"So that's why you swapped houses?" Demetria asks, her lips twitching with suppressed laughter. "I've got to say, I'm impressed. Most people just hide their porn collection when family visits."
"I'm an overachiever," I deadpan. "Always have been."
Demetria bursts into laughter. "Oh my god, Athena! All these years I thought you were this boring workaholic, and meanwhile you're like the Christian Grey of Las Vegas."
"Please never say that again. I have standards."
“I bet you do.” She settles back, watching me with newfound curiosity. “So can I see it?”
I grimace. "What? No, of course not. Absolutely not."
"Oh, come on! I won't judge," she presses. "Just a peek."
"Demetria, no. This conversation is making me nauseous."
She sighs and rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll stop asking about your secret lair of debauchery on one condition."
I eye her suspiciously. "What's that?"
"You tell me what's going on between you and Ruby. You like her. I can tell.”
“I do,” I admit. “But it’s not that simple.”
“Because you’re in the closet?”
“I’m not in the closet per se. Well, I am in Greece, I suppose. And here, I don’t publicly flaunt it either, but my friends know.”
“Then what’s the problem? You’re not in Greece.” Demetria makes everything sound so simple. She’s always had a different perspective than I do—more straightforward, less encumbered by the weight of expectations. But then, she wasn’t the one growing up gay in a family where thatidentity could never be acknowledged, feeling the constant pressure to hide an essential part of herself just to maintain the peace.
“I’m fucked up,” I say. “I’m broken inside and so is Ruby.” I pause, chewing my bottom lip. “Besides, it’s been so long since I’ve allowed myself to love, it…scares me.”
Demetria regards me thoughtfully. “Two people who understand brokenness might actually fit together better than those who’ve never been shattered,” she says. “Like those Japanese bowls repaired with gold—the cracks become part of the beauty.”
I shake my head. “You don’t understand. There are things that have happened… There’s so much you don’t know.”
“Then tell me now,” she says, taking my hand. “All these years, you’ve been this…enigma. My brilliant, successful sister who keeps everyone at arm’s length. I want to know you, Athena. The real you, not the edited version you show the family.”
My throat tightens as I look at her—really look at her—and see the sister who’s always been there, waiting patiently for me to let her in. I take a deep breath, feeling something shift inside me, a door unlocking that I’ve kept bolted. I didn’t think this would ever happen. I’m about to spill it all to someone who shares my blood.
THIRTY-NINE
RUBY
I cradle my whiskey, watching as women filter in and out of the lounge. Some I recognize, some I don’t, but I’m no longer an outsider here.
They’ve witnessed me at my most vulnerable, and that creates intimacy. They’ve seen me laid bare, both literally and figuratively, and I’ve seen some of them the same way. It creates an unspoken bond.
I catch whispers, notice glances. I have no doubt they’re speculating about my connection to Athena. In their world of power and discretion, relationships like ours become delicious puzzles to solve. But their curiosity doesn’t bother me. In a strange way, I welcome it—this is perhaps the first time in years I’ve been interesting to anyone beyond my professional capacity. I’m not ashamed either. I’ll do it again without hesitation.
Tonight, someone else will occupy that mirrored room; someone else will feel the sting of the crop, the rush of surrender. My experience here peeled away layers I didn’t know existed, revealed hungers I’d spent years denying. Itwas revelation, not degradation—a key unlocking rooms inside myself I’d kept tightly sealed.
“Another?” Donna—Justice Donovan—slides onto the sofa beside me.
“I should pace myself,” I say, though I hand her my glass when she reaches for it.
“One more won’t hurt.” She signals to a waitress, who appears almost instantly to take our order. “You look lost in thought.”
“Just unwinding after a long day,” I lie. The truth is more complicated—that I came here to see if the club still calls to me when Athena isn’t present, if my desires are tied to her or to this space. The jury is still out.
