43. Athena
FORTY-THREE
ATHENA
I was going to throw up.
Not seeing where we were going, my motion sickness was flaring up. I kept swallowing hard, trying to think about anything other than this nausea or rising panic.
The car door creaked open and someone yanked the hood off my head, the bright sunlight blinding me. Before my vision could adjust, a hand wrapped around my upper arm, dragging me along.
I struggled against the man’s hold and tried to get my bearings when I realized I was being dragged toward a freaking super yacht.
No, no, no.
I was being taken further away from Manuel with each minute. My legs were shaking, but I kept going. I couldn’t show them I was weak.
I’d fight to stay alive for my baby.
Your daddy will come for us , I thought silently, fighting the urge to hold my belly.
Once on the yacht, they left me alone as the crew busied with the anchor and untying the ropes. I seemed to be of little interest to my captors, and too soon, there was nothing but blue ocean as far as I could see.
My hands clutching the rails, I decided I couldn’t just wait around for my husband to come to my rescue. I needed to gather intel. Get some answers.
Or better yet, jump off the boat and swim ashore. No, that wouldn’t do. The cool temperatures might threaten hypothermia before reaching the coast.
Taking measured, even breaths, I shook the thought away and let my sea legs carry me down the polished deck. It didn’t take long to come face-to-face with him .
“Little Athena, we meet again,” came the voice of my living nightmare.
I sucked in a breath and stared at the darkest eyes I’d ever seen. A face that had terrorized me for years, with high cheekbones and thick dark hair. He might have had a mask on when he shoved me into that box all those years ago, but those eyes and that voice were impossible to forget.
“I’m not so little anymore,” I hissed, straightening my shoulders. He terrified a little girl, but I refused to let him scare the woman I’d become.
The air suddenly became charged with electricity, dark and dangerous. I gripped the rail to steady myself.
“Welcome aboard, Mrs. Marchetti. I’ve been looking for you for a very long time.”
I swallowed hard, the voice too familiar for comfort.
“Since you know my name, it’s only fair you tell me yours.” I forced myself to stand with my chin held high, ignoring the tremor in my voice. “And why is my mom working with you?”
“Qian Long.” My eyes narrowed as he took an exaggerated bow. “And it seems your mom sold you out to save herself.”
He smiled—a cold kind of smile that sent chills down my spine. Anyone in the mafia world who valued their life knew of this man, and he wasn’t known for his kindness. He was known for causing fear and terror anywhere he went.
The head of the Triads.
The man who had tried to bury me and set me on fire eleven years ago. Everything from that night was distorted in my mind, but this man had haunted me since.
What was he planning to do to me? If his intention was to kill me, he’d have done so already.
“Why?” I breathed.
His brows arched. “Why what?”
“Why does she have to save herself from you?”
He shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his linen slacks.
“Your father started it, your mother took it to another extreme, and I’m going to finish it.”
“It makes no sense,” I said more to myself than him. “Why would Mom betray me? She’s always protected me.”
“Something about a stolen lover,” he said coldly. “Being discarded for the last time.” Shock rolled through me at those words. Maybe he was lying, but I didn’t think this man would bother with such frivolities.
My concern was my mother’s betrayal. She had to have been the one to give the Triads my location. After all, she knew about my appointment today. Damn it, why did I tell her? She seemed amicable, so I was trying to return the sentiment. After all, she was my mother and I wanted her to be part of my life.
“Someone had to die,” he continued casually. “She reached out and offered you up as a sacrificial lamb.”
Oh. My. God.
She had thrown me to the wolves because she was… jealous. The inner turmoil her betrayal caused felt like a lash against sensitive skin.
The only blessing in disguise was that Manuel hadn’t come with me to the clinic. Otherwise, they would have hurt him too or, even worse, killed him.
I cast a glance down at my bare feet, only now realizing I’d lost my shoes at some point.
“What did my father do? What happened to set everything in motion?” I asked, focusing on keeping him talking. I had to buy time. Manuel could be looking for me already.
He let out a sardonic breath that pulled my eyes back to his face. “Not your father, your mother .”
I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“Your father’s indirect actions led to your mother setting his house on fire, along with my baby sister.”
My lips parted as a gasp tore from my lips. “Wh-what?”
He studied my face while the tense silence stretched. “You didn’t know?”
I swallowed. “N-no. She said she burned the money, not a?—”
I couldn’t say the word, not comprehending her actions. Did I know my mother at all?
“Why would she do that?” I rasped as tremors started in my hands and quickly spread. “And why would you let her get away with it?”
