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My heartbeat gallops in my chest so hard that I’m afraid it’s going to run away. My lips are dry, my emotions seeming to fill my whole chest.
“How do ye feel about me, lass?” he husks.
“Me?”
“Yes. Tell me truthfully.” His eyes bore into mine.
I swallow against the lump in my throat.
“I love—"
“Hades!” Ares yells, cutting me off mid-sentence.
I blink, swiveling my head around. Ares and Eros are stalking down from the grassy knoll just above, Ares looking fiercely determined.
I can’t help but clutch at Hades’ arm, wishing I were anywhere else but here. I don’t want to be the target of Ares’ focus, not for any reason.
Hades glances at me, correctly assesses my reaction, and stands up slowly. He moves so that he stands between me and his brothers, bristling.
Ares seems to not even notice me. That’s fine with me and I sit as still as possible in the shade of Hades’ tall frame.
“I thought ye had left,” Hades spits out.
Ares and Eros stop, Eros guardedly folding his arms across his chest. Ares has his arm in a sling but somehow, that doesn’t make me feel bad for him for a second.
“Hades,” Ares says stonily. “We might not like each other right now. But I have a proposition for you. One that will net you a good chunk of change and let the three of us break up the family business on amicable terms.” Hades turns back, checking on me. “Penny?”
My eyes widen. I’m physically shaking, I realize. “Y-yes?”
Hades beckons to me, slipping his arm around me and turning to face his brothers.
“Yer just in time.”
Eros scowls. “For what?”
Hades squeezes me. “I was working my way up to proposing marriage. So if you’d rather stick around and ruin that… I say, what the hell? Why not? You’ve already basically ruined everything else, why not this as well?”
My mouth drops. My eyes flit to Hades, trying to determine if he’s serious about proposing marriage. Who the hell pops the question without ever having said I love you?
I flush, but it doesn’t really matter. Hades is glaring at Ares, a sneer on his handsome face. Ares leans in close, glowering.
“Yer full of shit,” he accuses Hades.
Hades digs in his pocket, producing a light blue ring box. He cracks it open ever so slightly, showing that there is actually a ring inside. But before I can see it, he snaps it closed and returns it to his pocket.
I feel dizzy suddenly, lightheaded, as if I’m going to puke. Has Hades really put that much thought into a proposition? I can’t wrap my head around it.
On one hand, I’m elated. Someone wants me, and only me, forever? It’s enough to make my head spin.
But as soon as I think that I realize that I’ll always wonder… did Hades just propose because I was carrying his baby?
Scrubbing a hand over my mouth, I barely keep track of the conversation as it flows around me.
“He’s just asking ye a pretty simple question,” Eros says.
Hades eyes them both. “Why would I do another job? We have plenty of cash from the Hungarians.”
Eros rubs the back of his neck. Ares intentionally blanks his facial expression, making it neutral.
