Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
OPHELIA
I’m becoming good at pretending. When we eat breakfast as a family, I smile and stuff my face with food. Ares passes me the syrup. Apollo tells me to eat more. And Atlas draws me.
I can’t see his sketchbook, but I know that’s what he’s doing. He looks up, his eyes on me for a second before he’s back to sketching.
We haven’t discussed how he kissed me in the dressing room. Or the sweet things he said to me. Ares has been distant since the night he climbed into my bed and hasn’t returned. None of them have been around much, busy with their own lives.
It’s nice.
Like old times.
I don’t feel like I always have to be on guard. So when Athena asks me to help her choose flowers for the wedding, I smile and say yes.
Faking is easier than I thought. Now I understand why so many women at The O Club can do it each night. My girls make our members believe they want their hands all over their skin. Each moan is a performance. They must shut out their thoughts as I do and let their bodies take over.
Dad and Athena leave for a late dinner with friends. The same friends who once knew them as separate entities. It must be weird for them, too.
I open the fridge and take out a carton of strawberries. A little snack to keep me going before I leave for the club.
Leaning against the counter, I bite into the berry and throw the top in the trash. I eat a few more and put the carton back in the refrigerator. When I turn around, Ares stands in the entryway.
I stare.
Blink.
Lick my lips.
“What’s on your mind, Little Dragon?”
Ares walks into the kitchen, dressed in black-and-gold boxing trunks that hang low on his narrow hips. He’s shirtless, his ripped body covered in black ink, those big muscles flexing as he grips the towel over his shoulder.
“Apollo isn’t home yet, and we have to leave for Olympus in ten minutes.”
After striking a deal with my father, I agreed to behave. That means bringing Apollo to the club with me and showing him the ropes. He’s only supposed to get involved with the finances. I couldn’t care less since Uncle Alexander always handled that side of the business.
“Apollo just called,” Atlas says as he enters the room wearing dark blue jeans with graffiti on them and a fitted white shirt that looks like something he designed. “He’s on his way home. Should be here any minute.”
Home.
It still sounds weird to hear them call my house their home. But that’s the truth. In two weeks, they will be my family. And we’ll be one big happy family.
“Are you fighting tonight?” I ask Ares since we have barely spoken all week.
“Yep.” He closes the distance between us, grabs my shirt, and pulls me to him. “Do I get a kiss for good luck?”
I glance at Atlas. He’s sitting at the kitchen table, watching us with curiosity. His eyebrows raise an inch. He’s wondering if I’ll kiss Ares.
“I don’t know,” I tell Ares. “Do you really want to kiss me?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” His grip tightens on my shirt, his lips inches from mine. “It’s good luck to get a kiss from a beautiful woman before a fight.”
“So if I don’t kiss you, you’ll turn around and kiss someone else?”
His lips brush mine. “You’re so stubborn, woman. Shut up and kiss me.”
I press my lips to his. As our tongues tangle, it feels like we’re fighting a war. We shouldn’t have started this game.
“Ophelia.”
The front door slams.
Uncle Alexander.
Shit.
I shove my palms into Ares’s chest, knocking him backward and gasping for air. “Get out of here.”
Ares frowns. “You don’t like how I kiss you?”
“No, it’s not that,” I whisper. “I don’t want my uncle to see you practically naked when my hair is a mess from you running your fingers through it. Go before he sees you.”
Ares groans. “Fine, but this isn’t over.”
“I’m in the kitchen,” I tell my uncle.
It’s been weird without Alexander at the club. He mostly stayed upstairs in the office with his friends while I catered to The O Club members. But it was nice having him around. Now Apollo has inserted himself into our business.
I haven’t seen my uncle since Dad’s engagement, which is odd. He usually stops by the house several times a week.
Are they fighting again?
My dad has a bad temper, and so does my uncle. They’re brothers in name only. My grandparents adopted Alexander three months before getting pregnant with my dad.
Ares and Atlas approach the same door Alexander is entering. They should have used their heads and exited through the chef’s entrance that leads to the back staircase.
Dumbasses.
“Hello, my sweet girl,” Alexander says with a big-ass smile when he sees me, ignoring Ares and Atlas.
My smile mirrors his. “Hey, yourself.”
Unlike my dad, my uncle is blond with blue eyes and doesn’t look like he has an ounce of Greek in him. Because he doesn’t. You would never know he’s the infamous Alexander Drakos. He’s clean cut with a sharp jaw and wears suits like a knight does armor.
He slaps Ares on the back and grins. “Are you ready for the fight tonight, Champ?”
Ares glares at him, his top lip quivering as if he’s ready to attack. “Born ready.”
What am I missing here?
Ares’s entire demeanor changed when Alexander entered the kitchen. Atlas looks equally uncomfortable, with his eyes narrowed into slits at my uncle. They’re both seething mad at the sight of him.
Interesting.
“I have a lot of money riding on you,” my uncle tells Ares. “Better not disappoint me.”
Something is off about their exchange. Ares looks like he might kill Alexander.
So, I move across the room and get between them. “I didn’t know you were into the fight scene.”
