Wife (Betrothed 1)

“Am I wrong?” He turned his body closer to mine, bringing us in such proximity that we must look like lovers to everyone in the room, like two people who’d been fucking for weeks.

Past his shoulder, I could see the woman still sitting there, watching Hades press his advances on a different woman. She’d been the focus of his attention until the moment he’d laid eyes on me, and she probably couldn’t figure out what went wrong. Seeing her pain and confusion made me feel guilty for being the other woman, for essentially stealing him away. “Yes.”

His eyes softened slightly, like that was an answer he’d never imagined I would give.

“You should get back to your girl, Hades. She’s waiting for you.” I opened my clutch and fished out cash to leave on the table.

He didn’t look over his shoulder. “I don’t have a girl.”

“The woman you were with just minutes ago.”

“She’s not my girl. Just met her.”

“Well, ignoring her and pursuing someone else is rude.” I slid out of the booth and didn’t look back as I walked away. I didn’t care if he was a playboy. I didn’t care if he would fuck someone else the night after he fucked me. It was none of my business. But I wasn’t interested in a man who could be so mercilessly rude. I walked outside and started the journey home.

He emerged behind me minutes later, as if he’d debated coming after me before he rose from his seat. His loud footsteps were audible on the cement behind me, his dress shoes giving a distinct tap that I recognized.

He moved in front of me and cut off my path. On his feet and in front of me, he was a big man, bigger than he was when he was sitting beside me in the booth. He was over a foot taller than me and with a muscle mass that made mine pathetic. He could squish me if he wanted to, choke me with a single hand and leave me for dead on the sidewalk. His eyes quickly shifted back and forth as he looked into my gaze, like he was livid with the way I’d walked away from him.

I bet no one ever walked away from him.

“I’m not done with you.”

“Well, I’m done with you.” I stepped around him.

He grabbed me by the arm and forced me back.

I twisted out of his grasp and stepped back. “Touch me again, and see what happens.”

My tough threat only made him smile. It was a slight grin, where only one corner of his mouth lifted. “I’d love that, actually. But I’m a gentleman…for the most part.” He slid his hands into his pockets, as if he wanted to prove his sincerity. “Come over.”

I’d never met a man so arrogant in my life. “Why would I want to come home with you?”

“So we don’t have to finish this conversation on the sidewalk.”

“There’s no conversation to finish.”

His smile faded away, and his eyes turned hostile once more. “I met that girl ten minutes before I noticed you sitting there. I don’t owe her a damn thing. If I hadn’t seen you across the bar, I probably would have taken her home and fucked her. But I saw you…and I’m a lot more interested in you. If she got her feelings hurt, that’s too bad. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

“Why would you be more interested in me?” I crossed my arms over my chest, my clutch still in my fingertips. “She was rubbing your dick and whispering dirty shit in your ear. She was a slam dunk.”

“I don’t need a slam dunk. My life is a fucking slam dunk.”

“Wow…conceited much?”

“I’m blunt.” He stepped closer to me, his hands remaining in his pockets like restraints. “I’m more interested in you because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. When I saw you four years ago, I thought the same thing. I knew you would grow into your features, become a confident and sexy woman who owns the streets she struts down. Now, here you are…and I want you.”

All I had to do was say yes. I could be naked in his bed in minutes. My legs could be wrapped around his waist, and I could lick the sweat off his chest. I wanted him four years ago, and I still wanted him now. “It’s not going to happen, Hades.”

His head tilted slightly, like my words were nonsense.

“We’re associates. I’m not entirely sure what you do for Gustavo, but one day, you and I will be working together. I don’t shit where I eat.”

He continued to stare at me, as if he didn’t hear a word I said. “You’ll change your mind.”

“I highly doubt it.” Even if he didn’t work with my family, he seemed like bad news. He seemed like a man that would capture my soul and shatter it. He was the kind of man that would ruin all other men. He would be fun for just a night, but anything more would be detrimental to my health.