by Penelope Sky
I looked down at the watches, my lips burning after the scorching kiss he’d just given me. My fingertips absentmindedly touched my mouth, and I swore I could feel the heat of his kiss. After the moment passed, I studied the collection of watches. There must’ve been at least a dozen. I picked up a dark one, a watch with a black face. It was simple, sleek, smooth; it seemed to match his personality well. I glided my thumb over the glass, seeing the second hand tick by. When I turned it over, I spotted another engraving.
Andrew
From, Dad
I stared at it for a moment before I returned it to the case. When I glanced at Hades, he had downed the entire glass of wine. His belt was pulled out of the loops, and he set it on top of his dresser.
I considered confronting him about the watch, but I suspected it would only provoke bad memories. I walked toward him and pressed my palms against his bare chest. “Long day?”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’ve been in a bad mood all week.”
His brown eyes stayed focused on mine, conveying his annoyance and frustration, not at me, but at the situation. He seemed to soften at my touch, to be invigorated at my affection, so he slid his hand up my neck and into my hair. He lightly tucked a strand behind my ear and held me the way a woman wanted to be held. “I have to tell you something.”
“Something good, I hope.”
He didn’t give me the answer I wanted to hear. “I don’t think you should return to the hotel for a couple of weeks.”
“Weeks?” I asked incredulously. “I’ve already taken so much time off.”
“I know. But it’s not the best time.”
“Why? You go to work every day.”
“That’s totally different. And even if it weren’t, I wish I could stay home with you all day. It’s just temporary. I have to make sure the dust has settled.”
“What dust?” I didn’t know what he was referring to. I didn’t know what he was afraid of. There seemed to be a world weighing on his shoulders, a world I couldn’t see. “What’s going on?”
His hand slid from my neck, slipped from my hair until he secured it around my waist. He brought our faces close together, so close it seemed like he might kiss me again. “Damien’s a dumb fuck. That’s what’s going on.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific.”
He sighed before he gave me the full explanation. “Damien and I had a misunderstanding. He decided to continue the drug business in my absence. I believe that it’s not a good idea, that we need to let it go. Unfortunately, he put more drugs on the street and resumed production. I’ve been doing damage control all week. It’s been quiet out there, so I think everything will be fine. But you know me, I’m a cautious man. I think it’s best that you stay home.”
“If things have been quiet, then why can’t I go back to work?”
“Too risky.”
“Couldn’t you just send some men with me?” I knew he was trying to protect me, but being cooped up in this house all day was not the way I wanted to spend my time.
“A couple men wouldn’t be enough. The safest place for you is here.”
“Hades, you know I’m not the type of woman to sit on my ass all day.”
“But you are now. It’s not forever.”
“What about—”
“I said no.” He dropped his embrace, turning cold. “I know you don’t like being told what to do, but I’m supposed to take care of you. It’s how it’s supposed to be. Just do as I say.”
My attitude wanted to rise in force and demolish the area around us. I prized my independence more than anything else, and because of him, I no longer had it. Like bile was in my mouth, my tongue was coated in distaste. I wanted to spit it out and scream. But I knew this relationship was about compromise. Fighting would only make things worse, not better. And it always ended the same way—with me on my back and him on top of me.
He studied my face as if he were waiting for the explosion to happen.
I pressed my lips tightly together, venting my frustration the only way I knew. I finally released everything as a painful sigh.
When he was satisfied with my reaction, he relaxed his shoulders. “Thank you.”
I cocked an eyebrow at the statement.
“Thank you for listening to me.”
“It’s not easy…”
“I know.” He stepped closer to me again, his hands cupping my cheeks and lifting my gaze to meet his. “And that’s why it means so much.”
The week passed with painful slowness.
I did as much work as I could at home, but it wasn’t the same as being at the hotel. I couldn’t hold meetings with the board. I couldn’t check the routine of the hotel, and I couldn’t pick up on the details only my eyes could observe. I had to hope that the managers of the hotel were doing their job.
And I had to hope that people didn’t think I was lazy.
A text message came through on my phone. It was from Hades.
I’m picking you up for lunch. The car will be there in fifteen minutes.
I knew Hades was busy taking care of the bank and the hotel, so he was making time just to get me out of the house. He knew I was bored, cooped up and alone. Technically, my mother was there, but I’d rather be alone than hang out with her all the time. He did sweet things like that once in a while…when I least expected it.
I texted him back. I’ll meet you outside. See you then.
I changed my outfit, put some earrings into my lobes, and then slipped on a pair of pumps. I made my way down three flights of stairs until I stepped out of the entryway. A black car sat there, all the windows tinted pitch black. When Hades had a driver, this was how he got around town, invisible with bulletproof windows.
I walked to the back door, opened it, and got inside. When I turned to look at my husband and embrace him with a kiss, I realized it wasn’t my husband at all.
