Wife (Betrothed 1)

“Then I don’t understand—”

“I want it to be more than that. She doesn’t.”

Damien turned quiet, letting those words sink in. “And what do you want it to be?”

“I don’t know…but she won’t give me a chance.”

“Wow. A woman turned you down?”

“She only wants sex from me. Every time I push for more, she shoots me down.”

“And I bet that drives you crazy.”

I didn’t like it. “A bit.”

“Is she married or something?”

“No.”

“Hmm…”

“And she doesn’t want to get married. She doesn’t want a relationship at all.”

“I’ve never heard of that,” Damien said. “Women are always looking for something serious. At least, that’s my experience.”

“Mine too.”

“So Hades has fallen for the one woman who doesn’t want him.”

That night in Morocco flooded back to me. I didn’t give it much merit at the time, even though she knew my name. And I didn’t think she was right about any of it, until I became the biggest drug dealer in the south of Europe and took a turn for the dark side. I thought it was just coincidence. Hopefully, it still was. “I’m not in love with her.”

“It looks like you’re going in that direction.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions.”

He shrugged. “I’ve known you for a long time, Hades. Not once has anything like this ever happened. You talk about women like they are single-use plastic bags. They’re used and then tossed. But you’re working your ass off to get this woman to give you a few minutes of her time. You’re blowing off work… That’s not you.”

She brought out the worst in me.

“Maybe you should forget about her before it gets any worse.”

That was the logical thing to do, but I couldn’t picture my life without her in it. I didn’t want to go back to the bar and pick up a random woman. I wanted to see Sofia’s face looking up at me while I drove her into the sheets. I wanted her pussy—only her pussy. “I don’t want to forget about her.”

He chuckled. “Then I don’t know what you should do. It sounds like you can never have her.”

I knew exactly what kind of man I was. I never gave up on anything. When I didn’t get what I wanted, I just found another way. And if there were no other way, I would make one. Sofia was no different. Maybe I couldn’t take her like I owned her.

Maybe I had to earn her first.

I didn’t text her before I arrived at the hotel.

I could never turn down an invitation from her, and I knew she couldn’t turn me down either.

I walked into the lobby and saw her standing at the counter, her black hair pulled into a tight ponytail. Her high cheekbones were brushed with blush, her lips were red like a good wine, and her eyelashes were thick like a doll’s. She stood there like a queen, her shoulders back and her slender neck straight. If there were a tiara on her head, it would never fall.

She was perfect.

I approached her desk and ignored the stares from the women at the counter.

When Sofia heard my footsteps, she looked up. Her polite smile was replaced by a hard stare, almost cold. But her eyes burned with fire, burned like the sight of me made her heart flutter.

I approached the counter. “Do you have any space for two people in the restaurant?”

She was still at first, as if she didn’t know how to react to my request. Then she went through the motions and gave me a bullshit response. “Yes, I can get you a reservation for tonight. How does nine sound?”

“Perfect.” I walked to the elevators and went to my room.

Room 402.

I stripped down to my boxers and sat in the armchair near the window. The floor-to-ceiling windows provided a phenomenal view of the city, of the bright lights of the Catholic churches and the restaurants along the main street. I could see my building not too far from here.

I held the glass of scotch in my hand and took a sip as I examined the world at my feet. At this very moment, my crystal was being sold in the alleyways between buildings, in Greek Isles while vacationers enjoyed the crystal-blue water. To anyone else, the streets seemed quiet, the people seemed innately good. But in reality…I controlled every corner of this place.

I had enemies like everyone else. The Skull Kings wanted a cut of my profits in exchange for territory, but I refused to give in. They were the middlemen in the transaction, and that shit didn’t fly. But they didn’t move against me because that was a war neither one of us would win. They stayed out of my business—and I stayed out of theirs.

Sofia was too innocent for this shit. She was a grown woman who could handle herself, but she had unrealistic expectations of the world. She assumed her hotel operated as an honest business, but it was flooded with blood money. With the kind of integrity she had, she should be doing something else with her time. Maybe I should tell her…or maybe Gustavo would chase her off somehow.