Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

PHOENIX

“Come on, brother. I thought you left this place,” Apollo says as he enters the attic, inspecting every inch with his judging eyes. “I thought you were hiding out in that apartment of yours in Seattle.”

“I still have the Seattle home,” I say, “but I like it here better.”

Apollo heads over to the window and stares down at the land below. He doesn’t need to tell me he’s staring at the tree of forgiveness for me to know where his eyes are locked.

“I don’t see how you could. I don’t know why anyone in this family would want to keep coming back to this house.” He turns and looks at me. “How long have you been here?”

What he’s really asking is if I have been here in the attic the entire time he was with Daphne while they created their demon child.

“There weren’t any cameras in your room, or the study, if that’s what you are wondering,” I say. “The last thing I wanted to see was you with her .”

“Careful,” he warns, subtly telling me that attacking his wife is not a good idea.

I have no desire to fight with my brother. “I’m glad you’re here. You are saving me a phone call.” I lean against the edge of the console with my arms crossed. “I need you to help me hunt down Ani’s ex. I want him killed. Actually, I want to do it myself.”

Apollo turns his head slowly, his eyes narrowing. “You’ve never been the killer in the family, brother. ”

“Ares is dead, so it’s not like I can ask him to do it.”

He nods slowly. “Still. Killing someone isn’t in your nature.”

“It is if it means keeping Ani safe. Guaranteeing it. My job in this family is security. So I need to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

“Ani isn’t family.”

“Close enough,” I counter.

Apollo remains quiet for several moments, studying my face. No doubt he is reading just how serious I am. “The ex is dead. No need to worry about that any longer.”

“What do you mean dead?” I ask.

“Dead. Let’s leave it there.”

“No. We aren’t going to leave it there. How do you know he’s dead?” Ani made no mention of him no longer being alive, and surely she would know if that were true.

“It’s a long story,” Apollo begins with a sigh, “but Daphne asked a favor of me. For her sister. She wanted the ex to be killed, and after what I saw he did to Ani, I made it happen.”

“You killed him?” Apollo’s not normally the killer in the family either, but then again, his twin brother who was the killer died, so I suppose he felt the role fell to him.

“Yes. And the less you know, or anyone knows, the better.”

This was the way Ares used to work. He told no one of the details when he made a hit. Clearly, Apollo has taken notes from our brother.

“Does Ani know you killed him?”

Apollo nods. “Yes, but not all the details.”

My disbelief is quickly morphing to rage. Why wouldn’t she tell me? Why would she lie? She told me he was gone. Not dead. Just gone.

“And Daphne knows you killed him?”

Apollo nods. “And before you start bashing my wife and telling me she’ll turn me in to the police?—”

“Again,” I snap. “Turn you in to the police again , brother.” My hands shake, so I put them in my pocket to try to control my emotions. I don’t want my brother to see me lose my shit. “That woman nearly destroyed our family. And you just handed her the tools to do it again. Her sister, too. Those two women now have the ability to hurt the Godwin family again .”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“They are both a security risk!” The heat in my face, the shaking of my hands, and the way my breathing feels it’s seizing is betraying just how furious I am. “I oversee security. Don’t you think I should have been made aware of this? Where the fuck is the body?”

“Taken care of,” Apollo says calmly. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Except the two women in this situation who are not Godwins.”

“Daphne is my wife. She is a Godwin. And I was doing her sister a favor. Ani will never turn against me. Plus, it would mean putting her and her sister in jail, too, if she did.” He takes a step toward me and places a hand on my shoulder. “There’s nothing to worry about. I know how to clean up my messes.”

“And what does Father say about this? Athena?” I ask.

“They don’t know, and we’ll keep it that way.” Apollo’s eyes darken in warning.

“Because you know they’d want both those women killed to keep this from spreading like a goddamn disease.”

“I told you it’s taken care of. It’s over. Done.”

I don’t like being blindsided. Of being kept in the dark, completely unaware. And that is exactly what has happened.

And Ani… I trusted her.

I thought she was genuine. Honest. Someone I could open up to.

Lava erupts in my gut, and I have never been more relieved when Apollo says, “I need to get back to Seattle tonight.”

That would explain why the helicopter is still on the pad rather than flying back to Seattle.

“But I wanted to tell you in person that I’m going to be a father,” he adds.

“Congratulations,” I say between clenched teeth. “Athena told me.”

“I figured she did. But still. It’s news I wanted to tell you face to face.” He pauses. “I’m happy, Phoenix. It’s a rare emotion in our family, I know. But I am genuinely happy.”

He remains in place. I don’t know if he’s waiting for me to bust out the cigars or something, but I have nothing to offer him. I’m not happy. I’m fucking furious.

Daphne trapped him. She trapped us all.

The minute Apollo leaves, and the blades of the chopper are swirling, I march to Ani’s room. I can’t see straight. The ringing in my ears is deafening. There is a traitor in my sanctuary, and I must get rid of the cancer now.

She jumps as I open the door. “Phoenix? Is everything okay?” She doesn’t move, which is a good thing. It’s smart to remain very still when face to face with a beast.

“I’m going to ask you something, and I want the truth.” I’m giving her an option to try to fix this situation, if that’s even possible.

“Okay…”

“Where is your ex?”

