Chapter 76

**Blue**


I don’t think I have seen Artemis look so conflicted before. For a second before he’s able to pull on his mask of indifference I see a flash of confusion and hurt on his face.

“I don’t get it.” Alan says. “Why would she help him knowing the shit he’s put you through?”

“It doesn’t matter. She was involved and knows everything. We need to change our plan and freeze her out of any further matters. We will also need to block her from accessing anything connected to the company.” Artemis says before walking over to his computer and working quickly to do just that.

“This doesn’t feel right.” Alan says quietly to me. “She would never betray his trust.”

“How do you know?” I ask him.

He lowers his eyes to the floor for several long moments before he looks back up at me.

“Because she’s, my wife.” He admits.

I swear my eyes bug so far out that I’m worried they’ll drop to the floor.

“What?” I hiss at him with a glance in Artemis’s direction.

He’s deep into his mind space and doesn’t seem to acknowledge us.

“How? When? Why doesn’t Artemis know?” I ask one after another.

“We’ve been married for a while now, but I didn’t want there to be a conflict of interest so we kept an act up to make sure Artemis never found out. He’s a stickler about that sort of thing and has made many comments about me keeping my distance from her. I didn’t know what else to do, so we played our roles and prayed he would never guess we knew each other.” He goes on to say.
“So, your whole playboy thing is just an act?” I ask because that is the biggest question here.

He laughs lightly. “Yeah, that’s all an act for the cameras and stuff. I’ve been with Abigail most of my life and I know she wouldn’t do this.”

“Have you spoken to her?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “Not since she left, but I know, okay? She wouldn’t do this to us.”

I want to believe him but this whole thing looks very suspicious. Honestly, I don’t quite believe it either. In the short time I’ve known Abigail, I never sensed her being a scheming type. I feel like there is more to this than meets the eye, but Artemis isn’t seeing the whole picture yet. I need to do something.”

“I’m going to grab a drink.” I say to the room.

Artemis doesn’t say a word or look up which is perfect since I need to sneak out of here without him noticing. Alan looks at me and I nod. He gives me a small smile and I’m hoping he understands that I plan on getting to the bottom of this. Instead of heading to the kitchen I make my way back upstairs to find my phone. I’m not going to let Abigail be turned out in the cold by Artemis is something more is going on that we don’t know about. Once I’m alone in our room I grab the phone I had left behind when I decided to run away, and quickly pull up Abigail’s number.

It rings twice before being sent to voicemail, but I don’t give up. I keep calling over and over until finally she picks up.

“Blue?” She whispers into the phone.

“Abigail? What the heck? What are you doing?” I ask a little too harshly.

“I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen.” She sounds like she’s on the verge of crying.

“What? What didn’t you mean to happen?” I ask.
“He threatened me, and I didn’t know how to warn you guys other than to send it through the office account. Please Blue, I swear I didn’t want to do this.” She telling the truth.

I know she is, but that doesn’t explain why.

“Why did you do it? What does he have over you?” I ask her.

“I can’t talk now. I’m not sure if they’re watching me but tell Artemis I was able to get into the server room. I made a mess of it so hopefully that will keep the busy for a while. Blue, I swear I didn’t want to do this! Please believe me.”

“I do. But we need to get you somewhere safe.”

“He will find out if I try to sneak out of here now.” She whispers.

“You’re still in the server room?”

“Yeah, I’m hiding right now. Security will be here any minute and I’m not sure what will happen if they find me. Probably nothing good.”

She makes it sound like Artemis’s dad is some sort of mob boss, but who’s to say he doesn’t have all kinds of resources. I mean Artemis was able to make a whole new identity for me.

“I’ll come get you.”

“No! You need to stay safe. If he sees you…”

“I’ll be fine, but Alan is freaking out. That was a shock by the way.”

She lets out a weak laugh. “I bet given his reputation, but the man is as loyal as they come. If he wasn’t I would kick his ass.”
“Good for you. I’ll let him know what’s going on and we’ll come get you. But if you’re able to get out try to hide somewhere he won’t find you.” I tell her.

“This feels like some kind of crazy action film.”

Now I’m the one who laughs. “Yeah, let’s just hope we beat the bad guys in the end, or it won’t be worth seeing. Now go!”

“Okay!” She ends the call and I quickly move around the room in search of my shoes.

Thankfully my converse are worn out pretty well and will be good for sneaking around. I quickly pull them on and grab a black hoodie. This really does feel like a movie. I grab my phone and wallet before I jog downstairs. I peak into the room where Alan and Artemis is working and wave to get Alan’s attention. Artemis is still deep into whatever he’s doing and doesn’t bother to look but Alan is up on his feet as soon as he sees me.

“I just spoke to Abigail. She’s back at the office. She sent the email as a signal and is currently hiding in the server room where she apparently went a little crazy. I’m not sure the severity of the damage but she said it would keep them busy for a while.” I tell him.

He smiles proudly. “That’s my girl. We need to get her out of there.”

“Agreed. Let’s go.” I try to leave but he grabs my arm to stop me.

“You can’t go. Artemis will have a coronary. I’ll go.”

“You might need my help. Look…I was a foster kid for a long time and when I ran away, I lived on the streets. I know a thing or two about sneaking around and getting into places I shouldn’t be. You’ll need me.” I tell him.

He gives me a surprised look but doesn’t ask any other questions. “Let’s go.”

We leave without Artemis noticing and make our way to the front door. Unfortunately, Bryant and Dane are waiting for us.

“Are you making a run for it again?” Dane asks.

He’s standing with his feet apart and his arms crossed but I’m not scared of him.

“No, but if you want to keep me safe then pull the car around. We have a secret mission and you guys can be our ride.”

He eyes me for a minute before looking at Bryant and giving him a nod. “Alright, we’ll take you. Where are we going?”

“To the office.”

It doesn’t take long before we’re on the road and Alan is texting back and forth with Abigail to make sure we can get to her easily. Apparently Artemis’s dad has the place on lock down supposedly because of the crowds waiting outside to get information on what the hell is going on. The more I think about it I wonder if it’s not the best idea to sneak in. Maybe we should take this to the media and spill the truth about everything. It would get people asking questions and that would be enough to draw unwanted attention to the Rhodes empire.

“I think I have a better idea.” I tell the guys. “Bryant, can you drop us off out front?”

“Are you sure?” He asks.

“Yes. We need to take all this to the people and then see how easy it will be for Daddy Rhodes to hide what he’s doing.”

I pull out my phone and text Rhea. If we’re doing this, then it’s time to pull out all the stops. As soon as I tell her my plan, she calls me.

“Sister, I am all the way in. It’s about time we knocked my dad a peg! Athena said it’s time, and she has some juicy things to share. The men are coming too! God, I love this! I don’t know why we waited so long to do this, but dad has gone too far. We’ve catered to him long enough.”

“Then let’s do this.”

“What about Artemis?”

I hate not involving him, but I can’t imagine him standing in front of the press and telling them anything. No, we need to do this and let him handle things behind the scenes.

“Let’s take care of this and let him do his own thing. Besides, I’m a Rhodes now and I’m not about to lay down and let one man ruin everything for his family. It’s time for us to dethrone and take over!”

“Fuck yes!” She yells into the phone.