AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wait,” I say, reaching for her as she looks like she’s about to leave. When she dodges my attempt at touching her, I let my hand flop to the armrest. “I mean it, Cia. You’re it for me, and I will tell you everything when you’re ready to listen to me. If that takes years… if I have to stick around for years without touching you, then so be it. But I’m not going anywhere.”
She nods and nibbles on her bottom lip, spearing me with her gray gaze that always feels like it’s looking straight into my dark, damaged soul. “Actions speak louder than words, cuz’.” I cringe as she throws the unwelcome word back in my face. “Make sure yours matches your intent, and we’ll get there.”
The biggest complication about Cia is that there aren’t really any. She tends to say what she means and does what she wants. I won’t get anywhere by sweet-talking her or showering her with presents. If I want her back, there’s only one thing I can do. Tell her the truth and accept her decision to either condemn or forgive me.
Fuck my life!
Exiting the plane, I can’t help looking around for my dad. Rationally, I know he’s gone, but the familiarity of it all hits me so hard I almost expect to see him standing behind me and Cia. As I look behind me, I see her do the same and as our gazes collide, the same look of pain and sorrow is on her face as I’m sure it’s etched into mine.
The man who quite literally put us through hell should be here.
I’m glad when Kai wraps his arm around Cia’s shoulders, the action makes my grief recede and makes way for jealousy. I don’t revel in the feeling, I just prefer it to the sadness.
“Come on,” Liam murmurs, nudging me forward and we all walk over to the waiting vehicles that are going to take us to the shed we once lived, loved, and bled in.
The drive is shorter than I remember it. I swallow down the need to snort as I remind myself that it’s all about perspective. Back then, I dreaded being here, and now, well, I don’t fucking know. I can’t say I’m thrilled to be back, but I understand why Cia planned on coming back. After all, it’s where it all began, so it seems almost perversely fitting that a new chapter begins here as well.
Even though Liam does his best to include me in their conversation, he gives up when all he gets are grunted one-word answers, shrugs, and a few nods—the latter mostly because I don’t really care about any of it.
Seeing Cia marry someone else and burying my dad aren’t really high on my list of things I want to do. Though I suppose they’re still higher up the list than seeing my mom. As soon as I think about her, my hands clench into fists, and my breathing becomes labored. The funeral will be the first time she and Cia come face-to-face since the auction, and I’ll be damned if I let her do anything to my cousin.
I’ve made my choice. For better or for worse, Cia is it. Calling it a choice is laughable, because there’s never really been one. All there has been is me being a fucking… what did Liam call me? A dickwad… yeah, that.
Ifeellikethemiddle child in a very dysfunctional family between agápi and Gus. They’re both practically humming with the need to fight and fuck this out of their system, yet they hold back. The way they’re putting duty first would make Nikolaos proud.
Then there’s Kai, or Kairos, or whateverthefuck he wants us to call him. He doesn’t know any better—poor fool—so I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s forgiven. He isn’t, though. I know my agápi like the back of my fucking hand.
Eventually, he will pay because he let her walk in there as the lamb for slaughter without being able to defend herself. No, that’s not accurate… she understands that, even though no one should have to. Hmm, maybe I’m reading her wrong, I guess it is possible he’s getting off lightly.
“Lupa and Morgana will be here soon,” Cia says, looking at her phone. “They just took off from Mykonos, so it should only be a few hours at most.”
When no one answers her, I nod and pull her into my lap. “What’s the plan, mistress?”
Looking at me with a confused look on her face, she asks, “What plan?”
I let my hands run up and down her back, feeding my need to touch her. “It’s your last night of freedom. Aren’t you going to celebrate before becoming Kai’s ball and chain?” When she rolls her eyes before resting her head on my shoulder, I wrap my hand around her throat and move her so she’s sitting up straight and looking me in the eye. “We’ll definitely be doing something, and you have a lot of explaining to do. Are you honestly expecting Morgana and Lupa to not be armed with at least a hundred questions each? Come on, I know you’re not that dumb.”
Cia huffs, taking my bait. “Stop acting like a jerk,” she hisses.
“Why am I being a jerk?” I ask, pushing her further. “Because I’m refusing to continue the cycle of winging it? Or is it because I’m forcing you to think about things you’d rather avoid?”
Before agápi can answer me, Kai speaks up. “Let her go, Liam,” he all but growls, and I shake my head. “It wasn’t a fucking question.” He walks over to where we’re sitting, looking all menacing as he towers over me.
I continue to stroke my agápi’s back, unperturbed. “No, I don’t think I will.” Then I snake my hand between her bare, clenched thighs, grazing her core. “Besides, she doesn’t want me to. She’s fucking wet,” I say, flexing my other hand that’s still around her throat.
“Liam…” I don’t know if Cia wants me to stop or carry on, but it’s not her choice right now.
Smirking at her, I retort with her name, and laugh when she huffs in frustration as I remove the hand from between her thighs. “We have a few things we need to get out in the open, and not a lot of time to do it. So, I’ll forget about tact and get straight to the point. Make yourselves comfortable.”
As I wait for Gus and Kai to sit down, I turn Cia so she’s facing them instead of me. Once they’re cross-legged on the dirty, uneven floor, I remove my hand from her throat.
“Gus is in the doghouse for being a shady fuck, for being a disloyal fuck, and for keeping secrets,” I state, not paying attention to Cia’s gasp or Gus’ angry stare. Ignoring them both, I unbutton and unzip my agápi’s shorts, lifting her so I can pull them down her legs. “He’s behaved shitty, yes—but he was under orders from you,” I say, pointing at Kai.
Kai’s back straightens, and he opens and closes his mouth. Though he looks like he wants to say something, he doesn’t, and I part Cia’s smooth thighs, spreading them as wide as I can.
“Kai claimed Cia back at the auction, and she accepted his claim. We both know how stubborn and honorable our dragon is, so there was never another outcome in the cards.” I look straight at Gus as I run a finger along agápi’s panties-covered slit.
Her breath hitches and she tries to squirm in my lap, but I hold her close so she isn’t going anywhere.
