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With a tired sigh, I get out of the car and make my way into the house.
It’s as quiet inside as a graveyard with the lights dim. They're automatically programmed to fade after eleven.
Through the long glass windows, I spot two of my guards on patrol. Both nod to me, and I return it.
Out of principle, I don’t have guards inside the house unless I need to, like yesterday when I needed to keep Gwen in line. Yuri and Vladmir live in the guest house near the beach.
Theno guards in the house thingwas something I picked up from Leif. He wanted his home to feel like a home, not a military base. Father was different. He had his guards everywhere he went, so living at home did feel like we were under constant regimented supervision.
I turn down the corridor leading to the main section of the house when that scent of honeysuckle fills me, seeping into my lungs like pure oxygen to my system.
It’s her—Gwen.
I look behind me to see if she’s there, but she isn’t. She isn’t anywhere.
There’s no one around but me and the scent of the goddess l brought into my home against her will. She is my Persephone, and I am her Hades.
This is my underworld.
Maybe I have some kind of curse on me for taking something so hallowed.
Or maybe it’s a spell.
I don’t fucking know.
All I know is, I haven’t stopped wanting her.
Hearing shuffling in the kitchen, I divert and make my way there. Jeanne is always the last person to retire for the night. She’s a perfectionist but also an insomniac like me.
Staying awake late at night or getting no sleep at all comes from the time when her husband was sick and dying. He had cancer. I was fourteen when he died. He and Jeanne both lived at my parents’ home.
Just as I pre-empted, I find Jeanne inside the kitchen. She’s sorting through the cupboard, but pauses when I walk in.
“Hey,” I greet her.
“Hi. I’m just finishing up some last-minute stuff. Gwen and I got back later than I thought.”
“We have other people who could have sorted this out.”
“I know. I just like to have things a certain way. Especially with everything planned over the next few days.” She closes the cupboard door and walks toward me. “Is there anything else you need me to do for the wedding?”
“No. I think we're all set.”
“And you really don’t want me there?” She gives me a hopeful but cautious smile and sets her shoulders back.
The only people I’m having there are my brothers and Aleksander, the Pakhan, who’ll be marrying us.
“You know it’s not that kind of wedding, right?”
“But it’s still a wedding, and you’re getting married. It’s just something I would have liked to see. I’ve known you all your life.”
“I know. But it’s important we keep this as strictly business.”
“Okay. As you wish.” She nods. “Well, you’ll have a beautiful bride. I got her the best dress in the store.”
“Did she like it?” I don’t know why I bother to ask that question if I just told Jeanne this is business.
“She was trying hard not to.” Her smile widens.
