All Sofia did was give me a smile, but that smile said everything.
It was the middle of the night.
I’d ended up exactly where I didn’t want to be, but I wasn’t surprised by it either. Fighting got me nowhere, and it sucked to lose over and over again. I went outside on the terrace and sat at the table. The end of summer was here, but it was still hot and humid like fall was nowhere in sight. In just my sweatpants, I sat there and looked at the lights from the city. A slight breeze moved through my short hair, and I rubbed the scruff on my jaw and realized I hadn’t shaved in days.
Sofia was right… I hadn’t wanted to go home with that girl.
Any girl.
But I didn’t want to be here either. I sat there for a long time and reflected on how much my life had changed. My biggest adversary was gone, and I was a man running the streets once again. But everything was different because everyone in the shadows knew I was the one who’d overthrown Maddox.
The terrace doors opened behind me, and Sofia joined me in the darkness. “Can’t sleep?”
No. I just didn’t want to sleep.
She moved to the seat across from me, wearing one of my oversized shirts. Since there was a slight breeze, her nipples hardened through the thin fabric of my t-shirt. When she sat down, her long legs stretched out before her, beautiful and tanned from the long summer. There was no baby monitor because Andrew was with his grandmother.
Her hands rested together on the table as she looked at me. Her hair was a mess, like a hurricane had passed directly through it
I was that hurricane.
Her brown strands were scattered across her shoulders, and her eyes had a sleepy look. Her skin was such a beautiful color because she was well rested and satisfied. With no makeup and nothing fancy to wear, she was still the most provocative thing in the world to look at. It was obvious she didn’t grasp just how truly stunning she was.
She gave me the opportunity to respond, but when that clearly wasn’t going to happen, she broke the silence with her feminine voice. “It’s ironic. I haven’t slept so well in a long time.”
Just a few months ago, I would’ve said I hated her. There was so much rage and resentment in my heart that I didn’t think I could feel anything positive for her. But now, my heart softened when she said those romantic words.
“And the second you leave the bed…I just know.”
It was exactly the way it used to be when we were married. She knew the instant I was gone. That was why I could never sneak out in the middle of the night. That was why I woke her up every time I came home, no matter how quiet I was.
Her eyes reflected the lights from the buildings behind me, giving them a special glow. I hated the way I felt about this woman, and no matter what I did, feelings always came rushing back. It didn’t matter what she did to hurt me…I always bounced back to her.
“You’re angry.” She could read my silence like my mood was words on a page. She kept her voice steady so she wouldn’t provoke me.
My eyes narrowed on her face.
“Why?”
“Because no matter what I do, I always end up here.” I always ended up on my knees for this one woman, so infatuated that I couldn’t see straight. My heart grew to three times its size, and I felt emotions I thought were impossible to feel.
“I know you want to end up here, Hades.”
My eyelids twitched in anger. “Trust me, I don’t. Since the day we met, I worked my ass off to be with a woman like you. I was honest, loyal, the most committed guy there ever was. And you treated me like shit.”
She didn’t overtly react. She seemed to digest the harsh insult I’d just thrown at her, but she did it with grace. “When we first met, you rushed me into something I wasn’t ready for. We’d only been hooking up for a few months when you asked me to be your wife. Then when we did get married, I wasn’t ready for that either. My experience with marriage had always been negative, borderline depressing…”
“You said all that already.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “But I haven’t told you that you’ve completely changed my opinion about marriage. You made me believe in it, made me want to be your wife until death took me. You made me fall in love when I didn’t think that was possible. You made me trust a man when I didn’t think that was an option either. You opened my eyes to a whole new world I could never see. Now I want that life back more than anything in the world. I loved being married to you…and I would do anything to be married again.” She paused to take a breath, to gather her emotions. “I admit that I didn’t appreciate you as much as I should’ve. I admit I wasn’t the wife you deserve. I understand that I hurt you and now you don’t trust me…” Her eyes started to cloud with tears. “But I would spend the rest of my life trying to earn that trust back. I would be the wife I should’ve been before. I would bust my ass, work every day to make you happy. Hades, give me another chance.”
That speech should’ve meant nothing to me, but it tugged on my heart and made me bleed.
“I haven’t been seeing anybody.”
My chest stopped rising mid-breath.
“It wasn’t a coincidence that we were at the same bar. And all those men buying me drinks…they never had a chance. Damien and I never had any type of flirtatious relationship. I made all that up because I thought it was the only way to get your attention. Begging you to take me back wasn’t getting me anywhere. I’ve never given up on you… I’ll never give up on you.”
She’d played me like a fool. “You lied to me.”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah…I did. And I don’t regret it.”
I was relieved she hadn’t been screwing all those random guys for the last few months. She’d only been with me.
“Please give me another chance…”
My eyes diverted to the scenery around us, the dark buildings with little spots of light. Seconds passed before I looked at her again. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to tell her it was never going to happen, that she had no chance, but I knew I would end up in bed with her over and over again. I was in this relationship even if I didn’t want to be. “You aren’t moving back in here, and we aren’t getting remarried.”
Her face relaxed when she understood what I said. “That’s fine.”
I’d gone to the gypsy so I could be free of this woman forever, but there was no spell strong enough to erase my feelings for her. I’d wiped them away once, but they grew back overnight.
“Thank you.” Her eyes started to gloss over with moisture.
“No one else…just the two of us.” I didn’t owe her my fidelity, but I didn’t want to be with anyone else anyway. And I definitely didn’t want her to be with anyone else either. I was slightly annoyed with myself for caving, but there was also this huge weight that lifted off my chest.
She left her chair and came toward me until she lowered herself into my lap. She used to sit like this all the time, keeping me company while I suffered one of my moods. She rested her forehead against mine and laid her palm against my chest.
My hand moved into her hair, and I held her close. My heart had already softened for this woman. This was exactly where I wanted to be…because it was the only place I ever felt happy.