by Anna Collins
There was no mistaking who this woman was, judging from the Grecian features of her face and how similarly she carried herself to the way the Irons brothers did.
This was Helen Irons, their little sister.
I must’ve looked pretty startled because she got up from her perch and smiled at me as she extended her hand for me to shake.
“I’m sorry my brother was acting like an idiot and disturbed your sleep. I told him you’d end up kicking his ass, but he didn’t listen. I’m Helen, by the way. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said, and I shook her hand dumbly, still shocked by her presence.
“Hey, Callie. I didn’t think I would find you here. Is it part of your deal as Apollo’s assistant that you stay here from now on?” Perseus asked, and I shook my head.
“No, um…something happened, and I needed to impose on him. I’ll definitely go back to my apartment, though,” I told him.
“Actually, that’s a topic we’ll still have to discuss, isn’t that right, Callie?” Apollo’s voice asked, and we all turned towards my door where Apollo was standing. He walked towards us and nodded to Helen, and I suddenly felt inferior. I was surrounded by these beautiful titans and felt completely out of place.
“Hey, big bro,” Helen said, smiling at Apollo.
“How was rehab?” Apollo asked, and I my mouth fell open at his crassness. Helen shrugged.
“Boring,” she said.
“She’s going to be staying here for a few days, Apollo. Learn some of the ins and outs of your business, stuff like that,” Perseus said.
“And then she’ll relay all of that information to the Ridley twins, am I right?” Apollo said, one eyebrow raised. Helen placed a hand on her chest, her eyes wide and acted like she was thoroughly offended by her brother’s remarks.
“Of course not, Apollo. Don’t you trust me?” she asked, mock hurt.
“Not at all,” Apollo said, smirking at her and she glared. Perseus sighed and looked at me apologetically.
“That’s how these two usually are, don’t worry about it. But anyway, it seems you’ll be living here now, Callie. You’re a lucky woman,” Perseus said, grinning at me.
“I never said I was going to accept Apollo’s offer. I told him that I would think about it,” I clarified before looking Apollo straight in the eye. “I’m still thinking about it,” I pressed, and Helen snickered.
“Apollo tends to think he gets whatever he wants, so good luck trying to convince him otherwise,” Helen said.
“Perseus, Helen. Leave us. I need to speak with Callie for a moment,” Apollo commanded. His siblings rolled their eyes but did as they were told, Helen waving goodbye as she left. Apollo waited for the door to close before sitting down on the mattress, facing me.
“Are you alright? My siblings tend to ambush people whenever they’re together,” Apollo said, rolling his eyes. I smiled at his attempt at downplaying his affection for his siblings when it was obvious how much he cared for them.
“Well, other than the fact that Perseus woke me up by tickling my foot? I’m alright, although I just wish I could sleep for a few more hours.” I said, semi-hinting that he let me sleep some more.
Apollo’s eyes narrowed, figuring out what I was trying to do.
“It’s 7:30 in the morning, Callie. I think you should get up now. Just because you’re living here doesn’t mean you’re excused from work,” he said, admonishing me sternly. I bit my lip apologetically, and the corners of his mouth twitched, telling me he wasn’t serious. He leaned over and kissed my cheek before getting up from the bed.
“Breakfast is ready. You don’t want Perseus finishing it off,” he called out before leaving.
I jumped out of bed and realized I was still clad in the bathrobe Apollo had given me. Great. I had nothing to wear. I bit my lip and wondered if Helen could lend me something to wear, but decided against it. I could probably just go down wearing the bathrobe and ask Apollo if I could drive back to my place first to change. Yep, that’s the plan.
I went down to the kitchen and saw the boys roughhousing while Helen had her phone out, recording the two.
Apollo had Perseus head pinned under his arm, the latter trying to break out of his hold while Helen laughed at them hysterically. I saw the table filled with French toast, eggs, waffles, blueberry pancakes, ham, and bacon, making my stomach growl in hunger. I didn’t think I’ve had a decent breakfast in a while, too, and if this was the kind of spread I could have every morning, then I was seriously considering taking Apollo up on his offer.
I walked over to the table and grabbed a piece of toast from the plate before taking a bite of the buttery goodness. Oh my God, it tasted so good, I had to close my eyes to savor the flavor in my mouth.
“Well, don’t you look like you’re enjoying that bread,” Helen said, and I opened my eyes to see her sitting in front me, her head on top of her hands as she observed me. I swallowed what I was eating and lowered my head, embarrassed she had caught me. “Hey, you don’t have to be embarrassed! I appreciate people who love my cooking that much. It feels good to be appreciated, you know,” she assured me, and my eyes widened.
“You cooked these?” I asked in surprise. And here I thought it was Apollo or the elderly woman I saw earlier who had prepared the meal. Perseus smiled proudly as he clapped his sister’s shoulder.
“Helen loves to cook. She’s the best out of the three of us,” Perseus bragged, and Helen tucked a stray hair behind her ear, embarrassed at her big brother’s praise.
“That’s true. Mom taught her practically every single recipe before she died because she said only Helen would be able to pull it off,” Apollo said, taking a glass out of the cupboards and pouring himself some orange juice.
