Just say it, Chloe.
GODDAMMIT, SAY IT.
But my mouth wouldn’t form the words. My eyes wouldn’t move away from the bag.
I didn’t know I was shaking until Tyler’s lips landed on my cheek.
“I’m staying at Matthew’s tonight,” he said, moving away and grabbing his keys. “I’ll be back in the morning, and I can finally tell you about this deal. I’m so excited about it, love. We can look at the houses I’ve picked out and figure out what you’re taking and selling from that storage unit you have.” He pushed his bag on his shoulder and grinned widely as he reached for the doorknob. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be amazing. I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.”
I still hadn’t moved when the door closed behind him.
And it was all I could do to not collapse on the ground when I realized what I was.
A basic, pretty girl who he could turn into one of the diamonds he’d put on my finger.
I continued to tremble as I reached for my phone.
Meet me at the park instead?I texted Gavin.This afternoon. At two?
He texted back almost immediately.I’ll see you there. Everything okay?
No.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - GAVIN
“FUCK, SEPH, I don’t know what I'll do if she doesn’t leave him,” I told Persephone as I waited in the park for Chloe later that day. She hadn’t said any more than that last text, even though I had texted her multiple times, not only to let her know I was by the dog park but also to ask if she needed me to come to her as soon as I got off the plane. I was worried that something had happened, something with Tyler or even her ex—whatever that story was.
“Is it still the same as before?” Persephone asked, twirling a dandelion between her fingers. “What you remember, I mean.”
“It still blanks at Delphi,” I said.
Persephone’s mouth twisted in thought, and she glanced back behind her at Hades, who was leaning against the tree trunk, his legs extended in front of him, one ankle crossed over the other as he’d placed Persephone’s wide-brim hat over his face like he was trying to take a nap. He was dressed more casually than I was used to seeing him— a long-sleeve black Henley shirt and army green joggers. He had his firm forearms wrapped over his chest, a gold watch glimmering with the sunlight. It was a far cry from his usual business suits in the Underworld.
In the years I’d known him, I’d watched his tightly curled black hair slowly become more salt-and-peppered. He kept it cut in a short fade, and his beard trimmed around his full lips.
Persephone reached over and nudged his leg. “I know you’re listening,” she said, and Hades grunted behind the hat.
“It’s my day off,” he said. His deep, accented voice could send a chill down anyone’s spine.
“You love the gossip,” she said. “Can you fill anything in?”
“I come to the park to let Cerberus be a normal dog,” he drawled. “Not participate in a mystery game.”
Persephone leaned back and snatched the hat off his face, making Hades glare as the sun hit his dark brown skin. He sat up and wiped his face. “Will this help us get out of here faster?”
“Cerberus is still flirting with that collie over there,” Persephone said. “It’ll be at least a half-hour before he decides to finally roll in the mud, thus prompting you to decide it’s time to go.”
“He can roll in the mud back home,” Hades said.
I glanced toward the dog park where Cerberus was glamoured to look like a massive blue merle Great Dane instead of the three-headed bulldog beast he usually was. “Why a Great Dane?” I asked.
“The last time I made him look like a poodle,someonegot angry,” Persephone said.
“Watchdog of the Underworld, and you turned him into a show poodle,” Hades said.
“Why can’t you let him look like a single-headed bulldog or Doberman?” I asked.
“One day, we’ll get over the trauma of what happened the last time he was disguised as a Doberman,” Persephone muttered, her brow raising poignantly at Hades.
