Page 75 of Betraying Family Vows
Each room looks more luxurious than the next. There's a massive open kitchen, a lounge area, bar, billiards room, and a few other rooms that I don't even know what the hell you'd use them for.
As I look at the paintings hanging around the rooms, I find it strange, how you can feel the history in the walls. Like it all soaked in, all the arguments, laughter, and grief.
I see another picture of Eleni, and I stop to wonder what it was like when she was alive. How a woman like her managed to raise Dimitri and his siblings.
I continue walking, trailing my fingers along a large bookcase down a hallway and for a moment, I let myself pretend.
Pretend that I'm not the daughter of a man who ordered another man's death. That I'm not here because of a vengeance I'm no longer sure I even want. That I'm just a woman walking down the stairs of a beautiful house toward the man she —
I swallow hard.
No, stop pretending, Athena.
I turn a corner and hear Dimitri's voice. I follow it and I find him in an office. The door is partially open, and I catch sight of him behind a massive oak desk that looks like it weighs as much as a small car.
He's on the phone, his expression stern, shoulders rigid beneath his all-black suit. He looks sexy, but professional. Nothing like the man who had me pressed against a wall last night, whose hands knew exactly where to touch me. This is business Dimitri.
"I don't care what he thinks," he says into the phone. "I'll handle it."
A pause. Then, quieter, "I'm fine, Theo. Really. I've got it."
His eyes flick up, catching me hovering in the doorway. His expression softens for just a moment, then returns to stone.
"Anyway, I'll call you later, but tell Calli to go on her little kickboxing tournament thing. It's best to get her away from all this anyhow," he says and hangs up.
I slip through the door, suddenly feeling awkward. What are we now? Enemies turned lovers? Partners in revenge? Two broken people clinging to each other in a storm?
"Good morning," I say, clearing my throat.
"There's coffee in the kitchen. I can grab you some," he says, but his eyes track me as I move to sit in the leather chair opposite his desk.
"I'm okay for now," I lie. I'd kill for caffeine, but I don't want him to leave me just yet. "This house is..." I search for a word that doesn't sound trivial. "Incredible. Like something out of another time."
"My grandfather built it," he says, leaning back slightly. "He used to say a house should be big enough to hide all your secrets but small enough that your enemies can't hide from you."
"I'm pretty sure I could find a few good hiding spots," I say with a small smile.
"You think so?" Dimitri asks, his lips curling into a slight smile. "We should try that sometime."
This small talk feels like armor we're both putting on, neither sure how to navigate this fragile new peace between us.
We lapse into a silence.
My gaze drifts across the polished surface of the desk. There's the laptop, the same one I worked on. And next to it, the encrypted phone.
The black, harmless little rectangle that could end everything.
I look back up to find Dimitri watching me.
I nod toward the phone. "Mind if I try again?" I ask.
Dimitri hesitates, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Alright," he says finally, grabbing the phone, "but I need you to answer something for me first."
My stomach tightens. "Okay."
He shifts in his chair, the leather creaking, and he rubs his thumb along the edge of the phone like he's debating whether to hand it over.
