Wife (Betrothed Book 1) Page 4

  She moved her body into him, pressing her tits against his arm and chest as she whispered something into his ear.

  He grinned when he heard whatever dirty thing she’d just said.

  I hardly knew Hades, so I couldn’t make assumptions about his character, but from what I was watching, he was like every other handsome and successful man. He was in the game indefinitely, never retiring his jersey. She was just another notch on his bedpost.

  But to her, she thought she’d won the jackpot.

  I’d been a victim of that handsome grin, of those pretty eyes that made you melt. I’d only spoken to him for minutes when I’d dug my fingers into his hair and yanked him against me. He oozed masculinity, and he reeked of good sex. I told myself I was a young girl giving in to my hormones, but I still felt the same level of attraction toward him now. He was a safe bet, a man who wouldn’t take you home then let you down.

  I continued to enjoy my drink and watch them, wishing I were going home with a hunk myself. It was nice to wash off the workday with a glass of booze, but getting fucked by a big dick was better.

  Hades eventually turned away from her and looked around, probably intending to order another drink since his was empty. It only took him a second to notice me sitting alone in the black leather booth. His jaw didn’t tighten, and his eyes didn’t narrow in recognition. He had no reaction at all—a perfect poker face.

  Once our eyes had locked for several seconds, I turned away and kept nursing my drink. When the waitress came by, I would close my tab and head home. Esme was gonna score with a handsome guy, and the last man I’d had an erotic encounter with in Florence was just feet away from me, another woman about to give him a hand job under the table. I should just call it quits and head home.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Hades have a brief conversation with his date then slide out of the booth. When he stood, the air in the room changed, a spark had been ignited. He moved down the stairs and came toward me.

  I took a long drink from my glass and ignored him.

  He invited himself into my leather booth, sliding in until he was close beside me.

  I couldn’t help but take a peek at the woman he’d been with just seconds ago. She watched him turn his attention on me with fire in her gaze. She looked equally enraged and hurt.

  He sat beside me, his body pivoted toward me with one arm on the table. His silver watch was visible just underneath the sleeve of his collared shirt. He smelled like sandalwood and smoke, like he was a man who spent his time outdoors in the forest. Silence passed between us, the music from the speakers not loud enough to fill the void in conversation.

  I refused to speak first, so I continued to drink like he wasn’t there.

  Hades wasn’t unnerved by my indifference. He continued to stare at me, comfortable with the unspoken feud raging between us. His brown eyes watched my movements, watched me sip from my glass then return it to the table. Every movement I made was observed.

  Now, I started to become uncomfortable, started to break under that formidable stare. But I refuse to give any indication that I was tense, that I was the same shy girl he’d met four years ago.

  To break the ice, I pushed my glass toward him.

  He lifted the glass, shook the ice, and then took a drink. He set it down and slid it back toward me. “Piss.”

  “Better than what you’re drinking.”

  “I’m not drinking anything.”

  I held up my glass. “Exactly.” I took another drink and watched Esme get lost in her conversation with her new friend. She didn’t seem to notice that I’d disappeared. She was probably so smitten with the guy that everything else ceased to matter.

  The corner of his mouth rose in a smile, just slightly. Then he subtly raised his hand and immediately got the attention of the waiter. Without looking at him, he ordered. “Scotch, neat, double.”

  The waiter ran off, fetched the drink, and then set it on the table.

  Hades slid it toward me then gave a slight nod.

  Just to prove a point, I took a drink without making a sour face, and then slid it back to him. “Piss.”

  This time, both corners of his mouth rose in a smile.

  I drank from my glass a little more often than usual, feeling the nerves getting to me. I assumed he would say a couple of words then return to his date, but he continued to linger like his agenda hadn’t been fulfilled.

  “My assumption was incorrect.” He swirled his glass and took another drink. “You are far more beautiful than I ever could have predicted.” This man was confident enough to speak his mind without fear of the consequences, to tell a woman she was beautiful without being afraid of her response. The sting of rejection had never pierced his skin, so he didn’t carry scars like the rest of us.

  I shouldn’t be flattered by that comment, but in all honesty, I was. “Am I still too young for you?” I could still smell the nighttime air on my nose, feel the bumps on my arms, the taste of smoke in my mouth. It was a lifetime ago, when I was a completely different person, but it all came rushing back to me. At the time, our age difference didn’t matter. He was a gorgeous man that I’d wanted to sink my claws into. I’d assumed I was an adult that could handle anything. But now that I was older, I knew he’d made the right call when he walked away. He gave in to a moment of weakness and kissed me, but he didn’t let it grow into something else. He really was too old for me… We both knew it.

  He set his glass down and let his deep-brown eyes look into mine, piercing my gaze as if he could see everything underneath my skin. He could see my heartbeat, my damaged soul. He could see the curves of my body through my tight dress, notice the sharpness of my tits. He slowly brought his hand to his mouth and dragged his fingers across his lips, as if he were catching a drop of scotch that somehow had missed his tongue. He was clearly uncomfortable in the tense silence between words. It was as if he fed off the heat. “Definitely not.” His eyes lowered slightly, giving me a quick glance-over before he lifted his eyes to meet my gaze again. One hand grasped his glass while the other stayed on his thigh.

