Apollo's Gift (The Greek Gods Series) (12 page)

“When is the wedding?” shouted a young woman, with small features and a wide mouth, waving her hand above the field of reporters.

“Are you planning to elope?” said a balding man in front.

Dr. Priam gave him an inquisitive tilt of her head.

Apollo smiled. “We haven’t decided.” That wasn’t a lie, not entirely. He hadn’t said anything really.

Cassie’s mother nodded toward a burly agent at her flank. “It’s too much. I can’t go on.” Dr. Priam lifted her hand to her brow and swooned into the arms of the nearby agent.

Another officer stepped forward “Dr. Priam is exhausted by the events. The interview is over. Information will be forthcoming as it’s made available.”

The mob disbanded with a low murmur. The agents snagged Apollo by the arms and they followed Dr. Priam into the house and to a room where the furniture was elegant, attractive and uncomfortable. So like Cassie’s mother. Apollo could have rendered them all still as stone, but chose to hear them out. He sat upon a high-backed green chair after Dr. Priam took a seat across from him on the couch.

Three agents hovered beside her, a wall of muscle and weaponry between Apollo and Cassie’s mother. “How do you know my daughter?”

“As I said, I met her at Delphi and things went from there.”

She leaned forward. “Stop it. Cassie’s never mentioned a man like you and she’s certainly never spoken of an engagement. That I would’ve heard. What are you trying to pull? I don’t even know your name.” Two more agents entered the room, one positioned at Apollo’s right and another at his left. The energy shifted and Apollo felt their intent to take him in.

This woman was worthy of a god’s smite, but she was also Cassie’s mother. He would bear her disrespect. “I’m Apollo and I met Cassandra in Greece. I asked her to stay with me, and she …” What could he say? “She wanted to finish her education and would think about what I’d said.”

“You’re not John Medina?” Cassie’s mother stared at him cold-eyed. One of the agents’ lips twitched. He must know the man.

Apollo seized the opportunity. “You there. Am I Medina?”

The agent flinched at being singled out. “No sir. I’ve met John and you’re not him.”

Dr. Priam considered Apollo with new interest. It reminded him of a python sizing him up before offering to squeeze the life from him. “Well, Mr. Apollo. What do you know about what’s happened to Cassie?”

“She’d met Medina for dinner. I urged her against it, but you know how stubborn Cassie is.”

Dr. Priam nodded slowly. “Yes. She has a mind of her own.”

“I don’t know what happened. She was to meet me this morning, but never arrived.” What a lie he’d just told. He winced from the pain it caused his head and rubbed his brow.

“Is there anything wrong?” said Mrs. Priam, her eyes wary as a cat on the prowl.

“No, just a headache.”

“I find it odd that Cassie’s never mentioned you or the engagement.” She narrowed her gaze to tiny blue beads. "You don’t seem to be a man desperate for female companionship. I don’t mean to be indelicate, but Cassie is awkward. If you think she has money, you're mistaken. What do you want with her?”

“Cassandra is not awkward.” The muscles in his jaw worked. The woman was insolent. He’d like to set her at the edge of the Mediterranean and let the tide silence her, but Zeus forbade him. “Cassie is beautiful and intelligent,” he growled. “She cares for people. And I love her.”

The agents stared straight ahead. Cassie’s mother relaxed. “That’s the first true thing you’ve said since you walked in here.” She leaned forward. “I’m glad to see that you care for her. But I am worried; Cassie went missing after 9 pm last night. It’s noon. No one has seen her. I wouldn’t be concerned, except this is so unlike Cassie. We had a little argument. You know how mothers and daughters are.”

“Yes,” he said, hiding his irritation.

“I know she had a problem,” she said. “Cassie came home last night looking like, well, not herself. I have no idea where she went, but she’s a naive girl for her age and was in such a state. I fear she’s gotten into trouble.” This time the fear in Dr. Priam’s eyes was genuine.

Apollo thought that the woman might have some love for her daughter after all. “There’s no place she'd go, no friend she’d call?”

“I’ve contacted everyone she knows and no one has seen her. I was hoping you might have answers.”

“I wish I did. We’d had a fight.” Apollo shrugged. “She was angry when she left.”

