Page 58 of Seduced By Contract

Christos smiles. "No, it's not."

I look at Ares, because somehow I know this is related to Madison, but his expression, as always, gives nothing away.

"Let's go outside," Dionysus suggests. "The nanny who's with Joseph is a new hire, and I don't like the idea of her being by the pool with him without my supervision."

We sit at a table in the shade of a tree, and soon a servant comes along to offer us drinks.

"I can’t stay long," I warn, because I've just decided to go pick up Madison from the hospital. She told me she usually spends two hours with her sister and then some time with her niece and nephew. I'm curious to learn more about her family.

"Why not?" Odin asks, but somehow I think he already knows the answer.

"I have a meeting."

"WithMadison?" Ares speaks up for the first time.

"What is this? The Spanish Inquisition? Because if you think I believe this meeting was by chance, you don't know me that well."

"It wasn't by chance," Hades confirms. "It's an attempt to stop you from destroying your own life."

"Conversations in code aren't my specialty," I mutter.

"No, they're mine," Odin says, showing an unusually good sense of humor.

"Just tell me what you need," I growl, irritated as hell.

"We have an alternative for your situation with old Gordon."

"I'm not going to break the promise I made to my grandfather."

"What exactly was that?" my older cousin continues. "As far as I know, it was to destroy their entire fortune to avenge your father's death."

"Yes, and to wipe their centuries-old name off the map. That's why I made the deal. There's no other way to bring them down. I've been doing research for years."

"We're buying shares of GordonBank," Odin says.

"What?"

"For many months, we've been buying shares of GordonBank," says Christos.

"That’s not possible,” I retort. “He’s been preventing any sales related to my last name, and everyone knows we're cousins."

"We're using small companies that are part of our conglomerate, mine and Odin's, but that aren't directly linked to us,” Christos explains. “Separately, we don't own enough shares to have the board in the palm of our hands, but when we add our shares together, we're only one percent away from achieving majority ownership. Fifty-one percent. When that happens, we'll create a third company that will have complete control of GordonBank."

"And then, we'll sell it to you," Odin finishes, while I try to absorb this game-changing information.

If what they're saying is true, everything I've planned can be altered without me breaking the promise I made to my grandfather.

"Say something," my younger brother says.

"How long until you get that one percent?" I try to appear calm, but inside my heart’s racing like hell.

"It's been more challenging than we thought because the current owner isn't a professional but an orphan girl, represented by her guardian."

"Offer them triple."

"We're trying, but he's resisting because it seems like it's the only inheritance left for the girl, who's been living in an all-girls orphanage since she lost her parents."

"Either way, when my plans come to fruition, there won't be anything left of what was once known as GordonBank," I say. "The shares will be worth less than discarded candy wrappers. Selling will be a good move for her."

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