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“I’m sure of it.”
The dread swirling around behind my chest clashes with a tsunami of fury as I remember how that fucker treated Sophia back at the house of the rising sun—like she was a petulant child, a burden, a pain in the ass… all of that disgust for her, after he killed her mother?
I could turn around and punch through the cement fucking wall right now.
“How?” I ask, not bothering to hide the rageful tremble that has come over my voice.
“Poison… and while she was pregnant with Sophia.”
“The fucking bastard…” I spit, almost too angry to continue. “Why?”
“Because Natalia knew who Retsos really was. A coward who would do anything for power… except fight. They hated each other, and Retsos knew that he would never get to where he wanted to be with Natalia whispering in Kostas’ ear.”
“So he poisoned her? While she was pregnant?”
“I could never prove it…” Castor mumbles, his rage subsiding as a heavy guilt seems to sink his shoulders. “But as soon as Natalia was pregnant enough to have to rely on others, she started getting very sick. Near the end, when I realized what might be happening, I hired food testers, but they never got sick. He must have been doing it some other way. Fucking hell, he outwitted me, and it cost Natalia her life… and nearly Sophia’s too.”
“How the hell could he have thought it was a good idea to kill Kostas’s wife and child? What if the Godfather went insane with grief?”
Castor shakes his head. “Kostas wasn’t like that, and Retsos knew it. Without a family to distract him, Retsos could worm his way into Kostas’ ear. He could manipulate his way up the ladder. And that’s exactly what he did. It wasn’t long after Natalia’s death that he became an untouchable. Then there was little I could do…”
“But you did do something…” I say, finding it harder and harder to hate the battered giant. “I mean, obviously you did. Sophia is still alive, after all. Retsos must have wanted her dead too.”
“He did,” Castor nods, a new determination powering through his dread and his regret and his pain. “He wanted to kill her. But I stopped him.”
“How?”
Castor takes a long, deep breath. “I threatened him with the only two things he ever really cared about. Money and power. I promised him that if he ever touched Sophia, I would tell Kostas everything—that’s how I knew he was truly guilty, he didn’t even try to deny it. But he couldn’t risk having Kostas find out. No matter how cold the Godfather of the Night could be, he would never stand for someone killing what was his. And Natalia was his. If he knew what Retsos had done, even if it were just a suspicion, he would have stripped him of his power. Retsos might have been an untouchable, but Kostas would have found a way. He always did. That’s why we both respected him so much.”
My mind is racing at a thousand miles a minute. I’m already furiously pacing back and forth by the time I slip the key back into my pocket.
“Why the hell didn’t Retsos kill you?” I ask, staring down at Castor, trying my best to uncover any hidden lies.
But I don’t see any dishonesty in his weathered face. In fact, in response to my question, I see a small, almost prideful smile come over his bloody lips. It’s like he’s remembering how clever he once was.
“He didn’t kill me because of the other thing he cared most about in the world. Money. Not long after Natalia started getting sick, I stumbled upon a secret operation Retsos had been running without anyone’s permission. He was essentially taking a cut of all of the wealth that the Oikos stole, and keeping it for himself.”
“So what? You blackmailed him with that too?”
“No,” Castor says, shaking his head. “Taking a secret cut of the loot you helped secure was frowned upon, but it wasn’t exactly uncommon. And it definitely wasn’t good blackmail material. Kostas might actually have seen it as a positive. A man willing to do anything for power is a good man to have in power—at least, he is when your only goal is to gain more power.”
“Then how did you use it against him?” I ask, confused.
That prideful smile hiding on Castor’s face gets a whole lot less subtle.
“I stole it from him,” he smirks. “The whole fucking bag. Priceless artifacts, treasures, gold and straight up cash. He kept it in various vaults around Greece. I found each one, I took everything. Then, I hid it.”
Just like that, it clicks. “So, if he ever wanted his fortune back, he couldn’t kill you… because you were the only one who knew where it was.”
“Bingo.”
Fuck. I can’t help but feel some level of begrudging respect for the old man. He managed to find a way to save himself and Sophia from a man who was supposed to be untouchable… and he did it without shedding any blood.
“So, that’s how you protected Sophia, while all of that time, Retsos was at her throat, ready to slice it open?”
The pride quickly washes from Castor’s face as we both remember our rage and our dread.
“I walked that fine line for nearly nineteen years,” he nods. “Then you killed Kostas and everything went to hell. In that chaos, Retsos managed to get the jump on me.”
