Sexy Jackson anyone? ^^ 😏 You're welcome. He's definitely Fuckville worthy. 😂 Point out my errors and enjoy this update.

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(Athena's POV)

Letting out a frustrated breath, I relax in my seat as Addy sits opposite me. A stupid grin has been on her face ever since she met Mr. Azallion. Wait, my apologies. I mean Enrique. For obvious reasons, I'm annoyed beyond belief. The fact that Addy made me run around like a fool for Mr. Azallion boils my blood. She loves her stupid games which is probably why she didn't bother telling me that Enrique wasn't even the man's real name.

          "Is something up your ass, Athena?" Addy asks with a conniving smile plastered on her face that I want to reach across the small table separating us and slap it off, but I hold myself back. No matter what, she's my sister. Although she's not my favorite person right now, I can't hurt her. Never have and never will.

Deciding to ignore her and the Azallion brothers whose studious gaze I can sense on me, I peer out the window of the jet and wait for Jay to arrive. Despite having days off after the incident at Ruiz's wedding, she can't seem to pull herself together. Perhaps it's because it was something you don't see everyday; bullets flying around and men dropping dead like flies.

"What the fuck are we waiting for?" Addy yells impatiently. "The quicker we leave, the quicker I get to see everyone."

"She swears!" Rome exclaims in excitement, elbowing his older brother. "See. They're different. You owe me twenty bucks."

"What?" Addy cocks a brow. "Athena doesn't swear?"

I look at the Azallion brothers and watch them snort at the same time. "Nah." Rome shakes his head. "She only says shit."

I roll my eyes and press my fingertips to my temples, moving them in circular motion to subside the mild headache. "Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" Addy laughs. "Athena has got the dirtiest mouth on her. She knows all the filthiest profanities. Once you get her going, oh boy," she exhales whilst shaking her head. "Trust me, you don't want to be on the other end of that."

"I highly doubt that," Mr. Azallion butts in with a teasing smirk, his heated gaze fixed on me.

He has mischief twinkling in his blue pearls that I want to gnaw out with my nails right now for... I don't even know what for. Why the hell am I mad at him? Everything he's doing is making my skin crawl, and I don't understand why. Maybe because of the Addy drama or maybe because of what almost happened last night.

Shit! How stupid was I going to be? How stupid was I to think I could do it? To let a man take a little control and kiss me the way he pleased? To let him see me naked with all my scars, all my pain out in the open? Naked, yes. That's exactly what he was rendering me in that moment little by little as I can remember his gaze diving into all my scars, looking for something that I don't wish to relive by unfolding each unfortunate tale. It was as if he was peeking into my soul and seeing the weak girl that I decided to throw in a dark closet and shut away forever. Yet he was trying to unlock that door and peer at that girl to understand her. To understand her pain, her suffering. And I was beginning to let him like a damn fool.

It was quite a beautiful bliss. In that moment, I lost all sense of understanding. Allowing him to undress me, touch me where I haven't willingly allowed men to touch, kiss me where no one has. Maddening me with his stupidity at times and then making me smile the next second without a struggle.

I was ready to lay there for him to explore me and to kiss and love every inch of me. But the moment I opened my eyes and saw him above, my blood ran cold and my chest constricted at the realization of the mistake I was going to make. What a fool I was to think that I could allow him to strip me away to a place where there's nothing but sheer paradise because every time a man laid above me, it's been absolute hell. Although I like to shut out all sorts of emotions no matter what, he seems to somehow always force them out of me. I hate what he's doing to me. What his mere presence is doing to me.

"Sorry, I'm late. Fucking traffic." Jay struts into the jet, and thankfully, wakes me up from my daze as I realize that I was zoned out on Mr. Azallion himself who is reciprocating the same intense gaze.

"Who the hell are you?" Addy snarls at Jay who doesn't mask her distaste either.

Jay is clearly taken aback by Addy's sudden rudeness that I've seen plenty of times before. "Excuse me? Who the fuck are you?" Jay fires back. Here we go...

"Catfight!" Rome cheers with a wide grin. "My money is on Addy. Twenty bucks say that she wins."

