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. “Sofia?” 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.”