papers flutter as he sets them on the desk. “ Here , it’s done.”
I pick them up, scanning them quickly. Everything looks in order. I nod, satisfied. “ Good . Now , sign,” I instruct, placing a pen in front of him.
Haris hesitates for a split second before his survival instincts kick in. He takes the pen and scrawls his signature at the bottom. He then looks up at us, a plea for mercy in his eyes.
Dimitri steps forward again, this time gripping onto Haris’s shoulder in a mockery of reassurance. “ See , that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he says, his tone deceptively gentle.
“ No , no, it wasn’t. Please , just let me go now,” Haris begs.
I nod to Dimitri , and he places the lawyer’s hand flat on the desk.
“ Please ,” he screeches. “ I did everything you asked. The will is changed. Please , I’ve done everything.”
“ We’re aware, Mr . Georgiou . But there’s still the matter of ensuring your silence.”
His eyes widen further. “ I - I won’t say anything. I swear it.”
I pick up my knife and he recoils, pressing back into his chair. “ No , please! There’s no need for that. I swear I’ll keep my mouth shut!”
Dimitri steps forward, grabbing Haris’s right hand and slamming it back onto the desk. Haris cries out, struggling in vain to free himself from Dimitri’s iron grip.
In one swift motion, I bring the knife down, plunging it through his hand and into the wooden table beneath it. The blade pierces flesh and bone, eliciting a scream of agony from the man. Blood wells up around the knife, spilling onto the desk.
His shouts echo in the small office, his face contorted in pain and tears stream down his cheeks.
I lean in close, my face inches from his. “ Remember this pain, Haris . If you breathe a word of what happened here, if you even think about betraying us, this will be a pleasant memory compared to what comes next.”
I yank the knife free, and he collapses onto the desk, cradling his injured hand, sobbing uncontrollably. Xander and Dimitri step back.
“ Let’s go,” I say, turning to leave. “ We’ve made our point. One of our men will come in to clean up the mess and get rid of him.”
I wipe the blade clean and slide it into my jacket, grim satisfaction settling over me.
Step one is complete: Philip’s estate belongs to Dimitri again.
Next step: get my girl back.