Chapter 18

Chapter

Eighteen

APOLLO

I march from one side of the hallway to the other in a frustrated fury. The woman is reckless, borderline insane, and refuses to back down.

Daphne. My brother’s wife.

A woman who has betrayed my family and should never be trusted. Taking her to Olympus to fix the problem shouldn’t be an issue. It’s black and white. Easy. At least that’s what it’s supposed to be before feelings got involved. Before we changed our dynamic of brother and sister-in-law. Why the fuck did I have sex with her? I fucked it all up because my cock got in the way. Now…well, now…she is just plain infuriating. She is a seductive, sensual, and stubborn woman. Not just a woman who I can throw over the cliff outside the manor. She’s not a nameless, soulless person. She isn’t someone I can just dispose of. I can’t define the emotions I have but they are there. Fucked up and chaotic emotions. Relationship-type emotions.

I stop pacing at the memory of spanking and fucking her, and grind my teeth, a futile attempt to fight back the craving, the desire, the need… the confusing connection.

I pace the hall again, fighting the urge to hit something. Why did she go and fuck up so badly? Why in the hell would she make such a deadly decision—knowing who this family is and what we have the power to do? She has no idea how much effort it would take to fix this and save her life—if it’s even possible with the kind of vengeance my father and sister want. No doubt Phoenix wants her dead as well, but I’m sure he’s back in his cave and none of us will hear from him for another decade or so. Athena and my father are a different story, however. They expect me to handle it. They have deadly expectations.

And yet… I haven’t killed her yet. Why? Out of everyone, I should be the one who wants revenge the most. I’ve killed for far less, and I didn’t give it a second thought if someone wronged my family. And what am I doing now rather than killing her? I’m having sex with my brother’s wife.

But then again, if I truly want to live my life as Apollo, then she is my wife. Daphne is the woman to be by my side. Sleeping in my bed.

But I don’t do relationships.

Fucked, yes.

Possessed, hell yes.

Dominated, without a doubt.

But I don’t do relationships.

So this should be another reason to just end her life and make Apollo a widower.

Drawing my hands through my hair, I suddenly realize what it is that has me so upset.

My cock wants her again. I want her again.

Fuck.

Fuck.

I storm to the kitchen and grab a cup of cold coffee from earlier. Staring out the window, I sip the sludge, wondering what the fuck I’m going to do. I’m losing my damn mind, and I need to get my shit together.

Enough is enough. I’m getting too lost in my own demons. Once I cool down and get control again, I’ll prove my demons will not control me.

But for now, I’m still fucking pissed.

Pissed at myself.

I head back to the room, determined to not let her see just how much her actions and her very presence sends me on a spiral of destruction.

I’ve never been one to lose my temper. Though I’m known—or was before I died—for being ruthless and deadly, I always acted with a level head and steady emotion. My father is known for his rage and fury. The staff of Medusa Enterprises often operate under fear rather than respect. My grandfather, on the other hand, rarely lost his control. When it came to Cronus Godwin—the true patriarch of our family— every action was meticulously thought out, and no act was out of anger. I often considered myself much like my grandfather until this very moment. Nothing could break my stone exterior. Nothing—until her.

Daphne almost got herself killed.

By my hand.

I had wanted to kill her, punish her, and then fuck her all in a span of a few minutes. The woman had made me completely lose control, and I hated myself for it.

I am not a man to lose control.

Staring into the mirror over my dresser and dabbing at the claw marks on my face with a tissue, I try not to look at Daphne crouched in the furthest corner of the cage. I need to calm down, and her very presence causes my blood to boil.

This is not how I do business. I have a plan and need to follow it to a tee. This little vixen will not change that.

Blood trickles down my cheek.

Fuck. It looks like I got my ass kicked. A grown man wouldn’t even have the guts to attempt what Daphne just did.

“There will be consequences for this,” I say, more to myself than to Daphne as I continue to stare into the mirror and not her as she watches me from the cage.

“How long do you plan on keeping me here? Like this?” Her voice is softer than before. Her rage has clearly simmered, which helps soothe my inferno.

