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This place will chew you up and spit you out, Lyssa warned me. But I won't be so easily consumed. I survived my father's cruelty, and I will survive this.
If I'm to have any power over my fate, I must continue training, hone my body and mind. I'll observe and learn the ways of this world that has claimed me.
And when the time is right, I will free myself.
CHAPTER 16
Hadria
I stareat my reflection in the full-length mirror, straightening my black silk tie. The sleek designer suit I chose fits my tall, lean frame perfectly, the gunmetal fabric crisp and well-tailored. I cut an imposing figure. Powerful. Authoritative.
Every inch the ruthless Boss I've fought to become.
Tonight I need that aura of cold command more than ever. This meeting with my brother and father will be a pivotal power play, a challenge to their patriarchal bullshit.
And I fully intend to come out on top.
A knock at the door draws my gaze away from the mirror. "Come in," I call, my voice steady despite the tension coiling through my muscles.
Lyssa enters, scanning me up and down. "Looking sharp, Boss. You ready to bust some balls tonight?"
"Bold of you to assume they have any balls worth busting."
She barks out a laugh. "True. Maybe you should aim a little higher. Like a knife to the gut." Her smile sharpens. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."
Trust Lyssa to get right to the heart of things…and with no delicacy whatsoever. It's why she's one of the few I trust. Her violent tendencies make her ruthlessly efficient, but she's always had my back, ever since she dragged me out from under a group of drunken men my very first night on the streets, and told me I needed to toughen up.
And then she showed me what she meant, by gutting the three men and looting their bodies for wallets and watches.
Lyssa was absolutely right. My privileged upbringing was a disadvantage to me. I was soft and clueless. But thanks to people like Lyssa and Mrs. Graves, who took the two of us in off the street after we avenged the murder of her only daughter, Ididtoughen up.
I broke myself apart and reforged those pieces into a new being: Hades. And as I grew in power and legend, I was able to pay back Lyssa and Mrs. Graves ten times over, so that now they live in wealth and luxury, though they've both retained their diamond-hard cores.
And tonight is the final chapter of what I like to think of as my origin story. I'll get to face my father and show him how wrong he was to choose Nero over me, just because of the soft thing that hangs between his legs.
Best case scenario? Papa will beg my forgiveness, plead with me to come back to the Imperioli Family, and lead it into the same greatness into which I led the Styx Syndicate.
Worst case scenario…
Well, I suppose I should think positive.
I adjust my cufflinks, platinum and diamond. "I have no intention of playing nice tonight," I assure Lyssa.
She nods. "About damn time."
"Have the car brought around. And double security presence here tonight at Elysium, just in case Nero thinks it would be clever to attack while we're away. I don't want any surprises."
Lyssa salutes mockingly. "You got it, Boss." She pauses at the door, glancing back. "Watch yourself tonight. Don't let those bastards get under your skin. Keep that cool head of yours, Hades."
When I descend to the foyer some minutes later, I am ready. Chin high, shoulders square, power in every step.
Mrs. Graves waits at the open front door, her face showing pride, but a little concern underneath. "Good luck, Hadria."
I put a hand on her arm. "Thank you." Her concern reminds me I have people counting on me. Relying on me to secure my legacy once and for all. Because in turn, that means I'll be able to securetheirsafety, too.
Aurora is one of those people.
Outside, the sleek black town car idles in the drive, flanked fore and aft by additional vehicles bearing my personal security team. Lyssa holds the rear door open, waving me in with a smile and a flourish.
