BRANDONA few hours earlier“Cassius, I need a favor. We are still in front. Come here and take Alayna.”
He and Oliver come in a flurry. I step out of the car and open the door on the passenger side.
Cassius rushes to her and gently shakes her shoulder. “Alayna? Alayna, can you hear me?” He caresses her flushed cheeks with his thumb, but she doesn’t respond. “What happened to her?”
I curse under my breath. The way he holds her is too familiar. I fucking want to tear his arms off, but I calm myself. “She fainted.”
“What did you do?”
“We never had a chance to talk. She was crying the whole time,” I say.
“God, I think she needs to give this a rest. You just couldn’t wait until she’s ready,” he snarls and looks at his brother. “You both know it’s not good for her.”
Oliver doesn’t answer, but he nods.
“Alayna?” He touches her face. “Oh, God. Are you okay?”
“Don’t wake her. She fell asleep.”
“Don’t tell me what to do because you can’t take care of her!” Cassius snaps. “I’m taking her from here.” He envelops Alayna in his arms and tries to lift her legs, but she grunts painfully.
“Let her sleep,” I insist. “Take the damn car and take her back to your clinic.” I throw the keys to him, and he catches them.
“Brandon. Are you sure?” Oliver asks. “Are you going to let it end like this?”
“Take her before I change my mind,” I order, ignoring Ollie’s statement.
“Yes, but I will not take her just because you told me so. I can’t believe that after the hardship we’ve been through, you have not changed.” Cassius shuts the door, turns, and gets into the driver’s seat. He takes off, speeding down the road.
“Are you sure of what you just did?” Oliver asks again.
“It’s fine, Ollie.”
“But why?”
“It will be a rough ride next time. I won’t even have time for myself.”
He scowls. “What do you mean?”
“A year ago, I found Alayna because she's an acquaintance of my father's mistress. I put her in danger. She doesn’t know how dangerous that woman is.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing in Athens?”
“I’ve been investigating. Grandfather thinks Annette is our uncle’s daughter, but she’s not. Annette is Helen’s bastard. Her firstborn. Uncle Alfio and Annette are half-siblings.”
“What?” He scratches his chin.
“Come with me. I can’t talk about it here.”
***
As soon as we return to the mansion, I go to my desk and pull out some documents from my drawer.
“This is the information about our families, registrations, records that might help us.”
Oliver opens the first binder, looks at the first page, and says, “This is our family tree.”
“Euricius, Petros, and Helen are the Heads of Katrakis. Surely you already knew that,” I continue. “Euricius was the eldest with one son, Estevan. There are five grandchildren: the twins Carmelo and Constantine and their three older sisters who are married to the Stavros family. They lived inside the compound. You’ll always see them in family gatherings. However, Euricius transferred half his fortune to Helen when he passed away, but the twins didn't take what was left of their fortune for some reason.
“Petros, our grandfather, is the second head of the family. But now that Euricius and Helen are gone, he is the head of the Katrakis family. He owns the other third of the Katrakis’s fortune. Our grandfather was just greedy in his younger years. He liked to use his money for everything, and because of it, he almost lost all his children. I lost Mom because of his greed. You already know our family’s story, so I won’t explain this much further. This is what you needed to hear.
“Helen, the youngest, and her son Alfio were accused of my mother’s murder, but this was never confirmed.”
“He’s one of your suspects now?” His question sounds like more of a conclusion.
“A dangerous accusation, but yes, Ollie. I have been connecting the dots, and it all leads to him and Annette.”
“Hold on.” He scowls hard. “Not just Annette or some unknown Marcus, but him?”
“Unfortunately, Alfio plays a big part in all this.”
Oliver smiles mirthlessly. “He’s despicable, and what’s worse is, his blood runs through our veins.”
“Listen to this, Oliver: Even with a piece of substantial evidence, it’s going to be hard to take him down. He is protected by people from high spheres, politicians, and businessmen. He wanted to take our grandfather’s wealth for his illegal businesses. Drugs, gambling, and sex clubs. He’s the leader of an organization—like a mafia. I’m still looking for information on it. His sons, Charlie and Silvanus, are helping him.”
“And you’re their greatest threat,” Oliver concludes. “You are wealthy even without the Katrakis fortune. Uncle Alfio could be one of the reasons for your mother’s and sister’s deaths. This is what everyone knows but refused to do anything about. They are afraid of Alfio. He’ll do everything to take you down. But where is Annette in the family tree?”
