Zephyr’s Pov

“Are you sure?” Dad asks for the hundredth time this month.

Our answer remains the same each time.

“Please dad,” Hades says, not meeting his eyes. “She hates us and we… we can't care for a kid.”

“You won't have to care for her. She's old enough to manage herself. You just have to give her some time, love and-”

“We don't have time or anything to give her dad. As long as she wants money, we can provide for her. But we can't fulfill her emotional needs.” Ares makes his point.

“You know what, one day when you regret this,” Dad looks at all three of us with distaste. “She won't need you.”

“She had you. She never needed us.” I commented. “She won't in the future either.”

He shakes his head and turns to my brothers. “I'll go tell Thena I'm going out, meet me in the garage.”

He leaves without another word knowing well that we won't bend to his will. After dad was gone a silence set in my office. It didn't used to be this way. We never really cared about how dad tried advocating for his granddaughter all the time.

But recently, it feels weird thinking about her and knowing that she's gonna leave soon. Dad’s words are spoiling our minds and even if we don't admit it to each other there's a strange sense of guilt which increases each day that we see her.

It won't end till she's gone. She needs to leave for us to live our lives peacefully again.

“Three more days.” Ares mumbles. “It's the best for all of us.” I don't know who he’s trying to convince, us or himself.

“Get out of my office, I need to work.” I said picking back up the file I was going through. “And dad’s already in a bad mood, don't make him wait.”

Dad wanted to set up Athena's room before they went back. Her best friend is also gonna be there helping out with I don't know what. He wasn't really needed but he likes to interfere in everything.

Ares said he's not that bad. I’m clueless how he got to that conclusion. Probably from whatever research he did on the boy’s background and the conversations he had with dad and Athena regarding him.

It's surprising he has a preference for that boy because among the three of us, he absolutely hates any men around Athena. Each name that she brings up unintentionally in her conversations is sent for a background check by Ares. And they either turn out to be too old to be friends with her or bad influencers her age.

Since Ares and Hades had a meeting close by, they’re gonna drop dad off at his other house and our driver will pick him up later. I, on the other hand, have to finalize the proposal for our construction project with the Americans so I opted to stay home.

“Keep an eye on Athena.” Hades says to me.

I don't know what's wrong with him. He’s been obsessed with what she's doing all the time. Whichever one of us is staying home, has to check the CCTV and see where exactly she is.

He's even stationed Eric outside her door and then one guard in each hallway after, to make sure we can track her movements. It's too much even in my dictionary. She's not one of our prisoners that doesn't have the liberty to roam around freely in this house.

Hades acts like she's gonna try to escape.

I try to concentrate on work once Hades and Ares have finally left me alone. But all my focus seems to be on someone I shouldn't be thinking about.

The unsettling thought of how our life will be back to peace after three days, keeps messing with my head. I grab the glass set beside me and chug down the water.

As if my head is not coordinating with my hands, I take out her picture from my drawer and place it on the desk right in front of me.

Her nose is slightly scrunched up and her smile looks fake. I know she was pissed to take a group photo. She also seems irritated with Ares placing his chin on her head but she still didn't refuse the photo. She took it for dad. It's surprising to me how a rebellious girl like her put her hatred aside for her grandpa.

But even with the fake expressions, she doesn't look bad. Her dark eyes compliments her beautiful skin. Her curls come loose from her ponytail and drop next to her face like a gorgeous frame. She looks really cute.

When all of us are placed in the same frame, pressed together for the picture, we look like we belong together. Like we are a family.

There's no denying that she was born from one of us. We might not know the father but we know she is supposed to be our family.

It's weird that even if she is a part of us, we can't have the same emotions for her that we have for each other or our father. I don't understand why we can't love her.

I stare at the photo like a creep for several minutes as it's become a part of my daily routine since I had it. When I finally take my eyes off her face, Hades advice to keep an eye on Athena comes to mind.

I don't like doing this shit. Not spying, that is absolutely fine with me. But the fact that she's important enough to look at is weird.

She doesn't care about us, why should we?

But I still log into our security system. My eyebrows furrowed when I saw the hallway was empty. Eric was supposed to be guarding her door, why did he leave?

My brain floods with the worst scenarios. We’re the Greek Mafia, we have a ton of enemies. And if they find personal information on us they would know Athena's our weakest link.

I rewind the video to find out what happened to Eric —that he had to leave his designated spot— before I call an emergency. I stop the footage when I see Eric back at his place and Athena coming out of her room.

What confuses me is that she's just in her swimsuit, she isn't even wearing a coverall until she gets to the pool. It already looks horrible because of the way she's looking at Eric. But I still hope she'll go to the backyard for a swim.

He walks towards her and grabs the tube in her hand. If I had to guess, it's sunscreen but I don't understand why the fuck would she need him for it.

When she turns back to her room to open the door wider, his head tilts to her ass and he adjusts himself. All my optimism dies down when he follows her to the room and closes the door.