“Thanks, guys. But hey, why are you still wearing a robe? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for work now?” Helen asked, her brows furrowing as she tilted her head and I winced.
“My stay here was kind of sudden, so I wasn’t able to bring any clothes with me,” I admitted, turning towards Apollo. “Actually, I was going to ask if you could let me drive back to my apartment so I could--,”
“Nonsense,” Helen interrupted, waving her hand in the air like she was sending my words away. “You can just grab something of mine. I’m sure one of my shorter outfits can work for you. And then later, we can go shopping!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. Apollo shook his head.
“Callie isn’t here to be your shopping partner, Helen,” he said, and Helen rolled her eyes.
“Oh please, big brother. Callie’s not here to work all the time. She can spend her off hours with me. I bet she’s tons of fun,” she said, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t.
I wasn’t much of a shopper and my idea of a perfect day off was lying in bed with chocolate, watching my favorite rom-com on TV. I hated walking around in malls for hours and hours just checking on clothes I could never afford or could never fit me. I just didn’t think I should subject myself to that amount of torture.
“How about I make you a proposition, Apollo? Helen gets to spend the day with Callie, and I’ll help you with all of your chores today,” Perseus said. The two brothers said nothing and I was able to catch the meaningful look passing between them before Apollo nodded, accepting his offer. Helen clapped her hands again before looking at me with glee.
“So Callie, would you like to be my best friend for the day?” she asked excitedly. Her happiness was infectious, and I found myself smiling at her.
“Sure, why not?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Apollo
I waited for Helen to drag Callie upstairs before focusing on Perseus, who was doing the same thing. Perseus wouldn’t have offered if he didn’t have anything important to tell me. If he didn’t want Helen knowing, then it was likely we were going to talk about her.
“So are you finally going to tell me why Helen needs to stay here for a few days?” I asked, and Perseus sighed.
“I
think your theory about the Ridley twins using her was partly right,” Perseus said, and I closed my eyes. Of course, I was, but it was one of those times where I wished I wasn’t.
Having Perseus confirm that the Ridley twins were using Helen to get to one of us meant the Ridley twins were making their move to take over. But using Helen? That was a baffling move.
“Helen’s reputation is crumbling, with her stints at rehab and endless partying. I think they’re trying to divert our attention towards Helen’s antics so that they could make a sneak attack for our companies while we’re distracted,” Perseus explained, and I shook my head, unconvinced of his explanation.
“If that were the case, then they would know before they even began that they would fail,” I placed my chin over my knuckles as I thought of something else. “Helen has a considerable amount of shares in some of our companies, right? What if that’s what they're aiming for?” I asked, and Perseus nodded, mulling my words over.
“And they’re going to try and convince Helen to hand over her shares to them until they call the shots,” Perseus said, and I nodded.
“But what does Callie have to do with anything?” I couldn’t help but ask, and Perseus chuckled.
“Honestly? Nothing, at first. But she seems to be the kind of girl who could set Helen straight, and God knows Helen needs someone who won’t lead her down a dark path,” Perseus said.
“How can you be so confident about her?” I asked, not getting it.
“Well, you picked her as your assistant, didn’t you? You’re hardly ever wrong with your choices, so I’m sure she’s a good egg,” Perseus said, and I couldn’t help but sober up at his words and look at him seriously.
“You know as well as I do that I’m capable of making mistakes, too,” I said vaguely, but Perseus didn’t need me to elaborate to understand what I was talking about.
Right on cue, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out, reading the text message from Daphne.
Please come quickly. Ares needs you.
I showed Perseus the text, and he cursed, shaking his head.
“Can I come with you? I miss my nephew,” he asked, and I nodded, gathering up the plates. “How is Daphne, anyways?”
I shrugged. “She’s doing alright,” I answered.
“I didn’t mean that as “Daphne the assistant,” I meant “Daphne, ‘mother of my child’ type of thing,” he said, and I glowered at him.
“She’s fine,” I growled, and he shook his head. “And she’s not the mother of my child. If you’re going to talk about it, get it right,” I told him.
“I would if you’d just tell me the whole story after all these years. I mean, you had a hard on for Daphne all throughout college, right? Didn’t you two get together?” he asked, and I groaned.
“How about you just wait until my autobiography comes out so you could read about it for yourself?” I said, and he rolled his eyes.
“Sure, Apollo. Like you’re ever going to put that there,” he said.
He was right. I wouldn’t.
I heard the girls coming down, and we both turned towards the stairs to see Helen and Callie all dressed up and ready to go. I felt a lump get stuck in my throat as I saw what Callie was wearing. I was torn between covering her up with a towel and escorting her back to her room or take her back to my room so I could get her out of that dress that barely left anything to the imagination.
I caught sight of Helen’s smirk, and I immediately realized she put Callie up to this. My little sister was trying to get a rise out of me and see how I was going to react. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing she got to me.
“You look real nice, ladies,” Perseus complimented, whistling low in appreciation. Callie blushed and started to fiddle with her sleeve, and Helen just flipped her hair back, ever the confident woman.
