I awoke the next morning in my own bed, cuddled into the covers with a stupid grin on my face. I was kind of amazed at the wonderful time I’d had. Zeus had shown me the rest of the gallery, stopping at each work to explain it in detail. I had wondered at how he obtained his vast knowledge of art. My smile grew as I remembered the tight way he’d held onto my hand the rest of the night, gripping it tightly and never letting go until he brought me home.
And that was it. When it was time for our date to end and we were back at the apartment, he walked me to the door, wished me a goodnight and left. No kiss or anything. It had been somewhat shocking, especially after he’d pretty much asked me to sleep with him the very first time we’d met.
I sighed, feeling content. I was sure he would call soon. I’d given him my number on the car ride home, more than happy to go out again. If he’d gone through so much trouble for a first date, he’d want a second, right?
I stayed in bed for a little while longer, until I absolutely had to get up and get ready. I laughed when I caught myself already checking my phone for messages.
Overall, the day went quickly, but I couldn’t stop checking my phone. I shouldn’t have been so excited to get a call from the man who had tormented me my first couple of days here, but I couldn’t help it. He had really improved his image on our date. It meant something that he had catered to what I loved, instead of being merely some lame first date that any girl could have enjoyed. The fact that he’d even refrained from kissing me goodnight had also impressed me. It made me feel like he really wanted to get to know me and was trying to make up for being inappropriate before.
By the time I got home, he still hadn’t called. I was beginning to feel obsessive. Putting the phone down was hard, but I did it. I spent the night adding another coat to the latest layer on my painting and went to bed discouraged.
If I’d known I would follow that basic pattern for the next two weeks, I would have never gone on the date in the first place. He never called. Every night I would work on my painting, do homework, call my mom, or whatever else I could think of. I wasn’t moping because he hadn’t called—I was fighting the urge to go down to his precious resort and punch him right in the nose. I felt like I’d been played, like this was his way of getting back at me.
Finally, I decided to go down there. He wasn’t going to have this power over me. I didn’t want him ruling my emotions. He was going to find out exactly what he had missed out on by letting me get away.
I slipped into my tennis shoes and headed for my car. I took the roads parallel to the Strip in order to avoid traffic. Rehearsing in my head what I would say to him, I pulled into the front entrance of Tartarus.
“Leave it here,” I snapped at the valet. “I won’t be long. If you’ve got a problem with it, then you can take it up with Zeus—I’m here to see him.” The poor valet appeared shocked, but nodded his head and started waving the other cars and cabs around mine.
I stormed into the front lobby, which closely resembled the casino except there was a large front desk instead of slot machines.
“Where is Zeus’s office?” The girl standing behind the counter jumped at my demand. She pointed towards a pair of closed, dark-brown doors, off to the left side of her station. She looked just as stunned as the valet had been, but didn’t argue either. For that I was grateful—I already felt bad for yelling at both of them. If someone slowed me down before I got there, though, I wouldn’t be able to go in and deliver my rant.
Making a beeline for the doors, I took in a couple deep breaths, my hands forming fists at my side. Angry tears were trying to form, but I pushed them back down. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“Who, exactly, do you think you are?!” I yelled as I burst through the doors. “We had a great time and then you never called! Is this your way of getting back at me? Do you feel superior now? I should have—” I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Zeus’s face—like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. There were deep worry lines creasing the corner of his eyes, and his hair looked like it had been run through with a rake. The stare he was giving me plainly displayed surprise mixed with guilt.
“Oh,” I said softly, my fire having suddenly burnt out. “I’ll come back later, I didn’t mean to—”
“No, Karly, please stay,” he sighed. “I owe you an explanation, you’re right. Please sit down.” He gestured to a pair of chairs next to a window. Despite being on the ground floor, the window showed an amazing aerial view of the Strip.
“It’s a video feed,” he explained, noticing my confusion. “It shows the view from my room. I felt like the office needed a little bit of pizazz. You can only spend so much time in a dark office before you lose your mind.” He smiled weakly as he got up from his desk and moved towards the chairs. I followed him there, still confused as to what his explanation would be.
