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I nearly choke on my steak. “Your family owns Heathens Hollow? The island in Puget Sound? Are you kidding me?”
“We have a family estate on it. Olympus Manor. It’s where Freya used to live. It’s where she died… or where we believed she died.”
I know Athena Godwin runs Medusa. I know Medusa is a huge company. But owning an island. That is next-level billionaire type of stuff.
“So why have you been fighting so hard for Freya’s house? It sounds like you have more money and assets than you know what to do with.”
She looks down at her lap and then back at me. “I’m stubborn. I don’t like to lose. And I despise being underestimated. You all thought you could scare me away. My goal was to show you that nothing can break me. Nothing.”
“You’ve proven that,” I admit. “Nothing we did could.”
“You can thank my upbringing for that. Life was not easy at Olympus Manor.”
“So you grew up on the island?” I ask. “I’ve never been, but I can imagine it’s beautiful.”
“It’s creepy as fuck,” she says with a scowl. “It’s wet, it’s foggy, it’s full of cliffs and jagged rocks. It’s a fishing town, so it always has a stench. Basically, it’s the backdrop to a gothic novel. So no, I’m not a fan of Heathens Hollow. I know you all think I’m a princess and lived this fairy tale life. But trust me, it wasn’t. Like the island, it was cold, dark, and often times gloomy. I couldn’t wait to move to Seattle. And the minute I could, I did. And for the most part, I’ll stay here. Yes, I visit Olympus Manor to see my family. But I will never see that place as home. I haven’t felt a true sense of home since… well, my mother’s house is starting to. I know Perseus has tried to get me out of there. All of you have but—”
“I think he might be falling in love with you,” I say.
“Eros?”
“Perseus,” I correct.
She nods. “I know, but you know if he loves me, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.”
“I know.” I take another bite of my steak. “So, Paris gave you all our secrets. Tell me one of yours.”
“Then it wouldn’t be a secret,” she says, stabbing a piece of scalloped potato.
“Consider it a peace offering.”
“Are we discussing peace?” She blinks back at me. “Are we going to have a truce?”
“I’m not Perseus. I don’t hate fuck. So a truce would make it a lot more fun when I finally have you riding my cock.”
“Okay then.” She gives me a sultry smile that makes my dick start to swell. “I have had more fun fighting with you and the others than I have had in a long time. I can’t remember the last time I was really challenged, and I love it.”
I smile and shake my head. “That’s not a secret. I watch how your eyes light up when you are in the heat of battle. You have to give me something better than that. Something darker.”
She pauses, studies my face, and then licks her lips. “Fine.” She leans forward and in a low voice says, “I killed a man when I was a teenager.”
I can’t tell if she’s joking. It doesn’t appear that she is, but surely she must be.
“It was our butler. I pushed him down the stairs, and his neck snapped.”
“An accident?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “The fucker came into my room and tried to have sex with me. If it weren’t for Phoenix stopping him… Well, let’s just say I wouldn’t have been a virgin in my twenties.”
“So you killed him?”
She nods. “I’d do it again. Over and over again.” She takes a drink of her whiskey. “Is that a dark enough secret for you?”
Fuck…
This woman truly is something. Fascinating.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.” I raise my glass to cheers her. “At the very least, in awe of you. Here’s to wiping out assholes from the face of the earth.” We clink glasses, and I ask, “Did you get into trouble?”
She smiles. “I’m a Godwin.”
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Eros
“Okay, Heph is taking Athena out to dinner. We have maybe another hour before they are back,” I tell Perseus as I come up next to him and stand over the forensic accountant who is sweating bullets as he is frantically typing at his computer. “What’s wrong, Max? You seem a little nervous.” Yeah, I’m being an asshole, but I don’t really care.
“You would be too if you were trying to work with a gun in your back.” The weaselly little accountant’s voice is trembling. God, I hope he doesn’t piss himself. He probably will, but I really don’t want him to piss himself. Then I might just have to rub his face in it like a dog, and then I am going to need a shower before my girl gets home.
