Wife (Betrothed Book 1) Read online

  So damn good.

  “Hades…Hades.” My head rolled back on the pillow, and I opened my eyes, seeing him looking down at me with a stare so focused that every bone in his jaw was visible through the skin. My hands grazed up his chest as he kept rocking me, his dick so hard inside me that I bit my bottom lip harder than I meant to.

  This was why I kept coming back to him. This was why I couldn’t leave.

  This was why I was so damn addicted.

  I couldn’t stop…I could never stop.

  He slowed down his thrusts and pressed his forehead to mine, as if he was preparing to fill my pussy with the first load of the night. Women must have graced this bed before, but he made me feel like no one else had ever been there but me. That he’d never had sex this good with anyone else.

  My hands slid up his back, and my nails clawed at his skin, waiting for that heavy warmth that would sit inside me for the rest of the night.

  He closed his eyes as he focused on our bodies, as he prepared to explode inside me. His muscular arms were tight from holding his body on top of mine, from keeping my legs pinned back. His abs flexed as he thrust his hips forward, giving me his full length every single time.

  I wanted to come again just watching him.

  He took a deep breath, on the verge. “Marry me.”

  All the heat I felt seconds ago evaporated into thin air. Ice took its place, making the sheets cold on my skin, making the air too dry to breathe. It took my brain seconds to absorb what my ears had heard, and once the shock wore off, I realized I hadn’t imagined it.

  He just asked me to marry him.

  My body went rigid underneath him. My hands halted against his chest. My heart had been racing from arousal, but now it beat rapidly for a new reason.

  He pulled his head back and looked at me without shame, like he’d meant what he said and he wouldn’t take it back. He kept rocking into me like nothing happened, like we were still fucking even though all the energy was gone.

  “What…?” That was all I could get out.

  He moved his face back to mine and kissed me again.

  The last thing I wanted was his kiss. “No.” I pushed against his chest and forced him off me. I nearly tripped as I got out of bed, my foot catching on his jacket lying on the floor. Once I was steady, I didn’t know what to do first. Get my clothes on and bolt for the door, or scream at him.

  He’d just ruined everything.

  He sat at the edge of the bed and sighed, his dick still hard and gleaming from my slickness. He stared at the floor for a second before he lifted his gaze to meet mine, sighing audibly.

  “Tell me that was a joke. A really bad joke.”

  He got to his feet and pulled on his boxers. “It slipped out…” When he came close to me, I stepped back. Hurt entered his gaze when I steered clear of him.

  “So, you didn’t mean it.” I didn’t want to lose this man, so I was looking for any excuse to keep him. He could say it was an accident, and we could pretend it never happened. It would be awkward for a couple of weeks, but that wouldn’t last forever.

  His arms tensed by his sides, his gaze slowly turning cold. His jaw clenched as he mulled over his answer, savoring it on his tongue before releasing it into the air. “I wouldn’t have said it unless I meant it.”

  No.

  “I meant every word. And I’m still waiting for an answer.”

  Why was he doing this to me? “I already told you how I felt…”

  “That was months ago. Things are different now.”

  “No, they aren’t. I told you what I wanted. I told you I wouldn’t change my mind.”

  His hands moved to his hips, and he kept his stare on me, his face tinting slightly with rage. The air around him started to steam. The tension was so sharp, it was cutting deep into my skin.

  “You only ask someone to marry you if you love them. So, I don’t understand why you asked in the first place.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly. “Sofia.”

  I didn’t want to believe it. I refused to believe it. “Don’t make me hurt you…”

  “I’m not making you do anything.”

  “Yes, you are.” I covered my face with my hands and slowly dragged them down, wishing this moment weren’t real, that it was just a nightmare. I wasn’t about to lose this man in a bitter and painful breakup.

  “Sofia.” He stepped closer to me then grabbed my wrists. “Look at me.”

  I kept my gaze averted, wanting to disassociate myself from this moment. “No…”

  “Now.”

  My eyes shifted to his face, seeing the command in his eyes. Hades was a man I wanted in my life, but I didn’t want him close to my heart. Marriages never worked. Women became slaves. They lost their independence. They lost their ability to do anything because the man controlled every aspect of their life. They beat you or raped you. I was too young to subject myself to a relationship doomed to fail. “I don’t love you…” I didn’t open my heart to anyone, not even him. I was too young to give it a chance, too inexperienced to know what I wanted. How could I love a man I’d crossed off my list the moment we met?

  His hands released my wrists as his eyes fell in pain. He took it as a blow to the chest, like he had been expecting me to give a different answer. His hands returned to his sides, and his pained expression slowly morphed into one of anger. “Fuck.” His eyes shifted back and forth as he looked into mine before he turned away and slowly paced to the other side of the room. He ran his fingers through his hair then down his face, his fingertips resting against his lips.

  I watched him absorb my response. I wished I could give him a different answer, but I’d told him what I wanted from the beginning. I told him I didn’t want love or commitment. I just wanted to have fun. He kept pushing me, arrogant enough to think I would change my mind. I was only twenty-two years old… Marriage was the last thing on my mind.

