Page 78 of Hades’ Revenge

“I’m aware.” I smirked. “You forgot possessive.”

“I’ll never apologize for that when it comes to you.” When he brushed his lips across mine, a surge of heat coursed through me. “I’ll keep you safe at all costs.”

“I know.” I inched closer to him, stealing his warmth as the spray from the shower misted my skin. “I want to understand who you are and what you do.”

“I’m not sure you do.”

“Why would you say that?”

“If you could get inside my head, you would understand why I wouldn’t want you to know everything.” He closed his eyes, but I didn’t like when I couldn’t stare into them because then I couldn’t really see him. “You don’t need to be burdened with my thoughts.”

“How do you do it?” I asked.

“Are you asking me how I do my job?” He shook his head. “That’s too deep of a conversation to have inside a shower in a hotel room. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to answer those questions.”

“You ended a life tonight,” I said. “How do you come home and go on like it didn’t mean anything?”

“I never said it didn’t mean anything.”

“You had sex with me. You’re taking a shower. You’re holding a conversation. Has it always been that way for you?”

“Are you writing a book?”

“I want… I need to know who you are.”

“I’m the man you gave yourself to. The one you trusted enough to come to my home and let me have you.” He rested his hand on my cheek. “You asked me to take your innocence. I did what you asked. I treated you with respect. I was gentle and patient. I took care of you. That’s who I am.”

“But who else are you?”

“I can’t make you stay with me if you can’t accept who I am. We’ll never work.”

“I do accept who you are, but knowing that my father is a heartbeat away from inciting you to kill him is stressful.”

“If I’m pushed hard enough, anything is possible.” He draped my tangled, damp hair over my shoulder. “But whatever happens between Leo and I will not be because of an almost twenty-year vendetta. If I’m provoked enough to kill him, it will be because he hurt you, and I will never allow you to be forced into a situation you don’t want to be in.”

“It won’t come to that.” I had no idea what my father’s motivation was when it came to his plans for me and Christopher, but in my heart, I had to believe he would never make me marry against my will.

“I won’t dwell on the things I can’t control.” He kissed my forehead. “But from the beginning, I vowed to protect you. I have never been more determined to do that than I am today.”

I hoped it didn’t come down to the death.

Sebastian and I spent most of the day in the suite making plans to return to Greece. If it weren't for some strong thunderstorms and high winds moving through the flight path, we would have left this evening. Atticus couldn’t get the pilot to agree to take off until the morning.

I didn’t mind. Maybe I’d still get a chance to work things out with my mom or at least say goodbye in person. I wasn’t holding out hope, because if I did try to go home, my dad might not let me leave.

I laid my head in Sebastian’s lap and scrolled on my phone as he watched the stock channel. As he gently tangled strands of my hair around his fingers, I occasionally gazed up at him. How had he become Hades the Assassin?

“Why did you come to America when you were a teenager?” I asked.

“You’ve managed to go a whole hour without asking me a question.” He muted the television. “I’m impressed.”

“I want to know more about you.”

“There isn’t much to tell before I arrived in America.”

“Tell me what there is to tell.” I tossed my phone on the edge of the sofa. “I’ll take anything. You have my undivided attention.”

“I was an only child.”