Lover (Betrothed 3)

“We don’t have a choice. He told me he would never hurt you or our son as long as our relationship stays professional. Making me a partner was always what he wanted. Now that he has it, he won’t bother us again.”

“That doesn’t matter. I refuse to accept the lesser of two evils. He deserves to die for what he did.”

“I know…”

“How can you expect me to bump into him every time I turn around? To have him in our lives indefinitely? How can you look him in the eye without wanting to strangle him? We’ll never move on if we have to live like this every day. We’ll never heal.”

He pivoted his body toward me and placed his hands on his hips. “We have no other choice. You never have to see him again. We can arrange for that.”

“How? He’s going to be at the hotel.”

“I know. So, you won’t be.”

My heart fell into my stomach. “So, you’re taking away the one thing that is mine? That hotel belongs to my family, and now I can’t even step foot inside of it because of him? You expect me to accept that?”

Shame was in his eyes. “I can tell him never to go to your office, but I can’t prohibit him from other places in the hotel.”

“That’s not the point, and you know it. If I want to keep what is mine, I have to subject myself to that cruelty. That’s not right.”

“I know it’s not…”

“Then I don’t accept it.”

He gripped his skull for a second, breathing through his anger. “I hate this as much as you. I hate myself for not fixing this. I feel like a pathetic excuse for a man. But this is what we have to do. We need to make the best of it. We need to keep all of us safe. It’s not just about you and me anymore… We have someone else to think about now.”

My blood turned ice-cold. “Did he threaten Andrew?”

He didn’t answer my question because he didn’t need to.

All of this was so overwhelming that I couldn’t handle it. I stepped away with my arms crossed over my chest, thinking about the terrible future I would have. Even if I played by his rules, I would never feel safe. Until Maddox was dead, I would never feel free. The only way to escape him was to escape Hades. “I’m leaving you.” I stared at the wall because I couldn’t meet his look. I didn’t want it to come to this, but I had to protect myself and our son.

Hades was quiet, like he hadn’t heard what I said.

“I can’t stay here and live like that. I married you because you said you could protect me. Well, you obviously can’t, so I need to move on.” It hurt to say these things, but I had to do what I needed to do.

Hades moved toward me, and when he looked at me, his face looked like a raging battlefield. His vein protruded from his forehead, and there was a red tint to his face. His eyes narrowed on mine, and he stared at me with an arctic coldness. “I’m going to give you one chance to take that back.” His voice was low but so deadly. He was more terrifying than Maddox ever was. He threatened me without even making a single threat.

My heart started to slam against my rib cage. This man never scared me, but when he behaved this way, it felt like my skin was melting off my bones.

“I have done nothing but take care of you since the moment you became my wife. I took your place with the expectation of death. I had offers from beautiful women every night that I was out, and I rejected them all. When you weren’t ready, I stayed patient. I admit that things are difficult right now, but I have done everything I possibly can to protect you. If you really feel that way, if you really think I’m worthless, then get the fuck out of my house. Leave my name and don’t come back.” He stepped away from me and turned around. He grabbed a t-shirt from one of his drawers and prepared to walk out.

I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was cold and heartless, but I was frustrated. If there was nothing for me here, I needed to leave. “Hades.”

He stopped in front of the door but didn’t turn around.

I walked up behind him and stopped when we were close together. “I’m sorry…”

He slowly turned around and faced me again. His face was still livid.

“That’s not what I meant. You’ve been a good husband to me. That’s why I fell in love with you…”

His anger slowly faded away.

“But you can’t expect me to live like this. I’ll never feel safe. I’ll never feel whole. I understand why the risks are too high to retaliate, but rolling over and just accepting it is something I just can’t do. That man would’ve taken everything from me. I just can’t do it…”