Stolen Lies (Truths and Lies 2)

He touched what’s mine.

He has what’s mine.

Aris always thought he could battle with me, and because he was fucking blood, I played his games. Enjoyed taunting him whenever I could. In a way, it was our screwed-up way of bonding. But then he crossed the line. Raped my goddamn woman. Stole her and kept her from me. And now he took my child.

Loyalty means nothing to that Demetriou.

Loyalty means everything to me.

This means fucking war.

When Talia was gone, I drifted. Lost in a fog of confusion and anger. Aris played me. Dangled me by his strings and reveled in my torment. Talia made me soft. I wanted to be soft for her. Only for her. But clearly, I softened in a way that exposed my weakness. I may as well have given Aris a fucking gun and said, “Point and shoot here.”

For the last year, he’s had a “blind me” on his side. He had money and resources. He had my lack of knowledge.

But now he’s no longer battling a brother, he’s in a war with a monster. He thought he could sneak into my compound and get away with this shit. Sadly, he was mistaken. I will gut Greece. Burn it to the motherfucking ground. I will fill every hole with gasoline and light it on fire. Every roach will come out of hiding and I will smash them until I find the rat.

Aris will be mine.

And I’ll get my daughter back.

“Kostas,” Talia says, her brows furrowing. “Are you okay?”

I gently grip her jaw and tilt her head to the side so I can inspect every dark shade of the abuse she endured yesterday. With the barest of a kiss, I whisper it over her sore flesh. My words of hate are breathed against her skin.

“He will pay for this.”

She shivers and grips my wrist. I turn slightly to find her lips. Despite the cut on her lip, I kiss her hard enough to split it back open. The sweet, metallic taste of her mixes with the minty toothpaste, making me hunger for her more than any bagel this morning. If I had more time, I’d turn my aggressions into passion so I could whisper all my evil promises against her skin—promises to take out our enemy and bring home our treasure.

My phone buzzes and I nip at her sore lip once before I pull away.

Adrian: Press is already lined up at the gate. Josef is waiting, too. Where are we doing this?

Me: Hotel lobby. Send Josef to my office. I want to meet with him before we go public.

Adrian: On it.

“I have to meet with the Minister of Public Order. Then, I’ll be doing a press release.” I stroke my fingers through her hair that hangs in messy, natural-dry waves after the shower she took alone last night while I crashed into bed. “I need you to look the part of an angel.”

Not that she’ll have any trouble doing so.

Her brows furrow. “Why? What’s going on?”

My perfect Talia and her never-ending quest for answers.

I drop my towel and nod at her to follow me while I dress. Throwing on some boxers and socks, I then make my way into our closet. The mess had been cleaned up by hotel staff before we went to bed, but the feeling of failure washes over me.

Zoe was taken from this very closet.

Talia lingers in the doorway, no doubt feeling sadness over last night and what went down in here. As I dress in a suit, she runs her fingers over one of her white dresses. She pulls it off the hanger and holds it up.

“This one?”

I rake my gaze down the serene, silky white material. “Perfect. And don’t you dare cover up what he did to you. They need to see.”

Her blue eyes dart back and forth. “Who? Who will need to see?”

Snagging a blue tie that matches her eyes, I slide it around my neck and begin knotting it. Once I’ve tightened it at my throat, I let out a heavy sigh of resignation.

“You are married to the monster Greece knows. Well, at least the one all the scum knows. I will reach them. I’m a Demetriou, it’s what we do. But you,” I say with a smile as I grab my jacket off a hanger. “You will reach the regular people. Every man, woman, and child in all of Europe. We’re going to hit them from all sides. Just be you and you’ll do exactly what I need you to.” I step into my shoes and then walk over to her. “And you’re going to have to let me be me.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“It means, I’m soft with you. In here, with our family, soft is good.” My features morph into something wicked and furious. “But out there, I need to be a blade forged in stone. I need to be unbreakable. I need to be powerful.” I start to put my jacket on, but my arm winces in pain.