“Well, we’ll go and take Callie’s car from her apartment and then head to the mall. The both of you find something to keep you occupied while we’re gone, okay?” Helen said teasingly, and Perseus chuckled. Callie managed to wave at me before Helen pushed her out of the door and I turned back to my phone to type out a reply. I pressed, “Send” and placed my phone back into my pocket before nodding at Perseus.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Yours or mine?” he asked.
“Let’s take the Spider,” I replied, and he nodded. I needed to drive today.
Perseus played with his phone, and I took advantage of the silence to let my mind wander, driving as fast as the speed limit allowed me to go.
I thought about my son, and how everything came to be from a convoluted mess all those years ago, back when I was a reckless boy who had his eyes set on a girl and tried everything he could think of to impress her.
I was a junior in college when I first saw Daphne, and it was like someone stuck a tether between us because, after that, she was the only one I could see. I did everything I could to impress her, but I chose the girl that was the hardest to please.
She flaunted every other male she chose over me, never bothered to give me the time of day, and whenever she did decide to notice me, she’d leave me salivating like a dog hungry for more.
It was an unhealthy relationship, and it took me a while to realize that. It also left me broken and beat up.
It was during that time when I noticed that there was one person who had always stuck by me when I was still a stupid kid, who was always waiting in the wings for me to finally see her. And I decided that maybe it was time to turn my eyes away from the one I could never have and try it with someone who was willing to give me everything.
Laurel was Daphne’s sister, but where Daphne was headstrong and sexy, Laurel was meek and sweet, quiet and soft-spoken. She cared about me, and I thought that maybe if things didn’t work out with her sister, I could make it work with her.
It wasn’t the relationship I dreamed about, but I was happy. It made me even happier when I noticed Daphne sneaking glances at me whenever I was with her sister. I practically reveled that Daphne was paying attention to me, that this time, it was her that was glancing my way. The tables had turned and the girl I had spent years pining for was now jealous of the relationship I had with her sister.
Laurel and I were still together after we graduated and then one night, everything changed. I knocked her up, and my whole world shifted. I was so confused, and I didn’t know what to do, but Laurel loved me and told me she wanted to keep the baby no matter what, so that’s what we decided. I’m ashamed to admit now that I had ever considered not keeping my baby, but I was young, brash, and immature back then. Granted, I got out of that phase a couple of months into the pregnancy, and by then, I was so excited to be a father despite internally freaking out.
Seven months in and Daphne decided it was the right time to tell me she had always been in love with me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me hard, and it took me a minute to come to my senses and push her away.
It was a minute too late because Laurel had seen us.
I couldn’t forget how she clutched her stomach in pain, blood dripping down her legs and I felt my soul start to leave my body. I carried her all the way to the hospital and prayed to God my baby was safe. He answered my prayers. My baby was fine…but the stress took its toll on the mother of my child. Her heart had burst during labor, and it was a miracle they managed to get my son out as she died.
They put Ares in an incubator, and I made a promise to myself to turn my life around for this little kid fighting for his life and for his mother that died bringing him into this world. I met with Daphne that night, too, and told her that she wasn’t my dream any longer. I didn’t want to be with her anymore, and although there was still a part of me that wanted to be with her, I decided that out of respect to Laurel’s memory, I would never enter into a relationship with my first love.
And the rest was history.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Apollo
Despite Pe
rseus’ protests to just use the elevator, I ignored him and took the stairs up to the fifth floor, where Daphne’s apartment was. I knocked twice, and I saw her eye peek from the peephole before opening the door and letting us inside.
“He’s here in the kitchen. For some reason, staying in front of the fridge makes him feel better,” Daphne said, already walking back to the room, leaving Perseus and me to close the door. I immediately walked over to the dining area and saw my little kid with his back to me, his shoulders rising and falling as he took deep breaths. I walked over to him, and my eyes widened at how pale he was.
“Ares, are you alright? What’s wrong?” I asked him, taking in the lack of color on my son’s face as he tried to breathe heavily.
“Inhaler…can’t…,” he gasped, and I signaled for Perseus, who immediately understood. He took his inhaler from his pocket and threw it over to me, nodding as I deftly caught it with one hand. I took the cap off and pointed the mouthpiece towards my son, and he opened his mouth just in time as I puffed him.
My son was having an asthma attack, and Daphne didn’t know how to deal with it. It was unbelievable.
It’s funny how someone could be such a top-notch assistant on one hand while not having one caring bone in her body in the other. If my father hadn’t interfered with my plan when I got back, then Ares would be living with me, and he’d be in better care. But sadly, my grandfather thought that a child born out of wedlock would cause more of a scandal than having Laurel’s only remaining relative take care of her. So in the end, he gave Daphne an obscene amount of money to support my kid as long as they stayed away.
I waited for Ares to start breathing normally again, rubbing his back comfortingly. His curly hair was bouncing on top of his head, and I smiled at how he really looked like a miniature me. He finally looked at me and smiled, and I took that as a signal he was feeling a lot better already.
