Page 100 of Seduced By Contract

"I wanted to say—” he begins, but I interrupt him:

"Stop. There is nothing you can say that will save you from your fate. You are a fucking rapist. A murderer who, to cover up his own crimes, took the life not only of a mother but also of his own son, his blood."

"You stole everything from us, Gordon,” Hades says. “Now it's time to give it back to us through your death."

Dionysus speaks for the first time. "When you are dying, think of her. Astra. The young girl whose innocence you destroyed and whose life you then stole."

"A Greek never forgets an offense, Gordon," Ares says. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

"Do it," Odin says. "We don't have all day. If you believe for a minute that we won't distribute Lyra's statement throughout the world, you are mistaken. You may not be held responsible for Astra's rape, but they will open an investigation into the murders. I followed your trail and discovered your rotten past. Don't doubt that I will go to hell to prove that you killed them.”

Emerson stares at us for a while and then looks at the gun on the table. I see that, even so close to the end, the miserable man is still trying to think of a way out.

But there isn't one, and we all know he'll choose death over having to deal with the scandal of having murdered his own son and best friend to cover up his crime.

I see the wrinkled and trembling hand pick up the weapon, and I wish I could do the deed myself, but Hades is right. For our revenge to be complete, it must be this way.

I don't look away when I see him position the barrel of the gun inside his mouth, just like my father must have done in the past. I don't even blink as I watch him pull the trigger or as his head falls back.

I say a prayer, handing over our revenge to my parents.

For the first time in more than a decade, I can think about them without hurt, and silently, I ask for forgiveness, especially from her, the woman who I thought betrayed us, but who was the only one betrayed. The girl who could not, even at home, where she should have been loved and protected, find shelter.

"It's over," Christos says. "You need to get out of here."

"What do you want me to do? Do you want them to find the body or not?" Odin asks.

"I want the video of his suicide, as well as Lyra's statement, to be distributed in the media." I walk closer to the dead man without feeling an ounce of pity. I wish he could keep dying and dying forever, but even then, it wouldn't be enough. "As for Gordon, I don't want his body found. His family won't have a grave to cry over. He doesn't deserve tears or prayers."

"I can make sure of that," Christos says and takes out his phone. He walks away but not before I hear him say, "Beau? I need to talk to you."

"Go. We’ll take care of it," Odin says.

My brothers and I leave, but outside the warehouse, we stare at each other in silence.

“It's over,” Ares says.

"Yes, it's over," I confirm.

Madison

CHAPTER FIFTY

"I forgotto tell you that I was coming to sleep here," I say, smiling, as soon as he opens the penthouse door. I saw him arrive on the security cameras, and I'm really excited to show off the baby clothes I bought.

It took me a few days to assimilate the idea of becoming a mother, but now I feel very excited. Anxious as always, I keep trying to imagine who the baby will look like. I've also looked at room decorations in neutral colors, since we don't know the gender yet.

“My men told me,” he answers without walking towards me, and just those few words make me sure that something is very wrong.

"Zeus, what’s going on?"

"Come with me?" he asks, offering his hand. "I need a shower."

Despite what he says, he's acting like an automaton, so I take the lead. In the bathroom, I take off his shoes, socks, suit, tie, and shirt. I unzip and pull down his pants and then take off hisboxers, but when I go to turn on the shower, he pulls me by the hand.

"In the bathtub. I wanna hold you."

"The water will have to be warm but not hot. That's one of the things I learned from Elina and Zoe today: no scalding baths during pregnancy."

---