Page 3 of Power

“Ready for your meeting?” he asked, snapping the case shut.

I let out a tired sigh. “I suppose.”

He arched an eyebrow. “That’s hardly convincing.”

I scrunched up my nose, muttering, “Let’s get moving.”

Minutes later, Sebastian guided us out of the parking lot, the car swallowing the road toward Avra’s estate.

Today marked the turning point.

The day my sisters and I would confront the mighty “M” word.

Marriage.

Long ago, the three of us swore an oath to wed into influential circles and reclaim what was stolen after the coup against our father.

The traitors who betrayed Papa believed that, as daughters of Juno Vitalis, they could dismiss us.

We were no longer helpless children. We would claim what was rightfully ours.

The mafia patriarchs, shrouded in tradition and arrogance, never expected to be challenged by three determined women.

Initially, Avra had married Elias Xenos, followed by Laya, who wed Nikolas Galanis. With the first two moves made, it was now my turn. This plan for retribution had been set long before my abduction. I would not let my past alter our path. Even as my sisters offered me a way out of our marriage pact, I refused to step aside. I would not retreat. I wanted to choose my spouse on my terms.

I aimed to choose a process that resembled thoughtful dating rather than rushed decision-making. The man I selected would recognize my history, embrace the scars and burdens I bore, and see me as an equal shaped by challenges, not as a delicate ideal.

After a ninety-minute drive from Layla’s giant estate in Nemea, the massive iron gates of Avra and Eli’s estate loomedahead. They swung open as Sebastian guided us to a grand mansion perched over the Aegean Sea.

The manor sat on the coast of Patras among vibrant gardens, a modest vineyard and dense woods looming on its sides with a sweeping ocean view as its backdrop.

Pulling into the driveway, I spotted Avra and Laya basking on a sunlit terrace overlooking the boat dock. I often teased Avra that if the role of Vitalis blood queen godmother ever grew tiresome, she could easily transform her home into a luxury retreat. The estate exuded an allure that promised to captivate the elite.

A sense of joy filled me at the sight of my eldest sister thriving in such beauty. I stepped from the car and absorbed every detail like a cherished painting. My feet carried me along the cool stone steps toward my sunlit sisters.

The morning light spilled across the entryway as I stepped inside and encountered a scene that eased the weight in my chest. My sisters’ faces, graced with beauty that rivaled ancient goddesses, lit up when they saw me, just as I knew my own did at the sight of them.

In that moment, our bond felt etched into something unbreakable.

We had journeyed through hardship together: the loss of our parents, the forced exile to a strange land in our early years, and the burden of concealing our true selves for far too long. Each trial left us reaching for something solid, a taste of normalcy, a whisper of home. In foreign Prague, with secrets and dangers lurking, the three of us clung fiercely to one another.

I recalled countless moments when Avra and Laya had been my first call for comfort, and I knew that would never change. Yet now they had partners of their own. Avra and Laya had found love in Eli and Niko, drawing strength from their arms.

The thought of trusting a man myself seemed almost absurd.

How could I ever let someone guard my heart when betrayal had sculpted my doubts? Today, however, I stood on the threshold of confronting that very challenge. I exhaled and approached my sisters, pushing away the tightness in my stomach.

Laya was stretched out on a lounge chair, her legs bare in the bright sunshine. Her hand rested on the edge of the bassinet at her side, rocking her little boy who slept like a tiny angel nestled in a soft, white blanket.

“How’s my favorite nephew?” I leaned down and kissed Laya’s cheek, then looked at the serene face of the baby, Constantine Juno Galanis, named to honor our father and Niko’s father.

“He’s only pretending to sleep,” Laya murmured, her voice low, her gaze fixed on the tiny face. “A single sound and he will scream at the top of his lungs.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “He sure looks like he’s asleep.”

“Don’t trust him.” She sighed. “If I stop rocking, the spell breaks.”

“I see.” I turned to Avra, who was radiating a serene light. Expecting the imminent arrival of her child, she cracked asmall smile as she caressed her rounded belly. As much as she complained about her growing size, the baby was all she could talk about most days. She was so excited to become a mother.

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