Chapter 41

~Athena

The tone of Richard's voice, though calm, hinted at a problem. He was different. The man talking to me right now was not the same man I knew. This was the first time I was seeing this part of him.

"Are you there?" he called out, wanting to make sure he still had my attention.

"Yes, I am," I managed to say, my voice coming out a bit hoarse as there was a lump in my throat.

"Okay, I would go straight to the point," he stated matter-of-factly.

My heart went into my mouth.

"I just got a call from Jessica," he paused.

I swallowed hard, knowing where the discussion was headed.

"According to her, there is an urgent matter I need to attend to. She has even involved the council members. That woman is really getting on my nerves at this point," his voice was hard as he said his last words.

I kept quiet, not knowing how to respond.

"Why are you quiet, Athena?" he asked.

I thought hard about how best to reply to the question; the best I could come up with was, "Nothing really, I am just w