Kostas walks over to me, and as tightly as his broken body can, he wraps me in his arms as I sob into his chest. We have no more leads. There are no breadcrumbs to follow. Nobody knows anything. It’s as if Aris and Selene have vanished with Zoe. “Shh,” Kostas coos, his body shaking from the pain he must be in. “We’re going to find her. I promise.”
Kostas
I stare at my reflection as I brush my teeth. Cold. Furious. A monster. Certainly not one who looks like the father of a small, perfect baby. Or the lover and husband of a beautiful woman. I’m ruthless. My father’s son. Every bit the Demetriou I need to be to face the media.
Because they will see.
My enemies.
And I need them to see who the fuck they’re dealing with.
Talia enters the bathroom as I angrily scrub the film off my teeth. I barely slept two hours, but the press will be here at eight sharp this morning, and if I have any hope for making it through today, I need coffee and a motherfucking bagel.
“I’ve never heard anyone growl while brushing their teeth before,” she says, her eyes squinting and her voice gravelly from sleep.
I spit, then rinse, before drying my mouth off. I’ve already showered for the day, which was agony on my wounds, and am in just a towel. My wife looks stunning somehow in one of my oversized T-shirts. Her blond hair is in disarray. But what has me seeing red is the awful bruising and split lip. The entire side of her face is dark purple and blue.
He touched what’s mine.
He has what’s mine.
Aris always thought he could battle with me, and because he was fucking blood, I played his games. Enjoyed taunting him whenever I could. In a way, it was our screwed-up way of bonding. But then he crossed the line. Raped my goddamn woman. Stole her and kept her from me. And now he took my child.
Loyalty means nothing to that Demetriou.
Loyalty means everything to me.
This means fucking war.
When Talia was gone, I drifted. Lost in a fog of confusion and anger. Aris played me. Dangled me by his strings and reveled in my torment. Talia made me soft. I wanted to be soft for her. Only for her. But clearly, I softened in a way that exposed my weakness. I may as well have given Aris a fucking gun and said, “Point and shoot here.”
For the last year, he’s had a “blind me” on his side. He had money and resources. He had my lack of knowledge.
But now he’s no longer battling a brother, he’s in a war with a monster. He thought he could sneak into my compound and get away with this shit. Sadly, he was mistaken. I will gut Greece. Burn it to the motherfucking ground. I will fill every hole with gasoline and light it on fire. Every roach will come out of hiding and I will smash them until I find the rat.
Aris will be mine.
And I’ll get my daughter back.
“Kostas,” Talia says, her brows furrowing. “Are you okay?”
I gently grip her jaw and tilt her head to the side so I can inspect every dark shade of the abuse she endured yesterday. With the barest of a kiss, I whisper it over her sore flesh. My words of hate are breathed against her skin.
“He will pay for this.”
She shivers and grips my wrist. I turn slightly to find her lips. Despite the cut on her lip, I kiss her hard enough to split it back open. The sweet, metallic taste of her mixes with the minty toothpaste, making me hunger for her more than any bagel this morning. If I had more time, I’d turn my aggressions into passion so I could whisper all my evil promises against her skin—promises to take out our enemy and bring home our treasure.
My phone buzzes and I nip at her sore lip once before I pull away.
Adrian: Press is already lined up at the gate. Josef is waiting, too. Where are we doing this?
Me: Hotel lobby. Send Josef to my office. I want to meet with him before we go public.
Adrian: On it.
“I have to meet with the Minister of Public Order. Then, I’ll be doing a press release.” I stroke my fingers through her hair that hangs in messy, natural-dry waves after the shower she took alone last night while I crashed into bed. “I need you to look the part of an angel.”
Not that she’ll have any trouble doing so.
Her brows furrow. “Why? What’s going on?”
My perfect Talia and her never-ending quest for answers.
I drop my towel and nod at her to follow me while I dress. Throwing on some boxers and socks, I then make my way into our closet. The mess had been cleaned up by hotel staff before we went to bed, but the feeling of failure washes over me.
Zoe was taken from this very closet.
Talia lingers in the doorway, no doubt feeling sadness over last night and what went down in here. As I dress in a suit, she runs her fingers over one of her white dresses. She pulls it off the hanger and holds it up.
“This one?”
I rake my gaze down the serene, silky white material. “Perfect. And don’t you dare cover up what he did to you. They need to see.”
Her blue eyes dart back and forth. “Who? Who will need to see?”
Snagging a blue tie that matches her eyes, I slide it around my neck and begin knotting it. Once I’ve tightened it at my throat, I let out a heavy sigh of resignation.
“You are married to the monster Greece knows. Well, at least the one all the scum knows. I will reach them. I’m a Demetriou, it’s what we do. But you,” I say with a smile as I grab my jacket off a hanger. “You will reach the regular people. Every man, woman, and child in all of Europe. We’re going to hit them from all sides. Just be you and you’ll do exactly what I need you to.” I step into my shoes and then walk over to her. “And you’re going to have to let me be me.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“It means, I’m soft with you. In here, with our family, soft is good.” My features morph into something wicked and furious. “But out there, I need to be a blade forged in stone. I need to be unbreakable. I need to be powerful.” I start to put my jacket on, but my arm winces in pain.
She purses her lips before dropping the dress in favor of helping me. She takes the jacket and holds it open so I can gingerly slide my bad arm into the sleeve. Once I have it pulled on and buttoned, I turn to regard her.
“You’re hurting,” she breathes. “Physically and in here.” Her palm presses to my chest between my pectorals. “It’s okay to be vulnerable. Our daughter is gone. They hurt us.”
Sweet, innocent, pure angel.
I slide my fingers beneath her chin and tilt her head up. Blue eyes sparkle at me. She’s so fucking strong. Only a woman like Talia could ever have the backbone and fire to be able to stand beside a Demetriou. She’s fearless and determined. A fucking storm.
“Out there, I can’t be. It’s the only way to get Zoe back. The public needs an angel and the Underworld needs a fiery, unstoppable king.” I kiss her nose. “Are we in this together?”
She smiles. “Since the day I saw you in that courtyard.”
“You tried to run,” I say, in a slightly playful tone.
“I wanted you to catch me.”
Reluctantly, I pull away, needing to get a move on the day. “Make sure you grab something to eat. Basil will escort you. There’ll be coffee and bagels in the lobby if you want that.”