Master Of Games Page 4

  “If you’ll follow me, Pierce. I’ll take you to the cafeteria.” Henna gestured to a hallway.

  “Collin put a cafeteria in this place? This I have to see.”

  Pierce gave me one last once-over before joining Henna.

  It took me twenty minutes to make it through the lingering crowd of crew and athletes wanting to discuss the match and their excitement at seeing me in the ring. I was grateful to all of them, but my heart was screaming for just a few minutes to digest what was happening to me.

  I stepped into the bathroom adjacent to my private office and turned on the shower. Once the water reached my desired temperature, I stepped in.

  The heat and force of the spray had me relaxing. I braced my hands on the wall and lifted my face into the water.

  God. I hadn’t expected Pierce to affect me as he had. His presence brought back desires and needs I’d long ago pushed away, things I could never have asked Stavros to do.

  Stavros had been an amazing lover, always putting my needs before his. He treasured me. It had taken me nearly a year and a half after our marriage to take him to bed. He’d been patient and so careful with me. At the time I thought that was what I wanted—a sharp contrast to the all-consuming passion I’d had with Pierce.

  Over the years, the gentle and sweet friendship Stavros and I had turned into love. Not the love I’d felt for Pierce, but one I knew would sustain me for the rest of my life. Stavros was truly my knight in shining armor.

  But it wasn’t meant to last. I could still remember the devastation I’d felt when the authorities came to our villa to tell me Stavros’s boat was hit by a shipping vessel piloted by a drunk captain.

  I’d gone numb, not wanting to believe he was gone. If it weren’t for my parents, Penny, Henna, and Anaya, I wouldn’t have been able to survive. My small tribe helped me cope with my loss and get my head on straight to care for Christopher as well as all of Stavros’s businesses.

  Businesses the Thanos family expected me to pass on to one of the male heirs of the family. Well, that wasn’t true. Not everyone thought a woman should have control of the billion-dollar empire. My grandmother-in-law, Sylvia, was my biggest advocate. As the matriarch of the Thanos family, her word was law, and she wanted me to take over Stavros’s role.

  Her support meant the world to me and it had given me the encouragement to put the right people in place so I could focus on the business I’d created from the ground up, one that half the family still didn’t recognize as worthy of the Thanos name.

  I’d learned long ago I couldn’t please most of my in-laws. I’d followed the rules, behaved the way I was supposed to, and it made no difference. It was when I stopped truly trying that I found my place.

  Sports was my life. It was what I knew, and creating an enterprise where I could be in the middle of the action without sacrificing my time with Christopher was the perfect compromise.

  Now here I was, full circle with the man, the city, and the business that started it all.

  Seeing Pierce brought forth a longing I tried every day to suppress. I’d hurt him, hurt us, damaged his fragile trust that I’d always be there for him.

  A tear slipped down my face. Was I disloyal to Stavros by realizing I never stopped wanting Pierce? Or lov—

  I shook the thought from my mind. I couldn’t go there.

  I had to maintain a distance from Pierce and keep any and all interactions professional. It wasn’t just my business on the line but Christopher too.

  I had to arrange a time for Pierce and me to sit down and discuss the past and Christopher in a rational, adult way. After all, we were both near thirty and understood the importance of thinking things through.

  Who was I kidding?

  There was no doubt in my mind that Pierce was going to lose it. His emotions had always made him volatile. The fact he’d learned to control them wouldn’t mean he’d rein them in with our situation. All I could hope was for him to be calm enough to agree to be introduced to Christopher slowly.

  I was so fucked. There was no way I was going to come out of this unscathed.

  My phone chimed, telling me I had to hurry up. I quickly washed my hair and then my body, wincing a few times as I stroked over areas where Neya had landed a hit. I stepped out of the shower, picking one of the tailored suits Henna had ordered for me, and then put on my game face.

  By the time I walked out into the training room, I was back to the take-no-one’s-shit sports promoter.

