“See you then.”
We watch Dominic Benedetti exit with his entourage of soldiers and only when he’s gone do I turn to my brother.
“What business do you have with him?” I ask Ares.
“Nothing you’d be interested in. What happened to your face?”
“Nothing. Be careful, brother. Dominic Benedetti is a dangerous man.”
“I can say the same to you.”
I sit back down. “You think father’s behind the hit-and-run?”
“I don’t know. He’s a bastard but that seems a step too far even for him.”
“I’ll pay him a visit later. Right now, I have to get upstairs.”
“How is she?”
“A handful.”
“You’ve always liked a handful, brother.”
24
Persephone
When Hayden finally returns, I’m sitting in his office behind his desk. He steps off the elevator and pauses, raising one eyebrow before his face breaks into a smile. I notice he’s carrying my boots.
“You look good there,” he says, setting the boots down and coming around the desk. “But get out.” He takes my arm and lifts me up.
I look up at him, again feeling at a disadvantage barefoot because he’s so much taller than me.
“Doctor says you’re fine,” he says. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“I have a hard head.”
“That’s for sure.”
“You cuffed me to the bed.”
“You left me no choice.”
“Don’t do it again.”
“Don’t be unreasonable again.”
I exhale an audible breath. “How was the meeting?” I sit down and pick up the boots to put them on. Peter had someone bring over several sweaters and jeans but when I asked him about shoes, he told me he forgot. My guess is it was Hayden’s way of making sure I did as I was told and stayed put.
Hayden presses some keys on the keyboard, his attention to the monitor. “Were you snooping?”
“Couldn’t break into your computer or I would have.”
He smiles like it’s what he expected.
“Are you going to tell me about the meeting?”
He takes a few moments, the keys clicking as he types something before he sits back in his chair and faces me.
“We have to finish our earlier discussion first.”
I try to keep my expression blank. I’m not sure I succeed.
“Come here, Persephone,” he says, pushing his chair back a little.
I get up, go to him, take his hand when he extends it.
He shifts his attention to that hand, caresses it with his thumb. He looks at me and tugs me to him, drawing me down to sit on his lap, my legs between his.
Being this close to him does something to me. Always has. My heart beats a little faster, and it takes all I have not to curl up into him.
For a long moment, he studies my face and the look in his green-gold eyes, it’s different than earlier. No longer hard or angry. Softer, like how he just caressed my hand.
He slides one hand up to cup the back of my head, gentle where the bump is. He doesn’t speak but draws me down and puts his lips to my forehead and I close my eyes at the contact. At the tenderness of it.
When he pulls back, he looks at me, eyes just inches from mine.
“I didn’t mean it,” I say. “You’re not like him. You’re nothing like him.”
Jonas. I don’t need to say his name.
He nods. He’s studying me so intently it’s hard to hold his gaze.
“What did he do to you?”
I touch a button on his shirt, steeling myself before returning my gaze to his.
“Nothing. He didn’t do anything to me. He just didn’t take it well when I broke off our engagement.”
“What does that mean didn’t take it well?”
I shake my head, shrug a shoulder. “He wasn’t happy, that’s all.”
“You said something earlier.”
“I told you, it wasn’t—”
“Did he force you, Persephone?”
I swallow, feel myself weaken, feel my skin go clammy. I shake my head and I hear myself talk but it’s like I’m on autopilot. “I was a virgin. How would I be a virgin if he forced me?”
“There are other ways.”
“He didn’t rape me.”
“You don’t need to protect him.”
“I’m not protecting him.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“Nothing I’ve told you is a lie. Not one word.”
“And the things you’re leaving out?”
I look away, beyond him and out the window at the dark fall day.
“It’s going to storm again,” I say, looking back at him.
He watches me with narrowed eyes but this secret he can’t draw from me.
“You don’t have to be afraid of him anymore. I’ll kill him before I let him touch you again.”
“I know you will. And that’s why you can’t go near him, Hayden.”
“Tell me what he did.”
“Leave it alone.”
“Persephone—”
“I said leave it alone.”
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.”
“But you’re afraid of him.”
“I’m not…it’s not—”
“You’re mine. I protect what’s mine.”
I need to change the subject. We can’t talk about Jonas. Ever. “Only temporarily yours.”
His eyes narrow. “There’s that word again.” He takes my face in his hands and pulls me so close that my nose is almost touching his. “It doesn’t have to be temporary.”
“You mean I can be your permanent whore?” I hear my own voice and I hate myself for saying it.
His hold on me tightens. “Is that what you think you are to me?”
“We have a contract that says as much.”
He clenches his jaw, eyes hardening. “Is that what you want? Me to stick to the letter of the contract?”
“It’s not…I—”
“Is that what you want?” He squeezes his fingers a little, just a little. Just enough.
“It’s probably easier.” It twists my heart to say it.
“Easier?”
“In the long run.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This is wrong. But I’m not doing it to protect Jonas. I’m protecting Hayden. He just can’t know it, no matter the cost, because this truth would damage him. It might destroy him. And so, I go on lying even though I feel sick for it. “So no one gets the wrong idea.” Does he hear the tremor in my voice?
He snorts, nods. “Of course.” He pushes me off his lap and down to the floor so I’m kneeling between his open legs and instantly, everything shifts.
“Then I’ll have you on your knees,” he says, pulling my hair into a ponytail and leaning down to kiss my mouth. “So you don’t get the wrong idea.”
He leans down to undo my jeans and slips his hand inside, into my panties to cup my sex. He draws back and looks at me as he rubs, and my mouth falls open because when he touches me, I forget everything else. Everything but him and as I watch him, I think how beautiful he is, and I hate myself for what I’m doing. For lying to him.