Wife (Betrothed 1)

Was this how I was going to die?

This was it? My last moments on earth?

His heavy body was suddenly thrown off mine. Lance groaned when he was kicked by someone. Footsteps were audible in the alleyway. Someone must have heard my struggle and come to save me.

I got the bag off my head and finally breathed. My hands went to my neck, and I sucked air into my lungs, gasping because I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen. I could hear the sound of fists smashing against bone, could hear the moment Lance’s body became lifeless. But the hits continued.

I picked myself up off the ground and gasped when I saw who’d saved me.

Hades was still punching him, his knuckles bloody. He held on to the front of his shirt and smashed his face in. It was so bloody, his features were no longer distinguishable. Minutes ago, he was a handsome man. Now he was just a bloody corpse.

“Stop. You’ll kill him.”

“He is dead.” He gave him one more hard punch before he let Lance’s head hit the concrete. As if nothing had happened, he got to his feet and wiped his bloody hands on his jeans. When he moved to me, his rage was gone, replaced by gentle concern. “Baby, are you alright?” He kneeled in front of me, examining my features for signs of injury.

My dress was down now and my panties were on, so he didn’t have to see me like that. I survived the fight without a scratch. The only scar I had was the memory of almost being raped in an alleyway. I blurted the first question that came to mind. “How did you know…?” Was he watching me? Having his men tail me?

He nodded to my purse. “You accidentally called me. I listened for a few seconds and knew something was wrong. I drove over here right away and saw him drag you into the alleyway.” Now that Lance was dead, his violence disappeared too. He seemed relieved I was okay, grateful nothing had happened to me, grateful that my phone was jostled in the fight and called him. “How many times have I told you not to walk home alone?”

I was too embarrassed to answer.

“Are you going to listen to me now?”

I nodded.

“You think you’re invincible, but you aren’t.”

“You think I don’t know that now?” I whispered. “What do we do with him?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But the police…”

“The police won’t do anything. It’ll be considered a missing persons case.”

“How…?”

He helped me to my feet. “Because they do whatever I tell them to do.”

He scrubbed his knuckles in the bathroom sink for what seemed like an hour before all the blood and bits of flesh came off. It didn’t seem to disturb him in the least, that he’d just killed someone he didn’t even know. It wasn’t only a murder, but murder from being beaten to death.

I took a shower when we got to his place because I felt dirty after being pinned to the alley. I also wanted to wash off Lance’s touch, get rid of any trace of DNA found on my body. I dried my hair with a towel then got into his bed.

Hades joined me minutes later.

“Thanks for letting me stay here.”

He cuddled me into his side and wrapped his powerful arms around me, reminding me that no one could bother me while I was his. “You’re welcome here anytime.” His lips rested against the back of my neck, and he kissed me. His mouth migrated to my shoulder and then to my ear, layering me with affection.

“Do you feel weird?” I whispered.

“How?”

“That you just killed someone…”

His hand rubbed across my belly. “I kill people all the time, baby.”

“But not innocent people.”

His voice suddenly turned cold. “He wasn’t innocent. If I’d let him live, he would have come back to your apartment. And if he didn’t, he would have done that to some other girl. He probably already has. He’s not innocent—and he deserved to die like that. Don’t waste your time thinking about him a second longer. He’s gone—end of story.”

Death was irreversible, so this was permanent. That man was never coming back. It seemed like such a harsh price to pay for what he did, but I never would have felt safe if he had lived. He probably would have killed me anyway, suffocated me with that bag and then kept raping me until he was finished.

Hades was right—I shouldn’t mourn his death.

I was glad he was dead.

When I woke up the next morning, Hades had just gotten out of the shower. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he picked out his outfit for the day from his closet. A black tie with a navy-blue suit and a cream-colored collared shirt. He also had a drawer filled with various expensive watches.