Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

ATHENA

Still reeling from last night and whatever the fuck that was, I go for my run, cutting it a little short, looking forward to spending some time with Paris. He is easy to be around. He makes me laugh, and he makes me feel wanted and cherished when he kisses me. He also respects that I’m not willing to give up my virginity quite yet… or at least wasn’t willing before last night. Unlike Perseus, he doesn’t push. But the way he kisses me, I know that if he does that when we are truly alone, it would go so much further.

Just because I fucked Perseus, doesn’t mean some weird monogamous loyalty begins. Quite the opposite, in fact. I want to fuck someone else fast just so I can erase the feeling of his cock inside of me.

When I get to the coffee shop, the barista points to a table where Paris is sitting, looking all nerdy hot, typing away on his laptop with two cups of coffee and a few pastries sitting in front of him.

“Good morning,” I say, taking the seat across from him.

“One second,” he says, typing faster before he closes the laptop and puts it away. It makes me feel so important when he does that. All his attention is on me, not being divided between me and the code like it is when he hangs with the rest of his friends. “Good morning.” His smile is bright and makes my knees a little weak. “Did you have a good run?”

“I did.” I take my cup of coffee, enjoying the rich mocha flavor. “Though it looks like you are trying to negate all my hard work with carbs and sugar. ”

“The bakery had just dropped these off when I got here, and they were going fast. So I snagged us each one. I thought you would appreciate the hazelnuts and chocolate with your morning coffee-flavored hot chocolate,” he teases.

“I’m sorry, those of us who aren’t glued to a keyboard all day staring at code don’t need straight black coffee. We get to enjoy our morning pick-me-up.”

“Oh, I’ll give you a morning pick-me-up you can enjoy,” he says with a playful wink, making me giggle like the girls I used to detest.

“Uh huh, I bet this is part of your evil plan, isn’t it?” I tease, and his brows furrow. “You’re luring me into a false sense of security to make me fat. You’ll claim it’s a psychiatric break. That is the scandal you sell to the papers, letting your little buddy take everything.”

He cracks up laughing. “We both know your body is perfect, and you don’t run to stay in shape. I bet it’s burning off frustration and helps you focus.”

“It is helping me keep my competitive cut-throat edge while I wait to go back to work,” I admit.

“So about last night,” he starts, and my stomach flips. Does he know what happened at the pool last night?

“What about it?”

“You really threw poor Perseus for a fucking loop with your insults.” He laughs.

Picking up my pastry, I give him a smile. “Good.” I bite into the breakfast, and it’s so good my eyes just about roll to the back of my head as I let out a moan that is a little too sexual for a morning coffee shop.

“Admit it, I did good at grabbing these.” The smirk on Paris’s face is the right amount of sexy and confident.

“Maybe.”

“Well, now that I have you blissed out with chocolate, answer a question for me.”

“Depends on the question,” I say before taking another bite of the flaky heaven.

“Did you mean what you said?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” I deadpan as I set the pastry down on the plate and pick up my coffee.

“About you thinking I would be the most gentle and thorough lover out of all of them.”

“I was mostly saying that to point out how Perseus pales in comparison.” God, how I wish that were true, but he is just as sexy as the rest of them. Physically, anyway. His personality still sucks. “But yes, I think that you would be the sweet, gentle one.”

“What on earth gave you that idea?” He leans back in his chair, crossing his hands over his chest. I would think he was upset if he wasn’t grinning at me with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“The way you kiss me,” I answer. “You are sweet and attentive, and it’s actually amazing. And not a hint of the brutality that I would expect from the others.”

He nods like he is expecting that answer.

“You’re not entirely wrong. When we kiss, I want to worship you and hide you from all the bad things in this world. But you should know that when I get you alone, I will do things to you that will make you wonder if I wasn’t the monster that you should be protected from.” He leans forward in his chair, his bright eyes holding mine even behind his glasses. “Trust me, angel. I will be the reason you fall from grace. And you will love very second of it and beg for more.”

Heat rises to my cheeks and floods my panties. Holy fuck, where has that come from? I am still looking for a response, any response.

Paris gives me that sexy, self-satisfied smile as he sits back in his chair with his coffee. “So, what are your plans today? More party planning?”

It takes me a moment to process the change in topic and to regain control over my hormones.

“Nope, the planner has some samples to get, and she and I will meet up tomorrow. Today I am going to do something far more important, and I was hoping to get your help.” I lean back in the padded chair with my coffee in my hands.

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to try to find out more about my mom. I was hoping you could tell me more about what she was like, especially toward the end.”

Paris regards me for a moment, like he is deciding what to tell me. Then he gazes out the window. He could be watching the cars go by, or the clouds roll in, but I don’t think he is. I think he is watching my reflection.

“How much do you want to know?” he finally says.

“Everything.” My answer is immediate.

He nods and then looks at me again, making eye contact. “Okay, but not here. There are too many ears. And what I need to tell you isn’t going to be easy to hear. So, eat your breakfast, then we will find somewhere quiet to talk.”

“I can’t eat anymore. Let’s just go find that place to talk now,” I say, standing with my cup in my hands.

Hand in hand, he leads me out to his car. We get in, and he drives away from the coffee shop to a park overlooking a picturesque lake with ducks.

“In her last few months, Freya wasn’t doing well. Perseus didn’t want to see it, but she was sick. We took her to the best doctors, of course. They said it was a condition from the drinking, and she needed to stop. She said she would, but then I would find her in the kitchen, passed out on the table, and the stove on fire.”

I gasp, but he keeps going.

“She could have gotten better. I think she chose not to. For as long as I have known her, Freya was never a cheerful person. She would laugh, of course, and I believe she loved all of us. She is the one who called us her protectors, but there was something inside her that was fractured, and that crack just kept growing. I think she got to the point where she gave up trying to fix it.”

“What do you mean, gave up?”

“The doctors gave her meds she refused to take. She would just spend all day drinking and writing in her diaries. She wouldn’t talk to us. And we all tried. A lot. I don’t think she was trying to kill herself. I just think she fell into a depression so deep she didn’t care if she could get out of it or not. Watching her fire slowly fade drove Perseus off the deep end, too, for a while.”

We sit in the car in silence for a bit. Paris’s eyes are glassy, like he is reliving all of it as I try to picture the woman he has been describing, and I just can’t.

“You said she wrote in her dairies?” I say, making Paris snap back to reality.

“Yeah,” he says after a moment. “She had a few. She never let any of us touch them. They should be in her room somewhere. You haven’t found them?”

“I have, but I don’t really like reading them. I keep trying and… I feel like I’m invading her privacy.” My stomach twists in guilt. She is my mission, why I am here, and I have just forgotten about finding out her truth. Actually… I’ve been more focused on these guys and not letting them get the best of me, that I have lost touch with my original goal. “I guess I have my new mission for today. ”

“Do you want me to take you back now?”

“Please.”

As we reach the mansion, and before we get out of the car, he stops me and pulls me into a heart-stopping kiss. This isn’t the sweet Paris I know. His touch is heated and claiming, seeming to prove his words from earlier.

“What was that for?” I ask.

“Because I wanted to,” he says before getting out of the car and leaving me there.