Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I know the way I feel is wrong, obsessive, possessive, but I can’t help it. I need to know who did this to her. I need to make them suffer the way she has. And so I sit here, day and night, watching the video. Watching her heal and recover. She doesn’t know I’m here, doesn’t know I’m watching. But it’s the only way I can protect her.
I have intrusive thoughts.
Dangerous thoughts.
Compulsive thoughts.
And I can’t stop them. Even if I wanted to.
My computer screen lights up with an incoming message. I know who it is even before I hit the connect button.
Athena refuses to call me like a normal sister would, but then again, members in my family are far from normal. She claims she wants to see me. She needs to set eyes on me to make sure I’m actually alive. A voice on the other end of a phone isn’t enough for her, and though I have many weaknesses in life, my sister is the ultimate one. I can’t say no to her, even if I tried.
“Athena,” I say as I connect with the message.
She’s sitting in her office at Medusa Enterprises, where she spends most of her time. “Did you hear?”
“What?”
Athena leans closer to her computer, peering at me through the screen. “You look pale.”
“I always look pale,” I say. “What should I have heard?”
“You need vitamin D. You can’t stay cooped up in that attic and not see the sun.” She jots a note to herself. “I’m sending you vitamins. You need to start taking them.”
Athena is the family caretaker. I’m not sure if it’s truly compassion that makes her fulfill this role or the fact that she is a control freak. Regardless, my sister is a general in the army, and I’ve learned to be her obedient soldier unless I want a fully-fledged war—a war she will win.
“When is the last time you’ve been outside?” she asks.
“Today,” I lie.
Her eyes lock with mine, and she gives a deadpan face. “Seriously, when?”
“I’ve been busy working.”
“We have a security department for that. You don’t have to sit in front of all those damn screens day in and day out looking at footage of Medusa.”
“I do. Look what happened the last time I got lax. Apollo got caught killing someone, and our family nearly imploded. Our security team didn’t catch it. I didn’t catch it,” I say.
“Overseeing the security footage of Medusa is not a one-man job,” Athena lectures. “You have a team. Use them. Come into the office and train their asses. Whatever. I don’t care. It’s your department. But get out of the fucking attic, fly to Seattle, and get some goddamn vitamin D.”
Getting frustrated, I ask, “What were you calling about? You asked me if I heard.”
She looks up from her computer, reaches over for a file, and hands it to her secretary, who has just entered the room. Then she returns her attention to me. “Apollo and Daphne. He’s having a baby with that bitch.”
“What?” I say the word on an exhalation. It feels as if my lungs have been punctured, and shock edged with rage is oozing out.
Athena rolls her eyes. “So yeah. Looks like there’s a new heir to the Godwin fortune and empire coming to play.”
“How the fuck did this happen?”
“Did no one ever have the birds and the bees talk with you, brother?” Athena’s getting distracted again, texting something on her phone. It’s rare anyone gets Athena’s full attention. She is the queen of multitask. “A man puts his penis in the va—”
“Athena…” I’m not finding Athena’s dry humor amusing. I rarely do. “Daphne betrayed this family. Doesn’t Apollo get that? She’s a liar. Nothing is worse than a liar.”
Athena shrugs. “Love.”
I huff. “Apollo is as capable of falling in love as you and I are. Not possible.”
“Then she’s good in bed. I don’t know. But she’s pregnant. That much is for sure.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. Fuck,” Athena agrees. “They bought a house or something, too. A new one.”
“Yeah, I knew that.” I refocus on the monitor where Daphne’s sister sleeps.
Ani is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. It’s not just her physical appearance, although that’s certainly part of it. She has a kind of inner glow, a light that shines from within. It’s like she’s made of magic, of pure goodness.
As I watch her on the screen, something stirs inside me, something I haven’t felt in a lifetime of loneliness. I’ve always been a recluse, a hermit. I’ve never cared about anyone, never let anyone get close. But watching her, seeing the way she moves, the way she smiles, it’s like she’s reaching out to me, pulling me in.
I shouldn’t feel this way. I’m a stalker, a predator. Godwins are bad and can’t be good. She should be my prey and nothing more. But as I sit here in the attic, watching her, I can’t control my raging emotions. I’m drawn to her, irresistibly. No matter what happens, no matter what the consequences, I’ll always be here, watching her, because she’s the one thing in this world that makes me feel alive.