Chapter 10
TEN
LYKOS
Violet Freud.
The name tore through my mind like a grenade while I stared at her, and for a moment it felt like time simply stopped.
Or maybe my heart stopped beating. Even the breeze that had been moving through the courtyard seemed to die mid-breath.
My children standing next to me fell from my awareness as the world narrowed to a distant hum.
All because she was standing right in front of me.
Her.
The only woman I’d broken my wedding vows for. My sin.
I had imagined many times how this moment would go if I were to see her again after she showed up unannounced at my penthouse over nine years ago, worn out and pale.
In some versions, she was a blur in a crowd, one I would reach for but never quite get to.
In others, she was a ghost who vanished the moment I tried to touch her.
And now, she was here. Within reach.
She was as real as it got, with her flushed cheeks and four-inch heels, and I was completely unprepared for how violently it hit me.
My lungs forgot how to work. My chest locked so tight it felt like someone had driven a fist straight through my ribs.
She was my secret obsession, so much so that I had been keeping tabs on her—it sounded better than stalking—for the better part of a decade. She looked just as beautiful today as she did the last time I saw her. Maybe slightly thinner, with a touch more sadness in her eyes.
Of course, she also looked older. Years had passed, but they hadn’t dulled her the way time dulled most things. If anything, they had sharpened her.
Her hair was tied back in a neat, professional bun, but all I could remember was how soft it’d felt when I tangled my fingers through it. Her eyes—those impossible eyes that had once looked at me, filled with lust—were wide with the stunned recognition burning through me.
And Christ, those plump lips. I had to fight the urge to wrap my hand around her nape and pull her in for a kiss. An angry, punishing kiss that would probably snap my control and lead to me dragging her into my bedroom and fucking her senseless.
Shit, all these years of abstinence would turn against me. Or maybe it was her bewitching, quiet presence to blame. Hers was the quiet kind of beauty that crept under your skin and refused to leave.
My body reacted before my mind could stop it with a violent, traitorous jolt of attraction. It made my jaw tighten.
Ten years… Ten goddamn years and my body still recognized her.
I shook my head and tightened my fists at my sides, hardening my expression.
“I’m waiting for an answer, Violet.” The words came out low and rough. “What are you doing here?”
She squared her shoulders, trying to appear taller than her five-five frame—and that was with heels on. “I’m here on assignment for a patient. And you?”
“This is my house,” I snapped.
She blinked, clearly confused. “You need a… therapist?”
My jaw tightened as venom crawled through my veins. “Why in the fuck would I need a therapist, Dr. Freud?”
“I’d imagine it has something to do with your lifestyle.” Goddammit, she was quick on her feet.
“Oh, are you here for my mother?” Aria’s voice pierced through the red sheen clouding my vision and grounded me to my surroundings. Fuck, I completely forgot my children were standing next to me. “She’s the one in need of a—”
“Shrink,” Dimitros finished with a snicker, shoving his hands into his pockets like he didn’t just lob a grenade into the conversation. “Although, that won’t help.”
“Dimitros,” I warned.
Violet’s gaze flickered between them, quick and assessing. When it landed on Aria, she stilled.
My pulse spiked, thundering so loudly that I was certain everyone could hear it. I watched as something shifted behind Violet’s eyes. Calculation. Surprise. Recognition. It was there and gone in the span of a heartbeat, but I caught it.
Did she recognize her?
My fingers curled at my sides as a dozen possibilities crashed through my mind. What was she thinking? What did she see when she looked at my daughter?
I tried to get a read on her, searching for any crack in her composure, but Violet smoothed her expression into a blank, professional mask. And it was impenetrable. Whatever had flickered there was buried so deep it may as well have never existed.
“I must be here for your mother, then,” she said evenly, her tone crisp, as if it were another day at the office for her. It might be. After all, all the information I’d been sourcing over the years told me she worked with unusual clients.
I felt Dimitros shift at my side, no doubt plotting how best to get rid of the good doctor.
“Will someone show me to her, or am I expected to form a professional opinion out here on the doorstep?”
I huffed an amused breath and stepped aside, extending my hand toward the doorway. I couldn’t send her away now without making a scene and raising questions I couldn’t answer.
“After you.”
She moved past me, head held high and posture unyielding, almost as if she were the one granting me permission to enter, not the other way around.
And then her scent hit me. Violets.
My eyelids hooded and a slow, unwelcome heat coiled low in my stomach, stirring my cock to life.
I clenched my jaw, forcing my expression to remain neutral as I stepped in behind her.
Fuck, this was going to be a problem.
Familiar footsteps echoed down the long marble corridor behind me, the sound carrying through the high-ceilinged entryway, bouncing off stone and glass until it filled the already crowded foyer.
This damn reunion was getting bigger by the second.
My children hovered close at my sides. Violet stood on the threshold like she wasn’t sure whether she’d stepped into a home or a battlefield, and I—apparently—had lost control of my own house.
“Ah, welcome, Dr. Freud. I’ve heard so many good things about you and your practice.” Salvatore sounded entirely too pleased with himself as he slid into the space behind me.
He’d always been smooth, claimed female attention with little effort, but this time I wouldn’t fucking allow it. Not with Violet.
“Umm… thank you,” she replied, her tone reserved. Good. She wasn’t allowed to cave to my best friend’s charm.
I glanced over my shoulder, already scowling. Salvatore swept past me like I wasn’t even there, his full attention fixed on Violet.
I had a very bad feeling about this.
“Please, come in,” he continued, gesturing grandly into the house as if he owned it. “My friend Lykos needs an intervention, and you’ll be the one to give it to him.”
“But she’s here for Mother,” Aria rushed out, her brows knitting together.
I’m going to kill that motherfucking, well-meaning bastard.
“Dimitros,” I snapped, “show Dr. Freud to the living room.” Dimitros straightened as he caught the edge in my tone. “Aria, go wait for me in your room.”
She opened her mouth—ready to argue, of course—but one look from me had her turning sharply on her heel, though not without a final, suspicious glance back at Violet.
“And you—” I shifted my gaze, pinning it directly on Salvatore and narrowing my eyes. “Let’s have a chat in my office, shall we?”
His grin only widened. That was never a good sign.
Before he had a chance to speak, I grabbed him by the bicep and hauled him away. He didn’t resist. He let himself be dragged like this was all part of his plan, lifting his free hand to wave cheerfully back at Violet.
“Lovely to meet you!” he called over his shoulder.
I didn’t stop until we were halfway down the hall, past the towering windows and into the private wing of the house. My office loomed at the end, its solid oak door promising safety.
I shoved it open, dragged him inside, and slammed it shut behind us with enough force to shake the walls.