“Couldn’t sleep?” The sound of Hades voice made her jump. She swung around to find him leaning in the doorway, thick arms crossed over his bare chest. A tunic hung low on his waist and his hair pooled in dark layers around his face. He looked sleepy and beautiful.
“No,” she said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“You didn’t wake me,” he said. “Your absence did.”
“I’m sorry.”
He smiled a
little. “Don’t be—especially if it means you are baking.”
Hades crossed the kitchen toward her. She thought he might pick her up and carry her off to bed with the cake still in the oven, but he surprised her and sat beside her on the floor.
She found herself looking at him—at the way his muscles rose to the surface of his skin, at the shadow of stubble gracing his jaw, the full curve of his lips. He was impossibly handsome, unimaginably powerful, and he belonged to her.
“You know I can help you sleep,” he said.
She knew that because he had done it before.
“The cake isn’t finished,” she whispered her reply. It wasn’t because she wished to be quiet, it was that her voice wouldn’t go any higher as her exhaustion took over.
“I would never let it burn,” Hades replied.
After a moment, he shifted, and Persephone rested her head against his chest. Hades’ skin was warm, his scent as intoxicating as the vanilla in the air, and despite how much she wanted to see this all through to the end, she fell asleep in his arms on the floor of the kitchen.
CHAPTER XVI - BREAKING POINT
Persephone called Eliska to check on Lexa as she headed to work the next morning. In truth, she’d been avoiding Jaison since his hateful words after Lexa’s surgery and his comments about Hades. It was hard enough to reconcile that Hades couldn’t help, worse when Jaison questioned their love.
Lexa’s mother sounded exhausted on the phone as she communicated that there were no changes in her vitals. The whole thing felt like a nightmare, except that, the longer it went on, the more Persephone considered that she might have to live without Lexa.
After last night, that somehow seemed like more of a possibility.
“Good morning, Persephone!” Helen said as she stepped off the elevator. Her cheery expression faded quickly. “Is everything alright?”
Her question made Persephone feel strangely violent.
“No,” she snapped. Her stomach immediately filled with guilt as she headed to her desk. She would have to apologize to Helen later, but right now, she needed to calm down.
She barely got settled before Demetri stepped out of his office.
“Persephone, have a moment?”
Her anger rushed to the surface again, unbidden and senseless. She should say no, ask if she could have more time to get settled, but she found herself following her boss into his office.
“I have good news,” Demetri said, taking a seat behind his desk.
Persephone knew what he was going to tell her, but she waited, staring at him with more indifference than she had ever felt in her life. It was the first time since he’d given her the ultimatum that she realized how much this had affected her.
“Kal has decided against forcing the exclusive.”
When she didn’t react, Demetri frowned. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy.”
“You thought wrong,” she said. “The damage is already done.”
“Persephone.”
She hated the way her boss said her name, like he thought she was being unreasonable. “Don’t do this.”