  I grabbed my clothes from the floor and quickly put them on.

  He didn’t turn around to look at me. His arms were crossed over his chest, his muscular back ripped with muscle. Everything was tight, like he was internalizing all the rage that was about to make him explode. “Get out.” His voice came out quietly, a direct contradiction to the rage he was feeling.

  “I told you—”

  His voice rose in volume, so loud it echoed off every corner of the high ceiling. “Get the fuck out.” He finally turned around and looked at me, so much hatred in his gaze. He’d loved me moments ago, but now I was the number one hit on his list. Our affection died like it had never lived in the first place. All our memories were tainted by this moment in time. Now he treated me like one of his enemies, like the man he beat to death in the alleyway. Love could turn to hate so quickly…like that was all we ever knew.

  Tears welled up in my eyes and started to drip down my cheeks.

  He didn’t give a damn. “Goodbye, Sofia.”

  19

  Hades

  I sat at the bar with an empty glass in front of me. People talked around me, the TV was on in the background, and the bartender poured rounds for everyone having a good time. I couldn’t even look at my watch and check the time because I was so drunk. My gaze was blurry. I had to cut myself off because I held my liquor so well that most people had no idea how intoxicated I was.

  Drinking was the only solution to my problem…so that’s what I did.

  Sofia never called.

  Not that I expected her to. Not that I wanted her to. If she did, I’d just tell her to fuck off. She made her desires very clear; she didn’t want anything serious. I’d said the same sentence to so many other women. But I chose to do whatever I wanted.

  It didn’t stop me from hating her.

  I fucking hated her.

  I pulled out my phone and tried to text Damien…but I couldn’t even spell. I called him instead.

  He picked up immediately. “Haven’t heard from you in a few days. I’m guessing you’re busy with Sofia.”

&n
bsp; I didn’t want to hear her name. Like someone had poured acid into my eardrums, it burned. “I need a ride.”

  “Why?”

  “I…I just need a ride.” I could barely get a single sentence out. I slurred my words and sounded idiotic.

  Damien pieced the puzzle together. “Holy shit, are you drunk?”

  “Just come get me.” I hung up.

  My phone rang again, and I struggled to take the call. “Hmm?”

  “You need to tell me where you are.”

  “A bar.” I hung up again.

  He called me again. “Hang up on me again, and I’ll kill you.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “What’s the name of the bar?”

  “Uh…” I turned to a woman sitting beside me. “Do you know where we are?”

  “Santino’s.”

  “Thanks.” I winked at her and turned back to the phone. “Santino’s.”

  She leaned forward on her stool to get my attention. “I can give you a ride home.”

  I was too drunk to fuck. “Nah.”

  “Alright,” Damien said. “Sit tight. I’ll be there soon.”

  Damien got into the driver’s seat of his truck and drove me home.

  I rested my head against the window, the cool temperature fighting the migraine pulsing in my temples. My eyes were closed, and I focused on the vibration of the vehicle, on the old potholes we ran over.

  “Don’t throw up, alright? This is a nice truck.”

  “Should I throw up on you, then?”

  “Fuck off.” He turned right then approached my building. He got through the gate and entered the underground parking garage. “So…are you going to tell me what’s up? Or do I need to ask?”

  I didn’t want to move from my seat in the car. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than standing. “No.”

  “I’ve never seen you drunk like this. Whatever it is, it must be bad.”

  “I’m fine.” I pulled on the handle and opened the door…and fell on my ass.

  Damien sighed. “Yeah, you look fine.” He came around the truck and helped me to my feet, throwing my arm over his shoulders so he could support me to the elevator. He got me inside and then helped me take the stairs to my bedroom.

  When I saw my bed, I immediately crashed on it.

  I fucking hated this bed. I’d told Helena to order me a new one. I’d gotten new sheets in the meantime…so it wouldn’t smell like her.

  Damien pulled off my shoes.

  I kicked him away. “Knock it off.”

  “Just shut up and hold still.” He pulled off both shoes and left my socks on.

  I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling, my eyes closing now that I was comfortable.

  Damien pulled up an armchair close to the bed and kicked off his own shoes.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Making sure you don’t choke on your vomit.”

  “I’m fine. Let me choke.”

  “Just shut up and go to sleep.”

  I was slipping away. “You shut up…”

  When I woke up, I was sober…but I felt worse than I had last night. I dragged my hand over my face and felt the pulse in my temple. I opened my eyes and reached for my nightstand, finding a glass of water and a couple of pills.

  I love you, Helena.

  When I turned back over, I noticed Damien sitting there, his feet on the bed while wearing the same clothes as the night before. His eyes were heavy from exhaustion, probably because he’d been up all night making sure I would last until morning. “You look like shit.”

  “Trust me, you don’t look much better.” I sat up then stripped off my leather jacket. I vaguely remembered being warm last night, kicking my feet to get the sheets as far away as possible. I rested my elbows on my knees and rubbed my face with my palms, still feeling sick even though I’d had nine hours to detox.

