Chapter 19 - Simon
We’re sitting in the car outside the coffee shop.
The location is perfect. I was careful when I chose it.
Big glass windows give my security team all the visibility they need to keep a sniper rifle aimed right at the old man’s head.
They can keep an eye on us without needing to be inside the cafe with us.
Guaranteed the old man has security lurking around here, too.
I’ve already spotted two suspects. It’s expected, though. As he must expect us to have the same.
“You ready?” she asks from the passenger seat, and I pull my eyes off the scene and look towards her.
She looks pale again. Her body is tense. Her lips are tight. Her eyes are filled with worry.
“I’m ready,” I tell her, reaching for her hand. “And don’t forget. You say the words, and we leave. And I’m right next to you, princess. You aren’t doing this alone.”
She smiles nervously, a slight tremble in her hand.
“Thank you,” she whispers, her eyes locking with mine.
I lean forward and kiss her. I’m nervous too.
I’m scared that something goes wrong, and something happens to her.
But this really is the right move. We can’t always be a step behind him. It’s our turn to make a play.
“Let’s go choose the table by the window before he arrives. We want the security team to be able to see us,” I tell her.
She takes one last deep breath and then pushes the car door open.
I wait for her to step close to my side, then wrap my arm around her as we walk towards the coffee shop.
The normalcy of walking into the small cafe is in such contrast to the tension of the moment that it almost makes me want to laugh.
We take a seat facing the door. Selene is sitting close to me; her thigh pressed against mine beneath the table. I can feel her body trembling lightly.
We sit for only three minutes. Tense minutes, but not a long wait, before Alek Mykros arrives.
He walks into the coffee shop with a broad smile on his old face.
The wrinkles deepen as his smile widens when he sees Selene.
“Sweetheart,” he sings happily, walking faster towards our table and leaning over to hug her in her seat.
She goes so stiff I almost grab him and push him off her.
But then he’s standing again and offering me his hand.
“The all too well-known Simon Volkov. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. We should have done this ages ago,” he says, as friendly as ever.
He moves around as though he’s done nothing wrong.
He speaks as though we are old friends catching up.
He gushes over his daughter as though he loves her deeply and wouldn’t harm a hair on her head.
And I watch him through it all, I watch every micro movement in his face, every flicker of his gaze.
Alek Mykros. Right now, he is the man he presents to the public. The friendly grandfather with a nice smile. The man who posts charity events and family photos on his Instagram page. He is kind, gentle, and welcoming.
But I know the snake that lurks beneath the crinkled skin. I know the lines that etch the side of his eyes are not from smiling too often, but rather from frowning.
I know who he really is.
“Selene, it’s really good to see you. You are looking so healthy. You’re glowing. It warms my heart.”
“Father,” she says carefully. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”
He scoffs and waves his hand through the air with a lighthearted laugh. “Of course, I was hoping every day you would reach out to me. I thought… I thought you were angry at me. Because…”
“Because you held me prisoner for five years?” Selene blurts out.
I slip my hand beneath the table and place it gently on her leg.
It wasn’t the plan for her to confront her father today.
The plan was to smooth-talk him into giving up information.
But I see the emotions in her eyes. I feel the shake in her body.
She needs to confront him more than she needs information.
In this moment she her anger wins. I squeeze gently against her leg. She doesn’t seem to notice.
“You locked me away and treated me like the enemy,” she says bitterly.
“No, sweetheart, you’ve got it all wrong. Everything I did was to protect you. I kept you safe. I kept the twins safe. I would never purposefully harm you!” He is so defensive, so shocked by her accusations, I want to slap him. I’ve seen the scars on her body.
Selene purses her lips and lets out a slow breath of air. “Protect,” she mutters coldly. “That is not what I would call it. Torture is so much more appropriate.”
“Selene!” he gasps in horror. “No! Oh no! I hate that you think that. I wish… I thought… I was trying so hard to do what was best for you. I was doing my best as your father…” He looks wounded as he hangs his head, hurt by the accusation.
My eyes narrow, my gaze piercing through his mask of kindness and emotion.