An audible lock erupted in the car, making all the doors impossible to open. The driver immediately started to drive away. A center divider was between us. That way, I couldn’t grab him. I looked at the passenger beside me again, recognizing his face, his blue eyes, and the pure look of evil on his mouth.
It was Maddox.
It only took me seconds to figure out what had happened. He’d hacked into my phone and impersonated my husband to lure me down right into his car. If he tried to grab me at the hotel, it would’ve been far too complicated. Instead, he tricked me into leaving the fortress and stepping directly into his arms.
How could I be so stupid?
The car was speeding away, and there was no time to call Hades. If I tried, Maddox would just snatch my phone away. So I did something crazy.
I tried to kill him.
I launched myself across the car and banged both fists against his face. He was twice my size, twice my height, but I didn’t care. This was the fight of my life—and I wasn’t going to lose. My hands smashed into his face, beat into his chest, exploded into his stomach with all the strength I could muster. I had no idea I could move so quickly, but when everything was on the line, I could do extraordinary things.
He grabbed my arm and pinned it at my side before he wrapped his other arm around my neck. Despite the beating he took, he was calm about the whole ordeal, didn’t even seem mad about the bruises I’d just put on his face.
Made him terrifying.
He squeezed my neck just enough so I struggled to breathe. “Wasn’t expecting that.” His other hand moved to my scalp, and as if he were my lover, he ran his fingers through my hair, as if his touch would calm me rather than repulse me. “But don’t make me hurt you, sweetheart. I would hate to bruise that pretty face.”
He grabbed a syringe from his pocket, and with his teeth, popped off the cap.
“Please don’t.”
He pressed his thumb to the top, squirting just a little bit of liquid out.
“Don’t do this to me. I’ve done nothing to you.”
�
��The innocent pay for the crimes of the guilty. That’s how it’s always been…” He spoke in a dreamy voice, as if his mind were elsewhere. He even seemed a little bored, like capturing an innocent woman and sticking a syringe in her neck was just part of an average Tuesday afternoon. “I did tell you that you could do better than him. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
“Why are you doing this?”
He fisted my hair then pressed my face hard against his knee, exposing my neck to the needle. “Because your husband doesn’t listen.” He stuck the needle in my neck, pressed the top with his thumb, and then I was gone.
20
Hades
After a twelve-hour day, I headed home. It seemed like Damien and I had resolved the problem his stupidity had caused. All the drugs were off the streets, distributors were put on hold in the meantime, and production had halted in the facilities. Our business was officially shut down. If this had been a few years ago, I’d be livid.
But it didn’t seem so bad.
I was ready to start a new life, to be a different man.
When I walked through the door, I ran into Maria. She was still youthful in her appearance, reminding me of Sofia in many ways. They had the same eyes, same full lips, and same dark hair. “I hope you started dinner without me.”
Maria leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, treating me like the son she’d never had. “Oh, I already ate. I assume you and your wife had plans since Sofia hasn’t returned my calls.”
We had no plans to my knowledge, but I hated these family dinners, so I looked forward to one-on-one time with my wife. Maria always hijacked the conversation and bored us out of our minds. And it wasn’t like I could fuck her daughter right in front of her. “Maybe she’s under the weather.”
“Maybe. Helena said she didn’t answer the door. Perhaps she’s in the bathtub.” Maria continued on her way toward the kitchen, probably to get another glass of wine.
I turned rigid on the spot, my gut clenching tightly with unease. There was probably a simple explanation for Sofia’s behavior, but my instincts told me otherwise. I was a paranoid man…and now I was even more alarmed.
As I headed to the stairs, I pulled out my phone and called her.
No answer.
My heart exploded with dread. Then I started to sprint up the stairs. I didn’t even breathe hard as I sped up three floors and darted down the hallway to our bedroom. I practically broke down the door when I got there. “Sofia?” I stood in the open doorway, scanning the room for signs of her presence.
There were none.
I moved into the room and headed to the bathroom. “Sofia?”
No answer.
I turned back around and looked through the room, even checking the patio. When I realized she wasn’t there, a huge bomb of panic and anxiety exploded right in my chest. I tried to breathe, but I couldn’t—tried to get ahold of my emotions, but they were too uncontrollable. I paced in the bedroom, dragging my hands down my face as my mind raced a million miles an hour.
My mind deduced what had happened. Sofia wasn’t in the house, and I knew she wouldn’t disobey me and leave, wouldn’t ignore my phone calls. Someone had taken her from my fortress, stolen her right out from under me.
There was only one person who could do that.
Maddox.
With flared nostrils and white knuckles, I broke down in the middle of my bedroom. My fingers fisted my hair, and my ribs vibrated with every beat of my heart. My wife had been taken from me, and I had no idea where to find her. It was the most excruciating feeling in the world, to lose the thing you loved most. I had been devastated when Damien was taken…but this was a whole new level of bleakness.
