AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 10
There is something undeniably attractive about a dark, mysterious man who refuses to touch you when you’re burning for his touch yet kisses you as if he’d like to devour your mouth. His silky voice and his formidable presence make my knees quiver and all my common sense flies out the window.
I am not like this. I am not attracted to men with a dark purpose in their eyes. Or at least I am not supposed to be. Being in this strange place probably addled my mind. I need to get out of this place, or I fear my end will be a total and complete destruction of my sanity.
Eloise Gunning.
Hades sat in his office, going through the ledgers the next evening. After the interlude with Eloise the night before, he was avoiding returning home. He craved to see her, but he was afraid of his reaction to her. And he was even more afraid of her reaction to him. Why wasn’t she was repulsed by his touch?
He wished to never find out. Perhaps it was best if he did not see her for the rest of her stay in his house.
“You’re here early,” Grace observed from the threshold. “I didn’t expect to see you here until later.”
“I work here, remember?” Hades said without looking up.
“Usually, you are not here before we open.” She slowly stepped into the office.
“There’s a lot of work to be done.”
“Yes, and it can’t possibly have anything to do with the lady currently residing under your roof.”
Hades raised his gaze. “What would you know about it?”
Grace smiled as she continued progressing deeper into the room. “I know everything. You know that. I told you that nothing good would come of keeping Ava—”
“Careful,” Hades growled.
“And I am telling you that having Eloise is even worse. You are drawn to her. I can see it. Your heart stinks of her.”
Hades scoffed. “You are being fanciful.”
“Am I? Have I ever been wrong?”
Hades steepled his fingers on his desk. “You do not possess the power of sight, Grace.”
“No, I do not. However, I do possess common sense.” She grinned coldly, that smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Or perhaps it was the paint on her face. Sometimes Hades thought he did not remember what she truly looked like under all the powder and rouge. “And I might not possess the power of sight, but I read the journal your Beebi gave you. And she told you that love would be the destruction of you. Of us. Of all this.”
“She said a lot of things. She said the same thing about the Shadows, didn’t she? So, who am I to fear the most, Eloise or the Shadows?”
Grace pursed her lips. “She told you about the Shadows when everyone believed them to be a myth. And yet you believed her, and she was right. She told you, you would be the most powerful man in England when you had nothing but the clothing on your back, and yet you believed her. And she was right. But when it comes to love, you’re blind. You cannot pick and choose the prophecies. She said that love will be your doom, and we are nearing it, I assure you. And Eloise plays a major part in it.”
“If love will be an instrument of my destruction, then you have nothing to worry about, Grace. I do not love, remember?”
Grace cocked her head to the side. “You truly believe that, don’t you? You said the same about Ava, and yet you did love her. You kept her under your roof, hoping you could protect her, but you couldn’t. Now you keep Eloise under the same delusions. But if Ava was only doomed to die, Eloise is doomed to bring everyone down with her. And if you do not heed my warnings, I shall not stand by your side any longer.”
“Do not throw a fit, Grace. It does not suit you. Eloise will be out of our lives as soon as the thief-taker does as he’s asked.”
“And what of the traitor?”
Hades heaved a sigh. “I already arranged to join my men tonight after the hell’s closing to monitor the shipment when it’s brought to us. If this one gets raided as well, and there is a traitor in our midst, I shall get to the bottom of it.”
“You better.” Grace stood there, watching him, not even moving.
Hades cocked his head toward her. “Yes, Grace. What else did you want to say?”
“I know you are grieving,” she said half an octave lower. Hades waved his hand in an attempt to silence her, but she continued. “Just don’t let the grief ruin what’s left of your life.”
Grace turned away without another word and disappeared from the room as silently as she had entered.
