Page 82 of Hades’ Revenge

“You don’t know anything about her, much less who she needs.” I pushed his chest away from me, because if he got any closer, all my own fury, which I had spent years containing, would burst free. “You need to leave.”

“Not without Capri,” Leo said.

“She’s staying with me, because that’s where she belongs.”

“She’s not yours.” He got in my face. “I’ll kill you before I let you have her.”

When Leo shoved me, he knocked me into Capri, causing her to hit the wall. As I turned my attention to her, Leo tugged my shoulder and raised his arm. Before he could make contact, I blocked his impending strike and slammed my fist into his jaw.

Capri gasped when Leo stumbled and fell into the table.

“I told you I wouldn’t let you hit me again.” I gritted my teeth. “I’m not doing this in front of her unless you force me to.”

“Because you don’t want her to see the man you really are?” Leo charged me and gripped my throat. “A killer with no conscience.”

“I have a conscience when it matters.” I yanked him off me, hitting him again. “You’re the one who killed an innocent priest. You slit his throat, fucking it up so bad that I couldn’t even save you.” I ducked when he swung at me. “The irony of this whole situation is that I had your back even when I took the blame, because I trusted we would find a way out together like we always did.”

“Stop!” Capri shouted. “Please! I’m going with you, Sebastian. Let that be enough revenge.”

Her words fell on deaf ears as Leo and I continued to fight with one another. He hit my jaw hard enough to knock me to the ground. Fuck!

When Capri got in between us to block him from coming for me again, he shoved her out of the way to get to me. She lost her footing and fell.

That was all the motivation I needed to unleash almost twenty years of hate and rage. I could forget what he had done to me, but I would never allow him to hurt her. Touch what’s mine and die.

I sprung to my feet and grabbed Leo by the throat, ramming him against the wall and pounding my fist into his face. I didn’t know how many strikes I got in before he hit the floor.

“Sebastian!” Capri cried. “Please, no more.”

Her distraught voice should have been enough, but I couldn’t do what she asked. Not after everything that was taken from me over the years. Even after all this time and all that he had done to me, he still provoked me by asking Maria to lie for him in order to take Capri from me.

I dropped down and raised my arm to finish what I had started. I had to protect Capri from her father before he put her in any more danger.

“That’s enough!” she screamed. “If you do this, we can’t come back from it.”

As Leo gazed into my eyes, I realized he had the only ammunition he would ever need to use against me. He had the protection of his daughter. I forced my fist down, crashing it into the floor instead of my intended target.

Maria crouched down and assessed Leo’s bleeding face as Capri sobbed. When I faced her, she backed away from me.

“Don’t.” She held out her trembling hand. “I can’t.” Covering her mouth with her palm, she tried to suppress a strained sob. “I can’t watch the two of you hurt one another.”

Nothing ever broke my concentration. I didn’t crack under pressure. That wasn’t me. I couldn’t allow feelings to get in the way of business. But watching her shake and knowing I was the cause of her fear and uncertainty broke me.

My heart had no purpose when it came to getting a job done. I had waited an eternity to clear my name and make Leo suffer.

“I stopped for you,” I whispered. “You’re my weakness.”

“I never wanted to be that.” She wiped her face. “I should have listened when you told me to run.”

A bullet would have been better. I had never given anyone the power to hurt me until now.

“I need air,” she said.

“Don’t go. Please.” When I reached for her hand, she turned away and opened the door.

I had no choice but to let her go. The decision to stay had to be hers and hers alone.

She hurried out of the suite and toward the elevator just as Atticus and Zeus came into the room and took in the situation.