Committed (Betrothed 4)

He lived in a large apartment close to the Colosseum. It was a three-story building, and he had the top floor to himself. He didn’t own a big mansion like his brother, but I suspected it wasn’t because he couldn’t afford it. I rang the doorbell when I was on his doorstep.

Ash opened the door a moment later, and judging by all the stains on his shirt, he’d had a long day taking care of Andrew. His eyes roamed over me quickly and interpreted my body language before he made his conclusion. “You look tired…mad…and a little sad.”

“Because I am all those things.” I walked past him and stepped inside. In the center of the living room was a large blanket, and Andrew lay on top with plastic keys in his grasp. He shook them gently and listened to the rattle inside. I’d thought all I needed was to see my son and everything would feel better.

But it didn’t work.

I sat on the blanket beside him and placed my hand on his tummy. “How’s my baby?” I picked him up then cradled him in my arms. He focused his eyes on my face before a smile followed. He recognized me…I could see it.

Ash joined us and sat across from me. “He ruined my favorite shirt.”

“How?”

“I was trying to give him a bottle, and he kicked it. Boob juice everywhere.”

“Lesson learned. Don’t wear your favorite clothes while you’re taking care of a baby.”

“Well, I would be naked, but that would be weird.”

“Very weird. Don’t do that.” I grabbed a pillow from beside me and placed it on my lap so I could put Andrew on top of it.

“So, what’s happening? Are you moving back to Florence? Shacking up with my brother? I’m surprised he hasn’t called and yelled at me yet.”

Hades was too busy being angry at me. “We’re moving back to Florence, but I’m not moving in with Hades.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“I don’t know what happened, but he’s not the same person. Even with Maddox dead, he’s angry at me…said I shouldn’t have left him. Says he doesn’t want to be with me, that he doesn’t love me anymore.” There was no amount of comfort Andrew could give me to chase away the terrible feeling.

Ash turned skeptical. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

I shrugged. “I really don’t know what happened. He just woke up one day and didn’t feel the same way.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I just saw him a couple weeks ago, and he felt the same way. Said he would never move on from you.”

It didn’t make any sense. “I don’t know what happened…”

Ash considered it for a long time before he suggested an explanation. “I wonder if Maddox did something to him…like turned him against you. Brainwashed him.”

“Not possible. Hades is too strong to be manipulated like that.”

“Well, he’s been manipulated in some way. How could he feel so drastically different?”

I didn’t have an explanation for that. “You should’ve seen him. I’ve never seen him be so cold, so cruel. I felt like I was talking to a different person.”

“What are you gonna do?”

I looked down at my baby and shrugged. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do. He’s in this mood, and nothing will get him out of it.”

“You want me to talk to him?”

“Actually, yes. If you don’t mind.”

He nodded. “I’ll get to the bottom of it. We’re definitely missing a piece of the puzzle.”

19

Hades

Damien sat across from me at the bar, hatred brewing in his eyes. “So, what do you want to do?”

Maddox was gone, and now I was in charge. I was going to take over the world, take over everything. “Business as usual.”

“We kill all his men?”

“No. We inherit them.”

“And what about us?”

I looked at him coldly. “What about us?”

“Are we gonna keep working together?”

I shrugged. “That’s up to you. This business is mine. I was doing all the work when Maddox was around, so I’m not gonna leave.”

He cocked his head to the side. “That only happened because Maddox hijacked the whole thing. Don’t make it sound like I don’t do anything. I bust my ass, asshole. We went into this together, and you can’t kick me out…no matter how much you hate me.”

“I’m not kicking you out. But I want to buy you out.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“I’d pay you fairly.”

“It’s not about the money.”

“Then what is it about?”

He grabbed his drink and pulled it closer to him. “You know exactly what it’s about.”

Power. Prestige. Reputation. Those were the reasons I didn’t want to walk away either.

“So, we’ll keep doing things as usual.”

Unfortunately.

Now that the conversation was over, Damien left his cash on the table and slid out of the booth without another word.

I watched him go with a mixture of hatred and resentment in my heart. After everything we’d been through, he’d betrayed me again. He was a weasel who couldn’t be trusted. Since my gaze was focused on him, I didn’t notice the beautiful woman who took the seat beside me. She had two glasses of scotch…one was for me.