Vipers Are Forbidden: A Why Choose Billionaire Romance (Gods Among Men Book 3), page 18
“Ow.” He rubs his arm, and I smirk.
“Text the others, tell them chicken soup and fresh bread. Now.”
He steps out of the room, and I look around. The curtains are tightly drawn, and a rickety bed stands in the corner. Calling it a bed is generous. It’s really more of a metal frame with rusted springs holding up a thin mattress pad with a flat pillow. Ellen is one bad night away from tetanus. I pick up the pill bottles that are strewn all over the floor. They are all for Clozapine. A quick google search on my phone tells me it’s an antipsychotic and a very high dosage.
That explains a lot.
I tidy up her room as best I can. When I go downstairs in search of a broom, dustpan, and something to dust with, I find Perseus sitting on the floor in what I assume used to be a living room.
“Are you okay?” I ask, sitting next to him.
“How did I not know?” He is staring at a knot in the wood floor. “How did I not know he needed help? He was drowning and sold off everything. How could I not have seen it?”
“Because he didn’t want you to.” This is the only plausible explanation I can give him. “You know Paris better than I do. So, I’m not going to sit here and guess what his motives are, but I know that whatever he did or didn’t do, his mother needs help.”
“Why should I help her if he took Freya from me? I know she was your mother by blood, but she was mine by choice.”
I wince as his words cut into me, but he is right. Whether she chose to leave me, she chose to raise Perseus, and her love for him was laced throughout her journals.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like—”
“It’s okay,” I interrupt him. “You aren’t wrong, but Ellen isn’t the one who may or may not have betrayed all of you. And she is clearly unwell. We don’t know how much of what she is saying is true.” I take a deep breath. “In her diary, my mother said she and her boys were a family. Is that true?”
“Yes.” He doesn’t even hesitate.
“Then Paris is family.”
“But he betrayed us.”
“He might have. We still don’t know that for a fact,” I reason, not really believing my own words, but we don’t have solid proof yet. “Does he deserve the benefit of a doubt?”
“He does,” Perseus says with a sigh.
“So, is he still family?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” I stand. “Then that makes Ellen family, and right now she needs our help.” I offer Perseus a hand and pull him to his feet.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Find out why her room is the only one with electricity. See if you can find any sign of Paris, and I need some cleaning supplies.”
Twenty minutes later, Perseus comes back upstairs with the supplies I asked for. He says the breakers were flipped to intentionally turn off the electricity to the rest of the house, probably to limit the electric bill. I get to work on cleaning Ellen’s living space while she chatters about the snakes and the hag and hidden families. It’s another twenty minutes before the others return with food. I help Ellen eat and take her meds. She then insists on taking a nap. While she does that, I go downstairs to see what the others are doing.
“I figured out which room he was sleeping in,” Perseus says when he sees me. “But there is no sign of him now.”
“I figured he left last night.” I sit down, leaning against the wall. “Do we have any idea where he could have gone?”
The boys keep brainstorming, talking everything out while my eyes slide shut, and I try to process everything. Seeing Ellen like that after hearing Paris tell me stories about his mother, the strong woman who raised him, who would take on the world for him. He clearly loves her, and yet look at what she has become, a shell of her former self talking nonsense, living in between reality and an old black-and-white TV show.
My eyes are still closed when I hear Perseus’s phone chirp, and he says, “What the actual fuck.”
“What?” Heph asks, and I pry open my eyes.
“An automatic payment on my card was declined for insufficient funds.”
“Okay… and?” I ask.
“There should be a few hundred thousand in that account.” He taps off his phone screen for a few moments, his brows drawn down over his eyes in confusion.
“Is it a banking error?” Heph asks.
“I don’t think so. It looks like this account has had several smaller transfers in the last few months, then a massive one of almost seventy grand last night.”
I am about to say something about calling the bank and seeing if his card info was stolen when the creaking of the rocking chair starts again above us.
“Do any of you have access to my mother’s bank accounts?” I ask.
“I can get it. Why?” Perseus asks.
“Because I have a hunch, and I am praying I am wrong. Can you look through my mom’s account to see if there are any transfers to that same account?”
“Yeah… Why?”
“Something Ellen said. I want to see if it’s true. Just look into all of that, and if you can follow the money and see where it goes.”
“What are you going to be doing?” Eros asks, taking my hand in his and lacing our fingers together.
“I’m going to stay here with Ellen. I don’t want to leave her alone. I’m hoping her meds have cleared her head a little, and I can get some real info from her. Either way, I am also going to look into getting her into a care facility. She needs round-the-clock care.”
“I’m staying here.” Eros places a kiss on the back of my hand. “I don’t want you alone in case Paris comes back, and he isn’t right in the head or something.”
“I need your help with the bank stuff, man.” Perseus shakes his head. “Aside from Paris, you are the best with the computer.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Heph volunteers, making all of us stop and stare at him for a moment.
“Are you sure?” Eros narrows his eyes like he is trying to look through Heph to see his real motives.