“I warned you to behave.” I nearly hiss in pain when the tissue touches a deeper scrape, but I won’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she caused me discomfort.

“I know. I wasn’t thinking. I acted on impulse.”

She’s attempting to tell me what I want to hear, but I’m not a fool; I recognize her lies. She’s smart. Very smart. And the fact she literally tried to kill me, or at the very least seriously hurt me tells me she’s as ruthless as I am. I may have truly met someone who has the same level of darkness that runs through her veins.

“Actions speak louder than words,” I say.

“I…yes, I know. I’ll act better.”

Though my homicidal thoughts are leaving my body, I’m still furious with Daphne for what she tried to do to my brother. Yes, I took the fall, but her intentions were to destroy him. She went after my twin, who I’d throw myself on a sword for. Why would she do something like that in the first place? Surely not just for a divorce. I don’t buy her bullshit excuse.

I knew Daphne was a smart and savvy woman when she entered the family. My father would have never allowed the union if she hadn’t been. Before she walked down the aisle, I had watched her. Studied her every move. I had to make sure she was good enough for my brother. Though she came from the Eastside of Heathens Hollow, she didn’t act like some backwood hillbilly. Though not formally educated, she was street smart and extremely sharp. Landing Apollo Godwin as her husband was a score, and she knew it. I didn’t see her as a gold-digger, however. I saw her as a true survivor. A woman who wasn’t going to just live in a shack forever but would fix her situation however she had to do so. I admired that. I think everyone in our family admired that.

Though I hadn’t seen even a glimpse of the woman I believed her to be since stealing her from the hotel. All I see now is a woman acting out without thought, and if she was any other person, and if I was still acting like Ares—the man I once was—she would have already had her neck snapped.

“I don’t have time or the patience for your antics.” Swiping at the last bit of blood, I wonder how I’m going to explain the condition of my face to people tonight. Between my swollen and bruised nose from yesterday, and now that my face looks like a mountain lion attacked, it will certainly give the partygoers something interesting to discuss when I’m not within earshot.

“I’m sorry,” she says. She is holding onto the bars of the cage with a look of desperation in her eyes. “I’ll do whatever you say if you will let me out of this cage. I won’t act out. I swear it.”

I turn to face her head on. “You’ll do exactly what I say, regardless of whether I let you out or not.” I’m not messing around anymore, and it’s damn time she understands that fact.

She nods as tears fall down her face. I freeze. I feel this overwhelming need to comfort her, and it fucking pisses me off more than anything. I’m literally tending to my wounds, but I’m itching to wrap my arms around her and kiss away her tears.

I’m a goddamn sadist… to myself!

“I don’t understand what you have planned,” she says slowly and calmly. “I also don’t believe you want me dead, or you would have done that already. So please,” she swallows hard, “I didn’t mean to try to kill you. It won’t happen again.”

She sits on top of the fur and doesn’t cover up her nudity. I’m not sure if she’s doing it to show her obedience to me since I have made it clear she will remain nude, or if the thought of using the fur to hide her body hasn’t even crossed her mind. But it’s hard for my eyes to not travel to her hardened nipples from the coolness of the room.

But I need to focus. She is right. I have a plan.

“Fine,” I say, ignoring the sting on my face. “I’ll give you one last chance. But if you even so much as come close to pulling a stunt like before, I’ll kidnap your sister and put her inside that cage with you.”

She doesn’t flinch at my words or even grimace in the slightest as I had expected her to do. Instead, she surprises me when she smiles enthusiastically and says, “Yes. I understand. Just tell me what you want. Anything.”

I’m not so stupid to think it will be as easy as that. Not with this woman. And frankly, I don’t mind a bit of defiance. It’ll make it fun to discipline and break the bad right out of her. But I do like seeing that I have at least regained some control over the woman without having to beat the shit out of her which isn’t, and never will be, an option. She doesn’t have to know that little secret, of course.

I need fear on my side.

Especially for tonight to come off without incident.

“I’ll be back,” I say, as I know I still have a lot to do to get ready for the evening. “You sit there and think about how when I return, you are going to be a good little wife.”