“I’m so more than ready to get the fuck out of here.” Athena states as she brushes past her family in a fit of rage and exits the room, causing Dante to give chase to her.

The crisp air of the night had Athena shivering by the time she left the warmth of the building, being the gentleman he was Dante took off his suit coat and draped it around her shoulders.

“Is Alessio safe?” Dante queried whilst Athena tried to wave down a cab.

“He’s back at the hotel with Gisele.” She casually responded as if hearing her sons name leave Dante’s mouth for the first time wasn’t a big deal. Dante didn’t even hide the fact that he knew about the baby or question whether it was his.

“Good, then you’re coming back to my place.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’m beyond asking Athena, now get in.” Dante whispered in Athena’s ear as he leaned over and opened the limo door.

Reluctantly, Athena entered the vehicle. The ride back to Dante’s penthouse was excruciatingly quite, not only was there an uncomfortable space between the two former lovers as each sat on opposite ends of the limo, there seemed to be a space between their hearts.

Dante’s demeanour had shifted from earlier on, he was now cold and brooding. He sat with his legs apart whilst slightly leaning against the leather seats of his limo. His hand was strategically placed just above the groin while the other occasionally ran through his hair.

Dante waited for Athena to enter his penthouse before he removed his coat off her shoulders and threw it on a nearby table. Before Athena had the chance to speak, Dante had removed his belt and looped it around her neck, pulling her within inches of him.

“Dante, what’s…” With each word Athena tried to speak Dante would tighten the belt around her neck.

Now backed up against a wall with Dante examining each curve of her body, Athena found it harder to breathe. Gasps for air caused her chest to erratically rise and fall, giving Dante the perfect view of her cleavage.

Athena’s facial expression showed her obvious discomfort but she was not willing to give into Dante’s dominance, instead she dug her nails into his back which caused him to grimily smile.

Dante began to move Athena’s dress slightly up, exposing more of her long legs while exchanging looks between her eyes and lips before licking his own. Athena was running out of room to breathe, quite literally as Dante was now up against her firmly holding the belt which was now causing her neck to burn. Her eyes pleaded with his as her legs began to get weak which pleased Dante.

“Good, now you know how I felt without you.” Dante whispered as he released the belt. 

Before Athena could take a breath in Dante had consumed her lips, breathing life back into her. The kiss wasn’t filled with love but rather anger and lust.

There was lip biting and exploring hands that dug into bare skin, heads were thrown back as teeth were sunken into necks.  Dante’s shirt buttons bounced off marble tiles as Athena tore off his shirt before running her hand over his bare chest. 

Dante grabbed Athena’s wrists and held them above her head with one hand while unzipping her dress with the other. As soon as the garment fell to the floor, Athena shied away from Dante which he was unused to.

Athena had always being confident and went after what she wanted even to the point where she was the dominate one in the bedroom which was one of the many reasons he had fallen in love with her in the first place.

"What's wrong my pretty princess? Afraid you couldn't handle me?" 

Dante knew exactly what to say in order to bait Athena. It was only a matter of seconds before a lustful haze set upon her.

“I have a business call to make. Some of your clothes are still in my drawer, go change and wait for me because we need to talk.” Dante got up and was back to his cold self, the intimate moment the two shared was clearly over. 

Athena obeyed Dante’s orders and walked towards his bedroom, offering him privacy to make his call. Athena easily found some of the clothes she had left after spending a night at Dante’s, the slightest smell of her signature perfume still lingered on the garments. She quickly changed and sat on the edge of Dante’s bed, countless memories flooded her mind which brought a smile to her face.

“That’s one of the things I missed most about you that ended up haunting me in my dreams.” Dante’s voice echoed across the room bringing Athena out of her thoughts.

“It’s funny really, your smile is etched in my mind.”

“I don’t know what to say or where to start.”

“Then let me start, I’m glad you left. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to protect you and Alessio. I failed you once and you lost someone deeply important to you, I couldn’t have that happening again.”

Dante walked over to the bed and took a seat next to Athena.

“It was tough, I fucking missed you. There were days I wanted to throw it all away and fly to Portofino just to be with you but somehow my love for you was the reason I stayed away.”

Athena had now rested her head against Dante’s shoulder and he gently kissed the top of it.

“I drank and partied, got into fights and would repeat this routine the next day until your brother’s and Hendrik intervened. They knew you’d come back and didn’t want me to be a shell of a man when you did. So I cleaned up my act, ran for mayor and won.”

“What about Crystal? Do you love her?” Athena questioned while nervously playing with her hands.

“Not in the slightest. She was an easy quick fix to my problems who loves spending my money. God I need to break up with her.” Dante lets out a small agonising laugh before taking Athena’s hand in his.

“You’re the only woman I have ever loved Athena and the only woman I ever will.”

“I love you too.” Athena gives Dante’s hand a little squeeze and her holds onto hers tighter.

“I guess it’s my turn now.”

“Hold that thought my love.” Dante’s doorbell rings and he rushes off to answer it.

Hearing familiar voices coming from the living room, Athena left Dante’s bedroom and proceeded to enquire what’s going on.

“Father, Romulus. What are you two doing here?” Athena questioned with annoyance.

“I called them.” Dante answered with a dispassionate look upon his face.

“Now you’re going to be a good girl and listen to what they have to say.” He added which made Matias and Romulus momentarily cringe at their foreplay.

“Fine, where’s the bitch? I mean witch, oh wait no I definitely meant bitch.”

“Remus is keeping an eye on her.” Romulus answered.

“You might want to pour a drink, to help you swallow what we are about to tell you.”

Back at the fundraising Gala

“She just showed up and ran straight to Dante. I don’t know what we are going to do because unlike Romulus and Remus, Athena didn’t run to me with open arms.”

Remus observes his mother through the opening of a door who seemed to be having an intense conversation on the phone.

“I don’t know Pedro, but we need Athena to trust me otherwise this whole plan will blow up in our faces.”

The distant sound of waiters approaching the room had caused Adrianna to abruptly end her call.

“Somebodies coming, I’ll give you an update soon. I love you.”

Remus took this opportunity to enter the room and surprise his mother, pretending that he had just arrived and had no idea what was going on.

“There you are mama, father and Romulus and a work emergency to attend to so it’s just us now. Are you ready to go back to the hotel?”

“Yes my son, let me just go and grab my coat from the check in and then we can leave.”
 

Adrianna smiles at her son and exits the room none the wiser. Remus quickly uses this time to text his father about what he had just heard.

Back at the penthouse

“Just as we expected.” Matias expresses.

“God, what is it now?” Athena questions in agony after hearing the truth from her father.

“Adrianna just gave Pedro the heads up that you’re back in town.”

“Well then, let the games begin.”