His office was dark. It was decorated in rich brown colors, with giant bookshelves lining the wall behind his desk. Between the doors and his desk was a large rug, which depicted a map of ancient Greece. There were similar paintings hanging on the walls. The ceiling was vaulted, giving the room an open feeling, but the lack of lighting added to the darkness.
We settled into the arm chairs in front of the window-like screen.
“I did mean to call you,” he began. “But I didn’t want to seem too eager by calling the next day.”
“Two weeks was too long,” I said, not able to stop the ice creeping into my voice.
“I know,” he shot back, growling a little. “Just let me finish, okay?”
“Okay,” I conceded.
“I decided I would call you back in three days. That seemed like a good time. But then things got . . . messy.”
“What does that mean?”
“My . . . uncle, Kronos, sent a message to me.”
“You weren’t joking when you said your family was into Greek names,” I said, mostly to myself. Zeus still smiled at my comment, but continued on like I hadn’t interrupted.
“He feels I’m not fit to run . . . uh . . . Tartarus. He wants to take control of it from me.”
“But didn’t you start it? I mean like paying for everything, getting it all set up, all that?”
“Yes, I did.” He slid a hand over his face, the tired demeanor growing.
“Well, that doesn’t sound very fair,” I said. He laughed a little at that.
“You’re right, it’s not very fair,” he chuckled. “He won’t stop until he gets it, though. That’s the problem. He’s not a very honest man either. I worry about what he’ll do to get it. This is where the messy part comes in.” He slouched over in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. There was silence while I waited for him to continue, and he studied the screen in front of him.
“What do you think he’ll do?” I asked after a few moments.
“It’s not what I think he’ll do, it’s what I think he’s done.” He turned towards me, one hand raised to his chin, pulling on the short hairs there. After a minute, he turned back to the pretend window.
“My friend, Niki, was supposed to come for a visit. She’s like a little sister to me, and I haven’t seen her in a long time.” He ran a hand through his hair and returned to resting his elbow on his knee. “I’d thought she would be here about a week ago, but she hasn’t shown up. No one knows where she is.”
“You think your uncle kidnapped her?” I gasped. “Zeus, that’s a huge accusation! Are you sure you want to accuse him of that?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like that,” he grumbled.
“Then why isn’t he in jail?!” I couldn’t believe he actually thought his uncle would be so nasty and evil over a casino.
“He has been, for a long time. I guess he got out.” Zeus shrugged his shoulders and then stood up. “Anyway, that’s why you didn’t hear from me. I was trying to find a way to deal with my uncle and figure out what happened to Niki. I’m
sorry I didn’t call. I will, though. I do want to go out again; I’ve been busy, that’s all.”
“Hold on a second,” I said standing up. “What are you going to do about your uncle? How are you going to find out if he has Niki? Don’t you want to talk about this some more? It all sounds like a really, really big deal!” I looked at him in shock. How could he be so calm about this?
“Zeus,” I began again, softer. “I think you might be in shock. Normally, people have already gone to the cops with stuff like this. I know he’s family, but I really think you need to talk about it some more, with someone who’s not me—someone who can actually do something about it.” He wore a small grin as he met my gaze, so I walked over and placed a hand on the side of his face. His eyes closed and he sighed deeply.
“This is a big deal,” I said softly. “You need to get someone to help you.” He opened his eyes and stared into mine, taking my breath away. I loved their golden brown color. They were unlike anything I’d ever seen. I felt his hand cover mine and pull it towards his mouth.
“I’ll call,” he said. He kissed the palm of my hand.
I tried to clear my head, shooing the butterflies in my stomach and reminding myself to breathe. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Just keep your phone on you.” He smiled seductively.
“You know what I mean,” I said, finally breaking eye contact.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, releasing my hand.
“Okay. I guess I’ll go then,” I stammered. “Sorry I burst in yelling and everything,” I added sheepishly.
“It’s okay,” he laughed. “I deserved it.”
I reached the door as he finished talking and opened it.
“Karly?”
I turned to look at him again.
“Thank you. For listening.”
I smiled and nodded my head. I closed the doors behind me as I left. I smiled apologetically to the girl behind the counter as well. I also made sure to tip the valet, even though he hadn’t touched my car.
Chapter Nine