Chapter 21

Chapter

Twenty-One

HEPH

What the fuck is happening with my family?

Does no one else remember the fucking plan?

We are supposed to be taking down Athena and securing Perseus’s legacy. Eros follows her around like a lost puppy, and I caught Paris seconds away from fucking her on the patio. Hell, even Perseus has his dick buried in her and isn’t going as hard as he should be with these plans.

I’m sitting in the library flipping through my phone when Athena comes downstairs. Doing my fucking job, I get up and follow her. I just can’t bring myself to be an ass right now. I wouldn’t say I’m losing my touch, but something has changed, and I need to check with Perseus before I push Athena further. After the past few months, I’m sure my presence is enough to rile her.

Truth be told, I have grown a soft spot for Athena, too. I really like her. She is quick-witted and sticks to her guns. She also doesn’t fold under pressure, which is something to be admired. This morning, when I caught her with Paris, I may have watched a little longer than I should have before making myself known. She looked amazing with her shirt pulled down, her body flushed as she was about to come for Paris. Part of me wonders if I interrupted because he was being disloyal or because I wanted to be the one she was dry humping.

“Here to slut shame me?” she asks.

“Nah, not my style. If I was going to shame you, it would be for being a gold-digging thief, not because you’re a woman who likes to feel good. Double standards aren’t my thing.”

She seems surprised. She looks like she is going to say something, then thinks better of it before deciding on a simple, “Thank you.”

“Don’t go all soft on me. You may have seduced the others, but I’m loyal to my family and not so easily swayed.”

“I can respect that, though part of me wonders,” she says, leaning against a counter, “if Perseus and I hadn’t started with a vendetta, if you and I would be friends.”

“The world will never know.” I roll my eyes at her blatant attempt to turn me from Perseus. “But I’m going to say no. I don’t like how you have changed my friends.”

“I haven’t changed any of them. Maybe you’re just seeing sides to them you normally don’t.” She heads back upstairs, now with an apple and water bottle.

I think about what she said. She didn’t change them, that I am seeing different sides, and the more I think about it, the less I believe her. Eros is always a flirt and a player, flitting from woman to woman after having them. Athena hasn’t fucked Eros. He is working to get in her panties, so maybe… but Paris and Perseus?

No. Paris is always the calm one, even-tempered and refined. He is the gentleman out of all of us. His anger this morning, the way he yelled at me and the rage in his eyes. That isn’t the Paris I know. Something is changing.

Perseus is nothing like the real him. He’s avoiding Athena. He never avoids problems. He never ran from something, even when we were skinny homeless kids. He faced everything head on even when he should have run.

Right now, Perseus is in the basement gym working out in a place he knows he won’t run into Athena.

I need to talk to him, find out if our plans are changing.

Downstairs in the basement, Perseus is on the bench press, and I try not to focus on the way his muscles flex under the strain of his workout that looks like it’s been going on for a while.

“We need to talk,” I say.

He pulls the earbuds from his ears and sits up while I toss him a bottle of water.

“Thanks, what’s up?”

“Have our plans changed?” Leaning against the wall, I cross my arms over my chest .

“What are you talking about?”

“With Athena. Have you changed your mind about what we are going to do?”

“Absolutely not. I will get what is mine.” He throws his towel off to the side. “Why? Are you saying you don’t want to go against her now?”

“No, I am loyal to you, but you don’t seem to be focused on taking her down anymore. Eros is being led by his dick, and I just caught Paris sucking her tits while she dry humped him on the fucking patio.”

Perseus’s face twists into rage. I stop for a moment and wonder if he is mad that the others like her, or mad Paris was touching what he covets. Dismissing that thought, I go back to riling him up.

“How much longer are we going to let her live in your house, our home? How much longer is she going to get to pretend this money is hers?”

“Not long.” He jumps up and starts pacing. “Are Paris and Eros still on board?”

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I hope so, but…”

He nods. “We will keep an eye on them. In the meantime, are we still on track?”

“My part is good to go. Yours?”

“Yeah. When Eros or Paris are with her, I want one of us close by at all times,” he says. “No more make-out sessions in coffee houses, and I want a copy of her texts with Eros. I want to make sure they are only sexting, and she isn’t seducing them to her side. We need this plan to go off without a hitch. So if they have jumped teams, we need to know.” He is pacing through the gym at this point, with his fingers running through his hair. Not for the first time, I wonder what his hair would feel like against my skin.

“I’m tired of hiding in my own home. We need that bitch out now!” Perseus roars. There he is. That is the man I would follow anywhere.