by Penelope Sky
Damien hooked his arms around her waist and dragged her to the car.
When I couldn’t see her anymore, I could hear her muffled screaming coming from inside the car. She pounded her fists against the window, trying to break free. She’d rather be a prisoner to Maddox than see me suffer.
I turned my gaze back to Maddox. “Wait until she leaves.”
He stepped closer to me, that disgusting smile on his face. “This has been a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be.”
I listened to the engine start. Then I heard the cars turn around and drive away. Even over the sounds of the vehicles, I could hear her muffled screams. She probably begged Damien to turn around and come back for me.
I tried not to think about it anymore. Now I needed to stay strong and accept the outcome of my decision.
When they were long gone and we were alone, I took solace in the fact that Sofia was safe, that she wouldn’t have to watch what was about to happen. She had another chance at life, a chance to start over.
Now, all I had to do was die.
Maddox motioned to one of his men. A second later, a wooden bat was placed in his hand.
So, he was going to beat me to death.
I would only think about Sofia until my body gave out.
Maddox tested the bat in his grip. “Anything you wanna say before we get started?”
I kept my mouth shut.
“I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to make you wish I would kill you.”
6
Sofia
“You need to calm down.” Damien gripped me by both shoulders and forced me into the armchair in my bedroom. “It’s done. No going back.”
I slapped his hands away. “Don’t tell me to calm down.” Tears poured down my face and soaked my cheeks. “How could you let him do this? I’d rather live with Maddox for the rest of my life than let Hades sacrifice himself for me.”
“Well, he wouldn’t.” He kneeled in front of me, his head slightly bent. His hair was messy, as if he’d fingered it all night long. His eyes were full of moisture, as if he were holding back tears. “I know this is hard. It’s hard for me too, but this is what he wanted.”
Watching Damien break down only made me feel worse. We’d both lost someone we loved. My chest heaved as I sobbed my heart out. “I’d rather be raped by Maddox a million times than let Hades die for me.”
Damien pulled out a full syringe from his pocket. “I think you should take this.”
I was in so much agony that I was tempted. I wanted to forget what had just happened; I wanted to forget watching Hades stand there as we drove away. Instead of being happy that I was home, I couldn’t appreciate it at all.
Because Hades wasn’t home.
“How could you let him do this?” I wiped my tears away with my fingertips. “How could you let him die for me?”
Damien bowed his head for a moment. “It was his decision. He couldn’t live with himself, knowing what was happening to you. I tried to take his place, but he wouldn’t let me.”
“So, we do nothing?” I asked. “We just let him…”
“It’s what he wanted.”
“But what kind of life could I have without him?” Fresh tears fell down my cheeks.
“You can live a happy life, because that’s what he wanted.”
I eyed the syringe, but I decided not to take it. Hades had had to suffer constantly while I was away. He didn’t take drugs to erase his pain. Neither would I. “Did Maddox say he would kill him?”
“Didn’t specify.”
“Then why did you drive away? Why did you leave him alone?”
“Because that was what he wanted.”
“Do you think there’s a chance he could be alive?” I knew how unlikely that was, but I couldn’t stop myself from hoping, from believing. I wanted to believe there was a chance we would make it back to each other.
His response was a whisper. “I don’t know.”
“Could you drive back in the morning…just to check?”
Damien wouldn’t dare deny me. “Of course.”
When there was nothing left to say, we sat there in silence, both thinking about the man who meant so much to us. He was probably being tortured as we spoke, and that made me sick to my stomach.
“Ash is here.”
“He is?” I asked.
Damien nodded. “Do you want to see him?”
Under normal circumstances, of course, but right now, I didn’t want to see anybody. I was traumatized by what had happened, heartbroken by what I’d lost. It would be impossible to carry on a coherent conversation. “No.”
“Alright.” He rose to his feet and dug his hand into his pocket. When he pulled his palm out, he opened his fingers and revealed the black wedding ring Hades had worn every day since we got married. “He wanted me to give this to you…”
I gripped it in my shaky fingers and started to sob harder.
Hades knew he wasn’t coming back.
I closed my fingers around it and squeezed. “Give me the syringe.”
7
Hades
I knew it was morning because sunlight filtered through my eyelids.
I lay on the grass, my back against the dirt. My clothes were soaked with blood, and I could barely think because my mind was so fuzzy. So many things were broken, so much blood had been lost. I writhed in unspeakable pain, subjected to such agony that I knew Maddox was right.
I did wish I were dead.
I couldn’t stand and walk; I couldn’t even reach for my phone in my pocket. I was paralyzed on the ground. Even if I could grab my phone, I wasn’t sure I could figure out how to call someone. My body was broken, and I couldn’t move.
I would die here.
I had a few hours left, maybe more.
To distract myself from the pain, I thought of Sofia.
She was safe. She was home. She was free.