  “There she is.” Collin Lykaios came up to me and kissed my cheek. “I’m not sure if I should reprimand you or hug you.”

  “What did I do?” I asked, feigning innocence.

  Collin was very protective of the women in his life, which included Henna, Anaya, and now me.

  “I heard you gave the team some excitement today.”

  His deep blue eyes, so much like his son’s and grandson’s, gleamed with mischief. For a sixty-five-year-old man, he still possessed the devastatingly good looks and body of his youth but with refinement only time could polish. With Collin’s genetics, Hagen, Pierce, and Zack were guaranteed to age well.

  “You could say that.” I smiled. “It gave me the opportunity to see the areas Neya could strengthen.”

  “What it did was give hermit over here a chance to show off all the training she still does in secret.” Emery joined Collin and me.

  “Whatever the reason, I’m grateful.” Collin studied me and winked at Henna, who was approaching. “The morale of the team is high, and they have a buzz about them that wasn’t there yesterday. It’s good for them to see the people they work for have no problems getting their hands dirty. But do me a favor. Next time, let someone else get punched. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I heard you were in the ring.”

  “I’ll do my best not to scare you.” I winked at him.

  “Here, drink this.” Henna handed me a green drink that resembled pureed grass.

  I scrunched my nose. “Umm, no thanks.”

  Henna frowned and then ordered, “Drink it.”

  Before I could say no, a burly, larger-than-life man with jet-black hair and eyes just as dark came up to us.

  Apollo Regalia was one fine specimen of male perfection. He was the current heavyweight champion in Europe and Asia with a following to rival some of the biggest movie stars. He trained hard and fought harder.

  He viewed me as his adopted sister. We’d first met during my one and only Olympic Games, where he’d represented Spain in the men’s heavyweight matches in taekwondo, and I represented the USA in the women’s featherweight class. We stayed friends for years, and when I’d created my promotion and management company with Stavros, I’d brought him in as one of my athletes.

  “I say fair is fair. You make me, Neya, and all the athletes drink that stuff after every match. Remember the email detailing the benefits of the wheatgrass protein shake to restore muscle strain and fatigue?”

  “Apollo’s right.” Collin couldn’t hide his amusement. “You have to set an example by walking the walk.”

  I grabbed the cup and muttered, “I never expected any one of them to buy the crap I wrote.”

  Holding my breath and praying I wouldn’t puke, I took a sip.

  Well, shit. This stuff tasted incredible. “Damn, that’s good.”

  Apollo draped an arm around my shoulders. “Do you think we would drink something that tasted like real grass? We love you and know you want the best for us.”

  “But?” I continued his sentence.

  “There is no way any of us would suffer through disgusting health drinks.”

  “I guess that explains the massive orders for the shake on the expense report.” Henna grabbed the drink from my hand and took a sip.

  Her eyes grew big, and she nodded her head. “I so need to add this to my diet.”

  I snatched my cup back and sucked down the rest of the concoction before tossing it into a nearby trash can.

  “Time to smile pretty.” Apollo r
eleased me and adjusted the belt on the robe he wore. “Did I tell you I hate all this bullshit pomp and circumstance?”

  “Every single time we have to do any press,” I responded.

  We moved to the back doors of the facility to the press tent Collin had erected.

  The moment we entered, my gaze locked with Pierce, who was seated with Hugo Davis. There was an underlying lust to his stare that had me wanting to squirm. Instead, a tingle ran up my spine, and I couldn’t help but shiver.

  Of all the places to try that Dom stuff, he’d pick now.

  “Is everything okay?” Henna asked from behind me.

  “Yep.” I walked up the steps of the stage and greeted everyone from one end of the long table, shaking hands until I reached Pierce.

  “Hello again.” I offered Pierce my hand.

  He took it in his, and I nearly moaned. We hadn’t touched since the last time he’d made love to me over ten years earlier.

  “Hello, Ame.”

  My breath became a little erratic.

