Page 34 of Ruin

Lo and Missy are Zeus’s nicknames for Apollo and Artemis.

“I’m not surprised they went to separate universities. Lo and Missy always wanted their independence from each other.” I snicker.

“Yeah.” Zeus chuckles. “They definitely fight less now that they live apart.”

“That’s great though,” I tell him as I open the door to let him leave. “It sounds like they’re all doing really well. You must be proud.”

“Yeah, I am.”

He walks outside, and I stand by the door, holding it.

“What will you tell them about Gigi?” I ask him.

“The truth.”

“They’re going to hate me.”

“They’re going to hate Marcel. Well, not that they particularly like him anyway. Not many people do.”

“You included.”

“Yep.”

“Why stay with him all these years if he’s such a bastard?”

“Because he brings in the best fights. And he’s only a bastard to other people. Not to me. Well”—he lets out a humorless laugh—“or so I thought.”

“Why do you think he did it? Lied to both of us?”

He briefly closes his eyes and exhales a harsh breath before staring back at me. “For the reason Marcel does everything—money.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I was on the rise. I was set to make him a lot of money, which I have. But he always saw you as a threat to ‘my success’—as he called it. He was always on my back, saying that you were an unnecessary distraction.”

Ouch.

“Unnecessary. Nice.”

He winces. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I guess it explains why…well, whatever. It doesn’t matter now anyway.”

He’s staring at me. His expression unreadable. “Cam—”

“So, I was a distraction, and what? He thought Gigi would have been an even bigger distraction,” I cut him off before he can say something that I really don’t want to hear.

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I guess he thought that, if I knew you were pregnant, my focus would have been on you and the baby. Not boxing. Which it absolutely would’ve been. Marcel wouldn’t have wanted that. He sees the fighters he manages and promotes as investments. He wanted a return on me, which he got.”

“What will you do…about Marcel?”

I watch as his hands flex at his sides.

“Something.”

“Zeus, please don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t.” He nods.