I could die happy.
The sound of approaching tires was recognizable to my ears. I was so delirious, I was probably hallucinating the whole thing. Maybe it was a fantasy, that someone was coming to rescue me. The likelihood someone had driven out into the middle of nowhere was nonexistent.
I stayed still on the ground with my eyes closed. I couldn’t move anyway.
A car door shut, and boots thudded against the ground. It was a cold morning in the fall. My lungs ached with every breath I took.
“Fuck.” The footsteps sounded hurried as someone ran over to me. “Hades?” One hand immediately went to my neck to check my pulse, while the other rested against my chest to check my breathing.
I forced my eyes to open, even though it was painful to do so. From between the slit in my eyelids, I could make out Damien’s face.
“Holy shit.” Damien looked over my body, examining my countless injuries. “I can’t believe you’re alive.”
“I won’t be much longer.”
“Can you stand?”
I groaned in response.
“I’m going to get you to a hospital, okay? Just hold on.” He pulled out his phone and made some calls. “Stay with me, okay?”
I was already slipping away.
Damien gave me a shake. “I need you to stay awake.”
“I can’t…”
“Don’t do it for you. Do it for Sofia.”
8
Sofia
I didn’t get out of bed.
The sheets smelled just like him. If I kept my eyes closed, it was like he was still there. I stuck to his side of the bed and pretended he was there with me. His wedding ring sat on the nightstand, and I stared at it as the hours trickled by.
I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’d never needed a man in my whole life, and now I didn’t know what to do without this man.
I didn’t know how to go on.
He wasn’t just my husband, but my partner, my friend.
Everything.
Now he was gone.
A knock sounded on the door. “Sof
ia?” It was Damien’s voice. He was probably there to check on me.
There was nothing he could do for me.
“I’m coming in.” He opened the door and stepped inside the bedroom. He came over to the bed and didn’t care that I was just in one of Hades’s t-shirts. My privacy didn’t seem important anymore. “Sofia, are you listening to me?”
My eyes were open, but I ignored him.
“I went back to the field, and I found him.”
My eyes shifted to his. “What?” I pushed off the sheets and sat upright. He could see my underwear, but I didn’t care. “Is he…?”
“He’s alive…barely.”
I stiffened. “Where is he?”
“I took him to the hospital right away. The doctors said he needs a lot of surgery. They took him to the OR immediately.”
My hand covered my face like I was stifling my scream. My heart raced violently. Every part of my body hurt from excitement and anxiety. “So, he’s going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. No one knows right now.”
I got out of bed and reached for my jeans on the floor. “We’ve got to head over there now.”
“Sofia.”
I stilled at the seriousness of his tone. “What?”
A large frown was on his face. “He told me he doesn’t want you to see him right now.”
My jeans fell to the floor. “What? I’m his wife.”
“He just doesn’t want you to see him like that. He’s in really bad shape.”
“I don’t give a shit how he looks, he’s my husband. I’m gonna be there for him.”
Damien stepped closer to me and didn’t dare look at my legs. “I’m just the messenger, okay? This is what he wants, and I’ll let you know when he’s ready to see you.”
I knew Maddox must have hurt him badly, and Hades didn’t want me to witness the horrible brutality. He didn’t want me to witness the cruelty he experienced. He was just trying to protect me. The moment I looked at him, I knew I would feel guilty. He’d paid for my life with his own evisceration. “So, what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and wait?”
“I’ll give you updates as soon as I get them.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. Then I yanked it from my scalp. “He’s my husband. I should be taking care of him.”
“You will when he’s ready.” Both of his hands moved to my shoulders. “I know this is hard, but let’s just be happy he is alive.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I absorbed that blessing. Regardless of how he’d changed, Hades was still here. If he’d survived whatever Maddox put him through, he would survive this. He was the strongest man I knew. And I knew he was too proud to let himself appear weak in front of me, especially in a hospital bed.
“There’s nothing you can do for him anyway. Nothing anyone can do. He needs to survive these surgeries and rest. He’s a strong guy, so I’m sure he’ll heal.” Damien’s hands dropped from my shoulders, and he brought me in for a hug. “We just have to be patient.”
I sat on the balcony with my dinner in front of me. Helena had made me my favorite supper, but I wasn’t hungry.
I was never hungry.
My phone sat beside me, and I constantly waited for it to ring. Damien gave me updates regularly, and so far, Hades had been unconscious most of the time. He’d had his left arm broken in several places, his ribs were cracked, and his right leg was fractured. Not to mention his other internal injuries.
Helena stepped onto the patio. “You need to eat sometime.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just not hungry.”
“Well, Mr. Lombardi would like you to eat.”
She was right about that.
“Would company make you feel better?”
The only person I wanted to talk to was my husband.
“Ash is standing outside. Is it okay if I let him in?”
