by Penelope Sky
I automatically took a step back without even thinking about it. “It is going to go back to the way it was. Why would it change?”
The color in her cheeks slowly faded away, and her lips loosened because her features slowly tightened with pain. “I don’t understand…”
“None of those things are going to happen, Sofia. We aren’t getting remarried. You aren’t moving back here. We’re over.” I wanted her to get out of my house and give me space. She may have saved me, but I didn’t owe her anything. I’d already given her everything possible. If anything, she was just paying me back.
The confusion in her expression only deepened. “Where is this coming from? Last time we were together, we were in love. That was barely a month ago. What happened?”
If I could breathe fire, I would. “What happened?” I asked coldly. “I’ll tell you what the fuck happened.” I moved into her, closing the distance because I felt so much rage. “You. Left. Me.” As I stepped into her, she stepped back. I held up two fingers. “Twice. You fucking left me twice. I’m sick of bending over backward for you. I’m sick of putting up with your shit. When Maddox took you, I did everything I could to get you back. Every hour, every minute, every second, I was doing something to find you. I never gave up on you. But you gave up on me so fucking easily.”
Her eyes gave away her emotion, the hurt and the unspent tears.
“You left me here alone and took my son with you. You abandoned me when I never abandoned you. You have no idea how much I’ve sacrificed for you since the day I met you. I’m tired of it. I’m over it.”
The tears formed in her eyes at such a speed, she couldn’t blink fast enough to keep them away. “I had to protect our son. If I weren’t pregnant, I would’ve stayed. You have no idea how hard it was for me to leave.”
“Couldn’t have been that hard because you walked out and never came back.” I had no pity in my heart, no reservations about speaking my mind. “I busted my ass to earn your love throughout our entire marriage. No, I worked my ass off since the first day you were mine. I loved you so fucking much, and you never gave a damn about me.”
“That’s not true…”
“Yes, it’s fucking true. You showed your true colors when you left me. Marriage is forever, till death do us part. You walked away from us, you made me sign those divorce papers, and you moved on without looking back. I’m done with all of it.”
The tears fell down her face, and her cries became sobs. “I don’t understand. You loved me just weeks ago…and now you’re a different person. I can understand you being upset with me, I can understand you needing space, but we’re a family. We have a child together.”
“I’m not going to stay with you because of Andrew. I can be a father and not a husband at the same time.”
She sobbed a little harder when I tore her down.
“I don’t want to be with you, Sofia.” I stood my ground and stared at her tear-soaked face and felt nothing. She wasn’t worth my time or my energy. She’d put me through so much, and she didn’t deserve to have so much power over me. I was tired of being a pussy-whipped bitch. “Now, get out.”
18
Sofia
I stayed at the Tuscan Rose because I had nowhere else to go. I didn’t even have any clothes because I hadn’t packed anything. I assumed I would be staying with Hades, and there were a couple shirts lost somewhere in the closet or in one of the drawers. I also assumed we’d be spending time together…to appreciate what we’d regained.
But he dumped me instead.
He was a different person from the last time we were together. The warm and affectionate man I knew had transformed into a bitter and heartless man who wanted nothing to do with me. It was as if he didn’t care if I lived or died.
What happened?
I spent time at the hotel, crying into tissues and ordering room service so I wouldn’t have to go outside. I waited by the phone and hoped Hades would call with an apology and explanation, but he never did.
I’d looked forward to this moment for so long, and now that it had arrived, it was the worst moment of my life. It was worse than when Maddox raped me. I’d never been so destroyed ever before. Hades ripped me to pieces until there was nothing left.
When he’d kicked me out of his home, I’d wanted to argue with him, but I was so distressed by his coldness I couldn’t think straight. I also wanted him to calm down and see if that would change anything. Maybe if we talked again, he would have a different attitude.
When I finally had enough courage, I returned to his home. Helena was nice enough to walk me to the third floor even though he had said he didn’t want any guests. I knocked on his bedroom door and hoped I would see the man that I knew…not the monster that crawled out of his broken heart.
He opened the door a moment later, in his sweatpants with no shirt. When he realized it was me, he turned just as cold as the other day. He didn’t want to see me. He didn’t look at me like I was beautiful. He looked at me like I was nothing but a nuisance.
It hurt so much.
He opened the door wider and walked away so I could come inside. He helped himself to a glass of scotch and took a seat. “What do you want?”
After I’d shed my tears, I was more prepared for this conversation. Last time, he caught me completely off guard. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“Like what?” He took a drink without taking his eyes off me. “This is how I talk to everybody.”
“Well, that shit’s not gonna fly with me.”
He leaned back and rested his glass on his thigh. “Say what you want to say.”
I couldn’t believe this was the same man I’d married. “What happened? You’re a totally different person.”
“I’ve always been this way. Ask Damien. Ask Ash. I was only different with you because of our relationship. But now that that relationship is over, there’s no reason for me to be that way.” He took another drink.
