“Well…time to grow up.”
“Fuck, that sounds terrible.”
He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. He stared at the floor for a while, the light from the fire blanketing his skin in a distinct glow. “Sofia told me what happened.”
The room filled with tension, with discomfort that neither one of us could ignore. “And how does she know?”
“Anna told her.”
I wondered exactly what she said.
He continued to stare at the floor so he wouldn’t put me on the spot. “But she didn’t say much about it. Sofia asked, and Anna just said you guys couldn’t work it out. Didn’t give any details.”
Now I had to fill in the blanks.
After a few minutes of silence, he lifted his head and looked at me. “So?”
“You’re gonna interrogate me?” I took a deep drink of the scotch, letting the fumes enter my nose at the same time.
“How many times have you interrogated me?”
Touché.
“It’s been four days. I’ve given you your space.”
“Well, I’m sure you already figured out that she shot me down.”
“Yeah, that’s obvious,” he said. “But it’s not obvious why.”
I put the drink down and decided to get this inevitable conversation out of the way. “I told her how I felt—and she wasn’t happy about it. I told her to leave Liam, but she refused.”
“Why?” he asked, genuinely perplexed.
“Because she made a promise to him…and can’t break it.”
“Even though she loves you?” he asked incredulously.
I nodded.
He sighed. “I don’t agree with that logic.”
“Neither do I, but I understand it. She said she gave me everything, put her heart on the line, and I had the chance to be with her then. But I waited too long…and now I lost my chance.”
“But you didn’t feel that way about her at the time—”
“I know. But she wouldn’t change her mind. She won’t ditch Liam just because something better came along. It pisses me the fuck off…but I also admire her for it. She’s nothing like me. She keeps her word. She’s loyal, far more loyal than you and I are.”
“But she’s showing her loyalty to the wrong person.”
“I agree with that.”
He faced forward again. “We could kill him.”
I released a sarcastic laugh. “No.”
“I could do it. Make it look like an accident. When he pulls up to an intersection, we’ll have a semi—”
“Hades, no.” That would only hurt her. “The only reason I’ve been sticking my neck out for their relationship is because I know she cares about him. She still loves him. And I’m not gonna kill someone she loves just to get what I want.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “That’s not the Damien I used to know.”
“Well…I guess I’m different now.”
He turned to the TV and chuckled.
“What?”
“Looks like you’re pussy-whipped now too.”
I couldn’t believe this shit was happening.
“What are you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You just going to give up?”
“I don’t see any other option.”
He turned back to me. “If you love a woman, there’s always another option. Liam is a loose cannon. Put him in a bad situation, and he’ll fuck up everything on his own. Remember how quickly he changed his mind about death fighting? He was about to jump into the ring on the spot.”
“He gave up fighting altogether.”
“What?” He leaned back against the couch. “He said that?”
I nodded. “Told Annabella he would retire for good. So, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”
“Damn…” Hades was probably annoyed that this affected his business, but he didn’t voice that.
“There’s nothing I can do. Just let it go.”
Hades turned quiet, sinking into the sofa as if the conversation had really expired. He watched the TV passively, thinking about something else. Minutes passed, and I drank my scotch while he relaxed in my living room, probably out of words. Then he leaned forward again and turned to me. “Hold on.”
I took another drink until the glass was empty. Then I set it down for good, cutting myself off.
“What was the fortune the gypsy read to you?”
I hadn’t thought about my experience in the purple tent for over a decade. My memory was watered down from all the booze over the years, the concussions to the head, and the broken bones. The thought of her suddenly made me turn cold, because I knew how much his fortune had changed my best friend’s life. It’d nearly killed him, because once he found the woman he was doomed to love forever, it almost destroyed him. All his priorities changed overnight, and he wasn’t the same powerful man anymore. He became a slave to his queen. Fuck, I refused to let that happen to me.
“Damien?”
“It’s been so long…I can’t quite remember.”
“Well, try.”
I searched through the fog of my murky brain and came up with nothing. “Hades, I can’t remember. It was about a woman, but I can’t remember exactly what.”
“Why do I have a feeling Anna is the woman she was referring to?”