  “I look better than you—any day.” He lowered his feet from the bed and straightened. “Now, we’re gonna talk about the shitshow last night. What happened?”

  “I drank too much.”

  He gave me a cold look. “You let your guard down out in the open. What if someone spotted you and decided to take you out? What if you crossed paths with Maddox?”

  “He’d be stupid to show his face in my city.”

  “Hades, come on. What happened with Sofia? You’ve broken up before and never lost your shit like this. What the hell happened?”

  Destiny happened. “I asked her to marry me. She said no.” That was the simplest explanation I could give. I put my heart out there, living in the moment, and it all went to shit. I wanted her in my house every night, safe under my roof. I wanted to fuck her every night in my bed. I wanted to help her run her hotel so she could have everything she wanted.

  Damien gave me the most perplexed look I’d ever seen. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

  I shrugged.

  “You’ve known this girl for like two months.”

  I shrugged again. “It felt right.”

  “Felt right?” he asked incredulously. “Then ask her to move in with you. Tell her you love her. Start off small. I don’t blame her for being freaked out.”

  If I’d asked her for any of those things, her reaction would have been the same. “That’s not what bothers me the most.”

  “I figured there had to be something else for you to freak out like that. I almost drove you to the hospital. Your blood-alcohol level must still be high right now. It takes a lot for a grown man to be wasted. But with you…it takes a lot more than that. So I’m surprised you’re alive right now.”

  A part of me wished I weren’t. “She said she would never love me.”

  He sighed. “That’s rough…”

  She didn’t say she didn’t love me. She said she never would…as in, there was no chance of that happening. “It makes me wonder if the gypsy was right…she said I would love a woman, and she would never love me back.”

  “Hades, come on. You know that’s bullshit.”

  “Is it?” I asked. “Because I’ve never felt anything like this before in my life. I’ve never given a damn about anyone besides the two of us. Then Sofia comes along…and I lose my mind. I can have any woman I could possibly want…except her. You think that’s just a coincidence?”

  “I think you’re upset right now, so you’re jumping to ridiculous conclusions.” Damien was usually the impulsive one, and it was my job to calm him down. But perhaps seeing me lose my mind made him the calmer one. “There’s no way that’s true. I’ll prove it. Did the gypsy say anything else about your future?”

  “Yeah…that I would marry the woman.”

  “Really?” he asked. “Well, there you go. You aren’t married, so it’s bullshit.”

  “She said the woman still wouldn’t love me even if we were married. She would give me two sons but still wouldn’t love me. So it sounds like this will happen sometime in the future…”

  Damien shook his head slightly. “That’s never going to happen. I promise you. It’s shitty that this happened to you, but it’s her loss. You’ll find someone else who won’t play games.”

  That was the problem…I didn’t want anyone else. I wanted to fuck beautiful women and get back to my life, but actually feeling something for someone…that was never going to happen. Whether that gypsy was full of shit or not, that was something she was right about.

  I would never love another woman.

  “I know what will cheer you up. I got tickets to the Barsetti Lingerie show. Conway Barsetti said he would take us backstage to meet the girls.” He waggled his eyebrows. “What do you say? How about we get back on the horse?”

  I had nothing else to do, and I wasn’t keeping my dick in my pants. Sofia wasn’t coming back, and even if she did, I wouldn’t take her back. She humiliated me. I’d warned her not to cross me again, but she did it anyway.

  It was over…and I wouldn’t waste another second on her.

  20


  Sofia

  It was a lonely week.

  There were so many times I thought about calling…but what good would that do? The man asked me to marry him, and I said no. Not only did I break his heart, but I wounded his pride. Even if I changed my mind, I knew he wouldn’t take me back.

  Not that I had.

  He hated me…and I hated him a bit too.

  I hated him for ruining what we had. Everything was perfect, easy. He was the first man I’d ever met that I wanted so much. He was the best lover I’d ever had. No other man could replace what I’d just lost. I knew it wouldn’t last forever, but by the time it ended, we would be sick of each other.

  Now it had turned into a bitter breakup.

  He hated me…I knew he did.

  Why didn’t he listen to me? Why didn’t he do what I asked? Why did he have to destroy us?

  Why?

  I cradled the bottle of wine on the couch and kept drinking…because I had nothing else to do.

  I showed up at Gustavo’s office the next morning.

  “Surprised to see you here. Everything alright?” He rose from his desk to give me a hug.

  “I was wondering if I could have my old job back.” After careful consideration, I realized that my fantasies about the future were all bullshit. If I wanted this hotel, I had to fight for it. Once it was mine, I could make all the changes I wanted. I could cut ties to the criminals that used this place as a meeting location. I could divorce the man my mother forced me to marry once everything was mine.

  I wanted this too much to give up.

  Gustavo considered my request. “I thought you wanted to go in a different direction.”

  “Well, I changed my mind. One day, this hotel will be mine…and I’m willing to do anything to make that happen.”