"Shut up!" I chide and turn to the two ladies. "Addy, that's Janet, my friend and employee. And Janet, this is Adena, my sister."

"Didn't know you had one." Jay passes Addy the nastiest look that she gives every girl who is a supposed 'skank' in her eyes. "I can see the resemblance. Bitchy and rude."

          "Oh, sweetheart," Addy flashes a vindictive smile. "You have no idea how bitchy and rude I can be. You'll beg for mercy."

"Yup! They're definitely sisters," Rome remarks, petting the sleeping pup on his lap.

          "I don't remember you ever being that," Mr. Azallion pauses, unable to find the right word to describe my sister.

          "That what? Bitchy? Rude? Fierce? Confident?" She laughs, winking at the man. "Baby, you have yet to know me. I can pretend to be someone else for years without faltering. I'm that good of an actress, so whatever Ena you remember, the scared, nervous one, she's gone. Time to let my true self flourish." With a malicious smirk, she walks over to him and makes herself comfortable on his lap before placing a tender kiss on his lips and looking at me. "Isn't that right, sister?"

I roll my eyes at her outrageous behavior and try to keep myself in line as Jackson finally enters the jet with a huff. Thank God. "Addy," I force a hard smile and nod to the seat opposite mine. "We're going to take off, so I suggest you take a seat and buckle up. Not on someone else's lap, though."

          "Anything you say, dear sister." She grins and scoots off Mr. Azallion's lap, taking her sweet time in doing so. "By the way, you have really nice lips. I'm surprised I never made a move on you."

          Mr. Azallion clears his throat and glances at me guiltily as if he committed a terrible crime. Sighing, I roll my eyes and look away. Whatever he does is none of my business, but I do feel a sizzling sting in my chest that I know will be there for a while.

          After everyone buckles in, the jet takes off in no time, allowing me to remove the seatbelt when it steadies in the air and slouch back to burn alone in my gloomy sanctuary. I hear everyone chattering, but the only voice my ears aren't graced with is Mr. Azallion's. I look at the crowd gathered on the sofa by the TV with Jackson and Rome sitting on one side and Addy sprawled on the other. Mr. Azallion and Jay are sitting on the other individual seats to my side.

          "You okay?" Mr. Azallion mouths slowly.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I look away at the clouds out the window, deciding to ignore the man.

"Is it a he or she?" Addy asks, and I'm guessing she's referring to the dog.

"He," Rome proudly answers like a mother.

"Name?"

"This is my pet peeve."

"He's your pet peeve?" Addy shakes her head. "What the fuck?"

Rome grins like an idiot. "He's my pet. His name is Peeve." He begins to chortle as I frown at the horrific joke.

"That was so bad, bruh!" Jackson declares with a laugh as Addy and Jay join in on the laughter.

"But you're laughing," Rome counters.

"I'm laughing because it was that bad."

I ignore the ruckus and so does Mr. Azallion as he comes over in just one stretch of a leg and takes the seat opposite me that Addy left vacant. We look at one another, our eyes locking in place instantly. He doesn't move and neither do I. Intimidation nor fear is the cause of our immobility, but it's the desire to lay in his arms that has me by the throat, and I'm certain it's the same for him. His subtle glance to my lips doesn't go unnoticed by me and mine by him. He's reading me in silence like the most complicated piece of literature and I unconsciously smile to myself.

          "Why are you smiling?" he asks in a low voice with a sweet smile of his own.

          Shaking my head slowly, I whisper, "Nothing." I comb my cold fingers through my hair and put it in a quick bun effortlessly before turning my attention back to him.

          "Are you okay?"

          I snort, cocking a brow. "Enrique? Seriously?"

          "We didn't exchange our real names, so we just picked one for each other." He looks down, then back up. "I thought you were her."

          I can't roll my eyes enough at his idiotic assumption. "And you never bothered mentioning it at all even if you thought I were her."

