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There was no point in dwelling on all of that now. I had other shit to worry about.
Seriously, a whole lot of other shit.
I might as well take a shower. It would give me a more productive way to kill time before I dealt with my two new bodyguards.
Rolling to my side, I rose from the bed and moved toward my bathroom.
Crossing over the threshold into my en suite, I pushed down my worries and finished my morning routine before stepping into the shower.
Bracing my hands against the tiled walls, I lifted my face into the steaming cascade of water and allowed the heat to soak into my skin and relax my muscles.
Ignoring the water pelting my lashes, I focused on the freshly formed bruises on my wrist.
I couldn’t help the smirk that bubbled up.
When riled, Andraius liked to lash out like a feral cat. So, I’d egged him on.
Maybe it was childish and a bit reckless. No, it was full-on dangerous. However, at this point, outside of protecting my sisters and mother, I had no fucks left to give.
Andraius wanted to project this image of refinement and elegance. I’d only go so far to play the part. Somewhere along the timeline of the past few years, I’d gone from numb and depressed to full-on cold rage.
The more he pushed me, the more I challenged him.
He needed me alive, no matter how many times he threatened to kill me. His claim to the family came through me, and he couldn’t marry any of my sisters because they were still minors.
I’d feared him for the first year of our marriage. He’d broken me and made me believe I’d had no one.
Anger burned bright inside me.
Then, everything changed on the anniversary of Papa’s and Linus’s deaths.
While visiting the family gravesites, a few of my security team had gone out of their way to ensure I noticed the Angelos crest pin they strategically wore on the inside of their suit jackets. The very pin Papa had given them when they officially joined the organization.
It had healed something in my heart and given me hope for the first time since entering the cage that had become my life. It made me realize they weren’t loyal to Andraius at all but to Papa, and now my sisters and me.
Since then, those men had gone out of their way to make my life easier. They took extra shifts, ran errands, or sat with me while I worked in the library. They gave me spare time to linger while out and about town. I had peace of mind whenever they were around, knowing no one monitored my conversations with my mother and sisters.
Although I knew some of the men reported my movements to Andraius, I quickly figured out who they were. Papa had taught me how to recognize people’s mannerisms, habits, and body language, so I observed and noted every detail.
And I tested my team by giving them certain pieces of information and seeing if Andraius was alerted. After a while, I knew who sat in my corner and who resided in Andraius’s camp.
With the knowledge that some of them were looking out for me rather than Andraius, I was able to gain a tiny bit of my confidence back.
I may never return to being the girl who’d had her whole life planned out and knew who and what she was. But the woman I’d become today had survived and knew going head-to-head with Andraius would help me slowly siphon my power back.
Besides, what more could he do to me than he’d done the day of the coup?
I slid my palm over my flat stomach.
That day would forever remain etched in my memory.
He’d held guns to my mother’s and sisters’ heads. He’d used the threat of their deaths to force me to marry him, then fuck him. Afterward, when he learned I wasn’t a virgin, he carved “whore” into the flesh below my stomach with the same blade he’d used to murder Papa and Linus.
I clenched my fists. One day I’d laugh knowing an enemy of his took him out in as gruesome a manner as he’d done to those I loved. I craved to be the one to do it, but the chances of that were slim to none.
Logically, I knew I couldn’t physically overpower him. At nearly five-foot-nine, I wasn’t short or a tiny woman, but Andraius’s body mass could overwhelm me in a heartbeat. He carried a full eighty pounds more than I did, and he knew how to fight, something I’d never gotten the chance to learn to a level that would allow me to defend myself against a grown man.
Nyx mentioned training me, but in what? And could I truly trust her?
