Page 110 of Betraying Family Vows
I hold my breath. My heart pounds. The air in the room feels electric, charged with anticipation and dread.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I register that I'm in a room with some of the most dangerous men in Greece. But all I can think about is the man beside me, and the way his jaw flexes when he's holding back rage
There's a pause, and then two short rings come out of the speaker.
Two more.
Two more.
We all look at the speaker. If I could burn through it with my eyes, I would.
And then, there's a pause, and someone answers.
"Yeah?"
No one speaks. I glance at Dimitri, whose eyes have narrowed to dangerous slits, trying to focus on the caller.
The voice again. "Hello? Who's this?"
Ares leans in, his eyes go wide, and Katerina covers her mouth and gasps.
"Stavros?" Ares asks, his voice low, almost disbelieving.
"Yeah," the voice says, irritated. "Who the fuck is this?"
35
ATHENA
For one second after Ares says the name, no one moves.
Then the world fractures.
Ares's hand slams down on the call box with a force that makes me jump. The speaker crackles once and then the line goes dead.
He doesn't stop.
He yanks the speaker free, lifting it above his head, and smashes it down on the desk.
Once.
Twice.
The third time, plastic shatters and flies around the room. A jagged piece skitters to a stop by my foot.
With a guttural roar, he hurls it across the room. It explodes against the wall.
No one breathes. No one moves. No one even blinks.
Katerina's hand flies to her mouth. All the color drains from her face and it looks like she might be sick.
"No, no, no." Tears streak down her face as she backs away from Ares. "I swear I had no idea. I swear to God, I didn't know." Her voice rises with each repetition, hands trembling as she presses them against her mouth.
Ares doesn't even look at her.
Theo and Dimitri sit perfectly still, like statues carved from ice. No reaction crosses their faces.
Ares begins pacing. "I'm going to destroy him," he growls. "I'm going to gut him like a fish." His fist connects with the wall, plaster cracking. "I'm going to feed him his own fucking intestines. I will wipe Stavros Petrou and the Petrou family off the face of this earth." He whirls toward Katerina, his eyes wild. "I will take everything from him."
