AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We’ve been on board for a couple of hours, each luxuriating in the privacy that the yacht affords its extremely wealthy clientele. Everything I have laid eyes on so far is teak and marble, accented with what I’m fairly certain is real gold. I counted eight fully made up, pristine king sized beds in eight gleaming bedrooms. Each one has its own full bathroom, too. I’m talking marble soaking tub, curtains drawn back to show off the ocean view, and gold-finished fixtures everywhere I look.
There must be so few people in the world who can afford to travel in this sort of… extravagantluxury. Perhaps Hades is even richer than I thought. That, or he knows someone who just has a ship like this lying around.
I grew up solidly wedged in the middle class. The product of a flighty, at times manic painter and a stoic, married local politician who carried on an affair discreetly for almost fifteen years. My brother and I were kept quietly out of the way; everything was provided for us and in return, we took my mother’s surname of Corbin.
So, the view from the top deck of this freaking ship? It is honestly breathtaking.
Hades turns from the railing, eyeing me. “We have a plane to catch in a few hours.”
I shoot him a glare, sipping the drink that the waitress brought me. “That doesn’t even vaguely answer my question.”
He cocks his head, his gaze cool and calculating. Ever since he left me on the beach a few days ago, he has been distant.
Cold, even.
I can only think of his hot mouth pressing against my lips, his tongue stroking mine firmly. The little growl of satisfaction that buzzed in his chest and excited me like nothing ever has before.
Adding all of that to how he’s been behaving only makes me feel confused, honestly. My cheeks burn faintly as I feel his disdainful stare.
He quirks a brow. “We’re heading to Valencia.”
I blink several times, setting my drink down. “Valencia, Spain?”
“Yes.” Hades releases a silent sigh and stalks over to the cluster of white wicker couches where I am perched. He drops into a chair and his lips purse. He looks out at the ocean, but I can feel him purposefully not looking at me.
It has been a trying couple of days, to say the least. Thank god we were given a place to shower and change once we stepped onto this yacht.
“Fuck off!” he shouts, his voice a warning. I turn my head and see the waitress scurry back out of sight.
Idly, I wonder if he’s about to tell me the same thing he said on the first day I met him. Something about how he will kill the family of any of the yacht’s crew if he so much as thinks I’m trying to win the crew member over to my side. I tense, leaning forward on the couch, a tiny grimace on my face.
Hades smooths a hand down his crisp black suit, his lips twitching. “I find myself worrying far too often about ye.”
It catches me by surprise and causes my heart to thump against my ribs. I glance at him, trying desperately to read his face for some clue as to what he’s talking about.
“You do?” I ask.
He shoots me that same cool look again. “We need to settle some things between us. I have too much on my mind to be worried about ye trying to run away.”
I swallow, lifting my chin. My heart gives a sympathetic squeeze in my chest.
He hadn’t meant what I thought, then.
“Oh,” I say.
He flicks his fingertips, sitting back in his chair. “Ye can’t run off. I will find ye. I will hurt ye. And if ye try to alert anyone to yer situation — anyone — I will kill them.” His voice is flat and emotionless, almost bored. “But if ye behave, if ye do as I request… then I will pull some strings for ye. I can make it safe for ye to go back to New Orleans.” A tiny frown crosses his face. “Eventually.”
My heart skips a beat. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”
He squints out across the water for several seconds. “If this deal goes well, I can bribe or intimidate the New Orleans police into not hassling ye. If ye decide ye want me to do that, of course.”
I look down, frowning at my knees under my long black dress. “That sounds great, but?— “
Hades cuts me off with a gesture. “I can do it. It’s definitely in my power. And I can pay ye handsomely. But I need ye to promise me that ye won’t tell anyone what we are doing or try to send out a distress signal of any kind.”
I lick my lips, hesitating, uncertain. “Okay…”
“Okay, what?”
