Wife (Betrothed Book 1) Read online

  “Do you ever think of settling down?” I asked, pressing personal questions to him the way he did to me.

  He gave a simple answer. “No.”

  “You don’t want kids?”

  “I do—someday.”

  “So, you do think about settling down?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe when I meet the right woman, that’ll be an option. But for the last ten years, it hasn’t crossed my mind.”

  I nodded slightly. “My mother thinks I need to get married soon. Find a respectable husband who will take care of me.” I rolled my eyes. “She thinks I should stay home all day and leave the business to the man.”

  He didn’t tease me for the archaic viewpoint. “You have a wealthy family. It’s not unheard of for people to protect their bloodlines.”

  “Please don’t tell me you agree with her.”

  “I’m not exactly a romantic, so I don’t think arranged marriages are so bad. Most marriages end in divorce because people choose wrong. They have no idea what to look for in a partner, what kind of relationship will last for fifty years. They think with their emotions rather than logic, so they marry for all the wrong reasons. By finding a suitable partner that checks off all the boxes, you eliminate all of that.”

  I swirled my glass of wine again and took a drink. “I don’t have a problem with arranged marriages. I don’t have a problem with regular marriages either. I just wish I had the option to never marry. Marriage seems to be a prerequisite in order for me to have any hold on our hotels…which shouldn’t matter. My marital status shouldn’t make me more or less qualified. It’s sexist and idiotic. You run your own business. You aren’t married.”

  “But I’m a man.”

  “And that’s sexist,” I snapped.

  “It’s not. Most men are assholes, and assholes only respect other assholes. Your mother’s concern about your ability to run your line of hotels isn’t unfounded. People will try to push you around, to make you so miserable that you quit in tears. Having a strong husband whom they fear will make your life a million times easier—even if he has nothing to do with the business. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying it’s fair. But that’s the world we live in.” He drank from his glass then turned his head when he spotted someone he recognized. He straightened in his chair and set his glass to the side, a slight smile on his lips.

  “They let you show your ugly face in here?” A tall man of similar age approached our table. With dark hair and a slimmer build, he was equally handsome, just in a different way. Behind him was a beautiful woman in a skintight purple dress, her hair done and earrings hanging from her lobes.

  “Only to scare you off.” Hades rose to his feet and greeted his friend with a quick hand grasp. It wasn’t a formal handshake, just a gesture of affection between two guys. “Who’s your lovely friend?”

  He turned to the woman that must be his date. “Pritchet? Pruitt? I can’t pronounce it.”

  The woman in purple shook his head. “Pruzovoski.” She spoke with a Russian accent so thick, it seemed unlikely she spoke English.

  “Pleased to meet you.” Hades moved to my side of the table. “Sofia, this is my friend and business partner, Damien.”

  Damien took my hand, smiled, and then kissed the back of my wrist. “Pleasure to meet you.” When he dropped my hand, he turned back to Hades. “Nobody, huh?”

  Hades ignored his comment. “Would you guys like to join us?”

  Was this a double date? Did that make it more or less formal?

  “Yes.” Damien pulled out the chair for his date. “As long as you’re buying.”

  Damien’s date couldn’t say two words that we could understand, so she stayed quiet most of the night, feeding Damien pieces of bruschetta and anything else that was small enough to shove into his mouth. Once he finished chewing, she always kissed him like she wished they were somewhere private—without two people sitting across from them at the table.

  Hades rested his arm over the back of my chair, his fingers lightly slipping into the back of my hair. Sometimes he would get a handful and give me a gentle tug, a preview of what he would do to me later when we got back to the hotel.

  Damien turned to Hades, his girl all over him. “So, what’s new?”

  “I see you every day. There’s never anything new.” Hades was still the cold guy he was all the time, but he seemed to have a special softness for his friend. His tone was much less aggressive, and he was actually playful.

  “Well, you didn’t tell me about her.” Damien nodded to me. “That’s new.”

  “That’s because there’s nothing to say.” His fingers moved under my hair and felt the skin of my neck. He grabbed on to me gently, holding me as his thumb brushed against the softness of my skin.

  “You tell me about all your girls,” Damien said. “The fact that you didn’t tell me about her is new.” He opened his mouth so his date could shove another appetizer into it. Another kiss ensued, where she whispered in Russian against his ear.

  “Do you have any idea what she’s saying?” Hades asked.

  Damien shrugged. “No. I think that’s why I like her.”

  Dinner was finished after an hour of talking, and since there was no tab to pay, we were free to go whenever we were ready.

  I leaned into him, eager to get his clothes off so we could do what we did best. This dinner only proved to me that we had nothing in common, no connection. I knew he operated a bank and the hotel was one of his clients, but other than that, he was an enigma. According to Damien’s comments, Hades was as much of a playboy as I assumed he was, having different women every time they spoke. That didn’t make a difference to me, but that made me want to skip these dinners and get down to business. I kissed his neck then brought my lips to his ear. “Take me to the hotel and fuck me already.”

  He turned my way, slightly amused by my request. “Then let’s go.” He rose from the chair and grabbed my hand as he prepared to walk out. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Damien. And lovely to meet you.”