My heart stopped and I had to snap myself out of the shock to do what's needed of me. Rage takes over my mind and I grab the gun strapped under the table for emergencies and put a silencer on it —because I don't want our guards to rush to the room and find Athena in a compromising situation.

I don't know how Eric got so close with her that she invited him to her room but he clearly should’ve refused. If he went one step ahead, he can go a thousand more. And I have to kill him off before that.

There's no mercy for pedophiles in our Mafia.

My steps are rushed as I make my way all the way from my office to her room. I curse the day we decided to give her the furthest room so she stays away from us.

She's our responsibility, we should’ve kept her close.

We transferred each of the guards that didn't meet our criteria. But Eric did, we trusted him. He only had two charges of murder to his name —which wasn't bad since he committed those on duty for us— but he didn't have any concerning allegations. He even had three kids and a wife that he's been with for the last eighteen years. He was the perfect guy to guard Athena's room.

But we never knew we can't trust anyone.

The moment I reach her door, I twist the handle repeatedly to get inside. But to my utter dismay it's locked. I don't take a second before lifting my gun and breaking down the lock.

I swing open the door and my blood runs cold when I see them. He's hovering over her as she lays under him on the bed. I had to hold myself back from shooting aimlessly so I wouldn't accidentally hurt her.

He immediately gets off her and she follows pursuit then brings her hands back like she's hooking her bra. An ache sets in my hand to press hard on the bastard's neck.

I don't want to imagine how far he's taken this. I wish I had seen them earlier and saved her on time. I wish I hadn't thought she'd be alright on her own. I wish I stayed with her and taught her this wasn't okay.

I can't think of what she had gone through all these years. How many times she did things she thought were right. Maybe if I had been by her side, it would've made a difference.

“How dare you touch my daughter!” I yelled.

The words come to me naturally. I didn't think before saying that. Neither did I have time to pounder on my sentence as the pure rage took over me.

“It’s not what it looks like.” She barely managed to say.

I didn't say anything to her and simply lifted my gun up aiming at Eric's head. His reaction time was good but I had the upper hand by initiating.

My bullet goes directly between his eyes and his limp body falls down to the ground. But the anger in me still doesn't simmer down.

“What the hell were you doing? Are you out of your mind?” I yell even louder this time. “Do you realize he's double your age!”

She flinches again and a stream of tears starts flowing from her eyes. She’s horrified. Her hands start shaking as she keeps looking at his filthy lifeless body.

I nearly forgot what impact this would have on her. She doesn't witness murders on a daily basis like us. She's gonna be traumatized.

“Athena,” I call, trying to keep my voice even.

She gulps and turns to me breathing hard. Her eyes flick between the weapon in my hand and the anger in my eyes. I know she's scared that I might hurt her. But I won't. She doesn't understand what she's done. She's just a child. I won't punish her for a mistake.

I step forward to calm her down but she takes a step back. I immediately stopped realizing she's scared of me. I have to tell her she's safe or she'll panic more.

“I'm sorry. Just let me go.” Her whisper breaks my heart.

She thinks I would hurt her. She doesn't trust me the least bit. I've never given her a reason to do so. But I hoped she knew she could look up to me for help. She doesn't need to run away from me.

“I won't hurt you.” I tell her softly.

She doesn't relax. She's still fearful of me, as if my assurance has had no impact. Or she just doesn't believe a single word that comes out of my mouth.

“I'm not going to hurt you, Athena. Stop crying!” My voice raised on its own as I started getting impatient.

Just then I heard some ruffling sounds behind me. I turn to look at the door and my brothers are standing there. Their eyes suspiciously flick between Athena and I.

For some reason Hades instantly came to stand between us while Ares came by my side looking at the gun in my hand like he’s prepared to snatch it from me in case I get out of control.

Athena didn't waste a second before holding onto Hades arm and hiding behind him like she's proclaimed him her savior.

I can understand her reaction but my brothers must know better than to think of me as a crazy animal that reacts without thinking.

But then it hit me. Eric’s body is right next to the bed and from their view it's sort of hidden. What they are seeing is that I'm holding a gun while Athena stands in front of me crying wearing just her undergarments.

If it was any other man in my situation, they would’ve thought of the worst. But my brothers know I'm not a predator. Which is why they haven't drawn their guns yet.

“What the fuck is happening here?” Ares questions.

I know my brothers would be equally pissed when they get to know what actually happened. If they hadn't come back so soon, I would've preferred to not tell them.

“Okay look…” I tried coming up with the best way to phrase it. “She’s just a child, she didn’t know-” Hades cuts me off.

“Did she try to sneak out?”

I scowl at him. His constant worry of her sneaking out is so irrational. I know she has done it multiple times when it was just dad and her. But she won't do it living with us, after all it was just a matter of thirty days till a few minutes back.

“Why would she sneak out in just her bikini?” I roll my eyes at him.

“Then what happened? Why are you… why is she crying?”