Cassie’s mother rose to her feet, indignation burning hot in her gaze. “Did you see her last night? Are you the one who tore her blouse and God knows what else?” The agents moved in closer. “I think the officers will continue this conversation. Get him out of here.”

The men encircled Apollo as Dr. Priam sneered, making her look old and hard.

They were about to lay hands on him and he wouldn’t permit that.

* * *

Cassie heard her mother’s outraged shriek and shuffled into the room. Raising her brows in surprise at what met her gaze—her mother and Apollo scowling at each other. “What are you doing here?” Apollo looked, like always, gorgeous, but also shadowed with concern. “Have you both been looking for me? I haven’t been gone twenty-four hours. Really Mom, you do have a gift for drama. Dad will just love this. I see you called in the big guns. Is it the entire FBI or just the locals?”

“You didn’t come home last night. I was worried.” Her mom lifted her chin.

"I’m twenty five years old, Mother. I can take care of my self.” She glared at her mom, not ready to forgive her just yet.

“And you.” She stared at Apollo standing amidst the agents. “What are you doing here? I don't want to talk to you.”

Apollo moved toward her, but the agents blocked his path. He grumbled a few words beneath his breath.

Her mother interjected. “This young man expects me to believe that you're engaged to him. Is that true?”

Something groaned inside of Cassie, a mix of excitement, hope and annoyance. “Really. You never mentioned marriage.”

“I knew it,” quipped her mother.

He pulled at the collar of his white shirt. “My commitment was understood.”

“Ha!” Cassie plopped herself into a straight-backed chair. “Expecting you to be committed is as likely as a cat.”

Dr. Priam excused the agents with a nod. “We need to discuss this alone.”

As they left, Cassie crossed her arms over her belly and shot her mother a warning gaze.  She was not having this conversation in front of her mom. “Whatever Apollo and I have to say to each other doesn’t involve you.”

“But…”

Cassie cut her off. “Leave, Mom, or I'm calling back those reporters. They’re still camped out across the street. I had to climb the neighbor’s fence to get here unseen. I’m sure they’d love the story of what your daughter did last night and where she’d slept.”

“Humph.” Her mom stiffened at the swipe and stomped from the room.

Cassie’s head pounded and her mouth felt like she’d swallowed a wad of paper towels. What happened at the bar last night was fuzzy, just like her tongue. She didn’t think she’d be able to stand the sight of iced tea again without hurling. And she didn’t need her mother playing diva to the media when she’d arrived home or Apollo looking like, well, something good to wake up to. The man might be the cure to her wounds, but then, he’d caused most of them, and Cassie refused to let him off easy. She’d had enough hurt from her mom, John and all the other disappointing relationships life threw at her. She didn’t need Apollo adding to it.

She breathed in to thwart the ache between her ears and focused on Apollo through stinging eyes. “I’m grateful that you showed up at John’s when you did, but I wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it weren’t for you. I’d still be with Eric. You manipulated to keep men from my life. I saw what you did to Medina. Is that how you scared off Eric and the rest? Why did you do that anyway? And don't tell me it was for my own good, because that’s a lie.” She waited for him to explain.
This should be good.

He loosened the top button of his shirt, shed his navy jacket and tossed it onto the couch. With all that movement, she got a whiff of his scent, sweet nectar, and with each intake of her breath, the stabbing behind her eyes dissipated. She breathed in again, hungry for his aroma.

It wasn’t fair that he affected her this way. Cassie knew from the first time she’d seen him in her dreams that he might be the man for her, but he hadn’t been real. Now he was, but it was still destined to fail. She had to follow what made sense, even amid the alcoholic fuzz in her head. She took in another breath. The throbbing in her temples dissolved and Cassie felt too good to be angry. Yet she refused to let it go. “I’m waiting.”

He lowered his gaze. The action reminded her of a repentant puppy, a golden retriever she’d had as a child. She’d loved that dog. Max could chew up her best shoes, but when he scampered to her, with her sneaker still in his mouth slobbery with his drool, his eyes sparking with joy, she couldn't stay mad. Apollo was the same way.

He deserved being put in his kennel for bad behavior, but she just couldn’t do it.

“I understand.” He stared at her with that look, the one that said I’m sorry, and I’ll never do it again, and even if you scream at me, I’ll still love you forever.