“I’m sure. Aside from our security system, I am completely useless on the computer.” He shrugs. “But I can help Athena with Ellen and keep both women safe, if I have to.”
“Then it’s settled.” I stand up and brush the dust and dirt from my jeans. “You two head out. Call us if you find anything, and we will do the same.” I head back to Helen’s room to see if she is more lucid.
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Perseus
“I hate this so much.” Eros leans back in his chair, his hands pressed to his eyes. We have been sitting at the breakfast table for the past four hours staring at these screens trying to trace payments and coming up empty.
“The good news is, this hacker didn’t touch all of my accounts.” I sit back in my chair and slam my computer closed.
“That helps us, how exactly?” Eros asks. I know he is tired and frustrated like I am, but the attitude is still not appreciated.
“It means I can make sure the staff here keep getting paid and we can hire someone else to figure this shit out. Someone far more versed in forensic accounting than we are. Our guy Max should have been on this, and we’re going to get his ass out here to fix this shit.”
“Thank fuck!” Eros shouts, closing his computer, too.
He is silent for a moment, but the way he is chewing his bottom lip tells me he wants to say something. He is just looking for the words. So I sit and wait for it.
“Do you think Paris…”
“You were pretty sure of it last night,” I point out, and he slams his hand on the table a few times.
“I was positive. I just knew it was him, but after seeing his eyes when I accused him of that… and after talking to Athena about all of it… I wasn’t so sure. But this…”
“I know.” I do.
I know exactly how that conflicting emotion in your gut feels. I have it every single time I look at Athena. I want her. I want to trust her, and I want to bring her in. And so does Heph. He even admitted last night as we kissed in the shower that he wasn’t sure if he was willing to give up women completely either. He, like me, doesn’t want to choose, and I see no reason we should. I just don’t know if I can let her in fully, no matter how much a part of me wants to.
Hopefully, spending time with her this afternoon has helped them get a little closer. There is still the whole matter of the inheritance between us, but that is a problem for later.
“Do you know someone we can hire?” Eros asks as he gets up to grab a drink from the fridge. He holds up a bottle of water, asking if I want one, too.
“Yeah,” I answer both questions at once. I catch the bottle in midair and take a long drink. “The lawyer that Freya used mentioned having an accountant brother-in-law. I figured I would reach out to him first.”
“Good deal. Make the call, then come out and join me on the patio.”
“Okay.” He walks off, and I make the calls.
I leave a message for Max to get his ass out here. I want to know where my fucking money has gone. Heads are going to roll, and I’ll start with my accountant who dropped the ball if I have to.
Before heading out to sit on the patio with Eros, I send Heph a message.
Perseus: Everything good there?
Heph: Yeah, we are good. The meds really help, but we don’t have a location for Paris yet. Athena is making calls to find an available place for Ellen to stay. It’s a good thing she thinks Athena is her to be daughter-in-law. Which is weird as fuck, but coming in handy at the moment.
Perseus: That is weird.
Heph: How about you guys, any luck?
What he means is if there is any proof. Heph, like me, does not want this to be all on Paris. Even the thought of that level of betrayal guts us both.
Perseus: Nothing yet either way. I have a professional looking at the accounts now. I’ll keep you updated.
Heph: Okay. Keep me posted.
Perseus: You too. I’ll see you tonight. My bed again or yours?
I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks.
Heph: My bed, but your ass.
I bite back a laugh as I type.
Perseus: Deal, but only after I get your mouth.
I put away my phone, grab two beers from the fridge, and go to meet Eros on the porch.
“So are we going to talk about it?” he asks, looking out over the back gardens.
“Talk about what?” I sit next to him and hand him one beer. We twist off the tops and flick them into the nearby garbage can before settling to look over the backyard. I hate to admit it, but since Athena took over the house and instructing the staff, this place looks stunning. It looks like something out of a fairy tale.
“How you’re going to make me pay for last night. How we both love the same girl, or how you and Heph finally fucked last night? Your pick.”
“How do you know Heph and I fucked?”
“I didn’t until just now.” He looks over at me with a huge grin. Cocky bastard. I answered the only one I knew wasn’t a minefield.
“I’m not in love with Athena.”
He glances over at me and gives me a bored expression. “If you are not already in love with her, then you are well on your way. It’s hard not to fall for a woman like that. I did try…”
This time I give him the bored look.
“Okay,” he adds. “I didn’t try very hard, but I tried a little bit.”
“I don’t know her well enough to love her, but I want her. I don’t think I have ever wanted to fight with a woman just to have her end up under me so I can take my frustrations out on her pussy more in my life.”
“Yeah, she is good at inspiring hate fucking.” Eros nods, taking a sip of his beer. “You know, when I asked her why she was still a virgin, I expected her to tell me it was none of my business, something sarcastic or even a non-answer. Do you know what she said?”
“She slapped you across the face and told you it’s because all men are disappointments,” I say, watching a butterfly land on some of the red flowers she had planted.
