10
Hades
Damien was more than just a friend.
He was family.
He was everything.
So when I heard Maddox say those horrifying words, I was actually scared.
It was the first time in my life I’d been truly afraid.
So fucking afraid.
“Hades?” Sofia grabbed my biceps and gave me a gentle squeeze. Her fingers showed her concern, her eyes showed her devastation. She watched me fall apart, watched me panic. “Are you okay?”
My greatest enemy had my greatest friend. “No.” I pushed down her hands. “I need to get you home.”
She didn’t try to touch me again.
What if I hadn’t walked into the Tuscan Rose at that moment? I was supposed to have a meeting at the bank, but it had been canceled at the last minute. Maybe Maddox knew that, which was why he decided to make his move then. What if he’d gotten Sofia too?
What would I have done?
I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me to the outside of the hotel. I got her into my car and sped through the streets like a madman, trying to get her to the safest place she could be while I figured this out.
I should be hunting down Damien instead…but I had to keep her safe.
He would understand.
“What are you going to do?” she asked from her side of the car.
I ignored her.
“Hades?”
“Not now, Sofia.” I’d warned Damien to back off, but he fucking did it anyway. Now he was hidden away somewhere, a prisoner about to be tortured until Maddox got what he wanted from me. I’d already killed his brother…would he do the same to me?
Sofia turned quiet, but she was still restless.
I got her to the house and made some calls. I moved more security detail to the property, making sure no one got in or out of the place. It was on lockdown. Snipers couldn’t pierce the windows with their bullets because they were all bulletproof. Maddox would know I’d brought her here, but that didn’t mean he could reach her.
When we were in our bedroom, I made sure the patio doors were shut before I made more calls.
Sofia sat in one of the armchairs, watching me pace the room as I interrogated my men to figure out the last place Damien had been seen. I gathered that he’d been in Florence, tailing Maddox, before he was dragged out of his car and taken away. No one had any idea where he went.
I hung up and slammed my closed fist into my chest. “Fuck.”
Sofia’s eyes moved back and forth as she watched me.
I didn’t want to call Maddox because that was exactly what he was hoping for. He wanted to make a deal, making me trade Damien for whatever he wanted. But since I had no idea where Maddox took Damien, I couldn’t save my best friend first. And if I waited too long, I knew Maddox would kill Damien.
What if he wanted Sofia?
What if that was the trade? What would I do? I couldn’t live without him…but I couldn’t live without her.
I finally looked at my wife, who was sitting in her dress, clearly afraid from everything that had just happened. She watched me with emotion in her eyes, like she was just as concerned about Damien’s life as I was. “What did Maddox say to you?” I stood with my arms by my sides, wishing my phone would ring in my palm with news.
“I should have told you this before…” Her voice escaped as a whisper, broken with emotion.
I took a step toward her. “Told me what?”
She looked at the rug underneath her feet before she lifted her chin to meet my look. “A few months ago, he came to my office…”
Jesus.
“Gustavo had mentioned to him that I needed a husband, and he wanted to throw his hat in the ring. I told him I was already marrying you…”
I closed my eyes as the terror gripped me by the throat. My enemy had sights on my wife long before I even knew about it.
“He seemed angry, but I didn’t realize he knew you. Then he left.”
“Did you see him any other time?”
“No. Today was the first time. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before… I didn’t think it was relevant.”
I should keep my anger under control because it wasn’t her fault, but I couldn’t. “I’m your husband. You tell me everything, every minute detail that you think is insignificant. Maybe it’s nothing to you, but it could be something to me. Don’t you ever pull that shit again. You see anything even remotely suspicious, you tell me.” I shoved my thumb into my chest. “You understand me?”
Her attitude didn’t flare. “Yes.”
I was so livid that nothing could keep me calm. Damien was probably going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it. “What did he say to you?”