Alaric pulls me closer and rests his chin on my head. “You know better.”
“Yeah, I guess I do.” It doesn’t stop the sheer burst of happiness that almost has me wiggling with glee. I tap his chest and peer into the pot. “Is that soup or sauce?”
“Zuri,” he warns.
“It’s an innocent question.” I smile sweetly at him. “At least the smoke alarms aren’t going off this time and you haven’t set anything on fire.”
He gives me a mock glare. “Maybe you’re brilliant at everything you try the first time, but the rest of us mere mortals tend to misstep along the way.”
I run my hands up his chest. “I’m just teasing.”
“I know.” He gives me a little nudge. “Go change. Dinner will be ready soon.” Alaric glances at the pot. “Hopefully.”
“I have the utmost faith in you.”
Fifteen minutes later, we’re all sitting around the table and eating the soup Alaric prepared. It is good. I look at Ursa and Alaric and…
I still can’t quite believe that this is real. That I get to have both of these incredible people in my life and in my bed and that it’s working. It might not be what I once thought I wanted, but it’s a thousand times better than anything I could have dreamed up.
They’re mine and I’m theirs and I wouldn’t have it any other way.15Hercules’s ApologyHades“I have simple rules, Hercules.” I sit at my desk and press my steepled fingers to my lips. Meg is at my shoulder as she always is these days, especially during meetings affecting the vital foundations of the Underworld. Foundations that include the obedience of my staff. Foundations that include the safety of my patrons.
Hercules sits stiffly in the chair in front of the desk, his strong jaw set in a stubborn line I recognize all too well. Normally, he’s a natural fit in the position we’ve found for him. He’s essentially a den mother to the submissive and Dominants on staff, his softer touch perfectly complimenting Meg’s harder lines. He’s not her second-in-command; he’s technically outside the hierarchy, which makes him able to offer a direct line of communication to both me and Meg should the situation calls for it. He doesn’t intimidate people the same way we do, which paves the way for more honesty.
But that protective attitude of his keeps getting him into trouble.
“This is the second time you’ve inserted yourself into the affairs of the Underworld’s patrons without permission.” He opens his mouth, but I raise an eyebrow. Hercules holds longer than he used to be able to, fighting himself for a solid five seconds before he wilts and lowers his eyes. I wait another beat before continuing. “You interfered with a scene between Beast, Gaeton, and Isabelle.”
At that, he lifts his gaze, but only for a moment. “That was a mistake and I apologized.”
“Yes, you did.” Considering Isabelle wasn’t a regular of the club at the time, I let that instance go without a punishment. Hercules could have used more tact when checking in on her, but he wasn’t entirely wrong to do so.
The situation with Ursa, however, isn’t as easy to dismiss.
“This is becoming a habit of yours. If you can’t control yourself, you won’t be on the club floor without Meg or myself present, and you won’t have access to either employees or patrons.”
His jaw drops. “You wouldn’t.”
I don’t want to go to such extreme lengths, especially when he’s slid into both our lives and the club without so much as a ripple. He fits here in a way I couldn’t have dreamed at the start of this, and it makes him happy. I would go to significant lengths to make Hercules happy.
But I won’t endanger the people who trust me to keep them safe when they come to the Underworld.
Not even for him.
Meg’s hand closes on my shoulder, a light touch. Her voice, however, is as hard as it ever gets. “He would, Hercules. And if Hades makes that call, I will support him.”
The betrayal on his face hurts my chest, but this can’t be negotiated away. Hercules looks from Meg to me. “I don’t understand. It was underhanded to give Zuri’s sisters access to her, but she came here under complicated circumstances and they were worried about her.”
“Hercules.” I inject enough snap into my tone to straighten his spine. “Did the situation with Meg teach you nothing? Cease trying to save women who don’t want to be saved. Zuri is back in Ursa’s arms. She chose Ursa from the beginning. That was not your call to make.” I hold up a hand when he starts to argue. “If you were that concerned about Zurielle, you should have brought it to me or Meg. We would have arranged a meeting with her sisters—with Ursa’s knowledge—and ensured it all happened aboveboard. As it is, you essentially allowed a kidnapping.”