  The lock between our gazes started to make me sweat. He was better at this game than I was, so I took a drink to wash away the tension in the cords of my neck. All my muscles tightened painfully, making me rigid. I vowed I would never let a man affect my confidence, but Hades was an opponent I could never beat.

  “Following in your father’s footsteps?”

  “Trying to.”

  “Still ambitious, I see.” He glanced around the bar, his eyes gently scanning his surroundings for nothing in particular. “That’s sexy in a woman.”

  “Sexy in a man, too.”

  He turned back to me. “Then you won’t be able to keep your hands off me.”

  “I’m doing it right now.”

  He grinned slightly. “Give it time.”

  I wanted to destroy his confidence, but I couldn’t because he was right. Just like with every other woman in the world, this man had me. He’d already watched me yank him into my arms and kiss him while my family could catch us at any moment. My cards were already on the table.

  “Take my advice?” He rubbed his thumb against his glass, wiping away the condensation.

  “About getting fucked?” I asked bluntly.

  He gave a slight nod.

  “That’s a personal question, and it’s none of your business.”

  “It is my business.” He turned to me, freezing me in place with that serious look. His brown eyes were beautiful in that masculine face, his dark hair around his jaw, the beautiful structure of his countenance… Everything made him perfect. “Because I’m going to fuck you.”

  The second he said the last word, my heart spiked and started to pulse like I was about to sprint a marathon. Sweat formed at the back of my neck when I imagined his perfect body on top of mine, making good on his word. I would resist at first, pretending that every thrust he gave wasn’t the best sex I’d ever had, but when he made me come, it would be imp
ossible to lie. He would push me until I admitted the truth…that I wanted him inside me again and again. I’d never felt that way with another man, as if I couldn’t get enough of him and wanted him in my bed every night. I suspected Hades would be the first, and that told me I should stay away from him. “That’s presumptuous.”

  “Am I wrong?” He turned his body closer to mine, bringing us in such proximity that we must look like lovers to everyone in the room, like two people who’d been fucking for weeks.

  Past his shoulder, I could see the woman still sitting there, watching Hades press his advances on a different woman. She’d been the focus of his attention until the moment he’d laid eyes on me, and she probably couldn’t figure out what went wrong. Seeing her pain and confusion made me feel guilty for being the other woman, for essentially stealing him away. “Yes.”

  His eyes softened slightly, like that was an answer he’d never imagined I would give.

  “You should get back to your girl, Hades. She’s waiting for you.” I opened my clutch and fished out cash to leave on the table.

  He didn’t look over his shoulder. “I don’t have a girl.”

  “The woman you were with just minutes ago.”

  “She’s not my girl. Just met her.”

  “Well, ignoring her and pursuing someone else is rude.” I slid out of the booth and didn’t look back as I walked away. I didn’t care if he was a playboy. I didn’t care if he would fuck someone else the night after he fucked me. It was none of my business. But I wasn’t interested in a man who could be so mercilessly rude. I walked outside and started the journey home.

  He emerged behind me minutes later, as if he’d debated coming after me before he rose from his seat. His loud footsteps were audible on the cement behind me, his dress shoes giving a distinct tap that I recognized.

  He moved in front of me and cut off my path. On his feet and in front of me, he was a big man, bigger than he was when he was sitting beside me in the booth. He was over a foot taller than me and with a muscle mass that made mine pathetic. He could squish me if he wanted to, choke me with a single hand and leave me for dead on the sidewalk. His eyes quickly shifted back and forth as he looked into my gaze, like he was livid with the way I’d walked away from him.

  I bet no one ever walked away from him.

  “I’m not done with you.”

  “Well, I’m done with you.” I stepped around him.

  He grabbed me by the arm and forced me back.

  I twisted out of his grasp and stepped back. “Touch me again, and see what happens.”

  My tough threat only made him smile. It was a slight grin, where only one corner of his mouth lifted. “I’d love that, actually. But I’m a gentleman…for the most part.” He slid his hands into his pockets, as if he wanted to prove his sincerity. “Come over.”

  I’d never met a man so arrogant in my life. “Why would I want to come home with you?”

  “So we don’t have to finish this conversation on the sidewalk.”

  “There’s no conversation to finish.”

  His smile faded away, and his eyes turned hostile once more. “I met that girl ten minutes before I noticed you sitting there. I don’t owe her a damn thing. If I hadn’t seen you across the bar, I probably would have taken her home and fucked her. But I saw you…and I’m a lot more interested in you. If she got her feelings hurt, that’s too bad. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

  “Why would you be more interested in me?” I crossed my arms over my chest, my clutch still in my fingertips. “She was rubbing your dick and whispering dirty shit in your ear. She was a slam dunk.”

  “I don’t need a slam dunk. My life is a fucking slam dunk.”

  “Wow…conceited much?”

  “I’m blunt.” He stepped closer to me, his hands remaining in his pockets like restraints. “I’m more interested in you because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. When I saw you four years ago, I thought the same thing. I knew you would grow into your features, become a confident and sexy woman who owns the streets she struts down. Now, here you are…and I want you.”

