Her eyes shifted back to me.
“Who the fuck does that?” After Sofia was raped and stopped sleeping with Hades, he didn’t go out and find someone else in the meantime. There were offers, but he rejected every single one. That’s what a real husband did—a real man. “Is that supposed to be an excuse? How could he possibly justify that behavior? He should have stayed home—with you.” Good thing she didn’t take his sorry ass back. The guy was worthless.
Her eyes dropped to her wine, and she took a drink. “My feelings afterward were complicated. Obviously, I was angry at him because of what he did, but I also know it never would have happened if we hadn’t had a miscarriage.”
“So?” My eyebrows shot up. “It doesn’t matter what happened. Tragedy is normal. Shit happens. What if you were in an accident and couldn’t walk again? Would he just get his fix every night on the town? It’s easy to love someone when things are good, but loving a woman when things are bad is what defines a man. He failed. He fucking failed.” I didn’t know Annabella very well, but my passion told me I cared about her. That affection happened quickly, and it wasn’t just based on good sex. “He should have been home with you every night, getting through it as husband and wife.”
Her fingers rested on the rim of the glass as she regarded me. “You sure you’ve never been married?”
“No.” I’d watched a womanizer love one woman exclusively, sacrifice everything just to see her smile. I knew what love was—because I’d seen it with my own eyes. Despite my bad blood toward Hades, I respected him for the way he treated Sofia. “But I know how a man should treat a woman.”
I sat at my desk with a steaming cup of coffee. It was almost noon, but I’d never really woken up. I was up late last night…with Annabella. We finished dinner then got to dessert…but it took us a long time to finish. Insulting her ex-husband seemed to make her want me more, which was fun.
Hades stepped into my office, eyebrows furrowed and his jawline hard.
I lifted my chin and met his look. “Do you fuck Sofia with that expression? Not a good look…”
His stare hardened in threat.
“Just trying to help.” I drank from my mug and set it down. “What do you want?”
“Did you get De Luca back?”
I hadn’t even bothered to try. After Annabella told me what he did, I didn’t want his money. “No.”
His eyebrow rose. “Because he refused? Or because you didn’t try?”
He knew me so well. “We have plenty of other clients. We don’t need him.”
“Don’t need him?” His voice came out cold. “We don’t need an extra billion dollars?”
“We’re both rich motherfuckers. We’ll be fine.”
He slammed his fist onto my desk. “He was my client, asshole. I want him back.”
“Then get him back,” I snapped. “You have two legs and vocal cords.”
He closed his eyes for a second, seething. “I swear to fucking god…”
“The guy is a dick. Why would we want to help him anyway?”
“All of our clients are dicks, Damien. We’re dicks. We’re thieves, murderers, liars. Are you kidding me right now?”
I got out of my chair. “What if I replace him with a better client? Is that fair?”
“I don’t want another client. I want him.”
“You got a crush on him or something?” He was a good-looking guy with a strong physique. I could understand how he’d landed Annabella in the first place.
His hand tightened into a fist. “Get him back, or I’ll tell him, Damien. This is your final warning.”
He would never throw me to the wolves when we were close, but I knew he was telling the truth now. “Fine.”
His nostrils flared before he turned around and walked out.
The moment I sat down, Sofia texted me again. That’s how it’s going to be? You’re just going to ignore me?
10
Annabella
In the beginning, Damien was just a pretty face, a nice body.
But now, he was more.
Hearing him talk about commitment like that, with so much passion and respect, made me see him with new eyes. He was a man who understood loyalty, who talked about men like he knew exactly how to be one.
It was hot.
Liam was the definition of testosterone. He was powerful, muscular, rich, and knew how to fuck a woman. But all that went out the window when he turned disloyal. That was the piece he was missing, that he’d never really had. He said it only happened one time, but now I wondered if there had been other instances he never told me about. His betrayal made me wonder if any man could be trustworthy, monogamous.
But now I believed they could.
Maybe Liam was just a mistake. Maybe I got lost in everything else he offered and missed all the signs. My infatuation misled me, made me turn a blind eye to his obvious flaws.