“How do you know something is wrong?”
He held my hand on his thigh, his expression the same. “Because I know you, Annabella.”
Wearing his t-shirt, I lay in bed beside him, the light from the obnoxious streetlight entering through the cheap blinds on the window. I was on my side looking at him, feeling his hand glide over my stomach to the area between my tits.
The muscles of his chest and abs moved slightly as he touched me, as he explored the curves he’d felt so many times before. Sometimes, his gaze would drop to my lips, my chin, and then down to the sight of me in his t-shirt.
I preferred his place over mine, but he made me comfortable wherever I was. He never insulted what little I could afford, and he seemed perfectly relaxed in a place far below his standard of living. Liam would refuse to stay there out of principle. But Damien wasn’t like that.
The longer I was with him, the more I wanted him.
We hadn’t said more than a few sentences to each other since he came over. He asked what was wrong, but I never answered. We ended up in bed, having slow sex that chased away all the heartache in my chest.
Now I was at peace…because he always gave me peace.
His hand glided between my tits, stroking the swell on either side, feeling my calm heartbeat right below my left breast. He pulled his hand from his t-shirt then cupped my face, pulling away the hair that had fallen in front of my eyes. He tucked it back, his fingers slightly brushing against my cheek.
He was too good to me not to deserve my honesty. I’d told him I didn’t want anything serious, just monogamy, but I began to realize how much he meant to me, that I did want this to be serious. He was the only man who made me think about a future, made me scared to picture my life without him. I didn’t ever want to risk that. “I had dinner with Liam tonight.”
He didn’t react at all.
“He told me he had something important to talk about. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to meet him.” I wanted to explain that part, so he understood I didn’t go out with Liam for the hell of it. “He told me he was going to go back to death fighting, where he and his opponent race to kill the other with their bare hands.”
His fingers stopped caressing my cheek as he listened.
“After we got married, I asked him to stop, and he agreed. He still worked in the ring, but only with regular fighting, where the guys beat each other to a pulp, but no one dies.” I suspected Damien already knew what Liam did for a living since he was a client. “He told me he was going to go back to death fighting…unless I took him back.”
This time, he did react, his eyes widening in obvious surprise.
“It was a terrible thing to do, to put that on my shoulders.”
“What did you say?”
I stared at him for a long time, my fingers moving over his bare chest. “I told him I wanted to be with you…”
I worked with Sofia for the first week, shadowing her and learning new responsibilities for the hotel. My job required me to be in my office most of the time, to process staff complaints and do a bunch of paperwork. It wasn’t a flashy job, but it was a big salary increase, so I wouldn’t have to stay in that little apartment for long.
And Sofia was great to work with, so that was nice.
We sat together in her office and worked through lunch. She was behind the desk, eating a plate of grilled salmon with veggies. She sliced into the tender meat with her fork while looking at her computer.
I got a sandwich because I wasn’t interested in dieting. “Damien told me your husband and he used to be good friends.”
She sighed as she typed a few words. “Yeah. It’s been a long time since they’ve been civil to each other. Hades provokes Damien, and Damien is reactive, so he just makes it worse…and it escalates.”
I couldn’t picture Damien putting up with bullshit from anyone, even a good friend. “That’s too bad. It really bothers him.”
“I know. I’ve tried talking to my husband, but he refuses to listen…even though I know he still cares.”
“You think they’ll work it out someday?”
She shrugged. “Maybe if tragedy strikes…”
Damien comforted me through all my problems, and I wished I could do something to help him. But I’d never even met Hades, so it wasn’t like I could change his mind. “That’s too bad. Damien has never explicitly said it, but I know he loves him.”
“Yeah. I do too. So, how are things going with Damien?”