Chapter 19

Chapter

Nineteen

APOLLO

The sound of the family helicopter landing has me rushing down the stairs and out the front door to cut off the impending storm. I know it’s one of two people, or possibly both, and I have to meet my opponent outside to shield Daphne from the wrath as best I can. This isn’t their fight. This isn’t their mess. This isn’t their wife.

“It’s a good sign to see you standing outside by yourself,” Athena says as she approaches.

The helicopter turns off its engines, which tells me that Athena doesn’t plan on staying long and plans to still fly out today. Otherwise, it would just return to Seattle and wait to be beckoned again.

“Cliff or shallow grave?”

“Neither,” I answer as she kisses me on the cheek.

She pulls away and narrows her eyes. “Please tell me that bitch still isn’t alive.”

“She’s not your concern.”

“The fuck she isn’t. She betrayed our family.”

“No,” I say calmly. “She betrayed me .”

Athena releases a heavy breath and rolls her eyes. “I should have expected you couldn’t handle this. You’ve never been the killer in the family. That was Ares, and I guess now that he’s dead,” she looks up at the house behind me as if she can see Daphne, “I’m going to have to step in and fill that role.”

“I have it under control.”

“Clearly you don’t if her brains aren’t splattered on the rocks below that cliff.”

“Sometimes there is punishment far worse than death,” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and guiding her a few steps away from the front door just to make sure she won’t suddenly charge inside and get to Daphne before I can stop her.

“You know Father will not allow her to live,” she says. “Even if you can convince me, there is no way he will let that happen.”

“I have this under control.” I lead her back to the helicopter. “You can go back to Seattle. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do.”

She stops walking. “I’m actually not here to kill Daphne. Although I can fit it into my schedule if need be.” She reaches into her purse to pull out her phone to look at it before adding, “I’m here to meet with dear old Uncle Leander. Apparently, Poseidon Shipping needs a little reminder that Medusa Enterprises is the head of the beast.”

“Is he stepping out of line again?”

My uncle has always resented his older brother, and even us, for the way we run Medusa. Although he runs a division—a very powerful division—he’ll always have to answer to the heir of the empire, Troy. To say the two brothers don’t get along is an understatement. Somewhere along the line, they agreed to a truce to some degree. Leander runs Poseidon from Heathens Hollow. Troy stays in Seattle except for a vacation. They have their territories. Troy has the land. Leander has the sea. Usually, the two can agree, but there is always the occasional clash of the titans, and it seems Athena’s job today is to stop an impending battle.

“Arms deals with Russia is the rumor,” she says, texting someone as she does. “Our cargo may not be on the up and up. I’m here to remind him we don’t do criminal.” She looks up at me and smiles. “At least not on the surface.”

“Yes, the Godwins are known for our squeaky-clean reputation.” I chuckle and shake my head.

Someone once asked me what Medusa does. It was easier to actually tell them what we don’t do. We thrive on hostile takeovers. We love to conquer, destroy, and then rebuild. There isn’t a business we won’t touch, claim, and then run even better.

Medusa is the modern-day Viking.

“He’s getting messy,” Athena says. “Father sent me here to make sure our uncle knows he better clean it up or his brother will.” Athena finishes her text and then looks back at the house. “So where is Daphne?”

“In a cage,” I answer.

Athena laughs. “If only.” She laughs again, clearly not taking my answer seriously. “Although a cage is exactly where she belongs. It’s a shame, really. Daphne had a lot of potential. I appreciated her ability to be a scrapper, but she also could act like a chameleon and fit into any situation with grace and elegance. She really could have been an asset to our family.”

A black sedan pulls up to the drive, and a man in a suit steps out and rushes to the other side to open the back door for Athena.

She looks at me, pats her hand on my arm, and says, “I’ll let you handle Daphne. But if it’s too hard, or you feel you can’t do it…let me know. I understand that she’s your wife, and though you may be a Godwin, your heart may not be made of stone.”

“I just need some time. I’ll handle this my way and make sure Daphne can’t hurt this family ever again.” I look at Olympus and then back at her. “But I appreciate the offer. If you really want to help me, keep Father away. I’ll try to work from home, but I need a few days off. I need time to just remember my brother, get a grip on what this new life looks like without him.”

I see a flicker of pain in her eyes, and only I’d be able to see it as I know my sister so well. She quickly recovers but says, “I miss him.”

“I do too.”

“He was the heartbeat to this family.” Her eyes cast to the tree of forgiveness. “Do you think it’s our family’s penance for all the wrong we do? Do you think Ares was taken from us as a punishment?”

“I don’t know. I ask myself every day why it was him and not me.”

Her eyes remain on the tree for several more moments, but then Athena seems to shake off the trance she was in and says, “I’ll cover for you,” she says as she walks to the car. “But don’t take long. Medusa is a shitshow with all the scandal. At least the press is concentrating on the death more than the murder and trial. So I guess that’s good. But our stocks are plummeting, and I sure as fuck don’t know how to do numbers. That’s your department.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” I ask as she climbs into the car. I know Athena can handle herself with anyone, but I still want to offer.

“You just worry about the numbers and that Jezebel inside. I’ll worry about operations.”