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I was fine with it.
She walked by me and stuck out her tongue at me. “Bye.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re lucky I don’t slap you.”
“I dare you to try.” She flipped me the bird and walked out.
I turned back to my father. “Hades invited me over for dinner. You want to come along?”
He stared at the table with the picture frames before he picked up the one of my mother. “Catalina looks so much like her… Sometimes I feel like she’s still here when I look at her.” My father had never gotten over my mother’s death. He’d never remarried. Didn’t even try to date. When she was gone, so was he.
I came up beside him and patted him on the back. “I noticed the same thing.”
He set down the picture frame but continued to stare at it.
“Let’s go see her tomorrow.” We used to go to my mother’s grave all the time, but over the years, our trips became less frequent.
He shook his head. “It’s alright. It just hurts every time I go.”
I pitied my father for being so lost without her. “How about the two of us have dinner together? We can go somewhere, or Patricia can serve it here.”
He finally pulled his gaze away from the picture. “Thanks, son. But I just want to be alone tonight…”
Hades took one look at my face and raised an eyebrow. “What the fuck happened to your face?”
I thought the mark would wear off within an hour or two, but she’d hit me so damn hard, it would probably be there until morning. “I ran into a door.” I walked past him and saw Andrew on the rug on the hardwood floor, playing with a few toys with a binky in his mouth.
Hades followed me. “You ran into a door? You?” He crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t buy it.
I leaned down and tickled Andrew’s stomach before I got to my feet again. “What’s for dinner?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Sofia came out of the bathroom. “Hey—” Her face turned white when she saw the same mark. “Your face—”
“I ran into a door, alright?” I snapped. “Drop it.” I walked into the dining room, where the food was already laid out. I poured myself a glass of red wine and took a long drink.
Hades sat across from me. “I didn’t know doors had fingers.” He poured himself a glass of wine before he swirled it.
Sofia only had water and grabbed a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table. “I know something is going on between you and Anna. I could feel it when I walked into the office that day.” She shot me a look of accusation before she took a bite of her bread.
Maybe coming over here was a bad idea.
“If that was her—” Hades nodded to my cheek “—then damn, she’s got one hell of an arm.”
“Or she’s just really pissed.” Sofia took another bite of her bread. “What did you do, Damien?”
“You guys are making a lot of assumptions.” I grabbed my silverware and cut into my dinner. It was a chicken dish with flavorful rice and slowly roasted vegetables.
“Then correct those assumptions,” Sofia said coldly.
Hades ate but continued to stare at me.
I felt comfortable telling Hades the truth because his moral compass wasn’t always pointed north, but Sofia was different. She saw the world in black-and-white, with the exception of her husband’s character.
“Well?” she pressed.
I kept eating.
She glared at me. “Damien.”
I finally cracked. “I kissed her.” Sofia was going to find out eventually, so may as well come clean now.
Hades shook his head slightly, knowing my behavior could compromise his relationship with Liam.
Sofia was outright shocked. “You did what?”
“We were on the balcony during the party, and every time we’re together, there’s this…chemistry.” I could never accurately describe the energy in the air, the hum in my chest, the desperation I felt to have her. “It just happened. Every time I’m around her, it just gets harder and harder, and I caved.”
Hades leaned back in his chair, his appetite lost. “Damien…” He dragged his hands down his face in irritation.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she snapped. “She’s married—”
“I know, I know.” I held up my hand to shut her up. “Like I said, I wasn’t thinking. And she turned me down, so nothing happened. She screamed at me for a bit, accusing me of toying with her feelings, keeping her on a hook…shit like that.”
Sofia looked at me with sheer disappointment, and Hades shook his head slightly.
“That’s not what I’m doing,” I said defensively.
Sofia narrowed her eyes. “She told you she loved you, Damien.”
“I know, but—”
“Leave the girl alone.” Her anger slowly simmered down, but it was still potent. “She’s moving on with Liam, and you need to let her do that.”