“It’s like you changed overnight.”
He shrugged. “I guess I just snapped out of it…”
“Snapped out of what?”
He locked his gaze with mine. “Love.”
As if he’d had a gun aimed at my heart, he pulled the trigger and shot me. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do.” He set his glass on the table. “We’ve been divorced for a long time. That’s just how it happens.”
“But you loved me last month.”
He shrugged in response. “We can talk about it all day, but that’s not gonna change anything. We share a son together, and that’s the only thing we should be talking about. I can go visit once a month and stay at the hotel. That’s probably the most practical.”
I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. “I only moved to Rome because of Maddox. Now that he’s gone, I should come home. I’ve lived in Florence all my life. I’m not gonna stop now.”
“Fine. Then I’ll pick him up every couple weeks, and he can stay here.”
We went from being madly in love to being a divorced couple with a kid. He was treating me like I’d cheated on him, like he hated me. “So, we just move him back and forth? We never spend any time together as a family?”
“We aren’t a family. We stopped being a family when you divorced me.”
I kept my tears back this time, but it was hard. “You know why I did it. And in the end, I fought for you.”
“Six months later…”
“Hades, I was pregnant. You expected me to take on Maddox when I was pregnant?”
It was the first time he didn’t have a rebuttal.
“I’m sorry that I hurt you. I really am. The last thing I wanted to do was leave you. But once I was able to actually do something about it, I did. You can’t be mad at me forever. And you can’t be this unreasonable.”
“Unreasonable?”
I didn’t want to provoke his rage, but I didn’t want to roll over and let him trample me. “It was a complicated situation for everyone. Bu
t my decision didn’t mean I stopped loving you. I love you more now than the day I married you.”
“You didn’t love me the day we got married. We both know that happened a long time afterward.”
“It doesn’t matter. In this moment of time, I love you.”
“Well, I don’t love you.”
I felt like I’d been slugged in the stomach again. The tears were hot behind my eyes, but I still didn’t let them fall. “I don’t believe that. Say it as many times as you want, but I still won’t believe you.”
Hades rose to his feet. “Believe whatever you want. I really don’t care.” He walked around me and headed to the door. “I’m not sure why you came here tonight, but you can leave.”
I kept my back to him so I could have a moment to compose my features. He continued to stab me everywhere, continued to make me bleed. I was dying over and over again, losing all my strength. I turned back around and walked toward him. When I was by the door, I faced him once more. “This is how I know you don’t mean it.”
He opened the door and let his hand rest on the handle.
“If you stopped loving me, you would be indifferent to me. But your anger and coldness tell me that I hurt you, tell me that you’re in pain. The only way you could feel that way is if you felt something.”
His eyes narrowed on my face.
“I know you still love me…even if you really believe you don’t.”
When I returned to Rome, I went to Ash’s place straightaway.
He lived in a large apartment close to the Colosseum. It was a three-story building, and he had the top floor to himself. He didn’t own a big mansion like his brother, but I suspected it wasn’t because he couldn’t afford it. I rang the doorbell when I was on his doorstep.
Ash opened the door a moment later, and judging by all the stains on his shirt, he’d had a long day taking care of Andrew. His eyes roamed over me quickly and interpreted my body language before he made his conclusion. “You look tired…mad…and a little sad.”
“Because I am all those things.” I walked past him and stepped inside. In the center of the living room was a large blanket, and Andrew lay on top with plastic keys in his grasp. He shook them gently and listened to the rattle inside. I’d thought all I needed was to see my son and everything would feel better.
But it didn’t work.
I sat on the blanket beside him and placed my hand on his tummy. “How’s my baby?” I picked him up then cradled him in my arms. He focused his eyes on my face before a smile followed. He recognized me…I could see it.
Ash joined us and sat across from me. “He ruined my favorite shirt.”
“How?”
“I was trying to give him a bottle, and he kicked it. Boob juice everywhere.”
“Lesson learned. Don’t wear your favorite clothes while you’re taking care of a baby.”
“Well, I would be naked, but that would be weird.”
“Very weird. Don’t do that.” I grabbed a pillow from beside me and placed it on my lap so I could put Andrew on top of it.
“So, what’s happening? Are you moving back to Florence? Shacking up with my brother? I’m surprised he hasn’t called and yelled at me yet.”
Hades was too busy being angry at me. “We’re moving back to Florence, but I’m not moving in with Hades.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“I don’t know what happened, but he’s not the same person. Even with Maddox dead, he’s angry at me…said I shouldn’t have left him. Says he doesn’t want to be with me, that he doesn’t love me anymore.” There was no amount of comfort Andrew could give me to chase away the terrible feeling.
Ash turned skeptical. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”
I shrugged. “I really don’t know what happened. He just woke up one day and didn’t feel the same way.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. I just saw him a couple weeks ago, and he felt the same way. Said he would never move on from you.”