          "I don't know. You never mentioned you had a sister either." At this point, he seems quite frustrated with all the information too. His brows are drawn together, lines creasing his forehead. His shoulders are rigid rather than relaxed and his lips are tightly pursed together as his blue eyes scan over my features. His hand slowly crawls across the table separating us and grabs mine, interlocking our fingers together as I let out a tired sigh. "Did you take your medicine this morning?" I nod silently to his question and look down as the chattering in the background continues. "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"

          "Nothing happened," I deny the entire ordeal, trying to untangle my fingers from his, but he doesn't let go and tightens his hold.

          "You can't ignore it forever, Athena," he whispers my name and my heartbeat quickens up a notch. What the hell is he doing?

          "Athena," Addy calls my name and I immediately jerk my hand away from Mr. Azallion's like a girl touching something forbidden. "What are you two on about there?"

          Mr. Azallion just stares at me stoically, not bothering to look at the girl on the couch behind him, and his amazingly built body is hiding my view of her. "You," I answer whilst returning Mr. Azallion's gaze.

          "Good," she laughs. A second later, I hear her open her smart mouth again. "Jackson, I have a question for you. Are you still in love with my sister?" she blurts out.

          Jackson coughs out in surprise and so does Mr. Azallion as I move his head aside to look at my smirking sister. Clearing his throat, Jackson replies, "I do love your sister. She's my best friend after all."

          "She is?" Jay queries, but I ignore her.

          "Oh, please!" A bark of laughter slips past Addy's lips as all eyes fixate on her. "You were always in love with her and everyone knows that, but you never had the balls to tell her that."

          "She's knows that I love her and will do anything for her," Jackson counters.

          "Does she know that it's the 'I want to fuck you in all positions and make love to you' kind of love?" Addy's smirk widens as my fists ball up on the table at her disgusting insinuation and accusation on Jackson.

          "Addy, stop," I warn her with a stern glare.

          She completely shuns me with the intention to berate Jackson more. "I bet you guys fucked multiple times in the last three years. Can I count the number on my fingers or is it countless?"

          "Zero to a hundred real quick," Rome snickers.

          "Shut up!" I raise my voice a bit, still trying to keep my composure as Mr. Azallion lays his hand over my shaking fist to calm me.

          "What?" She whips her head in my direction, chuckling. "I'm just curious."

          "Keep your curiosity to yourself. Understood?" I hiss, my body stiffening defensively. "Not even a day back and you've managed to get on my nerves already."

"Oh, really?" Her jaw twitches as she turns her body on the sofa to face me. "If I bother you that much, why don't you just send me back?"

A frustrated huff of air escapes my mouth as I grit my teeth together. "Is that why you're acting out?"

"Maybe." She arches her brow and crosses her arms below her breasts.

Straightening my back, I slip closer to the edge of my seat and rip my hand away from Mr. Azallion. "You want to go back to that place?"

"Maybe," she stresses the word again and tilts her head to the side maliciously.

A bark of laughter breaks past my lips as I shake my head at her. "How about I just send you back to Scotland? Sounds good?" I snarl.

Her eyes widen, her mouth parting at my cheap shot. She rises to her feet and shoves daggers in my chest as her face gains a crimson hue in sheer rage. "Don't you fucking dare go there, Athena," she warns and steps closer. "I swear to God-"

"Why not?" I laugh like a vixen with evil intentions and mount up to my feet, inclining my head with hers. "You went there when I advised you not to and repeatedly kept visiting him."

          "That's a real low blow," she whispers, trying to contain her anger. I know she's on the verge of exploding and so am I. "Stop."

          I inch closer, ignoring her plea. "And then you took me there too, and we both know how that ended."

"Stop it." Her brows knit together in agony as I continue provoking her and make her relive the past.

Shitty move, I know. But I can't physically stop myself as the words keep leaving my mouth. "You screwed everything up. Along with yourself, you messed me up too."

"I didn't do it on purpose," she yells in my face, trying to prove herself innocent as her cheeks darken with all the heat she's trying to contain within herself.

"Well, you did something," I snap, my hands balling up into fists and my anger reaching for the roof. "You almost got us both killed."

