16
Sofia
Handing over my son was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.
I looked into his brown eyes and saw the man I loved. I saw Andrew’s perfect skin, his little fingers and toes, and I felt like I was leaving behind a piece of myself. I hadn’t had much time with my son, and this might be the last time I got to see him.
I kissed him on the forehead before I made the transfer into Ash’s arms.
For a man with no experience with children, he handled Andrew like a pro. He held him in his arms like he was a father himself. He looked at him with affection, but then he looked at me with sadness. “I’ll take care of him.”
I would have left Andrew with my mother, but she didn’t have the resources to protect anyone. The best thing she could do was run away and save herself. As far as I knew, Maddox had never threatened or mentioned my mother, so she was probably safe. Ash was the strongest man I knew besides Hades, and if something happened to me, he was the best protector I could find. “I know you will.” I felt the tears start deep in my throat. It was so painful that I reconsidered leaving at all. Hades would want me to stay with our son and abandon him.
But I had to save them both.
Ash put him in the crib in his bedroom and turned back to me. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Yes…I’m sure.”
Ash opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pistol. “You know how to use this, right?”
“Well enough to kill someone.” I took the gun from his hand and put it in my pocket.
He continued to stand there as if he didn’t want me to leave. When we’d first met, he was a cold jackass, innately distrustful. But now he was warm and thoughtful, becoming soft like his brother but retaining his masculinity. “If he doesn’t meet you at the hotel, just come home and forget it.”
I couldn’t believe I wanted Maddox to hunt me down. I couldn’t believe I wanted him to follow me and provoke me in my own office. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me or touch me, but he’d want to terrify me. If that didn’t happen, I would have no other way of killing him. I certainly couldn’t hunt him down. “Alright.”
Ash pulled me into his arms and hugged me. One hand rested between my shoulder blades while the other wrapped around my waist. His build was similar to his brother’s, but his affection felt familial. He gave me a gentle squeeze before he let me go. “Be safe. And if you don’t come back…at least Andrew can help me pick up more women.”
I appreciated the joke to shatter the sorrow in the room, but I was too depressed to issue a chuckle. “Wouldn’t he make it more difficult?”
“Have you seen how cute he is?” he asked incredulously. “That kid is gonna be a babe magnet.”
A slight smile broke through on my lips. “I guess that’s true…”
He gave me a last gentle pat on the back before he walked me out. “I know you can do this. Just stay calm and squeeze that trigger. And don’t shoot him once. Shoot him until the barrel is empty.”
I knew I would never stop shooting him. I’d shoot him in my dreams…shoot him in my nightmares. His death wouldn’t erase my hatred. That would continue into his grave. “I will.”
The driver pulled up to the hotel and let me out.
It’d been six months since I’d last seen the Tuscan Rose with my own eyes. It was the place I used to work every day. My passion for it got me up every morning. It was a place where Hades and I had our clandestine meetings in a luxurious suite, the place where I married the man I loved. It held so much significance for me, especially since both my father and stepfather had bled for this place.
It was home.
I walked inside wearing a blue dress with a black leather jacket. It was almost summer, so it was warm and a jacket was conspicuous, but it went with my outfit, so hopefully it wasn’t that odd.
I entered the lobby and immediately noticed subtle changes I didn’t like. The flowers on the table were wilted, and there was dust on the surface. The crystals on the chandelier hadn’t been cleaned in months. The tile on the floor was scuffed because they’d stopped waxing. Those details weren’t important to anyone else, but they gave a sense of pride to me.
A few people recognized me and said hello, so after I made small talk, I went down the hallway into my office. It was abandoned and cold. A stack of papers was on the surface of my desk, and my laptop hadn’t been touched. There were no flowers to admire, no pictures on the desk to look at.