He is a master manipulator through and through.
Selene has started shaking more. The confrontation, what she hoped to gain from it, is not happening the way she saw it happening. He isn’t going to acknowledge her pain or what he did to her.
Instead of playing the same game of innocence that he is trying to play, I get straight to the point. The sooner I can get Selene away from him, the better I will feel.
“We don’t appreciate the recent string of attacks you have imposed upon our Volkov businesses. If you don’t stop these attacks, we will be forced to take action against you,” I say calmly.
“Attacks? I know nothing of these attacks,” he says, touching his hand to his heart in a gesture that makes me want to vomit. It’s so fake. “I am so sorry to hear your businesses have been experiencing turmoil.”
I can picture this man… I can picture him gaslighting his daughter. The mental and emotional torment he inflicted on her. Then I can picture him switching in the blink of an eye to this version of himself. It would have driven her crazy. It would have made her question herself and her anger.
And then he’d start all over again.
A true narcissist.
Selene glances nervously at me, but I keep my eyes steel on Alek.
“You choose to hide behind your allies. Men who owe you favors that you are using against us. Then you deny everything like a coward?” I scoff, laughing bitterly.
Alek knots his brows and shakes his head. “I assure you, Simon, Selene, my beautiful daughter, I assure you that I had nothing to do with this. Why would I attack the man who is keeping my daughter safe?”
His sincerity is oozing. It’s dripping like honey, to think to be genuine.
I clench my jaw, trying to redirect my thoughts to a different approach.
Before I can speak again, Alek offers, “I would be willing to assist you in any way I can,” he says. “I could turn against my allies if the offer you made was good enough?”
And there it is.
He has played his cards and set them out on the table.
He would prefer an alliance with the Volkovs and the Nikolais by default, rather than with the multitude of smaller families he is currently connected to.
Of course. because the Volkovs and Nikolais have power that reaches far beyond this city and the next.
“Offer?” I mutter darkly.
“Yes, an offer. A deal. Something we can discuss. Something that would benefit us both.” He smiles at Selene, so happy and out of context, she winces away from it.
When I say nothing, he leans back in his chair and lifts his hands. “You don’t need to decide now. Maybe take a few days and think about it. We can talk again.”
“Alek, I didn’t come here to make deals with you…”
“I understand, I understand,” he says, smiling.
“Let me say this, then you can think about it properly. The Volkovs and my family have been at war for decades. We’ve never seen eye to eye, that much you know.
But it’s time for a change. Clearly, our families are intertwined, whether it was by choice or not.
Losing the alliances I have in place with the other families is a risk for me.
For my business. For my family. It is not something I offer lightly, but I am willing to take that risk, and I want to do what is best for the future. For my daughter.”
If I were speaking to anyone else, I would agree with the line of thinking. I would agree with the choices and explanations. But there is something so deeply evil about this man that I need to step back and see through the charade to whatever plan lies behind it.
I take Selene’s hand in mine and pull her to her feet. “We will think about what you’ve said.”
Alek stands too. “Yes, yes, that’s good.
Take your time. Then on Sunday… come to dinner with the family.
Selene… you haven’t seen your brothers in so long, they miss you.
They ask about you constantly. They would love to see you.
” My insides churn. He knows exactly where to hit her.
Her longing for a family that cares about her.
Her longing for the brothers she once had before her father stole them away.
“A family dinner?” she mutters quietly, “Would… would they all be there?” she asks.
“Of course! The moment they hear you are coming, they wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he grins. “Sunday, at home… uh, at my place. We can have roast. And please, bring your guards if it makes you feel better. I have nothing to hide.”
She glances at me, her eyes full of hope and fear.
Then she turns back to her father and says, “We’ll let you know.” Her voice suddenly becomes cold and controlled. She lifts her chin and steps around him, heading for the door without a word of goodbye.
I take a long look at Alek Mykros. He smiles. He holds out his hand to shake mine. He doesn’t seem in the least bit affected by his daughter’s coldness or her pain.
“I look forward to your call, Simon,” he says.
I nod in response, then move to follow Selene.