“It’s a new hobby.” My uncle shrugs. “It’s a little side business I’m testing out. So far, it’s pretty lucrative.”
Ares’s body stiffens, hand balled into fists at his sides. He gives my uncle a sideways glance and then looks at Atlas. An unspoken conversation occurs between them that doesn’t need words.
“Break a leg, Champ.” Alexander gives him a devious wink that makes me wonder about the hidden meaning of his gesture.
Ares storms out of the kitchen with Atlas in tow.
I stroll over to my uncle. “What was all that about?”
“Nothing.” He bends down to kiss each of my cheeks. “The fight is all everyone in Beacon Bay is talking about.”
“Okay.” I lean against the counter and study his face for a lie. “Why is it such a big deal?”
“Ares is undefeated. His opponent is an up-and-comer in the UFC. He flew in from Las Vegas to fight him.” My uncle pulls out a stool at the kitchen island and points for me to join him.
“It’s just business. Ares has built a reputation around his fighting.
People come from all over the country to join his fight club. ”
He’s playing it cool now that Ares is gone, but I can tell he’s lying. They know each other. My uncle wants Ares to lose the fight.
But why?
I take the seat beside him. “My dad isn’t home. He left about ten minutes ago with Athena for dinner.”
“I’m here to see you.” He rests his elbow on the counter and smiles. “How have you been, Ophelia?”
“Not great,” I admit. “Dad’s been acting strange. I’m trying to adapt to my new life.”
“Your dad isn’t speaking to me.” He shoves the hair off his forehead, a somber expression on his face. “We fought after he told me about the engagement.”
“It’s like he’s under Athena’s spell. I don’t get it.”
“I don’t trust Athena or her boys.” His fingers brush beneath my chin as he gazes into my eyes. “I know you can handle yourself. You’ve proved that much, even if your dad is too blind to see it. But I worry about you. Keep your ears and eyes open.”
I nod. “Of course.”
He lowers his hand to his knee. “Be careful, my sweet girl. Belen told me about the letter your mother wrote to Athena. I don’t trust its authenticity.”
“I read it.”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “And?”
“It’s in her handwriting.”
He sighs. “I don’t know how Athena got Cora to write that letter, but it’s bullshit. Athena is using your mother to play with a grieving man’s heart. Your dad is the strongest person I know. But I thought your mom’s death would kill him, too.”
“Every night, I heard his screams for months,” I tell my uncle. “I would find him drunk on the floor, hugging a liquor bottle. We hadn’t eaten more than a handful of meals together since she passed away.”
He nods in agreement. “Your dad was in sad shape.”
“And now, he’s a family man again?” My voice cracks as I speak, and the emotions control me. “We have formal meals in the dining room. There are no broken liquor bottles on the floor. He’s smiling and even singing when I see him. This man isn’t my dad.”
Uncle Alexander takes a deep breath, tapping his fingers on the marble countertop.
A gold ring hits the stone with a light thump.
“Even before your mom got sick, he was never this happy. Belen Drakos earned the fear and respect of Beacon Bay’s criminal underworld.
People whisper about him in the streets for a reason. ”
We stare at each other for a moment and sigh. At least he’s confirming what I already thought.
“I can’t talk to him. Dad isn’t in the right headspace. But on the plus side, I got him to agree to sign over a quarter of Olympus to me at the end of the month.”
“Oh, yeah?” Alexander leans closer, his musky cologne filling my nostrils. “How did you get him to do that?”
“By pretending I’m happy for him and Athena. I have to be her maid of honor and go through the motions of this wedding.” I give a light shrug. “Whatever it takes to get what’s owed to me.”
“You shouldn’t have to go along with this circus.” He shakes his head, annoyed with my father. “Belen sent me away to work at the warehouse. He’s making you work for what’s already yours. It’s ridiculous. An insult.”
“You own half of Olympus. Why didn’t you tell him no?”
“Because,” he says with a sad look in his eyes. “I sold it to your father last year when I needed cash.”
“What?” My mouth drops open in shock. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was embarrassed,” he admits. “I had to ask your dad for money and didn’t want you looking at me with the same disappointment.”
“I would never.” I put my hand over his on the counter. “You’re my favorite uncle.”
He smirks. “I’m your only uncle.”
A door slams from a distance, and shoes tap on the tiled floor, so I know it’s not Ares or Atlas. They were both wearing sneakers.
Apollo walks into the kitchen, dressed impeccably in a black suit with a red tie. He looks good and smells even better as he approaches us.
“Sorry, I’m late. I got stuck in traffic.”
He extends his hand to Alexander. “Apollo Demetriou.”
“Alexander Drakos.” My uncle shakes his hand, a wicked look in his eyes. After he releases Apollo’s hand, he wipes his palm down the side of his pants with a sneer. “Well, I should be going.”
“We have to get over to Olympus. I’ll see you soon, right?”
“Of course.” Alexander hops up from the stool, staring at Apollo as if he wants to murder him. He doesn’t trust Athena and her sons. “Call me if you have any issues. I’m here whenever you need me, sweet girl.”