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He takes a big bite, shrugging. He chews and swallows. “So? That doesn’t mean I’m going to poison ye, lass. Ye might be here against yer will, but we dinnae have to be enemies. I bear ye no ill will.”
My brows rise at his words. “But I have to get back to my life!”
Hades squints at me, his mouth flattening. “What exactly are ye so fired up about getting back to? Before we found ye at the gas station, we visited yer little hovel.”
Anger flashes through my veins, quick and hot as lightning. “It’s not a hovel.”
He shrugs. “I’ve been all over the world, including extensive travel in countries that could be considered the third world. Trust me when I call it a hovel.” He takes another bite of tomato, this time careful to add some egg to it.
“Fuck off,” I say, raising a finger in warning.
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head in response.
I look down at the food. My stomach growls again so I tear a tiny piece of bread off, stuffing it in my mouth. The groan of satisfaction that slips past my lips is entirely unintended.
“Umf,” I sigh, closing my eyes. It is very good bread, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, buttery through and through.
“So,” Hades says, studying me. “Are ye hiding out from Constantine, then? Is that why ye live in such reduced circumstances?”
I dart a glance at him and then busy myself by loading a heap of steaming tomatoes and peppers onto the bread. The aroma itself is tantalizing. I can practically taste the hot, savory, salty mixture before it even hits my tongue. When it does, my toes practically curl up in satisfaction.
Hades is actually a good cook, despite my doubts.
I chew and swallow, trying to parse the flavors of the tomato-pepper blend. When I look up again, Hades is giving me a rather impatient look.
I lick my lips, savoring how the dish has a little spice that still clings to my tongue. I wave my hand at Hades.
“I didn’t just decide one day to leave Constantine,” I explain. “There was…” I pause, thinking of how exactly to say it. “An incident.”
“Would that be the murder that ye are wanted for?”
“I didn’t murder anyone,” I fire back, my expression hardening.
“No?”
I look up, my chin rising, my mouth turning down at the corners. “I’m wanted for questioning. There is no one that actually believes that I murdered anyone. Especially not…” I trail off, my mouth twisting. “Constantine chased my best friend and I off of a cliff. He wanted us dead. Maddie… Maddie died. And he was almost successful in killing me, as well.” I bring my hand up, touching the back of my head. “He put me into a coma for three days. When I woke up, I figured it was as good a sign as any that the breakup was final.”
Hades cocks his head, his eyes tightening on my face. “Why didn’t ye just stay and tell the police what ye just told me?”
I snort, shaking my head. “The New Orleans police would have pinned it on me. Either because they were in Constantine's pocket… or maybe just because they are too lazy or incompetent to find out what really happened. As soon as I could walk, I got the hell out of Dodge.”
He considers me for another few seconds and then nods. “I’d have done the same.”
“Thank you,” I reply, my tone tart. “Are you satisfied now that you’ve dug around in my past?”
A blip of humor passes over his expression. “No. I’m never content. Not really.”
“No?” I ask. I use the corner of my hunk of bread to break the yolk of one of my eggs. “Well, at least you can be certain about one thing. I make terrible decisions when it comes to men. I dated Constantine for two years, even knowing that he was a drug addicted piece of trash who did illegal things. And before him, my high school boyfriend was a psycho too. After we broke up, he killed two people in an attempted liquor store robbery.”
Hades is quiet for a long moment. “So ye are attracted to criminals, it seems.”
I crack a cruel smile as I take another bite. “Yup. There is something seriously wrong with me. After Constantine, I just decided to take myself off the market permanently. One brush with death was enough for me. For a whole damn lifetime.”
Hades scrapes the last bite from his bowl into his mouth, chewing. All the while, his gaze is heavy on me.
“Can I ask ye something?”
I give a humorless chuckle. “Why not? I’m an open book today, apparently.”
