It’s definitely not that he trusts me.
I certainly don’t trust him.
I don’t mean to close my eyes. I have every intention of wrestling my way out of Hephaestus’s hold, showering the scent of sex off my body, and then brewing some coffee to keep the mental cobwebs at bay. He just… He smells really good. And my body is relaxed from the orgasms and the feel of him half holding me down. Like my very own cranky weighted blanket.
Dangerous thoughts.
I’m going to get up.
In just a moment…
“Eris?”
I jolt awake. There’s something wrong in the room, and it’s not just the man sleeping at my side. The light is all strange. It was dark just a moment ago, only the lights of the city playing through the windows of my bedroom. Now it’s bright.
I slept.
I slept.
“Eris.”
I belatedly register it’s not my husband talking to me. I look up and go still. Adonis. I wish I could say he looks great, but it would be a lie. His pants are creased and his shirt is buttoned haphazardly. He also hasn’t shaved recently, so a shadow of a beard darkens his jaw. “What are you doing here?”
“I…” He shakes his head sharply. “I was worried about you.”
Gods, it hurts to look at him. It hurts even more that both of us are very carefully not looking at my husband lying naked on the bed between us. There’s no way he’s still sleeping, but he hasn’t opened his eyes, and this moment feels too fraught to call him out on eavesdropping. I drag in a shaky breath. “I told you we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”
Adonis’s dark eyes take on a look I’ve never seen before. On anyone else, I would call it cruelty. “And yet you didn’t revoke my permission to your apartment or take your key back. Seems like you’re sending mixed signals.”
I didn’t do either of those things because deep down, I’m a sentimental fool. Not that I’ll ever admit it. I lift my chin. “An oversight on my part. I’ve only been married two days, after all.” I’m being an unforgivable bitch, but why is he here? Surely it hurts him to look at me as much as it hurts me to look at him?
Adonis shakes his head. “I didn’t come to fight with you, Eris. I came to make sure you’re okay.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There was an attack.” He looks away. “Someone tried to kill Athena.”
13
ADONIS
Eris was sleeping. With Hephaestus.
Even as she stares at me in shock, rattled by the attempt on Athena’s life, I can’t erase the image of her sharp features relaxed, her body tucked into his embrace. They look good together. I knew that, of course; photos from their wedding were splashed all over MuseWatch. Her in that gorgeous gown standing next to his broader form, them both the same height with her heels. His brooding attractiveness and her sharp beauty.
A matched pair.
Eris slaps Hephaestus’s shoulder. “Stop pretending to sleep. I know you’re awake.”
He rolls onto his back, seeming completely uncaring that he’s as naked as she is. Eris has always stopped my breath in my lungs. She says I’m the beautiful one, but she’s the kind of devastating that brings down cities and leaves a trail of broken hearts behind her.
Hephaestus is different. He draws me in a way that’s all too earthy, his massive body peppered with scars and the kind of muscle definition that makes me want to trace the lines with my tongue. Despite myself, my gaze snags on his hips, where his cock jerks as if in response to my attention.
“See something you like?” he drawls.
Eris flicks the sheets over his hips. “Stop showing off.” She snaps her fingers. “Adonis, focus. What happened to Athena?”
Right. The reason I came. I clear my throat. “It was a sniper. They shot at her from a building across the way. She received minor injuries from shattered glass, but is otherwise fine.”
“A sniper.” Eris frowns. “But that won’t trigger the clause, even if they were successful.”
“You know that. I know that. The greater Olympus population doesn’t.” Somehow, in all the chaos after the house party, that piece of information was never made public, which just proves that Minos is smart. He leaked enough information to cause problems, but not enough to actually change power.
If Athena was killed without the proper steps being followed, her murderer would be executed and her successor would be appointed by Zeus, just like every Athena before them.