Wife (Betrothed 1)

I felt sick.

He had to pull away first because she wanted to keep kissing him.

It was like a car wreck. I couldn’t stop staring.

He hooked his arm around her waist and escorted her outside with him, opening the door for her and taking her out to his car. He didn’t give any indication that he knew I was standing at the counter. He could figure out when I was working when he wanted to, but maybe tonight he didn’t check. Maybe he didn’t care.

He put her in the black car that he’d driven me around in, the one where he’d held my hand as he drove me to his place. He started the car, the lights brightened, and he sped away, revving his powerful engine like he was showing off his new toy.

Then they were gone.

I hadn’t moved since the horror show started to play out. I wasn’t even sure if I’d taken a breath that entire time. It was just so sickening to look at, so damaging to my lungs, heart, and stomach.

I couldn’t understand my feelings, couldn’t understand the pain my blood was still trying to dissolve. Was I jealous? Was I hurt? Or did I just hate him? I said I didn’t want to marry him, and I stood by that decision. Now I was even more grateful I’d said no. Why would I want to marry an asshole like that? Someone who tried to hurt me by showing off the model he’d be fucking tonight.

I detested relationships more than I ever had.

The good ones ended like this…and the bad ones never ended.

21

Sofia

Two Years Later

It all happened suddenly.

Gustavo collapsed during dinner. The medics took him to the hospital. But he was dead before the doctor could even see him. The heart attack claimed his life two minutes after he gripped his chest and fell over.

Mother and I stood together at his gravesite. The coffin was lowered into the ground, and the priest said the final words of the service. Gustavo had an older son who was there with his family. He didn’t shed a single tear, but there was so much emotion written across his face.

My mother didn’t cry…at least, not in front of me.

I’d cried a lot over the past week. The man was my stepfather, but he was a good man. He took care of my mother and loved me like a daughter. He had this innate kindness that spread to every person around him. Even if he had criminal tendencies, he was still a good person.

I was going to miss him.

I wiped away a few tears, hot in my black dress in the summer sun.

The service ended, and people started to dissipate. The reception would be held in the ballroom of the hotel, the most fitting place to remember this man.

My arm moved to my mother’s shoulder. “Would you like to stay a bit longer?”

“No.” She stared at his coffin for a few more seconds before she turned away. “I’ve said goodbye.”

As we walked across the grass away from the gravesite, Hades appeared on our left. In a black suit and tie, he approached us, tall and fit as he’d always been. His eyes never moved to me as he walked up to my mother and extended his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss, Maria.” He took her hand and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She was in a black dress with a black veil over part of her face. A black hat was on her head, protecting her scalp from the piercing rays of the sun. Her skin was pale like she didn’t have enough blood in her veins. She was thinner too, like she hadn’t taken a single bite since Gustavo died.

Hades ignored me—as always. The last time we spoke was years ago, when he told me never to speak to him again. His hostility never waned, and the longer it continued, the more I despised him.

The intensity had escalated until we couldn’t even be in the same room together. We avoided each other like two magnets that had to be kept separated at all costs. If we came too close together, we’d collide in a harsh battle.

I expected him to be over it by now…but he wouldn’t let it go.

Even though it’d been two fucking years.

Asshole.

He continued to look at my mother. “He was a good man.”

“I know he was,” she whispered. “We miss him so much.”

Hades nodded. “I’m here if you need anything.” He turned around and walked off.

It was my stepfather’s funeral, and he couldn’t put aside his differences to say a damn word to me, to extend any sympathy whatsoever. What I did to him was so terrible that he didn’t think I even deserved that.

Biggest asshole on the planet.

I left my apartment and moved back in with my mother.