  All I had to do was say yes. I could be naked in his bed in minutes. My legs could be wrapped around his waist, and I could lick the sweat off his chest. I wanted him four years ago, and I still wanted him now. “It’s not going to happen, Hades.”

  His head tilted slightly, like my words were nonsense.

  “We’re associates. I’m not entirely sure what you do for Gustavo, but one day, you and I will be working together. I don’t shit where I eat.”

  He continued to stare at me, as if he didn’t hear a word I said. “You’ll change your mind.”

  “I highly doubt it.” Even if he didn’t work with my family, he seemed like bad news. He seemed like a man that would capture my soul and shatter it. He was the kind of man that would ruin all other men. He would be fun for just a night, but anything more would be detrimental to my health.

  He stepped closer to me, bringing our faces so near to each other that his breath fell across my skin. He kept his eyes focused on mine, his scent surrounding me like a blanket. When I didn’t inch back, he moved farther in and placed his forehead against mine.

  I should leave.

  But I stayed.

  He turned his head slightly, his eyes still on mine, and then he leaned in and kissed me. It was a soft contact between our lips, two pillows touching on a bed. When he moved his mouth, I could feel the coarse touch of his facial hair, the way it tickled me as it scraped against my skin. The kiss was innocent, slow and tender like our mouths were getting to know each other. He felt my lips with purpose, sucked on my bottom lip softly before he released it. Then he felt me again, filling me with his sexy, warm breath. His hands remained in his pockets just to prove a point.

  All I had to do was pull away, but I couldn’t. A simple kiss from him was intoxicating, addicting. It was so slow and gentle, nothing like our last embrace. He slowed down like we had all the time in the world to treasure it.

  My hand slid up his forearm and touched the bicep in his thick arm. I kept going until I felt his chest, felt my fingers dig into his shirt the way that other woman had. Now I didn’t care if he was rude when he ditched her for me. All I cared about was having him for myself. His kiss was better than sex, and if he was this good at kissing…imagine how good he was at fucking.

  He pulled back, taking his delicious lips away from mine. Gloat was in his eyes as he looked at me, like he’d proved the point he wanted to make—a million times over. He held my gaze for a few more seconds, letting the desire dissolve into my blood. “You’ll change your mind.”

  4

  Sofia

  Gustavo and I took our seats at the long table, which was full of the members of the board. I hadn’t realized we had a board of directors for our hotel, but my stepfather explained they had invested huge sums of money to get this place to open.

  I took a seat, prepared to learn as much as possible. I had my pen and notebook out, ready to listen to what these men prioritized, how we intended to grow our brand awareness, how we could keep profits high and expenses low. Learning the trade was essential to growing it.

  Gustavo began the meeting. “Let’s start with the quarterly numbers.” He nodded to me.

  I stood up and distributed the packets to everyone.

  “You gentlemen may not recognize her because she’s all grown up, but this is Sofia.” My stepfather said it proudly, as if I was his own daughter.

  Most of the men didn’t care. Some gave me a nod, while others ignored the information altogether.

  I guess they’d already forgotten about my father.

  Just when I sat down, the man to my right snapped his fingers. “Sweetheart, get me a coffee. No creamer but two sugars.”

  “I’ll take the same,” another asked. “And a banana muffin.”

  I stared at the first man in surprise, processing the request with confusion. I wasn’t some assistant. I was th
e heir to the Tuscan Rose, the person aspiring to run this place in a few short years. I wasn’t a coffee girl. “That’s not in my job description, Marcus.”

  Gustavo shot me a look. “Just do it, Sofia. You said you wanted to contribute—that’s how you contribute.”

  I wasn’t above waiting on people. I worked as a waitress in college to pay my bills so I wouldn’t have to take money from my mother. It just offended me that they would treat me so poorly, when I would own this place once my mother was gone. I rose to my feet and swallowed my pride. “Does anyone else want anything?”

  There was a vacant office in the hallway, so I decided to claim it as mine. I had a laptop and a stack of papers, reading through material and organizing all of Gustavo’s documents. While I sorted through the bookkeeping to get our taxes together, I noticed a discrepancy that didn’t make any sense. When the number of bookings at the hotel were low, revenue stayed the same. On top of that, our private conference rooms were booked for several nights, but there was never any income from it.

  Gustavo stepped inside. “Mr. Lombardi will be here in a few minutes. We’ll be in the conference room for the next hour.”

  I set down the document I was reading. “Who’s Mr. Lombardi?”

  “You might know him as Hades.”

  Shit. I knew I would have to face him again eventually, but I thought it would take longer than a week. “Can I sit in?” I wasn’t going to let his presence make me shy away from learning about that aspect of the company.

  “No. I think it’s best if you sit this out.”

  Gustavo was transparent about everything else, handing over his email account and all his documents, but for whatever reason, he continued to keep his conversations with Hades private.

  It seemed like Hades was my best option for answers.

  “While you’re here, I actually have a question.” I turned the documents around so he could view the highlighted portions. “There are some discrepancies in the reports. There are large deposits of cash that don’t match room bookings, and there are also conference room rentals without any fees. I see it often, at least every month.”