Fuck.
Sweat poured down my forehead and burned my eyes. I had to combat my panic because I needed to focus with everything I had. I had to get Sofia back, no matter the cost, no matter the amount of blood and tears.
My phone started to ring.
I looked at it, hoping to see Sofia’s name.
No. It was Maddox.
The timing told me everything I needed to know. My worst nightmare had come to pass. I didn’t fix Damien’s mistake quickly enough, and now my wife was gone, subjected to unspeakable cruelty.
It was my job to protect her.
I failed.
I wanted to ignore the call, but that wasn’t an option. My wife’s life hung in the balance, and I couldn’t afford to provoke him. He probably had spies watching the place, and he was notified the second I stepped inside my home. He wanted to see me suffer, wanted me to know he had me by the balls. This was punishment for my disobedience, which meant there might not be anything I could do to get Sofia back.
He might’ve already killed her.
I hissed between my teeth and almost collapsed to the floor.
If she died, I’d die too.
I took the call and put the phone to my ear.
He overtook the conversation, as always. “I warned you, Hades.”
I kept the speaker away from my mouth so he couldn’t hear the emotion in my breathing.
“You gave me your word—you broke it.”
Sweat coated my neck and dripped down my temples. I wasn’t warm when I came home, but I was so terrified now that my bodily functions had gone haywire.
“You never deserved her.”
I wanted to be strong and incorruptible, but I didn’t have room for pride. I would beg, plead, do anything to save her. “It was Damien, not me. I can’t control what he does. Leave my wife out of this.” I steadied my voice as much as possible, but I couldn’t keep the pain muffled.
“That wasn’t the deal, and you know it.”
“What do you want, Maddox?” I hoped there was something he wanted. Even me, anything I could use to trade for her.
“Nothing.”
My heart plummeted into my stomach.
“I got what I wanted.”
I lost all control and screamed into the phone. “Let her go, asshole! She’s innocent. Has nothing to do with this. I’m the one you want.”
“I don’t know… She is beautiful.”
I was going to hurl right in the middle of my room. “Give her back to me, or I will come after you. I will cut you apart, piece by piece, and keep you alive long enough to watch the pile grow. I will come at you with everything I have, and I won’t stop until everything you care about is gone.”
His sinister smile was loud in his voice. “I hope so, Hades. You know me—I like action.”
“Asshole…”
He hung up.
Motherfucker hung up.
Once the line went dead, that was when I noticed the tears falling down my cheeks. I thought they were beads of sweat. But, no—they were drops of heartache.
Sofia and Hades’s story continues in the next two books
The highly anticipated sequel to Penelope Sky’s critically acclaimed series.
* * *
I lost the only thing that matters to me.
My wife.
And I’m the only one to blame.
I will sacrifice my life, my pride, and everything else for the woman I love.
Whether she loves me or not.
Order Now
The conclusion to the insanely popular Betrothed Series by critically acclaimed author Penelope Sky. Hades has done everything for the woman he loves. Now it’s time for Sofia to do the same for him.
* * *
I never broke the curse...I just changed it.
Now I’m forced into a partnership with Maddox, and since I can’t kill him, I have to tolerate him every day.
So Sofia leaves me.
I’ve sacrificed everything for her, but it’s never enough. My love for her doesn't change despite the betrayal. The torture continues.
What am I gonna do?
I have one option. I said no the first time, but I’m not sure I can say no again...
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Damien is getting his very own story! There will even be
guest appearances from Hades and Sofia AND a crossover story featuring Heath, the new Skull King. It’s just as unpredictable and riveting!
When Heath, Balto’s brother, demands payment from Damien’s business, things get out of hand…and a war begins. It’s the first time a character from another series has become a main player in one of my books. And it’s going to be quite a tale.
* * *
Hades retired from the business.
Now it’s just me.
Look at me now...bitter...angry...depressed. I resent my former friend so much, even hate the guy, but I’ve never been the same since he refused to forgive me.
I meet a woman. She’s like all the others...beautiful, interesting, good at the fun stuff, but I don’t feel anything.
One woman will love you for you, not your money or your power, but you’ll lose her. And once she’s gone...she’s gone.
That gypsy wasn’t right about me too, right?
I’ve got trouble on my doorstep when the new Skull King shows up. He wants a cut of my business.
Like he’s getting anything. This is all I have left.
Once again I become swallowed by the underworld.
Will I survive it?
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She’s gone.
But the fortune can’t be true because she means nothing to me.
Nothing at all.
But the doubt starts to creep in. My thoughts only focus on one thing. The other women no longer satisfy me.
It starts to drive me crazy.
When I finally confront her, the horror shatters me.
She’s marrying someone else.