“I—”
“Meet me in Zachariah’s study.” Hades cut me off, ordering me to do his bidding—because there wasn’t any other way to describe his tone.
I felt something tighten in my throat at hearing my father’s name, and something harder pulsed in my chest at the very disconnected, apathetic tone in his voice.
But I wouldn’t make a scene even though I wanted to tell him to fuck off, to ask who did he think he was ordering me around when he hadn’t been in my life.
So instead, I nodded, clasped my hands in front of my black dress, and kept my composure in front of all these people. That was what my parents would’ve wanted. They would’ve expected no less.
A prim and proper lady in front of society. Because God forbid I tarnish the Cronus name.
The corner of his mouth slowly lifted in what would’ve been a smile if a man like Hades could produce one.
He let his gaze travel from the top of my head down to the tips of my toes before slowly dragging it back up. I shivered, felt my face heat at his appraisal, his examination.
“So amicable,” he murmured, staring into my eyes. “That’s a good girl.”
My lips parted in shock, but before I could respond, before I could even take a deep breath to form a retort, he turned and left, disappearing into the sea of bodies.
I stood there staring, gaping like a fish out of water. I had this very foreboding sense of dread settle over me.
Whatever Hades had to talk to me about, I knew it couldn’t be anything good.
Chapter3
Persephone
Several hours had gone by before the house finally cleared and the catering and cleaning company left.
Everything had felt so quiet, so final in those moments when I was by myself again that I wandered. Maybe it was nostalgia? Maybe it was me trying to work through how drastically my life had changed.
I walked around aimlessly, not because I had nothing to do, but because I was avoiding having to go speak to Hades.
I’d seen him intermittently since he arrived, but we didn’t speak as he listened to others give their condolences. He acted as if I wasn’t there, ignoring me only until I caught him looking at me, at which point I quickly glanced away and made myself busy.
There was just something about his gaze that penetrated someone on a molecular level.
But I couldn’t hide away any longer. So I stood in front of the double doors to my father’s study, my heart beating a little harder, the adrenaline rushing through my veins.
I lifted my hand, about to knock, when I realized how foolish that was. This wasmyhouse now. Hades wasmyguest.
Lifting my chin and pulling my shoulders back, I tried to take on the facade that I wasn’t terrified of the man behind these closed doors.
After taking a steadying breath, I pushed open the doors. But I was frozen in place when I saw Hades sitting behind my father’s desk, his body leaning back in the leather chair, his arms lifted and his hands clasped behind his head.
He took on a very relaxed, king-on-the-throne position. Stoic expression in place and eyes like chipped ice.
Just looking at him infuriated me.
“Shut the doors and come closer.”
I ground my molars as I did what he said and moved toward the desk. I didn’t like the tone he used, but until I knew what cards he held, I wasn’t about to bite back.
“Sit, sweetheart.”
My heart did something funny when he said that last word. He didn’t say it like an endearment. No, his tone was too gruff, too hard for that. It was almost condescending, as if he saw me as some kind of child who needed to listen to him, to do his bidding.
I thought about refusing him, flat out denying him, but I felt like I’d already been put through the wringer.