Damn, he was good. “Why did you do it? Why did you run off every man that walked into my life? Not that there were all that many to begin with.”

With a few strides, he took his place in front of her. His gaze softened as he looked into her face. “Some were as bad as I’d told you. One was despicable like that insect, John Medina.”  He placed his hands on her upper arms and stroked his fingers up and down her skin.

Tingles shot through her and made it difficult to think. She forced her thoughts away from his touch. “They couldn’t all be dangerous.”

“They weren’t worthy of you. I wouldn’t have you give yourself to an undeserving mortal.”

“Who were you to decide who was deserving? I’m sure in your mind, the only man worthy of my affection is you?” Steam built in her gut, threatening to rise.

“I care for you.” His fingers slid up her neck and rubbed away building tension. “I know your heart. I’ve always loved you, but you had closed yourself off to me.”

“When did I do that?”

“After Troy. When insanity took your mind, it also took your heart.”

“Right,” she snorted. “You say that because I didn’t fall into your bed.”

“If it had been only that.” He narrowed his gaze, seeming to see past her defenses. “You stubbornly refused my healing and comfort, though you sorely needed it. The damage scarred your heart and cankered your soul. You shut out more than me, Cassandra, you shut out any chance at love.”

Had losing her mind in that early life put a wedge between her and relationships? Maybe. But her dating failures weren’t just about her. Apollo had interfered, damaged her confidence and hurt her. The blade twisting in her stomach from each breakup remained sharp. He needed to know it. “Do you realize what your actions cost me? All the nights I cried over being dumped without the courtesy of knowing why. When all my friends had dates and boyfriends, and gushed over their latest love, I listened with a raw heart because I had nothing. You did that. You, with your selfish possession, you never thought about the price I paid.”

“I thought about it.” He leaned closer, his mouth a kiss away.

She reared back and shook her head to deny the desire clouding her mind. "I’m attracted to you, but attraction isn’t a relationship. I need friendship and a man I can trust. Someone who can think of my needs as well as his own, and apparently you’re incapable. Get out.”

His eyes widened. “What? But I’m helping you.” He dropped his hands from her. “You need time. I’ll talk to you after you’ve calmed down.”

“Are you incapable of listening? I don’t want to talk to you. Ever. Find yourself another girl. As I recall, the past is littered with your women. Why not look up Daphne? She was supposed to be one of your great loves.”

“I'll ignore that reference to my past because I can see that you’re upset.”

“Damn right, I’m upset.” She seethed with frustration and considered smacking him.

“I am sorry.” He looked at her with his puppy dog eyes. “I...I didn’t understand. I do now.”

“How could you understand? You’re a freaking god.” She spit the accusation at him. “You’ve never suffered a day in your very long existence. What do you know about real pain?”

Apollo pulled her to him, caging her in his arms and lowered his head to within inches from her face. She stiffened, anger burning in her veins. His gaze darkened. “How can you believe that I’ve never suffered?”

His voice was low and thick with emotion. “You were tormented and I’ve repented for millennia for my part in it. I close my eyes and I can still see your agony. Zeus shackled me. Even now I can feel the chains cutting into my flesh. He refused my pleas to save you. Your cries and mine were denied.”

“Suffering?” His jaw hardened and his grip on her dug into her soft flesh. “Imagine having the one you adore raped in front of you, beaten, kidnapped and forced to be a concubine, no, a prize of war. And then imagine you had the power to strike the slime dead, to cast your gaze and turn them all to ash.” His blue eyes flashed red. “Zeus made me impotent, left to watch the horrors that took your body, then your mind and finally your life.” He let her go, his eyes retuning to their azure blue. “No, my love, I know nothing of suffering.”

His words shook her to her core. Tears welled in her eyes. "I didn't know. In my dreams as Cassandra, I was alone. You were never there, if you at least had come and stayed with me—after.”

“I did, but you’d closed yourself off and refused to see me.”

A tear slid down her cheek. Had stubbornness forced her to suffer alone? “Why can I see you now when I’m determined to shut you out?”

“Ah Cassie, You’re not as determined as you’d like to think. Part of you is desperate to heal the past because you know we’re meant to be together.”

She stared at him, waiting for his truthful glow to fade. It didn’t.

Damn.