It didn’t make any sense. “I don’t know what happened…”
Ash considered it for a long time before he suggested an explanation. “I wonder if Maddox did something to him…like turned him against you. Brainwashed him.”
“Not possible. Hades is too strong to be manipulated like that.”
“Well, he’s been manipulated in some way. How could he feel so drastically different?”
I didn’t have an explanation for that. “You should’ve seen him. I’ve never seen him be so cold, so cruel. I felt like I was talking to a different person.”
“What are you gonna do?”
I looked down at my baby and shrugged. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do. He’s in this mood, and nothing will get him out of it.”
“You want me to talk to him?”
“Actually, yes. If you don’t mind.”
He nodded. “I’ll get to the bottom of it. We’re definitely missing a piece of the puzzle.”
19
Hades
Damien sat across from me at the bar, hatred brewing in his eyes. “So, what do you want to do?”
Maddox was gone, and now I was in charge. I was going to take over the world, take over everything. “Business as usual.”
“We kill all his men?”
“No. We inherit them.”
“And what about us?”
I looked at him coldly. “What about us?”
“Are we gonna keep working together?”
I shrugged. “That’s up to you. This business is mine. I was doing all the work when Maddox was around, so I’m not gonna leave.”
He cocked his head to the side. “That only happened because Maddox hijacked the whole thing. Don’t make it sound like I don’t do anything. I bust my ass, asshole. We went into this together, and you can’t kick me out…no matter how much you hate me.”
“I’m not kicking you out. But I want to buy you out.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“I’d pay you fairly.”
“It’s not about the money.”
“Then what is it about?”
He grabbed his drink and pulled it closer to him. “You know exactly what it’s about.”
Power. Prestige. Reputation. Those were the reasons I didn’t want to walk away either.
“So, we’ll keep doing things as usual.”
Unfortunately.
Now that the conversation was over, Damien left his cash on the table and slid out of the booth without another word.
I watched him go with a mixture of hatred and resentment in my heart. After everything we’d been through, he’d betrayed me again. He was a weasel who couldn’t be trusted. Since my gaze was focused on him, I didn’t notice the beautiful woman who took the seat beside me. She had two glasses of scotch…one was for me.
“You drink fast. Just want to make sure you have a refill.” She leaned close to me, pushing her brown hair over one shoulder. Her perfume wafted into my nose, smelling like peonies on a summer day.
My arm moved over the back of the booth, and I leaned close to her. “That was thoughtful, sweetheart.” I grabbed the glass and took a deep drink. “It’s got a nice kick to it.” I continued a quiet conversation with her while the music played overhead.
Twenty minutes later, Ash fell into the seat across from me.
I was so distracted by the woman whispering dirty things into my ear that I almost didn’t notice him. “What are you doing here, man?”
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for like two hours.”
I’d silenced my phone because I didn’t want to be bothered. “Then how did you find me?”
“Damien.”
“Of course. Fucking snitch.”
Ash turned to my date. “Scram. Let the men talk.”
I kept my arm around her shoulders. “You’re fine, sweetheart.”
My brother gave me a heated stare. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Getting laid. What are you doing?”
“What about Sofia?”
She pulled her hand from my thigh. “Who’s Sofia?”
Before I could say anything, Ash blurted out the answer. “His wife.”
“Whoa, I’m not married…” I pulled her closer so she wouldn’t slip away.
She gave me a disgusted expression. “Pig.” She pushed off me and left the table.
Since my brother chased off my tail, I shot him a pissed-off look. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I want to ask you the same thing. Sofia kills Maddox and saves you, but then you dump her?”
“I didn’t dump her. We haven’t been together in months.”
“You slept with her a month ago.”
I hadn’t expected my brother to corner me late at night in a bar. “That doesn’t mean anything. I didn’t want to sleep with her in the first place. I’m ready to move on with my life. It’s been a long time coming, and I feel free.”
“What about the conversation we had on your terrace?” my brother asked. “You said you could never move on.”
“Well, I found a way. And if you don’t mind, stay out of my business.”
Ash stared at me in annoyance. “I wouldn’t have to be in your business if you weren’t being a jackass. I know this isn’t what you want, so I don’t understand why you’re doing it.”
“It is what I want. That relationship was bullshit from the start. It’s always been a one-way street, me busting my ass for her. I’m over that shit. I want to be single again. I want to fuck whomever I want and then kick them out the next day. No more heart on my sleeve, no more relentless sacrifice. I’m glad I’m not married anymore, and I don’t want to be married again.”
Ash stared at me in disbelief, like he couldn’t believe a single word that came out of my mouth. “Did Maddox do something to you?”
I immediately thought of the date Maddox made me attend, but it had been so uncomfortable that I didn’t want to share that night with anybody. Nothing happened…but it was still creepy. “No. What kind of question is that?”