AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 3
Hades massaged the tense muscles of his neck and looked out the window down at his hell floor.
Hades’ hell had been one of the most important things for the majority of Hades’ life. It was his pride and joy, life and soul.
There was only one thing he had loved more. Ava.
And even so, the work had always taken precedence over her. He’d ignored her most of the day because he was committed to his work, especially in the beginning, when he was just building his little empire. Once everything had settled in, he’d started wanting more, working more, because nothing was ever enough. And he’d done all of this for her.
Now that she was gone, none of that work that seemed so urgent then seemed to matter. The only reason he was even in his hell at all was because if he wasn’t, he would jeopardize the lives and the livelihood of all the people who had found home there; people who had found honest work—or at least work that paid honestly.
Hades’ hell wasn’t exactly honest, or at least, was not above the law. But his people were safe there, some for the first time in their lives. For most of his workers, it was the first home they’d ever known. They were fed and looked after. And he was not about to let them down.
Concentrating on work, on anything, proved to be a lot more difficult, though. His thoughts invariably drifted to memories of Ava and then to her eventual demise. The anger and frustration of seeing his little girl die and not being able to do anything about it were eating at him from the inside.
The impotence of the situation grated on his nerves. He needed to be in control again. He needed to do something that would hand him the reins back. And that led to the people responsible for Ava’s death. Because if he couldn’t prevent her death, he would be sure to avenge it.
He’d sent his men to search for Greyson St. John and was waiting for news from them any minute now. It might take them a bit longer than a minute since, as it turned out, the man had fled the country. It might take them even longer to figure out whether he had anything to do with Ava’s demise, but Hades was not a patient man. He was on pins and needles, needing to do something more substantial than looking out at the filthy aristocrats.
Everything irritated him. Especially the drunken lords.
They sat there, drinking and pleasuring themselves. They went about their lives as if nothing had changed, and for them, nothing had. How he’d love to shut the place down. Go downstairs and order them all to leave and wreck the entire floor, roar at everyone and kick them all out. That would make him feel so much better.
For a moment.
But he knew that the feeling of uselessness and despair would not go away for long. And then remorse would settle in, and he’d end up drowning his sorrows in a bottle of gin. And then, when finally sober, he’d regret all his impetuous actions.
Hades took a deep breath. Better to relive all that in his mind and concentrate on things that mattered.
The door opened then, and sure steps alerted him to William’s presence. The man walked confidently through the room, settled opposite Hades’ customary place, put his feet on the desk, and unhurriedly lit his cheroot.
“You asked for me?” William asked.
Hades slowly walked to his side of the desk and collapsed in his chair. “I did.”
“You look like the most miserable man on earth,” William said, puffing out the smoke.
“Perhaps I am,” Hades said evenly, relaxing in his seat.
William, on the other hand, looked fresh and rejuvenated. He always looked like that. With his curly wheat-blond hair and sparkling green eyes, he was the epitome of the devil in disguise. He was also one of the few people Hades felt comfortable with.
William was not frightened of Hades, nor did Hades want to frighten the man. They had a good working relationship. William was the only person in Hades’ circle who did not work for him. At least, not exactly. Hades hired him when he needed to, and other times, William was just another customer of his hell. That kind of relationship helped Hades regard William as a peer. More than that, however, Hades respected William. Not a lot of people could say the same about the man.
William was dishonest and wily. He could trick anyone in the twinkling of an eye. But the thing that got him the most trouble was the fact that he was living between two worlds, belonging to neither.
William was a duke’s bastard son. Everybody knew it, so nobody could exactly get rid of him in the aristocratic world, even if they looked down their noses at him. Having grown up among the high society, William did not belong among low-bred criminals either.
Hades did not care for his birth status, though. He had his own secrets. And William had never tried his tricks on Hades. So that made the relationship between two men a lot easier.
“You need to get yourself a nice, warm wench. For a day or two. That’ll wind you down,” William said.
Hades scoffed. Right. If William only knew. He wasn’t about to delve into details, though. He had more pressing issues than wenches to discuss.
“I have a task for you,” he said.
“I figured as much. What do you need now?”
“I need you to find out everything you can about what happened in Kensington’s townhouse the night of the masquerade.”