  She smiled and waved to both of us.

  He wrapped his arm around my waist and escorted me away from the table.

  “I want all the details tomorrow, Hades,” Damien called after him. “So be ready.”

  Hades kept walking and guided me outside. His car was parked at the curb, pitch-black with blacked-out windows.

  “Didn’t know guys gossiped so much.”

  He opened the passenger door for me. “I don’t gossip about you.” He shut the door then got into the driver’s seat beside me.

  “You didn’t tell him about the woman you’re nailing at the Tuscan Rose?” I asked as I fastened my seat belt. “The girl that you ground up against when she was eighteen years old?” That sounded too juicy not to share.

  “No.” He pulled onto the street and drove.

  “And why not?”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “It sounds like you tell him about all your other girls. Why not me?”

  He kept his eyes on the road and let my question sit in the air. He ended the conversation completely when he turned on the radio and allowed the music to cover the tension his rejection created.

  I let it go.

  After a few blocks, he pulled up to a large building with enormous walls for privacy.

  “Why are we here?”

  “Because it’s where I live.”

  I glanced at the fortress before I turned back to him. “I don’t want to go to your place. I prefer the hotel.”

  “Well, we’re already here.” The steel gate opened, and he pulled his car inside.

  “It takes five minutes to drive back to the hotel.”

  “This bed or that bed, what does it matter?” He parked in an underground garage and killed the engine.

  “It matters because the hotel is walking distance to my place.”

  He gave me a cold look. “We’ve talked about this already. You shouldn’t be walking at night.”

  “I’m a big gir
l, alright?”

  “And there are bigger men who would do terrible things to you.”

  I didn’t need his protection or his advice, so I dropped it. “I just prefer the hotel. I don’t want to see your place or become acquainted with it.”

  He looked out the driver’s side window and stared at the cinder block he parked in front of. “You say you aren’t interested in a relationship, but it looks like you’re doing everything you possibly can to avoid one. You’re too scared to get close to anyone, so you put up roadblocks at every turn.”

  “That’s not true—”

  “Then let’s go upstairs.” He got out of the car and left me behind.

  I stayed in the passenger seat of his car and closed my eyes, wishing I’d never agreed to dinner in the first place. Now I was in a situation I didn’t want to be in. I finally pushed the door open and stepped out.

  He was leaning against the trunk. “If you really want me to take you back, I will. But I won’t be joining you.”

  “So, if I want to get laid, I have to stay here?”

  “Yes.” He walked ahead of me and headed to the elevator doors before he stepped inside.

  If I had any restraint, I would just go home and forget about this night. I would use my hand instead or find another guy to fill my nights.

  But there was only one Hades Lombardi.

  The elevator rose and carried us to the lower level of his home. He stepped out first into the empty house and headed for the circular stairway to the right. No servants popped out, and he didn’t offer to give me a tour.

  Full of shame, I followed him.

  His bedroom was on the top floor, with a private patio that had a perfect view of the cathedral. My house was visible from this angle, a building just a few miles west. His bedroom chambers were grand like his home was from the Victorian age, even though this place had to have been renovated in the least ten years.

  Once the bedroom door was shut and we had our privacy, he pulled his shirt over his head and left it on the floor, probably because it was someone else’s responsibility to pick it up when he went to work tomorrow. He unbuttoned his jeans and got undressed, stripping down until he was naked—and hard.

  When I looked at his sculpted physique, his explosive arms and his brick house of a chest, I forgot about that long dinner, forgot about the exchange between Hades and Damien. I even forgot about how he didn’t go to the hotel like I asked. In front of me was nothing but man, God’s perfect creation. Men weren’t bred this way. They weren’t constructed to be so hard and tough, but so damn beautiful at the same time.

  Nothing outside the two of us mattered. We were just a man and a woman, two bodies that belonged together. My fingers automatically unzipped the back of my dress as I watched him, mesmerized by the hot look in his eyes. I let the fabric fall to the floor and dropped the bra with it. Then my thong was pushed over my ass so it could join the pile.

  His eyes combed me over, his dick hardening just a little more at the sight of me.

  I slowly walked toward him, feeling my heart race like I feared for my life. My bare feet hit the soft rug on the floor, and I slowly sauntered to him, feeling like the sexiest thing in the world when he looked at me like that.

  I walked up to him, and without taking another breath, my fingers dug into his hair and I kissed him. My body balanced on my tiptoes so I could bring our bodies closer together, and I kissed him like I loved him, not despised him.

  His hand cupped my cheek then snaked into my hair, fisting it so he could control me, so he could deepen the kiss or pin me down. His other arm wrapped around my waist, the metal of his watch digging into my skin.

  The kiss was so good, I didn’t mind it.

  I breathed into his mouth as my fingers explored him, as I felt the muscles of his body, felt his strength at my fingertips. His skin was so warm, burning from the heat of his muscles.

  My fingers returned to his hair, and I pulled him closer, getting so lost in him that I forgot what day it was…what year it was. The connection I felt with this man made me forget reality, made me forget who I was.