He tilted his head pensively. “Hmm, interesting.”
“What?”
“Are you saying I should kill your mother?”
I closed my eyes, putting a hand to my chest as I dragged in a breath. Could I tell him he should kill my mother? I believed in justice, and she’d already betrayed me in the worst way.
“I’m saying I understand now why the Triads have been after us and that I’m surprised you let her live.” And that it took you this long to find us , I wanted to add, but it was best not to egg him on.
In the criminal world, my mother’s death would seem like a fair punishment. Or maybe I was more bloodthirsty than I thought.
“You’re more like your father than you know,” he stated.
“Somehow I don’t think that’s a compliment,” I muttered.
His mouth curved slightly, barely reaching his humorless eyes.
“Don’t worry, Athena Marchetti, your mother won’t survive her betrayal,” he said softly, menace threading through every word.
I couldn’t speak, staring at the stranger who’d just tilted my world on its axis. My own mother… How could I have been so damn blind and trusting that I missed it?
“So you’re going to kill her?”
He smiled coldly. “I won’t have to, because if your husband doesn’t kill her, Danil or Atticus will.”
I felt a smile tug at my lips. It turned out this man was right. I was born into this life of crime—bloodthirstiness, violence and danger ran through my veins. There was no changing that. Maybe I was fucked up all along for not admitting it to myself.
Or maybe you don’t want to risk your baby being hurt by your mother’s actions like you were, my brain reasoned. Yes, I liked that explanation a lot better.
But before I could ponder any further, Qian darted toward me and clasped a meaty hand around my wrist.
“Where are you taking me?” I said, struggling against his hold as he dragged me down the deck, his fingers biting into my flesh. Pain jolted from my wrist to my shoulder, but I ignored the pain.
“We’re going to finish what we started eleven years ago.”
Terror shot through me. I dug my heels in, my survival instinct kicking in in full force. I couldn’t die, not like this. I swung my fists and legs, clawing at him and even managing to slash my nails across his face.
He grunted, but rather than smash my skull in, he had me subdued within seconds so I couldn’t move, his arms trapping my back against his chest.
“Don’t push me or this will get ugly,” he hissed. “I’d hate for your husband to find your body in pieces before we get to the part where he gives me everything I ask for.”
I swallowed my panic and opened my eyes to find myself in a room with nothing but a single wooden crate in the middle. Holes had been drilled into the sides and there was a symbol on top of the box that was identical to the tattoo that had haunted me for over a decade.
A symbol etched into the open mouth of a skull.
Before I could ask about it, he nudged me forward, but my feet stayed glued to my spot, refusing to move. My body trembled and tears sprung to my eyes. The thought of being shoved into a box again paralyzed me, causing the room to close in on me until all I could hear was my own drumming pulse.
Desperate to stay calm, I inhaled a deep breath, but oxygen only fed my terror. The truth was, I was still that twelve-year-old girl whose fate was about to be sealed.
Before I could find the courage to fight, he shoved me toward the box again. Harder. “Get in.”
I stumbled onto my knees but was quick to jump up and glare at him.
I locked eyes with him. “Please, I have nothing to do with your sister or this world you’re part of. You can’t put me in there.”
I hated the fear in my voice, but I couldn’t go through this again. Just the thought of being in there made all the oxygen evaporate from my lungs.
Qian reached behind his back, pulled a gun out of his waistband, and pointed it at me. “Get in or I’ll blow your brains all over this floor and make your husband clean it up.”
I was a fool to think I could reason with this man. He was as unhinged as they came, evidence of it in his dark gaze staring back at me.
He crowded me, gun raised, as he wrapped his free hand around my hair, forcing me down and shoving me inside.
My scalp burned and I whimpered in agony, but the worst part was hearing the door to the box shut, leaving me in darkness once again.
“Get comfortable,” he drawled. “It might be a while before your family finds you.”
I banged my fists against the wood. “Don’t leave me here,” I screamed. Another door shut, leaving me behind while I sobbed.
I started to hyperventilate, ignoring the pain in my hands from my futile attempts at breaking out.
I cried. I screamed. I cursed.
My throat turned raw. My strength vanished.
Closing my eyes, I prepared for the worst.
I wouldn’t—couldn’t—beg for mercy, yet as I expected this to be the last few hours of my life, I mourned for the future my child would never have. I regretted not recognizing the signs of my love for Manuel. I wished he could know, wished that I’d told him how crazy I was for him.
My husband. My lover. My protector.
I loved him.
And now… now it was too late to tell him.