40. Athena
FORTY
ATHENA
M anuel’s phone rang and he cursed under his breath.
I wrapped my fingers around his forearm and squeezed it.
“Take care of that. I’ll use the time to finish up my book,” I lied.
“You’ll let me read your book before your fans get it, right?” He raised a brow when I didn’t answer. “Right, moglie ?”
Damn, I loved it when he called me his wife. I’d been learning more Italian, thanks to my app and my patient husband.
“ Certamente ,” I answered, smiling. “Now answer that.”
As per usual, he answered the phone and disappeared, probably back into his office. He didn’t discuss business around me, and I was perfectly fine with that. Especially today. The moment I could no longer hear his booming voice or his footsteps, I pulled out my phone and made my own call.
My mother answered on the first ring. “Athena.”
I wasted no time.
“The night the Triads buried me alive, where were you?” There was a stretch of agonizing silence, the kind filled with deceit, blood, and betrayal. “Where were you, Mother?”
I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins, making my heart pump hard and fast.
She finally broke the silence. “I was at the hospital.”
My heart tripped. “Why?”
Maybe she’d been attacked too? Maybe she fell ill. Maybe…
“I pretended Manuel’s enemies got to me. That they beat me.”
I let out an incredulous breath, struggling to believe anyone would go to such lengths. “Why?”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Not that long,” I hissed. “I remember every second of that night.”
“He refused to take my calls,” she finally answered. “I wanted him to give me another chance.” Then, as if she remembered how selfish that sounded, she added, “For us.”
Maybe I’d been seeing my mother through rose-colored glasses for years or maybe I was too young and naive to understand back then, but I could finally hear the words my mother was saying. I finally saw her for who she was.
An insecure, selfish woman who used men to get what she wanted.
“It wasn’t for me.” My lungs squeezed painfully and I tapped my chest to release some of the pressure. “I screamed for you. I was terrified they hurt you after what I witnessed in the apartment when they came in the middle of the night. And you were safe and sound in a hospital bed!”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“I was almost burned alive.” Tears gathered in my eyes and spilled over my cheeks. I angrily wiped them away with the back of my hand. She didn’t deserve my tears or this pain.
“How was I supposed to know the Triads would be back?”
“They said they would be, Mother. They warned you, and the Triads don’t make empty threats.” I hated the tremor in my voice. The scar from that night burned against the thin material of my dress against my shoulder blade. “You know that as well as I do.”
“You survived. Just a minor burn and a few bruises.”
My knees shook with memories of that night. The smoke that scratched at my throat and the terror of waiting for the flames to envelop me.
“Who saved me?” I asked. I couldn’t remember much, but I remembered that. I remembered blue eyes ordering me to breathe. “Was it my uncle Lykos?”
“No, it was Danil.” I staggered backward into a bookshelf as I let my mind whirl in muted shock and chaos. How could I not remember him? But then the words he said when Manuel and I ran into him came back to me. You weren’t supposed to get pulled into this fucked-up world, Athena Kosta.
And the missing puzzle piece fell into place.
The man who saved me had spoken similar words that night.
I don’t want you wrapped up in this fucked-up mafia world, Athena Kosta. I’ll ensure nobody can find you from now on.
Reeling from the realization that Danil was the one who saved me all those years ago, I wondered why he hadn’t said anything when we ran into each other. He pretended like he’d never met me.
“He brought me back to you?” I asked, struggling to make sense of it all.
“No, he took you to the hospital.” My mother sounded annoyed now. “It was convenient that I was there already.” No wonder Danil sounded like he didn’t like my mother. “Of course, your uncle showed up too, eager to gang up on me. But you were my daughter, and they couldn’t take you from me without risking exposure, so they agreed to provide for you and your safety. Danil paid Cassidy Tech to ensure you were untraceable and Lykos paid for all your expenses. Idiots kept fighting over who was more responsible for you.”
The lump in my throat grew with the realization that the two men cared about me enough to fight in the first place.
“Why didn’t you let me go with them?” My voice was quiet, resigned. The rose-colored glasses were off and they’d never come back on—not where my mother was concerned.
She laughed, the sound bitter and angry. “And be left at the Triads’ mercy? No, thank you. As long as you were with me, their protection touched me too. Besides, they both recognized that if you went to live with them, the Triads would learn that you survived. Cutting off all connections with you was safer for you.”
My head understood everything she was telling me, but my heart struggled to keep up. I didn’t know how she could be so indifferent and use me in this way. My baby wasn’t even born yet and I already knew I’d rather die than do anything that could even remotely cause her or him harm.
“Why would you be at your lover’s whims?” A lot of things still made no sense and my mind was revolting trying to comprehend the depth of my mother’s schemes. “Why tell me it was thanks to them that you could support me? Or that you needed their protection?”
“You can be so naive,” she scoffed, her voice chilling me even through the phone. “I knew Danil and Lykos would cut me off from you and take away their protection at the first opportune moment. And now they have. So I’ll do what I must to survive.”
Then the line went dead, and for several heartbeats, I stared at my phone, my mother’s name staring back at me as the last call, and her long gone.