Her lips quiver, but she doesn't let her distress project in her eyes as they narrow at me. "So you're finally blaming me for what happened with Maddox?"

"Maddox?" Jay questions, but Addy and I don't pay her any attention.

"Yes, I blame you!" I scream. "You're responsible for everything. You're responsible for the hell I go through every night."

"Athena, that's enough." Jackson comes up behind Addy and motions me to calm down.

Mr. Azallion rises to my side and runs his hand down my back in a comforting manner. "I think you should take a break."

Yanking his hold off, I address the two men with firm glares. "Stay the hell out of this or I'll shoot you both."

Addy's eyes blur with tears as she stares at me in a daze, not believing the words spilling out of my mouth. "Please, stop!" she pleads in a low voice.

"As if I didn't have enough problems, you added more on my plate and made my life miserable." I inch forward, intimidating her into stepping back. "It was all you."

"You threw me in a fucking hospital and left me there alone. You barely visited me like I was some filthy animal that you couldn't bare looking at," she fires back, her body trembling in rage once again. "Wasn't that punishment enough for my ignorance to what Maddox had planned?"

"And you're better now. You're welcome, by the way."

          "Oh, shut the fuck up," she hisses at me. "You not visiting me was part of my recovery too? Because I needed you to hold me. I needed you to be there for me, but you weren't. You hated to come see me."

          "You're right. I hated going there because I couldn't stand looking at you. Couldn't stand your face, your presence after everything." I keep going without realizing what I'm doing. "I hate you. I hate your guts. Everything about you makes my skin crawl. I wish I died that day because I can't continue looking at you and reliving the horrific past that you shoved down my throat. Everything wrong with me is because of you and Mom, and I loathe you both."

Before I can go any further, a hard slap lands on my face, violently jerking me out of my tormented past and rage. Realization strikes me viciously, reminding me of what I just blurted in anger and I can only hope for the ground to swallow me whole now. The thought of Maddox and Fabian fueled my anger and blinded me to the point where I saw them along with all the men who did me wrong and projected the rage they filled me up with toward Addy who didn't deserve my outburst. What have I done?

          Slowly, I turn my head and look at Addy as an agonized tear slips down her flushed cheek ruthlessly that instantly rips my heart out and places a massive boulder on my chest. "I'm sorry that you feel such strong sense of hatred toward me," she mutters, her voice cracking. "I wish I died that day too so that I didn't have to hear you say that. Just know that your words hurt me more than Maddox ever did."

          She bumps my shoulder and walks past me, crying. I hear her slam the bedroom door shut, leaving me to stand there regretting the last couple of minutes. I promised Mom that I wouldn't hurt her, but that's exactly what I just did, and I can't be more ashamed of myself right now.

"You overstepped, Athena." Jackson shakes his head at me before I hastily wipe the tear rolling down my cheek and facepalm.

"I know," I mumble against my hands and let out a shaky breath. "What have I done? I didn't mean any of it."

"You should tell her that," Mr. Azallion says as I remove my hands and look at him. "That wasn't fair to her. You should apologize."

"I know." I inhale, trying to settle the abnormal beating of my heart before looking at everyone. "No one breathes a word about Maddox's existence around Addy. Especially you, Jay."

          "Okay," she complies easily, maybe because my sister just slapped me or because the tension in the air is still thick.

          Swallowing hard, I turn around and take a few steps until I reach the bedroom door of the jet. I twist the knob and enter the tight room to find Addy curled up in the corner with her legs pressed to her chest and her head hanging low between them. I close the door and take a deep breath before slowly sauntering over and sitting down next to her.

          "I'm sorry," I whisper, rubbing her upper arm that she immediately jerks off.

          "For what part?" she asks, her voice barely audible.

          "For all of it."

          She laughs and looks up at me. Her eyes are drowning with tears, reddened with the verbal pain I inflicted on her. "You meant every word that you said, so don't even bother denying it."

          "I didn't mean any of it." I grab her hand in a desperate effort. "I promise you, Addy. I didn't mean a single word of what I said."