  Dammit, Amelia, you’re supposed to keep it together. Remember you’re the ballbuster promoter, not Pierce’s… Nope, not going there right now.

  His lips twitched, telling me he’d caught my reaction.

  I pulled my hand from his and introduced everyone with me before the press conference began.

  The next hour flew by faster than I expected. The media loved Apollo and Hugo. They were so similar it was surreal. They were humble, spoke eloquently, and had the reporters eating out of their hands. The men had a mutual respect that gave them an endearing quality.

  When they stood to do the usual scowling at each other with their hands-up pose for the cameras, I wasn’t the only one who was struck by how good looking the two fighters were. A person had to be dead not to notice.

  “Thank you, everyone. We’ll see you at the weigh-in,” the press-conference moderator said.

  I stood, glancing at my watch and avoiding the urge to look at Pierce’s end of the table.

  Henna slipped a hand into the crook of my elbow to keep me on the stage and put some distance between the rest of our team and us.

  “Is it wrong for me to lust after both of them?” Henna whispered so none of the men around us could hear. “Can’t you just imagine being the filling in an Apollo and Hugo sandwich?”

  “Get your mind out of the gutter. Aren’t you the woman who’s all business, all the time with no room to deviate? This is business.” I tried to give her a stern glare but couldn’t hold it as a grin won out.

  “I’m still a woman and can appreciate sexy man-candy.”

  I shook my head. I truly loved that Henna let down her hair with me. She was so controlled all the time that many mistook her as being cold and calculating. But in fact, she was one of the most easygoing and fun people I knew. “Can’t argue with that.”

  “Speaking of man-candy. Penny has arranged a table at Hagen’s new club for all of us. I’m sure there will be plenty of celebrities to dance with tonight.”

  “Since when are you and the Lykaios brothers all chummy, chummy?”

  “When your cousin is about to marry the love of her life, who happens to be one of them, you put aside the animosity. Now it doesn’t mean I like all of them, but Hagen and Pierce aren’t so bad.”

  “That means you have issues with Zack.”

  “He is the one Lykaios I’d be happy never to interact with. Ever. He wants to destroy Collin and doesn’t shy away from letting anyone know.” Henna clenched her jaw.

  Henna and her sister Anaya were the daughters of Victor Anthony, a man who’d swindled nearly a billion dollars from his investors in one of America’s most notorious financial scandals. Instead of taking responsibility, Anthony had committed suicide, leaving his family to take the fall, which included the seizing of all assets and death threats. Collin, who’d been a victim of the scheme, had protected the girls and their mother by moving them out of state and giving them new identities.

  Because of this, Henna was loyal to Collin down to the core of her soul.

  “The two of you are so much alike it boggles the mind.”

  “The only place we can coexist is during the private poker matches we enter with our high rollers. There we know the rules and get along just fine.”

  “It would serve you right if you ended up in bed together after one of those games.”

  She snorted, but the way she wouldn’t look in my direction said she’d thought of the possibility. “Never going to happen.”

  “I believe you protest too much. Besides, Zack is hot.”

  “Why don’t you focus on the Lykaios who was all but fucking you with his eyes today and leave me alone.”

  Chapter Five

  Pierce

  * * *

  Around midnight, I walked into Ida and headed to Nyx, the nightclub Hagen had designed around Firewater. I’d thought he’d lost his mind when he wanted to sink millions into the project based on a product that could be a fad, but his vision had been spot-on. Now, every rival club wanted to emulate Nyx.

  The craziest part of the whole endeavor was that until Hagen and Penny got together, neither Zack nor I knew Penny was the creator of the internationally sought-after whiskey that tasted like it was aged for years but in fact was only months old.

  Hagen had been in love with Penny since we were kids, but he thought they could never be anything more than acquaintances because of his dark past working for Draco Jackson. It wasn’t until Penny’s brother, Adrian, who happened to work for HPZ, arranged a business lunch for Hagen and Penny that they finally acted on the attraction.

