The words hit like cold water.Emma's always been perceptive, but hearing her call Ethan "the mean man" so casually makes my stomach clench.
"Emma—" I start, but she's not done.
"He doesn't like us," she continues, still coloring but speaking with the brutal honesty only children possess."He told Mama and Daddy that kids should be seen and not heard."
When did he say that?And why didn't Marcus or Calla tell me?
Hades' jaw tightens almost imperceptibly."What else did he say?"
"That we were too loud and messy for civilized people."Emma looks up from her coloring book, her young face serious."Mama got really mad."
Of course she did.Calla was fierce when it came to protecting her children.She would have torn Ethan apart for saying something like that.
And I never knew it happened.
Guilt crashes over me again, sharper this time.How many signs did I miss?How many times did my family try to tell me that the man I'm supposed to marry isn't who I think he is?
"You're not too loud or too messy," Hades says firmly, his voice carrying the kind of authority that makes children believe what the speaker is claiming."You're exactly who you're supposed to be."
Emma beams at him, and something in my chest cracks open.This is what the children need.Not someone who sees them as obstacles to overcome, but someone who sees them as whole people worthy of love and protection.
The front door slams, and I flinch.Ethan strides into the living room, his face tight with barely controlled anger.He's been like this since yesterday, simmering with frustration that I won't just agree to let Hades take the children and walk away.
"Evangeline," he says, his voice clipped."We need to talk."
It's not a request.His hand closes around my wrist as he speaks, fingers pressing into my pulse point hard enough that I have to bite my lip to keep from wincing.
The touch is possessive, controlling.Nothing like the gentle way Hades holds the children, or the careful distance he maintains with me out of respect for my engagement.
"Can it wait?"I ask, glancing at the children."We're in the middle of?—"
"Now," he says, his grip tightening.
Hades goes very still beside me.I don't look at him, but I can feel the sudden tension radiating from his body.The way a predator goes quiet before it strikes.
“Let go of her wrist,” Hades says, low and calm.Too calm.
Ethan's eyes narrow."This is a private conversation between my fiancée and me."
Hades steps forward, and for one terrifying second, I think he’s going to break Ethan’s jaw.
“Now,” he growls.
The kids go dead silent.
I jump in before it escalates, forcing a smile.“Ethan, please.Not in front of the kids.”
He releases my wrist with obvious reluctance, and I have to resist the urge to rub the tender spots where his fingers dug in.
"Five minutes," he says."In the kitchen."
I glance at Hades, who's watching Ethan with the kind of focus that probably makes smart men run.But Ethan has never been as smart as he thinks he is.
"Stay with the kids?"I ask Hades.
He nods, and I follow Ethan into the kitchen, dreading whatever lecture is coming.
"What the hell was that?"Ethan demands the moment we're alone.
