War meant there was a battle on two sides. Someone had to lose. I just hoped it wasn’t us. “Couldn’t you just track him down and kill him? He’s gotta live somewhere, right?”
He shook his head slightly. “The guy is never in the same place for long. And he doesn’t have allies…he doesn’t let anyone in. So I can’t torture anyone for answers.”
“Could I lure him out?” Of course, I didn’t want to be the bait. I never wanted to see that man again. Just looking at him would make me shake. But my desire to kill him outweighed my fear. I was willing to do anything to see him dead, even risk myself in the process. It wasn’t just vengeance for what he did to me. But for what he did to my husband.
Hades’s eyes narrowed on my face, and his eyebrows furrowed. There was a hint of rage in the look, like he was about to tell me off. But he wrested control of his emotions and let it go. “No.”
“It might be easier that way.”
“I said no.”
I didn’t press further because it was like poking an angry bear. If I pressed my stick into his side too many times, he would eventually turn on me and maul me to death. The quiet companionship we’d had minutes ago was long gone. The only thing left to do was the one thing I didn’t want to.
So I didn’t.
I couldn’t drag my feet any longer, so I took myself to the doctor. If I were going to keep this baby, I needed to make sure everything was okay, that I grabbed my prenatal vitamins and did everything I could to prepare for how my life would change.
I never had been afraid to do anything alone before Hades came into my life. But now it felt so strange to be by myself. He should be there with me, holding my hand and telling me everything would be okay.
But even if he knew the truth, would he say those things?
Maddox was a man he hated more than anyone. Could Hades realistically accept this child if it weren’t his? Would he be a supportive husband? Or would he turn me away for good? He said he would always be there…but he had no idea what was coming next.
The doctor gave me the news I’d been waiting for.
I was almost four months along. That meant it was possible the baby could belong to Hades. But it was equally possible that it didn’t. The doctor also said he could tell me the gender of the baby.
But I didn’t want to know. My husband didn’t even know I was pregnant. I didn’t want to get that far ahead. But at least the baby was healthy.
That was something to be thankful for.
I was in my office when Hades came by. Instead of waiting for me to stand and greet him, he lowered himself into the chair and rested one ankle on the opposite knee. His hands came together, and he stared at me with wide-open eyes.
My skin turned cold. I didn’t like that look. He never stared at me that way…like I was his enemy. I could tell he was angry, could feel it in the air around us. It made my heart race painfully, made my skin turn warm.
Hades kept up his stare and said nothing.
I shut my laptop and put my stuff away. “I’m ready to go.”
He continued to sit there. “Where were you?”
I froze on the spot.
His malicious eyes stayed glued to my face. “I came by, and you weren’t here. No one could tell me where you’d gone.”
“Why didn’t you just call?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you just answer my question?”
I grabbed my purse and tried to breathe through the suffocation. “I had a personal errand.”
“What kind of errand?”
I started to lose my temper. “You don’t tell me every little thing you do.”
He rose to his feet. “Because I can take care of myself. How can I protect you when I don’t know where you are?”
“You said I had nothing to worry about.”
He stared at me for a while, like he didn’t have a rebuttal.
“It was personal. Just leave it alone.”
His anger died away, and his eyes slowly softened. He probably understood how much he was cornering me, how uncomfortable he was making me. “You can tell me anything. How many times do I have to say that?”
“I will tell you. I’m just not ready.”
Whenever we were home, the only space I got was in the bathroom. If I visited the rest of the house, I would run into my mother. She was nosier than he was, so she wouldn’t get off my case.
I stood in the shower under the warm water. My hair stuck to the back of my neck, and my hand grazed over my slightly extended stomach. Now I could really feel the person inside me. It wasn’t that obvious, but I was so thin that any weight gain was noticeable. But this wasn’t general weight gain. It was all concentrated in one spot. If someone saw me in just my underwear, they would assume I was in the early stages of pregnancy.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I could just pretend the baby belonged to Hades, and that would help me be happy. I could keep lying until I believed it. But if the baby came out with blue eyes and similar features to Maddox, I would have to lie every moment of every day to convince myself otherwise.
I was deep in thought when I noticed the slight click of the door behind me. My eyes snapped open, and my body turned rigid when I realized I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t afraid to be naked with my husband because he would never pressure me into something I wasn’t ready for. But now that I was buck naked, my belly would be impossible to hide. I could keep my back to him, but that wouldn’t work for long.
My heart started to race when I realized this was the moment. Hades would know the truth, and it would change everything…for better or worse.
Probably for worse.
He came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips. A moment later, his chest pressed into my back, and he rested his chin on my head.
I was so still.
His deep voice was audible over the shower. “Can I join you?”
I could feel his arousal against my back, feel the way his fingers dug into my skin. I could tell he wanted me, that he was growing tired of waiting. He gave me subtle openings to see if I was ready to change my mind, but if I didn’t take it, he let it go. “Yes.”
His arms wrapped around my chest and over my arms, and he held me close, his arms a protective cage that kept all the bad thoughts out. We hadn’t spoken much since he’d confronted me in my office a few days ago, and now he seemed apologetic about his behavior.
He bent his neck down and kissed me on the shoulder. Then his hands started to guide me in a circle, to turn me around so he could see my face.
I couldn’t control my breathing. It went haywire, deep and fast. My heart was beating at a frenzied rate. If I weren’t covered in water, I’d be sweating. When I made the full rotation, I looked him in the eye with fear written all over my face.
His eyes moved to mine, and he watched me for several seconds, taking in my features and reading them like words on a page. His hands went to my hips, and he probably thought my unease was because of this level of intimacy. “It’s okay. It’s me.”
There was no going back, so I grabbed both of his hands and placed them over my stomach.
Instantly, he noticed the expanded curves of my body. His fingers lightly pressed into me in reaction. His chin dropped, and his eyes moved to my swollen belly. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move. He needed at least five seconds to process what I had just revealed to him. His reaction was blank, and now he was impossible to read.