I forgot Ash was in the area. Damien had told me he’d come down to help, but I’d forgotten that information the second I heard it. “Sure.”
Ash walked in a moment later, wearing a dark green shirt with a black jacket on top. He approached the table and looked down at me with a sad expression. His hand reached to my shoulder, and he gave me a gentle squeeze. “You doin’ okay?”
“No.”
“At least he’s alive.”
“He won’t let me see him.”
“No surprise there,” Ash said. “He’s always been that way. Doesn’t want anyone to see him weak.”
“He’s not weak,” I snapped, “He’s hurt.”
“He won’t let me see him either, if that makes you feel better.”
“No…”
Ash looked down at my untouched food. “Are you gonna eat that?”
I shook my head.
He pulled the plate toward him and grabbed a fork. “Looks good.”
“Helena is an amazing cook.”
“Then why aren’t you eating?”
I shrugged. “Not hungry.”
“How do you expect to take care of him if you don’t take care of yourself first?” He took a bite and handed the fork back to me, as if we were going to share the meal.
I knew it was a ploy to get me to eat, but I caved anyway. “I’m surprised you came down here.”
“When Damien told me what happened, I felt like shit.” He leaned back into the chair and stared at me with sad eyes. “You didn’t deserve to be taken, and despite my issues with my brother, he didn’t deserve that horror. No man should have to lose his wife like that.”
I knew Hades must have been miserable while I was gone. I didn’t tell him what Maddox did to me, but I had a feeling he knew.
“One way or another, Maddox is gonna die. Either I’ll kill him, Damien will, or Hades will. Fucker’s gotta die.”
“I should be the one to kill him.” I would get a gun, load it with one bullet, and lock him in a cell so he had no other choice. He could either starve to death or end it quickly.
Ash gave a slight nod. “Yes, you deserve it. One day, we’ll make it happen.”
“They say tragedy brings people together. At least some good came out of this.” Ash and Hades were talking once again, behaving like brothers. “He really wanted to make things right with you, and he was devastated when he couldn’t.”
“Did he ever tell you why it was so important to him?”
I didn’t want to lie about his hunch that there was more to it; he was dead on about his assumption. “No. But it doesn’t matter because his desire for reconciliation was genuine.”
He turned his gaze away and stared over the balcony. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. Life is too short for grudges.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
He turned his eyes back to me. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“No. You can head home, and I’ll give you updates when I receive them.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere. When we finish this, I’ll leave.”
“Don’t you have a business to run?” Not that I considered it to be much of a business.
He was quiet for a long time as he considered my question. He grabbed the fork off the plate and took another bite. “I thought about what my brother said… Maybe it’s time to move on.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not naïve. I know our father was an asshole. When I heard that Maddox had taken you, I was devastated. I’d only met you a couple of times, and I already cared about you. Knowing what Maddox was doing to you…made me sick to my stomach. It made me realize that I was no different from him, that I was a huge asshole. I don’t want to be that guy anymore.”
“Who do you want to be?” I whispered.
“Not sure yet.”
“Will you work with Hades?”
“No. I want to do my own thing. I think I might be a pimp.”
I laughed because I assumed it was a joke.
“I’m serious. It’s basically what I was doing before, but now I’d work with girls who wa
nt to work. And I could protect them as a boss.”
It was still an unconventional career choice, but at least he wouldn’t be hurting anybody.
“I love women, sex, titties. You could say it’s my passion in life.” He shrugged slightly. “I’d rather do that than deal drugs.”
It wasn’t the most respectable line of work, but I could get on board with it. “That’ll make Hades happy.”
“He’d be really happy if he were still single. He’d want to use my services all the time.”
I wasn’t oblivious to Hades’s behavior before we were married; it never bothered me. But now I was a bit jealous thinking about everyone who came before me. His sex life used to be a lot more adventurous. Now, he was tied down, committed to one woman. I wondered if he ever got bored. “Where are you staying?”
“In a hotel.”
“You wanna stay here?” I asked. “We have a lot of extra bedrooms.”
“Yeah, I can tell. This place is a mansion. A little big for just two people.”
“Three.”
His eyes glanced down at my stomach, an eyebrow raised.
“My mother lives with us,” I explained.
The accusation disappeared from his eyes. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
After being violated by Maddox, I never felt safe anymore, especially with my husband gone. Knowing he was still out there made it impossible to sleep at night. Until he was dead and buried in the ground, I would never drop my guard. “If you don’t mind…”
His eyes showed his sympathy. “No, I don’t mind at all.”
9
Hades
When I opened my eyes, I saw the white ceiling above my head. Everything in the room was the same color—plain, boring white. The monitor next to the bed beeped as it kept track of my heart and blood pressure. The tube had been taken out of my throat once the surgeries were done, and I could finally breathe on my own. I was on a morphine drip, so I actually felt pretty good.