Forever (Betrothed 7)

“So, you have no plan right now?”

“Not really. I would just hunt him down and kill him, but she still won’t allow it. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Seems unfair since you’re the one protecting her right now.”

“Yeah…” It made me angry if I thought about it too long.

“I get why it’s a difficult decision to make, but since she loves you, I don’t see why the decision is that difficult.”

I shrugged. “Maybe she’ll change her mind…eventually.”

“Not eventually. Soon.”

I wasn’t gonna let Liam take my life, so I’d kill him if I absolutely had no choice…even if that meant losing her forever.

“How long has she been here?”

“Couple days.”

“Anything happen? You know what I mean…”

“No.” I took a drink from my glass and automatically cringed too, unable to believe I was drinking something so bland.

The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I said you can just drink the scotch.”

“It’s fine.”

“Fine. Enjoy your horse piss.” He clinked his glass against mine.

“She’s stayed in her room most of the time. I think she wants space.”

“So, you just sleep in here…alone?”

“There’s no one else, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That’s rough. If I had to sleep next door to Sofia and do nothing…” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t last long.”

“If Liam would just go away, it would speed up the process…”

“And that’s not gonna happen.”

“Unfortunately.”

He finished his water then pushed it away. “We need to think of something. We can’t just let you be a sitting duck.”

That was exactly how I felt.

“Maybe I could entice him into a death match…”

“He wants nothing to do with you, Hades.” Liam felt betrayed by Hades as much as me.

“Yeah…but I could ask someone else to do it.”

“And then what?”

“Hope one of his opponents beats him.”

“He’s undefeated.”

“Yeah, but I could slip him something before a fight.”

I lifted my gaze from the glass and stared at him. “We can’t do that.”

“But I could do it.”

“No. Because I’d have to carry that secret, and I refuse.”

He sighed in annoyance.

“Would you wanna keep a secret like that from Sofia?”

“No. But she’d get over it. Come on, that woman is obsessed with me.”

“Well, Annabella wouldn’t get over this.”

He stared at me blankly. “Then I can roll the dice and hope for the best.”

“Yeah, but I still have a feeling it won’t go anywhere. He’s got rage on his side right now.”

“Yeah.” He interlocked his fingers behind his head again and stared out the window. “How’s work?”

“You mean the drug empire?”

“Yeah. You don’t talk about it much.”

“Not much going on. I’ve replaced Maddox pretty easily.”

“And Heath?” he asked.

“Still want to kill him, but I’ve gotta take care of this first.”

“You didn’t want to be with Anna because of that business. Now you’ve changed your mind?”

It was more complicated than that. “No. I just fell in love with her.”

“Does that mean you’ll walk away from the business?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

He continued to watch me, reading all my subtle expressions.

“Annabella and I aren’t even together. Not sure if or when that’s gonna happen…”

“Yeah, I get it,” he said. “I just know that it was the right decision for me. I wish I’d made it sooner. Because once you love someone, when they suffer…you suffer more. And trust me—you never want your woman to suffer.”

I didn’t need further explanation because I knew exactly what he was saying, exactly what he was referring to. And if something happened to Annabella…I wouldn’t recover.

Never.

Patricia placed my dinner on the table and poured me a glass of wine to pair with it. She even set a small vase of flowers beside it, as if I needed the decorative touch. Then she walked out and left me to eat alone.

I sat at the table with the flames from the fire against my back and opened my laptop. I usually worked while I ate. Otherwise, I stared ahead blankly, with no entertainment whatsoever. Annabella hadn’t knocked on my door since she’d moved in. She hardly ever texted me either, only if she needed an answer to something.

I didn’t encourage her to have dinner with me or watch a movie in my bedroom. If she wanted to see me, she knew where to find me.

I took a bite of my food just as someone knocked on the door.

I knew it wasn’t Patricia because she would just come back in if she forgot something. My pulse quickened a bit because my heart was sensitive to Annabella’s presence. When confronted with life-threatening danger, I had the heart rate of someone in deep sleep. But she affected me in a way no one else could. “It’s open.”

She pushed the door open and held a tray in her hands. Patricia made her the same dinner, serving it to her in her quarters so she could eat alone. She held the tray as she stared at me timidly, like the expressionless look on my face meant I wanted to be alone. “Can I join you?”