Page 1 of The High Priestess

Chapter 1

CASSIA

Lincoln Knight; 37. Cassia Dimitrou; 28.

Sitting at the kitchen table, I watch my mother while she makes lunch for the family. Even though we have servants, she insists on preparing all our meals.

Mom just turned fifty, but she can pass for my older sister. Not only is she beautiful, she has an inner strength that’s kept this family standing during the most difficult of times.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m nothing but a disappointment to her. She raised us all to be strong, but since I started working alongside my father, I’ve only felt weak and scared.

While she stirs the tzatziki dip, she glances at me. Her eyes flick over my face, then she frowns. “Why do you look so worried?”

I shake my head, forcing a smile to my face. “I’m not worried.”

I’m getting really good at lying, but I have to work harder on masking my true feelings.

A smile curves around her mouth, and as she plates the pita bread, she says, “You’ve done so well up until now, and you will continue to do just fine.”

Nodding, my gaze lowers to the bottle of water in front of me.

For the past year, I’ve been training with my father to take over the Greek mafia.

God, has it already been a year?

A drop of condensation starts to trickle down the side of the bottle, and I catch it with the pad of my finger.

Almost a year ago, my fatherformed an alliance with Leo Toscano, Santiago Castro, Dominik Varga, and Enzo Oliveira.

I’ve managed to convince the men I’m a force to be reckoned with, but nothing could be further from the truth.

When I first met them, I had my father by my side, and I didn’t have to interact with them much. But my father has been losing his temper more and more at the most inappropriate times. It was starting to annoy everyone, so I was forced to take over everything regarding the alliance.

Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m scared out of my mind.

Every day, I work with killers and criminals, and I know if they get a whiff of the ungodly fear filling every inch of my being, they’ll tear me to shreds.

Fake it until you make it.

After I repeat the words that have become my mantra, I lift my eyes to my mother and confess, “It’s difficult working withMpampà. His quick temper and ridiculous demands will get us all killed.”

Her gaze locks with mine for a few seconds before she says, “You’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Keep him under control until he steps down.”

Shaking my head, I let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t think he wants to hand the reins over to me.”

“He doesn’t have a choice,” Mom mutters.

She’s right. We’ve crossed too much ground to call it off. The alliance has already accepted me, and they’ve been very vocal about their dislike for my father.

My thoughts turn back to the day I won the respect of the four men. A factory that belonged to Dominik was under attack, and it was the first time we took a stand together against an enemy.

God, my heart was beating out of my chest, and I wasn’t sure we’d get out alive.

Creeping through the factory with my father, my gun is drawn, and my eyes dart all over the place. I swallow hard on the unholy terror gripping my chest while Dad walks with too much confidence as if someone wouldn’t dare shoot at him.

“Stick closer to the pallets,” I hiss at him. “You’re too exposed.”

“Stop cowering,” he snaps at me. “Dimitrous aren’t afraid of anything.”

---