          "Stop lying for God's sake." She rips her hand away from mine as tears continue streaming down her face. "Be honest and tell me that deep down you don't blame me for the situation with Maddox." There's nothing but silence on my end because a part of me did feel that way. "That's what I thought."

          "I guess you're right. A part of me does blame you," I say. "But I blame myself too. When you wanted to know about the Lairds, I should have tried harder to stop you, but I didn't because I was curious too. The mistake we both made landed us in that position."

It's the truth. Deep down I wanted to know about the Lairds; about the renowned Holland Laird and his one and only son, Maddox Laird who had quite the name in the business industry. We didn't need them, nor did we have to kill them, but Addy's curiosity was quite powerful and she wanted to pursue that family and learn everything, and I didn't try hard enough to stop her.

"I don't hate you either," I continue. "I was mad."

"Yeah, sure," she scoffs and sniffles.

"I wish I did, though," I shrug.

Her head whips in my direction as she shakes it. "Go fuck yourself, Athena."

I laugh. "I really don't hate you honestly."

"You said you hated me and Mom, so don't even bother."

"The truth is that I don't," I sigh, looking at the ceiling. "After what Fabian did to me, and then Maddox, I feel so repulsed by myself that I take out my anger on others and project that feeling onto them. I just want to hurt people and I do it without thinking, but it wasn't right for me to make you my punching bag."

          "But you did," she snorts, wiping her tears.

          "And I apologize for that." Turning my body completely toward her, I take her hands and interlace our fingers. "I'm really, really sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you. You don't want to live with me? Fine. I'll get you a house anywhere in the world. Just say the word and it's done. Anything you want. I promise."

"Anything?" she asks.

I smile and cup her face, my thumbs wiping away her tears. "Anything."

"Okay." She brushes her hands over mine and sighs. "I have something in mind, but I don't want to ask right now. Promise me that you'll deliver and keep your promise when the time comes, no matter what it is."

"You have my word," I promise.

A knock on the door startles us before Rome walks in gingerly with the pup. "Hi! I brought my pet, Peeve." He lets the pup loose who wobbles over and climbs on Addy. She giggles and starts playing with the little creature. "Puppies make people happy. You can have him for as long as you want until you feel better."

She looks up and flashes Rome a smile. "Thank you." She continues playing and gets up, walking to the door before she turns around to face me one last time. "Don't back out when I ask you for that one thing."

"I won't." After being satisfied with my answer, she leaves the room with Rome as I get off the floor and sit on the edge of the bed. Everything runs rapidly through my head, all the events that took place today, giving me a migraine and I just want to sleep now.

"You okay?" Mr. Azallion walks into the room and closes the door behind him.

"I screwed up, so no," I answer honestly and keep my eyes trained on the floor as I feel the mattress dip next to me.

His hand subtly grabs my jaw and turns my head to face him. He looks at me silently for a good minute as no words pass between us. Slowly, he strokes the cheek that Addy slapped and kisses it. "Sorry."

Humming in response, I lay my head on his shoulder and breathe in his scent that slowly begins to calm me. He hums back and undoes my bun, running his fingers through my strands. I pull back and look at him. "What are you doing?"

"I like your hair down," he smiles, his eyes gazing into mine. We stare at each other for the longest period in history before I reach forward and press my lips to his, unable to help myself despite all the warnings my body is giving me to stay away from him.

"What was that for?" he asks once I pull back. I shrug and yawn. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Barely."

"Same," he chuckles and pulls me to the center of the bed with him after removing my shoes. "Let's sleep."

I don't object and cuddle up in his arms, nuzzling my head against his chest. Maybe this will prove to be the biggest mistake of my life, but I can't help it. Everything feels right in his arms. His warmth, his protection is alluring and I keep getting drawn to it like a fool. Shit! I really am a fool. But in this moment, I could care less.

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Yay or nay?

Do you guys think Athena's outburst and her harsh words toward Addy were justified?

What do you guys think Addy will ask for the promise Athena made?

Where will Athena and Eros' relationship go? Will it ever get anywhere or will Athena continue to keep pushing the man away?

Much love ❤️
~Reet