  Because all I could think about was us.

  He guided me to the bed, his hand grabbing my ass as he lifted me then laid me down.

  His bed was so comfortable, much better than the hard mattress at the hotel. The sheets were soft like satin, and my body immediately dipped under his weight. I sank deep underneath him, conquered by this man who professed to be a king.

  He rolled a condom on then fucked me.

  My knees were pushed to my chest, and his face hung above mine as he ground his hips into me. His hands were balled into fists as he held himself on top of me. His muscled ass clenched tightly as he shoved himself inside me, pressing me farther into the mattress with every thrust.

  I breathed against his mouth and moaned, my toes already curling in ecstasy. This was exactly what I wanted when I woke up that morning. This was exactly the sex I craved. I wanted him to do all the work, to give it to me good and slow so I could enjoy it while our mouths moved together.

  His lips slid to my neck and he kissed me softly, still fucking me with perfect precision. His mouth slowly moved up to my ear, and he whispered through his heavy breathing, “You’re fucking beautiful.”

  My fingers dug into his hair, sliding through the sweat that dripped down his neck to his back. “God…”

  He rested his forehead against mine and kept rocking, this time gluing his eyes to mine. With every thrust, he gave me all of him, gave me every single inch so I could feel just how hard he was. “This pussy… Jesus.”

  I held on to him tighter, feeling my legs open as he hit the perfect spot. Every time we hooked up, I went home later and later. We seemed to crave each other more, not less. Our passion turned into something combustible. We couldn’t stop. Not for anything, not for anyone. We were both addicted. “Don’t stop…don’t ever stop.”

  7

  Hades

  Shirtless and barefoot, I sat on the patio with my cup of black coffee on the table in front of me. It was ten in the morning, four hours later than I usually woke up. My hand dragged down my face as I tried to wake up, to get my brain to function normally.

  I didn’t take Sofia home until three.

  I tried to get her to stay—but she refused.

  I had so much shit to do today, but I blew it all off.

  This woman was destroying me.

  My phone rang, and Damien’s name appeared on the screen.

  I declined his call. I already knew how that conversation was going to go.

  Don’t ignore me, asshole. His text message popped up instantly.

  I turned the phone over altogether.

  A few minutes later, my bedroom door opened, and Damien walked inside, looking stealthy in his black Armani suit. He looked through the open doors to my patio, his eyebrows furrowed like he wanted to pull a gun out and shoot me. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  I finally picked up my mug and took a drink.

  Damien reached the table and turned my phone over. “Fuck you too.”

  “How did you get in here?”

  “Shut up, Helena loves me.”

  “I don’t love you.”

  “Asshole, you love me more.” He sat in the chair across from me and stared at me like I was a talking frog. “What the hell happened today?”

  “I told Ana to cancel my meetings.”

  “Because…?” He looked around. “You decided to take a sick day? Bitch, you ain’t sick.”

  I rubbed the migraine from my temple. “Could you just shut up for two seconds?”

  “No. I don’t shut up when my business partner blows me off.”

  “I didn’t blow you off. I just had a long night last night.”

  “Why? Did the Skull Kings pull something?”

  “No.”

  “Okay…did someone put a hit on you?”

  “No.”

  “Did the cops—”

  “No. Not
hing happened, alright? I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Poor baby didn’t get any sleep?” he asked sarcastically. “Come on, you’re fucking Hades. Don’t pull that pussy shit on me. Speaking of pussy, if you fucked that fine piece of ass last night, you should have slept hard.”

  Sofia was just a woman I was screwing, but I felt protective of her, even a little possessive. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

  He leaned back and nodded his head slowly. “I get it now… She kept you up all night.”

  I’d never had such an intense relationship with a woman before, someone I couldn’t keep my hands off for more than a few minutes. I wanted to keep fucking her forever. It wasn’t just about the sex, the pleasure for my dick, the cosmic orgasms… It was so much more. The heat between us burned me from the inside out. Every kiss, every touch… It was fucking cocaine. I’d never had an addiction my whole life…until now.

  Damien kept watching me. “You blew off work for a woman?”

  “I didn’t blow off anything. I just didn’t wake up.”

  “Because of her.”

  “No. I took her home at three. It was my choice to sleep in. Don’t blame her. And stop grilling me, asshole. I run this empire with the same efficiency, whether I’m awake, asleep, or dead. Chill the fuck out.”

  “You didn’t tell me about her. What’s that about?”

  “Despite what you think, I don’t tell you everything.”

  “Uh, yes, you do.”

  I looked away and ignored him.

  “You tell me about every hot piece of ass that falls into your lap. You tell me about every heart you break, every cherry you pop—”

  “She didn’t tell me she was a virgin. She lied, alright? I never would have done that shit if I’d known. It’s trashy.”

  “Whatever. You tell me everything. But this one…silence. What does that mean?”

  I still wouldn’t look at him. I chose to examine the activity of the city, the bells tolling in the distance, the cars driving down narrow streets. Sofia was probably at the hotel right now, showing up to work on time even though Gustavo wasn’t even there. That was the kind of integrity she had. “It means nothing.”