Page 111 of Betraying Family Vows
Stassi glances at Theo, who gives her a slight nod. She hurries over to Katerina.
"Come on," Stassi says, her voice gentle. "Let's go."
Katerina's breaths are now coming in broken gasps.
"I didn't know," she says again. "I didn't?—"
"I know," Stassi says firmly. "You don't have to explain it here."
Katerina lets herself be guided out of the room, Ares never looking at her.
I sit frozen, my pulse hammering, unsure of what the hell to do or say.
Theo rises. "Ares, you need to calm down," he says. "We have him, but we need to think clearly. Go talk to your wife. You know she didn't know about her uncle killing our father. Christ, he gave her to you. Don't spiral on the mother of your child."
Ares's jaw clenches, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. For a terrible moment, I think he might punch his brother. Instead, he storms out of the room, the door slamming so hard behind him that one of the framed photographs crashes to the floor.
I turn to Dimitri. He stares straight ahead, his face a perfect mask, but I can see the storm raging behind his eyes.
"Dimitri," I say, "Are you ok?"
"Stavros was a friend." His voice is hollow. "My father and him..." He pauses, swallowing hard. "Fuck, and Katerina. We were all used by this piece of shit."
He stands suddenly. "FUCK!" The scream tears from his throat. "I'm going to kill him right now."
"No," Theo says. "We can't let anger get us killed. We do this clean."
Dimitri laughs.
"Clean?" he repeats. "He killed our father, Theo."
"And if we rush in blind, he'll kill more of us."
Dimitri doesn't say anything.
Theo looks down at me and then back at Dimitri.
"I'm going to find Stassi. Everyone just breathe and we can talk about this in a little while, once tensions have run their course," he says and walks out.
I stand and walk over to Dimitri and put my hand on him.
"Dimitri," I say softly.
Nothing.
I run my hand along his arm. "What are you thinking? Talk to me."
Dimitri turns to me, eyes blazing.
"My father's own friend killed him," he says and sighs. "I want to kill, I want to break things, I want to fight someone, rip someone's fucking head off.
I think for a moment about what to say.
"Hey, let's take Theo's advice. Clear our heads."
I walk in front of him.
"You have some vineyards and olive groves here," I say, hugging him. "Let's go walk through them." I tilt my head back to meet his gaze, offering him a smile. "I promise not to drug you this time."