“Betrayal runs in the family,” I answer. “Before her husband, Helen had an affair outside the family alliance when she was sixteen, and Annette is her daughter. This is what I found out about her. Annette is a famous chef, there’s no doubt about that. We even found Alayna because of her. Her origin is Greek and Italian. A long time ago, our grandfather said Annette went to Alfio’s second wedding. I saw the copy of his marriage registration, and Annette’s name was listed as a witness using the Katrakis name. This is evidence.”
“And no one suspected it since it's a closed-court ceremony.”
“Yes, and so Annette is Helen's illegitimate daughter, Alfio’s half-sister,” I continue. “I found this proof from my informant. I couldn’t tell you because there are people I needed to protect. Uncle Alfio won’t let us take this secret to the public, so we have to be careful.”
Oliver scans all the papers I presented to him. “I’m not sure how you got this, but I’m amazed, Brandon.”
“But I can’t be so sure if she’s one of our culprits. Something's off.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t tell for now. But Alayna’s information about Annette is right, Ollie. Her current address is correct, and she’s still using her fake name. I know where to find her now. I know where she lives. One thing is for sure. Alfio is helping Annette. They’re helping each other, and my father could be their ally.”
Six months ago, Uncle Alfio introduced himself to me in Athens. He acted as if I was his favorite nephew and talked about doing business with my company. Never in my life am I going to acknowledge him as family. I promised to take him down—and everyone who caused my family’s death. I'm powerful enough to bring him to his knees.
“I’ll show you another thing,” I suddenly say and pull at a drawer. I pick up a small envelope and toss it on the desk. “Open that.”
Oliver opens the envelope and draws out the content.
“Pictures?” He frowns.
“Yes. Please, take a look.”
He picks up one of many and stares at it. “Who is this late-forties lady, I guess?”
“That’s Alayna’s mother. There are pictures with her siblings in there too, in Kansas.”
“What?” Oliver spreads out the photos on my desk and scans each one. “Wait.” His expression stiffens.
“Did you notice?” I say, referring to the man in the gray hood approaching Alayna's mother and some of her siblings on the street at different days, places, angles, and shots. I’m sure it was just one person, but he hid his face with a black face mask.
“Fuck,” he curses. “They're getting close.”
I massage my temples with my fingers. “Yes, that's why I sent additional security to Lawrence. They know about her family now, whoever the fuck they are, and this... This is already a warning, Ollie,” I say pointedly.
“And you have these photos taken how?”
“I sent someone to look after them.”
Oliver shuts his eyes. “Is this why you couldn’t face her? She doesn’t even know you’re doing this.”
“I can’t, and it doesn't matter. She can’t know, and you know why. First Alayna, now her family... She’s not safe with me anymore.”
“Do you know who’s after them?”
“No.”
“God!” He slams his fist on the desk. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Alayna misunderstood! I misjudged you.”
“I wasn’t sure at first until this. I can’t let them get hurt because of me.”
“But don’t you think it’s too late for that?”
“This is why....” I stop, and Oliver puts a hand on my arm.
“Is this why you broke up with her?”
“I don’t want to, Ollie. But I have to so they will leave her and her family alone...” I whisper.
“Oh, man.” He rubs my back. “But letting her go with Cassius... It’s not okay, don’t you think?”
I shut my eyes. “She’s safe with him. If there’s a person other than me who can protect her, it’s Cassius...”
“But you can protect Alayna now. This is why you left for a year—to get better, right?”
“Yes, I can,” I say tersely, “but how about her family, Ollie? Some things are uncontrollable, and I can’t be there for her if what I’m afraid of happens... I’m not weak anymore, but I’m not that strong,” I admit.
He nods, understanding our current situation. “But she’s going home to Lawrence.”
“As long as Cassius is with her, she’s safe,” I repeat. “He shouldn’t leave her alone, and you should tell him that, but he has to know his place.” I clench my fist.
“He likes Alayna, and Alayna thinks you don’t want her anymore.”
“I know,” I growl.
“Man, do you still know what you’re doing? One wrong move, you might lose everything...” he remarks with concern.
“I’d rather lose everything, but I have to keep them safe. Oliver, what happened to Mom and Elga can’t happen again.”
“Then this is it? It’s over with you and Alayna?”
“For now.”
BRANDON AND ALAYNA’S STORY
WILL CONTINUE IN THE SEQUEL OF
THE BILLIONAIRE’S MASK SERIES…