Page 116 of Hades

“I think that’s an invitation,” Evelyn whispers. “We are going to talk about you hiding this from me.”

I nod, knowing I owe her an explanation. Depending on this conversation, I am going to owe her a lot more.

Stepping outside, I find Remi sitting in one of the rocking chairs. I take the one next to him, grabbing a beer from him.

He glares at me but doesn’t say anything. We sit like that for several minutes before I finally speak.

“I wouldn’t take back what I did. I know you wish I would, but I can’t regret it. Not if it saved you from the heartache she would have caused.”

He scoffs. “What about the heartache you caused? Do you think it’s easy hating your clone? That I don’t look in the mirror every single day and simultaneously miss you and hate you at the same time?”

“No, I don’t. Just like it’s not easy looking in the mirror hating yourself for what you did to the other half of your soul but knowing you did it to save him,” I grunt.

“Save me? How did it save me? I didn’t just lose her that night. I lost you. I lost everything,” he mutters.

“You had the club. Mav and Big Dog were by your side. Rebel too. He still hates me, by the way.”

He snorts. “Well, he didn’t like that you slept with my woman. I can see why.”

“I didn’t enjoy it,” I tell him. “I had to fight to stay hard. It took everything in me not to throw up.”

“I don’t want to hear that shit,” he hisses. “If it felt so bad, why do it?”

I take a deep breath, knowing it’s time to lay it all on the line.

“The first time she kissed me, I thought what you thought. She confused us. I mean, sure, our tattoos are different, but unless you’re looking, you can’t tell.” I rub my hand down my face. “She snuck into my bed a week later. She claimed she walked into the wrong room, but our rooms were nowhere near each other. That’s when I started to suspect something. There were little touches while you were in the room. Whispered promises of what she could do for me. I told you, but you didn’t believe me. I called her out in front of you, and you believed her when she said she was confused. You were wearing rose-colored glasses, and no matter what I did or said, you wouldn’t let her go. So I did what I thought I had to do. If you had made her your old lady, you’d be a miserable fuck right now. That or in jail, because if she couldn’t have me, she would have slept with someone else.”

He’s quiet as he processes my admission. I let him, sipping my beer as my own demons threaten to haunt me.

The memory of being behind her. The look on Remi’s face when he walked in.

“You didn’t save me from her,” he says so low, I almost don’t hear it.

“What do you mean?”

He sighs. “You’re right. I was blinded. After you left, she came back. Begged me to forgive her. She claimed you came onto her, and I was so angry that I chose to believe her. I heard her scream your name, and I still believed her. I wanted to believe her. I just lost my brother. I guess I wasn’t ready to lose my girl too.” He lets his head hang. “She stayed loyal for two months. Then I caught her in bed with Chaney.”

“What? Are you fucking kidding me? Where is he? I’ll kill him,” I hiss out.

He laughs. “Pot, meet kettle?”

“No, not pot, meet kettle. I slept with her knowing damn well you might condemn me to death, but I did it to show you her true colors. To stop this shit from happening. He still fucked her knowing damn well that she was yours and knowing what I did. He is a piece of shit.”

“That he is,” he chuckles. “He didn’t get the same punishment as you. He went to the docks and didn’t come back.”

I relax a little into my seat. Chaney was always a slimy fucker. He was accepted into the club before Remi took over, though, so we had little we could do. To know he fucked Becky knowing it was his president’s woman? Yeah, he didn’t have any heroic motives there.

“Where is she now?” I ask.

“Florida. Stripping in Ocala, last I heard. Cipher doesn’t tell me much. I don’t really want to know. I only ask when I need to be sure she’s nowhere near us.”

“Good. She can stay in Florida.”

“I kept track of you too. You traveled a lot. I was surprised when Mav told me you settled here.” He looks around our little piece of heaven.

“I wasn’t planning to. I only stopped in for a short visit, but they needed help. It felt good to be useful again,” I admit.

“At first, I was angry, but I still love you. I didn’t want to stand in your way.” He clears his throat. “That old lady of yours is a spitfire. I’d say sorry I kissed her, but I feel like turnabout is fair play.”