Page 29 of Ungodly Rich

Or perhaps, given all the trouble she’d caused, Aphrodite.

“You’ll support me in this, won’t you?” Ares pressed. “When it comes time for a vote, you’ll help?”

“Oh, Ares. Of course I want you to be happy.” Hera chose her words carefully. She wouldn’t lie, not to her son, but neither would she make a promise that she had no intention of keeping.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

Then, to Hera’s surprise, Ares stepped forward and hugged her.

Hera closed her eyes, relishing the rare moment of closeness between them. Mothers weren’t supposed to admit to having favorites, but of her and Zeus’s three children, Hephaestus had always been the one she cherished most, just as Athena had always been Zeus’s favorite. Perhaps it was strange for Zeus to lavish attention on their only girl, but Athena had been utterly unlike Hera from the moment she was born. She was Zeus’s through and through, as if she reallyhadsprung from his head, the way the old myths claimed.

Ares, though, had never quite belonged to either parent. And since he drifted in and out of their lives—always disappearing to some far-off place to fly fighter jets alongside humans, or fling himself out of those jets in a parachute—it didn’t matter. If there was a conflict within the family, they usually ended up at a stalemate: Hephaestus aligned with Hera, Athena aligned with Zeus, and Ares nowhere to be found.

But that didn’t mean Hera felt any less protective of him.

“I was wondering if I could go to London,” Ares asked when they pulled apart. “Can I get a ring from the safety deposit box?”

“I’ll have Martin bring some options here,” Hera said quickly. Shehad her own reasons for wanting Julia to select a ring from the family heirlooms.

Hera didn’t share Ares’s belief that he’d met Julia by chance. Cruise line workers didn’t justhappento start dating the son of the CEO. Like so many of the mortals who got involved with the Olympians, Julia was likely another gold digger.

One thing was certain: Hera needed to know more about her. Only then could she decide what to do about Ares and his outrageous plan to deify her.

Hera had allowed the wrong human woman into their family once before. She’d cast the deciding vote in Aphrodite’s apotheosis, admitting her to the Pantheon—not for Aphrodite’s sake, of course, but for Hephaestus’s. Like every mother in history, Hera wanted to give her children everything their hearts desired.

Look how that had turned out.

Hera had no intention of repeating her past mistakes. After all, she wasn’t just the goddess of marriage. She was the goddess of family.

And there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her own.

Chapter Twelve

Aphrodite

Though Aphrodite couldn’t set foot in Hera’s enchanted rose garden, nothing prevented her from lingering outside its metal gate and eavesdropping.

She had been watching Ares all night—as much as she could, given that Hera had seated them so far apart. When she had seen him walking with Hera toward the gardens, Aphrodite followed at a careful distance. She listened, holding back an audible scoff, as Ares insisted that he would marry Julia.

What he said next left Aphrodite incandescent with rage.

He honestly thought he could make that woman agoddess?

It was galling enough that he’d rejected Aphrodite in favor of some nondescript mortal with no fashion sense. Now he wanted to put Aphrodite’s position at risk? She was no fool; she’d heard Hera’s remark that someone would be demoted from the Olympian Council to make room for Julia. Just as Hestia had been kicked out when Aphrodite was deified.

No one had ever explained to Aphrodite why there couldn’t bethirteen Olympians. Or why another goddess had to be the one demoted, instead of Dionysus, or even Hermes.

It would happen again if Julia joined their ranks. And this time, Aphrodite would be the one voted out.

After all the trouble she’d caused, the other goddesses would probably vote to deify Juliabecauseit gave them a chance to get rid of Aphrodite.

She needed to scare that woman away. Now.

Aphrodite ran wildly back toward the lawn, her thoughts scattering—only to collide with a broad, solid chest. One that belonged to her husband.

“Aphrodite. Are you all right?” Hephaestus curled a hand around her waist, steadying her.

“I was feeling a little dizzy. I needed to get some air,” Aphrodite said swiftly.