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“What about David?” she asked.
“Oh, he’ll be a free man in time for his art show,” August said. “But Mother had a word with him while he was in the clink. She put the fear of goddess in him. She said you were her son’s lover, and if he tried to hurt you, she would have him chained to a rock and she’d instruct an eagle to peck out his liver for all eternity.”
“Harsh,” Lia said.
“She told him we’re a Greek mafia family, not entirely inaccurate. After the death threat, he went very quiet. But we let him go,” he said. “He won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, then kissed the center of his chest.
August put a finger under her chin, raised her head to look at him.
“If you want me to,” he said, “I can make you forget what happened with him. And I can make your mother forget. I can make it all go away. I know how.”
Lia considered it. Then she discarded the idea. Tempting as it was to make the painful memories disappear, getting rid of them would mean discarding the good memories that came after. Yes, David hurt her and her mother, but now she and her mother loved each other even more. And she cherished the memory of her father leaping to her defense without hesitation and her mother slapping David across his smug face.
“No,” Lia said. “I’m fine. I’ll keep my memories as they are. If I forgot the hurt, I’d forget the healing.”
“Good choice,” he said, stroking her back.
“Will you miss being a prostitute in your own cult?” she asked.
“Fun while it lasted,” he said.
“I wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to keep doing it,” she said. “As long as you love me the most.”
“I think I’ve played enough for a few centuries at least.”
“I haven’t,” Lia said. “But I’m forbidden from being a madam anymore. Mum and Daddy are opposed to the idea for some reason.”
“They’re very conservative for a couple of married perverts,” he said, then snapped his fingers. “Oh, speaking of married perverts...we have to get married.”
Lia sat up, shoving his wings aside.
“We have to do what?”
“Don’t worry. Not right this minute. One of Mother’s conditions. She was very serious about me getting married and settling down. If I was going to get my crown and wings back, I had to agree to get married. But I got to pick the lady—or fawn or cloud. And the lady I picked was you. Do you mind?”
“When exactly?”
“Not today. But a short engagement would be preferred. Say...five years?”
Lia’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Five years isn’t considered a short engagement.”
“When you’re several thousand years old, five years is nothing.”
“But what happens when I get old and you’re still this?” She pinched his too-handsome cheeks.
“Mother would make you immortal, if you want. Or I’ll quit being a god again, and we’ll grow old together.”
“You’d do that for me?” she asked.
“I would,” he said. “Mother wants a grandchild, but we have plenty of time to figure all that out. Eons...”
Lia straddled his stomach and sat on his hips.
“I love you, August Bowman.”
He wrinkled his nose at her. “Do you?” he asked. “Tell me how.”
