Chapter Five

Ares’ POV

Annika hasn’t been home since she stormed off unceremoniously five hours ago. It’s raining now, the patters hitting the windowsill in a soft lullaby that would have calmed me down a year ago.

But now, everything seems to be on the verge of falling apart, and I cannot let it.

It took everything in me not to stop her from running out those doors, to pull her flush against my skin and pat her gently until she calms down. 

But if this is going to work, if Athena’s sentence isn’t going to be in vain, I have to distance my emotions from what I have to do.

I cannot fall for the enemy.

Bringing my glass to my lips, I lean into the high-backed chair, my eyes still on the window. I have been drinking quite a lot in recent times. It is the only affordable escape I have right now. 

The one thing I want has to remain far from reach.

A nondescript car strolls into my driveway, and I sit up as I watch Annika stumble out. She is drunk. I can tell by the way her legs move, made even slower with her injured ankle. 

Someone gets out of the car after her, holding an umbrella. I cannot see his face because the umbrella makes it impossible. He holds her on her shoulders, and I keep watching until they disappear from view.

A moment later, I hear the front door open.

I take another sip from my vodka, forcing myself to remain seated. I try to stay busy, looking over the numbers of my company and sending emails to some partners for our upcoming meeting.

But an hour runs by so fast that I know there is nothing more I can do to stop myself.

Leaving the glass on the table, I make my way out of the study, stopping by her bedroom first. I push the door open slowly, meeting her perfectly made bed. 

She hadn’t been in here yet.

Closing the door after me, I move into the living room, holding my breath when I see her sprawled on the couch, her hair sticking out in all directions. Her beautiful brown hair. 

I know she hates the fact that I always want her to wear her hair in a particular manner, but she has no idea it is because of days like these. Days where her wild and unruly hair makes me want to bury my fingers inside her tresses, just to check if they feel as soft as they look.

I don’t know when this started happening, when I started looking at her twice, when her eyes glistened with tears make me flinch.

Her lips are parted slightly, and a thin breath comes out in a perfect rhythm. The couch dips slowly as I sit beside her. Annika murmurs something indecipherable in her sleep, but her eyes don't open. 

Instead, she snuggles further into me, sighing softly. 

“Annika,” I groan, closing my eyes briefly. I hate the way her vulnerability gets to me, how I want to shield her from the rest of the world so bad. But Athena is more important. 

She has to be. 

I lift my hands hesitantly to her hair, pushing back a stray curl. My fingers linger, staring at her perfect face. A frown works its way to her forehead, and I sigh. 

“This isn’t good,” I murmur to myself, getting up. My journey back to my study is filled with so much purpose. I call him the moment I am behind the doors, asking him to be at my house in ten minutes.

I know no one orders him around, but I have his daughter. The least he could do is appear. 

Charles Hart walks into the study a moment later, the same darkness that oozes out of him apparent in his eyes. If he noticed his daughter on the couch in the living room, drunk and passed out, he doesn’t say anything about it as he plops himself in my chair at the other end of the desk.

“This better be worth it,” he sneers, angling his shoulders. “I don’t take lightly to commands.”

“You shouldn’t,” I shoot back at him, angling my head. “Why did you send Vivienne to me?”

At first, I think he is going to deny it like anyone else in his shoes would, but a grin stretches out on his face as he sits even more comfortably. 

“Consider it a little gift,” he murmurs. “You liked it, right?”

“You would have had the answer to that if you had consulted with her before coming in here, Charles.”

He shrugs. "I prefer hearing from the horse's mouth."

“When did you find out?”

"That you are Athena's brother, and your company is Twists, just rebranded and changed into Brooker International?" He chuckles, his stomach shaking with every move. 

“Recently. There had to be a reason why you treated my daughter the way you did, after courting her diligently. I should have conducted a background check on you before letting her walk down the aisle.”

“And do you regret it?”

"Regret?" Charles grabs my glass without asking, downing the remaining content. The liquor burns him instantly, and he winces before sliding the glass back to my side of the desk. "That is so strong. Where do you get it?"

“Charles Hart!” I snap. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you on the spot right now after what you did to my sister.”

“Because you can’t,” he says simply, getting on his feet. “My men are outside. Any move you make will be heard by the authorities.”

“The same authorities that sent my innocent sister to jail?”

He nods, a sly grin on his face. “The same, Ares.”

“Annika is going to suffer for this,” I promise, rising on my feet too. “I am going to make her regret the day she met me. You are right. I have never been in love with Annika. This was all intentional. I singled her out for the purpose.”

Charles shakes his head. “Then you are wasting your time. You can go ahead and kill her, or do whatever you want with her. I don’t care. She has never been of use to me anyway.”

And suddenly, from the other end of the door, I hear a slight whimper, and then a loud thud.