She licks her lips, swallows. “I told you. Gone. Why are you bringing him up again? I don’t want to think about him for another second.”

“Where is gone ?” I press.

She shrugs and avoids eye contact with me. “I don’t know. Baja maybe. He has a brother there. My guess is he’s riding dirt bikes and drinking cheap Mexican beer.”

And there it is. Ani Parker is a liar.

Controlling emotions has never been one of my strong suits. However, up until this very second, rage and fury were not emotions I had often experienced. Usually, there was something darker inside of me that sort of numbed those feelings, allowing me to take a step back and observe the world around me with a disaffected calm. But not now.

The sight of her sitting on the bed, her small frame filling the space with a betraying energy, is enough to ignite a fire in my heart I have never known before. Ani and her sister could now be the source of all my family’s pain if they open their mouths, the ones responsible for shattering the Godwin name into a million pieces.

Daphne and Ani have all the power.

My hands tremble as I clench them into fists. I want so desperately to lash out, to give in to my anger, but I’ve never been violent toward a woman. I don’t want to start now.

Slowly, I step forward and speak. “You are a liar,” I seethe, my voice deceptively steady despite the emotions raging inside of me. “I just spoke with Apollo.” I lean towards her, my face towering over hers. “You are a liar. I detest liars.”

Ani doesn’t say anything right away, but she scrutinizes me with a calculating calm. After a few tense moments, she speaks. “This wasn’t just my secret to tell. It involved your brother, my sister.”

“I trusted you.” Saying the words feels as if I am vomiting.

“I’m sorry, Phoenix. Truly. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

“But you did.”

Ani looks away, her expression a mix of guilt and sorrow. Her silence speaks louder than any words she could say. She’s clearly struggling to come up with a valid excuse for lying to me multiple times. And even if she’s truly sorry, it’s too late. The damage is done.

“Get out of the house now,” I boom, my voice vibrating in my chest. “Now. You have ten minutes to gather your stuff.” I spin and storm out of the room.

She calls out behind me, “Phoenix, wait. Please. I’m sorry.”

I pause in the hallway, feeling a pang of guilt by simply throwing her out of the house in the night with the rain coming down in sheets.

“Phoenix,” she says again as she runs to the doorway. “Let me make this right. I’m sorry. I truly am. You’re right. I did lie.”

I snap my head around and glare at her. “It’s more than just that. My family can’t allow danger to enter our bubble, and you delivered it on a motherfucking silver platter. You put my brother at risk. Because of you, he risked everything.”

“I didn’t ask Apollo to kill him!”

“But your sister did. And for that, you must pay the consequence. You both will.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your sister has caused issues for this family for the last time. If no one else will do something about it, I sure as hell will.”

“Please, stop and listen to me. Everything happened so fast that day. Mark had—” Her voice cracks and she looks up at me with big wide eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Words aren’t enough,” I counter. “Consequences and actions are how the Godwins respond. Your sister has already been alive longer than she should have.”

She takes a step toward me. “Fine! This was my mess. Allow me to face the consequences. Not my sister! I’ll do whatever you want.” She pauses, looks toward the bedroom window through the doorway, then takes a deep breath. “I’ll pay my penance if it means you trust me again. If it means you don’t go after my sister. After me. Let me prove to you that my sister and I will never do harm to your family. Let me prove to you that I never meant for you to feel this way. Never.”

Ani has the ability to hold a noose around my neck. She’s strangling me with her pleas. She’s fucking pulling the air right out of me.

“Out of this house. Now,” I demand.

I march downstairs and pop my head in the kitchen where the staff are working, acting as if they haven’t heard a single word of the commotion. They are used to keeping Godwin secrets. Years of being in this den of sin is enough to school them that they keep their heads down and their ears closed.

Behind me, I can hear Ani scurrying down the stairs to leave. I issue some orders for them, and they act on my commands immediately. I then turn to head to the foyer where Ani is, putting on her shoes that she had left by the door. She has a backpack slung over her shoulder, and I know—without even checking—that she didn’t dare pack a single thing I bought her. She’s leaving the house with nothing.

She’s kneeling on the ground, which makes my height over her even more ominous.

Ani scurries to her feet. “I really am sorry I lied to you. I would never want to hurt you. Not after how kind you were to me. Especially after what we just… had.”

Her fucking words are stabbing my heart. But even through the pain, my rage is still there. I had tried to contain the monster inside of me for her. I had tried to behave. To be the man who could take romantic walks on the beach. And look what that got me. Lies. Nothing but lies.

Chaos of thoughts swirl in my head. So many thoughts. So many fucking thoughts.

Is there a way to fix all this? Can we turn back time to where she and I are alone on the top of the lighthouse?

I want it back. I want it back so fucking much.

But I let down my guard with Ani. I became soft with her. Weak. Never. Fucking. Again.

She’s a liar. A liar.

And her sister, and that fucking Godwin baby…

But I want it back. Ani back. I want my sunlight back. I do.

Is there a way to fix the wrong?

No. She’s a liar! Or…

Maybe…

She reaches for the door and something inside me makes me shout, “Stop!”

She freezes, turns to face me.

“If you are serious about suffering the consequences for your crimes,” I take a step toward her. “Then get back on your knees now.”

Without hesitation… she does.