“Stay away from me!” she screams. “Don’t hurt me.”
Yes, this is the reaction I’m expecting. Luckily, we are already in the car heading to Heathens Hollow, and there is no one to hear her cries.
“Calm down,” I say as I reposition my throbbing cock so it isn’t so obvious how hard it still is.
Her eyes dart around the car and at the passing scenery. “Where are you taking me? What are you doing?” The high-pitch sound of her voice and the way her chest heaves with every syllable, I can see that she isn’t following my command and is anything but calm.
“Panicking right now will not help your situation.”
She reaches for the door handle and quickly finds it to be locked from the outside. I can’t help but grin, imagining the woman jumping out of a moving vehicle in nothing but a black dress, panties, and running barefoot on the rain-soaked streets of Seattle. I’m seeing just how much of a spitfire my brother married, and I can’t say I blame him for it. There’s a lot of courage and spunk in that tiny frame of hers. Hell, she had the guts to try to decimate a Godwin by betraying him. Not even our bravest opponents would be so bold.
Like a caged animal, she presses her body further against the door—if that’s even possible—as she stares at me with wide eyes and a trembling lip. She reaches for the back of her head and rubs. “You knocked me out. You hit me,” she says.
“If there was another way, I would have. The last thing we need is a scene in the hotel lobby. I knew you wouldn’t leave with me quietly.”
“Do you blame me?” She glances outside again. “Are you taking me home?”
I don’t answer her. I know she’s afraid, but that is exactly what I need right now. Fear gives me power, and Daphne Godwin needs to truly understand how powerful I am. If I could truly be me—Ares Godwin—she would piss herself and beg for mercy, knowing just how terrifying I am. But right now, I’m Apollo in her eyes, and because it was so easy for her to betray my brother… she clearly isn’t afraid of Apollo. At least not yet. Yet…
“Are you taking me to your father?”
She’ll learn she should fear me rather than my father.
“Please,” she says as her body shivers. She doesn’t cry, which I admire. I figured she wouldn’t break easily, and she isn’t letting me down on my assumption. I knew she would be a worthy opponent. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not too late to let me go. I’ll just leave. I’ll go be with my sister. I won’t ask for anything in the divorce. Just let me go and we can act like this marriage never happened. That’s all I ever wanted. I just wanted out.”
I still don’t say a thing but stare out the window instead. My brother wouldn’t marry a woman who lacked intelligence. From the little I know, Daphne is not a woman to underestimate. I know if I’m not careful, it’s likely she will read my face. She may pick up on the turmoil of thoughts and emotions raging inside of me. I will not give her any weapon to use against me if I can help it. She may have been a fierce opponent with my brother, but she’s not a match for me, and by the time I’m done with her tonight she’ll know it.
“Listen, motherfucker!” she shouts as she pummels me with her fists. “Stop this car immediately!”
And there it is.
The reaction I had truly expected.
Daphne Godwin is no wilting flower. This is the spunk I’ve prepared for, and I already have a plan for just how I am going to handle this pistol.
It doesn’t take much effort to snatch both of her hands together while glaring directly into her eyes.
“No,” I state sternly.
“Fuck you,” she spits.
Her eyes dilate and flare with rage as she glares back, but I can still see a twinkle of fear in them. I have tortured and killed enough to know exactly what the look of fear is, and Daphne possesses it even though she’s doing a hell of a job attempting to conceal it from me by her aggressive bravado.
“I don’t know what you’re planning on doing. Or what your father wants, but I’m your wife. It might mean nothing now, but I still believe it did at one time. I’m your wife, Apollo.Your wife.” She struggles to free her hands from my hold.
“Exactly. You are my wife. Mywife. So explain to me why there is footage of you filming me kill that man. And tell me why you would go to the authorities. And tell me why you wanted to see me spend the rest of my life behind bars. Are those the actions of a wife?”
My question is accusatory. I already know the answer. I already know Daphne’s goal was to bring down my brother in the most vindictive of ways. It backfired on her when I took the blame for him, but she had no way of knowing just how strong our brotherly connection was and that there wasn’t anything I’d do for Apollo and the Godwin family.
“And tell me how you could live with yourself knowing they were going to lock Ares in jail for the rest of his life for what you did. They could have even asked for the death penalty.”
“I told you. I didn’t know Ares would get pulled into it. I was only lashing out at you. Just you.”
I nod. “Yes… The actions of mywife.”
It was hard talking about my brother, and it was even harder talking about me in the past tense and saying my name as if it wasn’t me. I need to regain control. I need to feel anger rather than turmoil. The upper hand needs to be taken back by me, and I know how to do it.
I faintly remember her sister at Apollo and her wedding. I’m pretty sure Daphne’s close to her, so I take a risk by using the most effective weapon of all—family.