Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Good.” I smiled when I thought about him. “He’s a great guy.”
“He can be when he wants to be,” she teased. “So, he must like you.”
“I can’t imagine him being any different.”
“Well, he’s a drug lord and a professional money launderer, so he’s capable of being a scary man. I’ve seen my husband get that way. It’s pretty scary. But that’s not an awful thing. I’d rather be married to the big bad wolf than the innocent lion.”
Me too.
“Because good guys only finish last.”
The next day, I met her husband for the first time. Sofia was in the bathroom when he stepped inside, wearing a dark blue suit and a black tie. A shiny watch was on his wrist, and his wedding band was interesting because it was midnight black. He scanned her desk, and when he realized she wasn’t there, he looked at me.
He stared for a few seconds, looking at me like I might be a possible threat to his wife because I shouldn’t be there. But then pragmatism set in, and he deduced my identity, turning a little warmer. “Anna?”
“Yes.” I got out of the chair and extended my hand. “You must be Sofia’s husband.”
He took my hand with a firm shake before he released me. “I am. Where is she?” Once he let me go, he slid his hands into his pockets, adopting a harmless stance. He immediately reminded me of Damien, tall, confident, with the same ruthless body language.
“Bathroom. She pees a lot.”
He raised an eyebrow at my comment.
“Because of the baby,” I quickly explained, trying not to seem weird. Even though he wasn’t friends with Damien anymore, I was still uneasy around him, wanting to make a good impression that made me act stupid.
He nodded slightly then continued to stare.
Now I didn’t know what else to say. I was supposed to work on paperwork while she was gone, but now I wanted to leave so I wouldn’t have to bear the awkward silence while we both waited for her.
He didn’t seem uncomfortable with the long silence. He glanced at her desk and the picture frame on top, a picture of both of them with their son Andrew.
“I’m not sure if Damien or Sofia told you—”
“That you’re seeing Damien?” he asked. “Yeah, I know. I warned him about it.”
“Warned?”
“Liam is my client. Conflict of interest.”
“Oh…”
He went back to ignoring me.
“Liam isn’t a client of Damien’s, so I don’t see why it matters. And Liam understands I’m free to see whoever I want—as is he.”
He turned back to me.
I didn’t have to prove anything to him, but I didn’t want anything to come between Damien and me…especially Liam. “Damien talks about you a lot—”
“And I don’t want to talk about him.” He shut me down so quickly, practically backhanding me with his large hand. His anger toward Damien was obvious in the way he lashed out at me, the way he could barely stand to hear his name. There wasn’t just aggression and hatred…but pain.
“For what it’s worth, he still feels terrible. And he misses you.” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, betrayed Damien’s confidence like that, but I knew how much he cared about this man in the little things he said, the way he blew me off because he was too upset to even look at me. He was heartbroken the way I was, nursing wounds after losing someone. His relationship hadn’t been romantic like mine, but it was just as painful.
Hades shifted his gaze back to me, and this time, there was a different look in his eyes, less hostility, like he’d actually listened to what I’d said and wanted to know more. But he never asked because Sofia walked back inside.
With her hand over her stomach, she came up behind him. “Hey, sexy.”
He turned at the sound of her voice, her compliment immediately inflating his ego, hitting him in his most vulnerable place. His eyes were different when he looked at her, like he was witnessing an angel without wings. “Baby.”
She moved onto her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the lips before she turned away.
He looked like a sad puppy, wanting more love than he’d just gotten.
“You’ve met Anna?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Now that she was in the room, his eyes were reserved for her. I was practically invisible.
She organized a few things on her desk before she grabbed her purse. “We’re going to lunch. You want to come?”
I didn’t want to get on Hades’s bad side, and I was pretty certain I’d already crossed the line with him. The best thing to do was back off. “I brought my lunch today. But thank you.”
She didn’t question it. “Where do you want to go?” She moved back around the desk and walked up to him.
He stared at her like he hadn’t heard a word she’d said, too focused on her beauty to care about the question she’d just asked. “You choose.”