Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“I don’t have it.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Choose your words carefully, Damien.”
“I don’t keep it here. Meet me tonight at the lab. I’ll have it for you then.”
He continued to stare at me.
“If you want your money every month, that’s where you should go.”
“But I like keeping you on your toes. It’s fun.” He rose to his feet. “And pissing you off is fun too.”
I knew this was payback for the stunt I pulled, and he wouldn’t let it go for a very long time. He would continue to push me around like a punching bag until I was thoroughly humiliated.
“I don’t want to go to war with you, Heath.”
He straightened and crossed his arms over his chest.
“But I will if you come near the people I care about—including Hades.” I rose to my feet so my height could match his. “If you want to keep getting paid for no work, do as I say.” Hades was my family, the brother I’d never had. I would jump on a grenade to save his life. I would take a bullet to save his wife, because if he loved her, then so did I. I’d never truly understood loyalty until I lost my best friend. “You understand me?”
Heath was silent.
I knew he wanted me to remain under his thumb, to keep me as his prisoner because he got a kick out of it. If he pushed me too hard, that would all go to shit. All he did was give a slight nod in agreement before he opened the door and walked out.
Hades had been just about to walk inside…because I had the worst timing in the world.
Heath stopped and stared at him, his gaze frozen and fiery at the same time. Hades was the reason his plan had backfired, and he obviously hadn’t forgotten that. He looked him up and down subtly before he walked off.
Hades wore the same focused expression, unafraid of the giant monster who had just occupied our halls. He watched Heath walk away before he turned his gaze on me—livid. He stormed into my office. “What the fuck—”
“I told him never to come here again. This place is off-limits. That you have nothing to do with the other business, so he shouldn’t be here. He understood, and it won’t happen again.”
Hades didn’t argue with me, but he still looked angry.
“I would never put you or your family in danger.”
He slid his hands into his pockets.
“Alright?”
He sighed and finally nodded. “If I see him here again, I walk.”
I knew it wasn’t an idle threat. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the quiet life he’d committed himself to. He had enough money to pack up and disappear forever. “It won’t happen again.”
He finally grabbed the papers he’d dropped off earlier. “Why aren’t these filled out?”
“Because Conway Barsetti stopped by.”
“How is he?” He tossed them back onto my desk.
“Same.”
“What did he need?”
“Nothing. He actually brought one of his models. She needs financial help.” I pulled the business card out of my pocket and held it up so he could see her number written in her feminine writing. “She gave me her number.”
“I’m surprised she agreed to go out with you.”
“I didn’t even ask her.”
He smiled slightly. “So…are things good with Anna?”
The mention of her name immediately destroyed my mood. I slipped the card back into my pocket. “We talked…and we’re friends.”
“Friends with benefits?” he teased.
“No.” I leaned against the desk and crossed my ankles. “I apologized for the situation I put her in…and told her why I broke it off with her.”
With his hands resting in his pockets, Hades stared at me with his brown eyes, absorbing everything I said while giving nothing away. Whenever he listened, he exuded such a focused level of concentration that he reminded me of a wild animal about to kill its prey. “What did she say?”
“That she wished I told her the truth…because she doesn’t care about the risk.”
“Then you were right.”
I nodded. “Yeah…”
“And you parted on good terms?”
“She said she wants to be friends. I told her I would try.”
“Good. She and Sofia have become good friends, so I don’t think she’s going to disappear from our lives.”
“Yeah…” My existence would be much easier if I never had to see her again, but the idea of her really being gone…was unsettling. I guess I always wanted to have eyes on her, to make sure she didn’t need help because her piece-of-shit husband was too oblivious to notice.
“You gonna call her?”
My thoughts drifted far away, to that dark balcony when it was just the two of us and I forgot she wasn’t mine anymore. If she wanted to have an affair with me, would I say yes? I could have her, and no one would ever know…including my enemies. Maybe it was better that she had stronger morals than I did because I would get myself in a world of trouble. “What?” I didn’t register what he’d just said.