“No, well, kind of, but without the hit.” Eros takes a deep breath. “She told me she heard all the stories from women about not having their needs met, and how every woman wished that sometimes their lovers were different. That if they had a man who was kind and tender, they just wanted to be railed into next week, making them feel like they are desired and their man can’t control themselves around her. If they had a man who fucked them hard, they wanted one who could make soft, gentle love to them and make them feel cherished and loved. She said that she never wanted to choose. She has no interest in picking one man to fuck for the rest of her life. She said the men she has dated would never be okay with the idea of sharing her. Instead, they treated her like they owned her or had some exclusive rights to her body. Athena would never settle for one man, so she decided she wouldn’t have any.”
“Okay, then she had sex with you because…”
“She was dealing with intense emotions and decided to self-medicate with my dick.”
I spit out the beer that was in my mouth and started choking.
“You okay there buddy?” Eros pats my back while I try to regain my composure and the ability to breathe.
“Really?” I ask after I take a full breath. “That’s how you phrase that?”
“No, that is how she phrased that. At first, I felt a little used, but then I figured that just means I have a medical-grade dick.”
“Jesus Christ.” I laugh. “What the fuck am I going to do with you?”
“I’m hoping that you and I and the others are going to sort this shit with Paris out, whatever that means. Then we will pull Athena into our family and let her use all of us for our FDA-certified dicks and cuddles. I really enjoy cuddling her. It’s weird. I never liked that before. It always felt all gross and clingy, but now I am like fuck yes, give me the soft fuzzy blankets and all the pillows and my girl and I will cuddle her so hard.”
“I can’t with you right now, man.” The laughter makes me feel lighter than I have in a long time. It’s kind of nice, if I am being honest, but it doesn’t change the fact that some really awful shit had gone down, and I have this hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach that it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Heph
The second the others leave, Athena gets to work, and puts me to work, too. Ellen is back on her rocker, and Athena kneels at her feet. “Hey Ellen, when was the last time you had a proper bath with warm water and bubbles?”
“It has been some time,” the old lady answers and smiles wistfully. “I used to adore baths, but our hot water doesn’t work, so I’m afraid it is a luxury I can’t afford at the moment.”
“I can restore power to the hot water heater,” I offer. “See if I can get it working.”
“Thank you, young man,” the old woman says.
I leave them to go fix it, and as I thought, the heater is a little old, a little rusty, but works okay as soon as I turn the power on. I go back up to tell them to give it a little bit of time and it should be fine. But when I get to the door, I hear the two women talking.
“How long have you been up here all by yourself?” Athena asks.
“Oh, not long,” Ellen answers. “My son was here yesterday, I think. He brought my new prescription and said the bills were paid for a while, but he had to go back to the cabin in the woods. He said he would be home in a week. As long as I didn’t have another episode, I would be good.”
“What is it like when you have an episode?”
“The world turns, and I can’t think right. I get confused. I haven’t had one in such a long time, though.” Athena must give her a look or something. The next thing the old woman is saying, “Oh dear, I had another, didn’t I?”
“I think so.” Athena’s voice is soft, soothing, without being condescending. “Ellen, do you remember who I am?”
“Yes, you are Athena, the woman my Paris has told me about. He says he will marry you, and you will help me. Where is my son? Why isn’t he here?” Her voice rises, and she sounds a little frantic. Athena must be doing something to soothe her because Ellen’s next words come out barely more than a whisper. “He has done something terrible, hasn’t he?”
“I don’t know.” Athena doesn’t lie to her, and I admire that about her. She is stubborn and has a mouth that will not fucking stop. Sometimes, she is worse than Eros, but she is never unkind unless provoked, and she is always honest. Even when a lie would make things so much easier. She takes truth over convenience. I hate how much I admire her for that.
“It’s not his fault, not really. When he found out about you, it brought up so much of his past, so much ugliness. For weeks, he was all rage and spite. Then he met you, and I think he fell in love.”
“What do you mean? Why would finding out about me trigger him?” That is a good question. I didn’t notice anything off about Paris until I caught him and Athena on the patio seconds from fucking.
“His father had a mistress, you see. Well, over the years, I think he had several. I knew, of course, but I chose not to say anything. I figured it would be an office romance, a way to leave the stress of his job at work, then come home ready to be a proper father at least, if not a good husband. They never lasted long, and he put Paris above everything, so I pretended I didn’t know. What is it you kids say? I let it slide.” She laughs at her own joke.
“Yeah, that’s what we say. Then what happened?”
“Oh well, when Paris was about twelve, one of my husband’s women got pregnant. She had a boy, and he tried to keep it quiet, but I knew, of course. It was fine until she got pregnant again with twins. Then my husband decided that his whore having three children was more important than his wife and first son. He spouted on about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few or some such nonsense twisted to somehow justify leaving his legitimate family for the false one.”
“That is terrible.” Athena’s voice is calming to the old woman again.
