“You gave this woman a place to stay, you gave her a job, and you used to fuck her—”
“Stop saying that!” Hades bit out. He obviously did not think about that as much as she did.
“I deserved to know about her, Hades!”
“Do you doubt my loyalty?”
“You’re supposed to say you’re sorry.”
“You’re supposed to trust me.”
“And you’re supposed to communicate with me.”
Hades did not know what to say, though now he wondered if he could have prevented this if he’d just been honest about the nymph’s return.
Instead, he’d gotten exactly what he feared—Persephone’s disdain.
Guilt and dread twisted uneasily in his stomach.
She took a breath, then she asked in a quiet, sad voice, “Do you still love her?”
“No, Persephone.”
He hated that the question had even been asked. Even if she were questioning whether she knew him, how could she think he still loved Leuce? After he’d told her—shown her—how much he loved her?
He rose from his chair and came around the table, taking her face between his hands and threading one of his hands into her hair. At least she let him touch her. “I hoped to keep all this from you,” he murmured. “Not to protect Leuce but to protect you from my past.”
“I don’t want to be protected from you,” she said. “I want to know you—
all of you, from the inside out.”
He smirked, brushing her lips with his thumb. “Let’s start with the inside,” he said and kissed her.
He hoped kissing her would ease her worry and anger, and maybe she would let go of her magic before she suffocated him with the smell of sickly-sweet flora. For a moment, it worked. Her hands twisted into his shirt, and she pulled him closer as he gripped her harder, but then her palms flattened against his chest and she pushed away, ending the kiss.
“Hades, I’m serious. I want to know your greatest weakness, your deepest fear, your most treasured possession.”
How could she not know the answer?
“You.” His voice was low and rough.
“Me?” she said and shook her head. “I cannot be all those things.”
“You are my weakness, losing you is my greatest fear, and your love is my most treasured possession.”
“Hades,” she said, averting her eyes, as if searching for words. “I am a second in your vast life. How can I be all those things?”
“You doubt me?”
She touched his face; the warmth of her fingers was a comfort despite all the anxiety this conversation had caused. “No, but I believe you have other weaknesses, fears, and treasures. Your people, for one. Your realm, for another.”
“See,” he said, a smile threatening his lips. “You know me already—
inside and out.”
He leaned in to kiss her once more, but she stopped him. Hades held her so tightly, he could feel her back arch as she drew back.
“I just have one more question,” she said, and his heart fell. “When you left Sunday night, where did you go?”
“Persephone—”
This time, when she stepped back, he released her.
“That’s when she returned, wasn’t it?”
As angry as she appeared, she could not hide the hurt that flashed in her bright eyes. It made Hades sick, made him want to heal her somehow, but how did one heal this kind of pain? Especially when it was of his own making.
“You chose her over me.”
He stepped toward her. “It isn’t like that at all, Persephone—”
“Don’t touch me!”
He hated those words—hated that he was the reason they were being said at all, hated that they hurt too.
“You had your chance,” she said. “You fucked it up. Actions speak louder than words, Hades.”
She vanished before she could see him flinch.
Those were his words. He’d used them with her not so long ago.
Action, Lady Persephone. Action holds weight for me.
She was right.
He had fucked up.
Chapter IX
Overprotective
With Persephone gone, Ilias entered the room.
“Tell me Leuce has been detained,” Hades gritted out, and when the satyr nodded, he teleported to her holding room. This time, he did not need to think about how he would approach her. His anger would decide.
When he appeared, she whirled to face him. Whatever warmth was left in her face drained away, and she staggered back until she hit the wall.