Before I could explain anything, Athena mumbled, “He killed Eric.”

Ares eyebrows furrowed and he looked at her. “What?” Then his gaze fell at the corpse on the ground. “What the fuck has happened here?” He asked, shocked.

Hades followed his line of sight. When Athena was turning to look at the body again he placed his hand on her cheek and stopped her from taking in the scene.

“He tried to… he was interested in her so I killed him.” I explained.

None of them asked for further explanation. Those words were enough. They understood that my reasoning was valid. And I know they support me in this.

“Zephyr didn't even listen to us and- he shot him.” She complains to Hades sobbing.

“But… let's get you out of here first, okay?” He asked her softly.

She shook her head desperately. “He had three kids, Hades… he… he got killed because of me.”

From the footage I can guess she invited him to her room which is why she's blaming herself now. But she didn't know the full extent of the consequences her actions would reap her.

This was wrong. I knew she was in deep shit but I didn't know she's so far gone.

I’ll have to tell her this can't go on like this. She needs to understand that such filthy men take advantage of her rebellious nature. She might think it's her choice but it's not.

She needs to be shown the right way because dad has clearly pampered her to horrible limits. I need to counsel her myself. She needs me. Because nothing else is working.

“It wasn't your fault. He died because of his own actions.” I said firmly.

She didn't look at me, instead opted to further hide herself behind Hades. Meanwhile Ares went to her closet and came back with a huge t-shirt.

“Can you put this on, please?” He’s never been this gentle in his life.

She didn't respond to him, simply took the t-shirt and put it on. Once she was done, Hades tugged her towards the door but she resisted.

“Are you gonna call the police now?”

Hades goes blank for a moment before answering. “Nothing’s gonna happen to you, Thena. We'll handle this.”

“But the police will ask for me, what will I say?” She asks, panicking.

“Leave it to us. No one will ask you anything.”

Her eyes widened as she backed away from him. “You're gonna hide his dead body?”

“Athena,” Ares brought her attention to himself. “Don't think about this-”

“His kids would never know he died. And- what would happen to them now? They loved him so much.” She was crying again.

“We’ll compensate his family, everything will be fine. You just have to trust us this once, okay?” She was about to argue when he cut her off speaking in an authoritative voice. “Leave it, Thena.” She exhaled and nodded, still skeptical of the situation.

“Let’s get you to your new room now.” Hades suggests gently holding her hand.

She wipes her tears with the back of her hand and looks at him with seriousness. “No just… Please call grandpa. I- Three days won't make any difference, I wanna go back home today. I don't wanna stay here.”

“What the fuck did you say?” I snapped at her. “You're not going anywhere. Not today nor after three days. You're staying with us and that's final.”

My brothers look more shocked than Athena herself. But they didn't say anything. They'll talk to me in private. I know they wouldn't want her here but I've decided, I'm not letting her go back to her shitty life. She needs me, whether she likes it or not. And I will make sure I'm by her side as she sorts her life.

“You can't keep me here.” She blurted out in disbelief.

“I can do whatever I want.” I shout at her. “You’ll stay in the room next to mine now. And you'll get all these shitty thoughts of older men out of your head. Any man I see you with again, will have a much worse death. Do you want that?” She shook her head desperately.

“Good.” I gave her a look of approval. “From now on you'll do what I tell you to, without any arguments. Understood?”

I barely heard her as she whispered a ‘yes’. Her voice was eaten up by her fear. She didn't even look at me like she was scared I might get offended by it.

“And don't you dare try to escape because trust me darling, you can't. So you better get used to this life now.”

She sniffled and wiped the fresh tears away. I hated seeing her like this. She looks so small and helpless. I want her to yell back at me like she always does. But right now she isn't how she usually is. Or maybe this is her true self. A little girl who masks her broken soul with a bold attitude.

“Zephyr,” Ares reminds me to not ruin it further.

I take a deep breath to calm down. “I can't let you go, Athena. I was confused before but now I know that… that you have to… I want to care for you. You need me.”

Her breathing got heavier as she realizes the meaning of my words. I didn't just mean weeks or the next few months, I meant forever.

She has to stay here because I want her to live with me now.

I didn't wait for either of the three to say anything before I left the room. I was overwhelmed with what I had just done. I didn't regret a single thing but it was all so unexpected.

I always lied to myself and said I don't need her and vice versa. But now I'm clear she needs me and maybe somewhere in me I crave a presence too. Of someone who I was meant to be there for.

She's the breath of fresh air in my life. My life had been restricted to money and power. But ultimately everyone needs a family. Someone to come home to.

I know now why her future absence was already hurting me so much. Because I had realized in just twenty seven days what I was missing all these sixteen years.

And I don't want to lose that again. I’m not gonna abandon her a second time. I’m gonna be the father she deserves.

Accepting our new relationship would be difficult for both of us but I want to give it my all. I want to do this for her. I owe it to her.