“Terrible.”
“Maybe he would be more comfortable at the hospital.”
“He probably would be, but he’s too stubborn.”
“Men…” She shook her head then drank from her glass. “Good thing Hades was there to save him.”
Damien only needed to be saved because he was a drug dealer. If he did something legal, none of this would have happened. My mother was as enmeshed in the underworld as my husband, so I was just as immersed. I stopped fighting it.
Hades walked in the door a moment later, dressed in a deep blue three-piece suit. With his dark hair and shadow across his jawline, he was suave in appearance, both beautiful and deadly. “Good evening, Maria.” He greeted her with a partial smile and a hand on her shoulder.
“Hello, Hades.” Her face lit up at the sight of her son-in-law, visibly enamored of his presence. He was a man she loved having in the family, one she was proud to have under her roof. There was no one better to bring power to our family line. “Hope you had a good day at the office.”
“No complaints.” His eyes settled on my face, and he leaned down to kiss me on the mouth.
I kissed him back, feeling the warm affection in his touch. Our natural chemistry made us irresistible to each other. Our lust was combustive. Paired with our mutual trust and affection, it created a relationship that was addictive to both of us.
Once he pulled away, I felt cold, like summer had disappeared and the season jumped from fall to winter.
He sat beside me and poured himself a glass of wine. “How was your day?”
“Damien is in pretty bad shape,” I answered. “I tried to get him to go to the hospital, but he wouldn’t budge.”
He drank his wine, indifferent to what I said.
“How was the office?” I asked when I realized he wouldn’t talk about his friend.
“Just a bunch of bullshit and paperwork.” He watched Helena place dinner on the table. “This looks amazing. Smells amazing too.”
“Thank you, sir.” Helena flashed him a smile, giving him all her attention and respect because he was the person she admired the most. He’d been her employer for years before my mother and I came along. While she was polite to us, she didn’t bend over backward to assist us the way she did with him.
When she left, we settled into quiet conversation over wine and dinner. Hades was quiet, only answering direct questions that were placed to him. After a long day doing whatever he did at the bank, he was usually not in the mood for long-winded conversations, but he put up a front with my mother. The longer we lived together, the more I got to know him, and the more I understood his behavior.
When we finished dinner, we said good night then walked up the stairs to our bedroom.
Hades glanced at his watch to see the time as he walked down the hallway.
“You don’t like my mother, do you?” My heels lightly tapped against the rug that led down the long hallway. Side by side, we approached our bedroom, his height towering over mine.
“I’m always polite to her. What more do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything. I’m just curious.”
He stopped abruptly and faced me. “After all the shit I do all day, I don’t want to come home to meaningless conversation with my mother-in-law. I don’t want to listen to her talk about her day and pretend I give a damn. I’d rather come home to a quiet dinner with my wife then fuck her. That’s it.” He held my gaze for a few seconds, livid, and then started walking again.
It took me a second before I followed him. “We don’t have to have dinner with her every night.”
“It seems like it.”
“We can cut it down to Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“Then make it happen.” He passed Damien’s door without glancing at it, then entered our bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and stripped off the pieces of his suit, letting the jacket slide off and then popping the buttons of his vest.
“For what it’s worth, she thinks the world of you.”
He loosened his tie then turned back to me. “I never said I disliked her. I just don’t like the fact that she gets in the way of my time with you. I want to have dinner just the two of us so we can cut out the mediocre conversation and just be real.” He unbuttoned his collared shirt and stripped it off until he stood in only his slacks. Unlike Damien, Hades had the most beautiful, unblemished skill. Tanned, with a strong tightness over his muscles, he had a physique that made any woman forget the last thing she said. “I want to walk in the door and fuck you without saying a word.”