I find her outside, leaning against the car with her head pressed against the window.
She’s gasping for air, struggling to breathe.
Her entire body is shaking so badly that she can hardly stand.
Hurriedly, I pull the door open and push her into the passenger seat, then take her face in my hand.
“Princess, you’re okay. You did very well in there.
Just breathe. Slow, deep breathes. That’s all that matters. In… Out… Again.”
I talk to her for a while, my voice soothing and steady while her breathing slows and becomes less strained. Silent tears are running down her cheeks, and her face is blank of emotion.
Finally, she looks up at me and whispers, “Can you take me home, please?”
And it melts my heart. Home. Home with me.
On the drive, she doesn’t speak much, and my head is full, playing the meeting over and over again in my mind. Every gesture, every micro-expression. He is a snake. But maybe to beat a snake you have to play the snake’s game.
“I really miss my brothers,” Selene murmurs from the seat next to me, her face turned out to watch the city move past the window.
“I know, princess. I know you do.”
“Why would he invite us to dinner? Family dinners are held at his home. We would be at his home, in his personal space.” She pauses to look at me. “He was so nice. He was… he seemed like he really cared about me?”
It’s a question that breaks her voice a little. I can see how badly she wants his care to be real, but we both know it’s not… or at least I know it’s not.
“Princess, he was manipulating you. It did not care. It was him acting a certain way to get something from you.”
“But… what if he’s right?”
“Right about what?” I ask tensely, knowing that man isn’t right about a single fucking thing.
“What if he’s right and I just misunderstood the whole time? He was just trying to keep us safe from what he genuinely thought was a dangerous situation.”
“Selene, your father is a manipulator. You know this, right? You can see through his act?” I ask carefully.
“I don’t know Simon. He said he did everything he did because he felt it was the right choice. Maybe he just made a mistake…”
“No,” I blurt out. “Don’t you dare start questioning yourself.
Don’t you see? He is gaslighting you, making you believe you are the wrong one.
He hurt you, Selene. He threatened your babies.
That is ALL you need to remember to keep yourself aware of who he truly is.
” My anger is spiking as I realize the control he has over her emotions.
Years of gaslighting, years of teaching her not to trust her own feelings and thoughts.
I take a deep breath. Shouting at her won’t help. Deep down, she knows the truth. I just need to reminder her.
I gently take her hand in mine and turn her palm to face upwards.
Then I trace my fingers up along the inside of her arm to a scar that I know well, just below the bend of her arm on the soft, delicate flesh there.
“Was this a misunderstanding?” I ask. “What happened there?”
She quickly pulls her arm away from my grip and covers the scar with her other hand.
Tears stream down her cheeks.
“You’re right. There was no misunderstanding.”
There’s a stretch of silence before she asks again.
“So why did he invite us to dinner at his home?”
“He has the advantage at his home. If he chose to attack us or make a move against us, it wouldn’t be frowned upon because we would be on his territory.”
“So… we can’t go?” she asks, her voice breaking with disappointment. “It would be stupid, wouldn’t it?” she sighs.
I realize just how badly she wants to see her brothers, just how much hope she has that what her father told her is true—that they miss her.
She takes a deep breath, biting her lip. “I know you’re right about my father. My brothers, though…”
“How about this? We agree to the dinner, which will give us more time to work out what he is up to, but we change the venue. Neutral territory.”
Her eyes grow wide, her brows lifting. “Really?” she asks. “Even knowing it is a trap of some kind, you would still go?”
“Knowing it’s a trap gives us the advantage. Especially if he thinks he has tricked us into a sense of security. And maybe you can make a connection with one of your brothers and get them to help you.”
I don’t want to put Selene back in front of her father. I saw what it did to her today. But maybe the hope she has about her brothers, especially the ones she spoke to at the beach house… maybe it’s the lucky break we need to end this conflict and for our family to feel safe.
“Let’s do it,” I say, rubbing my hand over her leg. “I’ll plan it carefully, and we can make sure we have a solid exit plan in case we need it.”
“Ok,” she smiles nervously. “Let’s do it.”