  As I approached the club, I noticed the line to get in was twice the normal size. One of the bouncers caught my confusion, and he only shook his head in response before he said something into his earpiece.

  “What the fuck is going on in there?” I asked Damian Riker, Ida’s general manager, the moment I saw him.

  “Mr. Lykaios, we have a bit of a celebrity situation in the club. Word got out that Apollo and Hugo are here.”

  Well, that was just great. Two guys who were supposed to be on opposite teams were partying it up together. I wasn’t against them being friends, but it made for better ticket sales when there was a rivalry.

  “Is security in place?”

  Damian nodded. “We had it arranged when Ms. Kipos reserved the VIP section. No one without silver wristbands can access the area, and we implemented a second security check to verify names with Ms. Kipos’s guest list.”

  “Are there any other guests up there?”

  “Yes. Vivian James and Xander Caro with their respective groups. Both parties know Mrs. Thanos and understand the need for discretion.”

  It also helped that the two movie stars were having an affair and wouldn’t want anyone knowing about it. Especially since the public thought they were with other people.

  “Where’s Hagen?”

  Amusement passed over his face. “He’s standing guard over his fiancée.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh in return.

  If there was one thing true about Hagen, it was that he was overprotective of Penny. The man had wanted her for so many years thinking he couldn’t have her and that he didn’t deserve her. Now that she was his, he wasn’t letting go.

  Once upon a time, I’d had the same thoughts about Amelia, but she chose to run instead of coming to me. I was well aware she’d been barely eighteen, but she was carrying my child and had kept it from me.

  “Is Zack here?”

  “Not yet. He went to meet some whales that arrived from the Middle East. You know how Mr. Lykaios is. Work comes first.”

  Or he didn’t want to be in the same space as Henna Anthony. For some reason, those two had a hard time getting along. Maybe it was the fact they were so similar. Despite her poor taste in adoring Collin, Henna was a great person, at times a workaholic and a bit too driven, but someone who would walk through the fires of hell for the people she cared for.

 
“I’ll head up.” I moved in the direction of the hidden entrance of the club.

  After taking two hallways and a set of stairs, I reached the VIP lounge. The music from the dance floors below blared into the space, keeping the nightclub atmosphere going.

  As I stepped onto the floor, I came to an abrupt stop. Amelia, Henna, and Neya were all dancing together. It was obvious they’d had a few drinks, and their guards were down. Their movements were sensual and a bit erotic. I wasn’t the only one mesmerized. Many of the club patrons on the lower level were watching them, as were Apollo and Hugo as they sat on the sofas, drinking. Apollo’s gaze was focused on Neya, but Hugo’s was on Amelia and Henna.

  I clenched my jaw when he licked his lips, and counted to ten to calm the urge to punch him. I had to remind myself he was a normal red-blooded man watching beautiful women dance.

  “Well, fucking hell,” Zack said as he came up behind me.

  His focus was locked on Henna. A crease formed in his brow. “If that boy doesn’t stop eye-fucking them, I swear to God we won’t have a man in the ring a couple of months from now.”

  Well, wasn’t that interesting? Baby brother had a thing for the enemy. Poor guy was in for a rude awakening if he ever got in a relationship with her. She wasn’t his usual type. He had a habit of going for women he could handle and keep in their respective places. Henna was smart, funny, and took no one’s shit.

  “Are you referring to them as a whole or Henna? I’m not sure she’d appreciate your possessiveness. In fact, she’d probably stomp you into the ground.”

  “Fuck off. Why don’t you worry about your baby mama.”

  Zack’s words had me grinding my teeth and helped remind me that I was on a mission.

  “I don’t need to worry. She’ll walk right into the trap I’m setting.”

  Amelia danced around Neya and Henna, laughing and singing to the song in the celebrity DJ’s mix.

  “I think seducing her is a bad idea. She’s been through enough over the years. For Christ’s sake, she just lost her husband.”