I think about last month, at that benefit gala downtown.Ethan had spent the entire night charming a table of potential donors.The older woman sitting beside him had gushed about how wonderful he was.How kind.
And then, when she spilled wine on his suit, I saw it.A flash in his eyes.Just for a second.
He smiled at her, wiped the stain, and told her it was fine, but his hand clenched the cloth napkin so tight his knuckles turned white.
Everyone else saw the gentleman, whereas I finally caught a glimpse of the fracture in his facade.
In the living room, Hades is reading to the younger kids while Mason and Emma work on a puzzle nearby.The scene is so normal, so domestic, that for a moment I can almost forget why we're here.
"Everything okay?"Hades asks when he sees my face.
"Fine," I lie, settling back down beside him.My wrist still throbs where Ethan grabbed me, and I can feel Hades' eyes tracking the movement as I unconsciously rub the spot.
His presence beside me is like a balm; solid and warm and safe in a way that makes me want to lean into him and never move away.The urge is so strong it actually frightens me.
"Aunt Evie," Lily says, climbing into my lap."Uncle Hades says we can't all fit in your apartment."
"That's right, sweetheart.My place is pretty small."
"But I have an idea," Hades says, his voice careful."I've got a house about twenty minutes outside the city.It's got six bedrooms, a big backyard.There’s plenty of space for everyone."
My heart does something complicated in my chest."You want us all to live together?"
"I want these kids to have a home," he says simply."And I want you to have help raising them.It's what Marcus and Calla wanted when they asked us to be their kids’ guardians.I don’t spend much time there as I spend the majority of nights at the clubhouse.You’ll have space and the kids will have a home."
I stare at him, trying to process what he's offering.A home.A partnership.A chance to keep the children together and give them the stability they need.
And the opportunity to be near him every day, to feel that dangerous pull between us growing stronger with every shared glance and accidental touch.
It's exactly what I want and everything I shouldn't have.
“Think about it,” he says when I don’t answer immediately.“We don’t have to decide anything right now.”
I should say no.I should tell him it’s too soon.Too close.That I’m still engaged.That grief is warping everything I think I feel.
Instead, I look at the kids.Lily is curled up in my lap, Mason watching us from the edge of everything, waiting for someone to make the right call.
I open my mouth to tell him we should work something different out, that we need boundaries, but what comes out is something else entirely.
“Okay,” I say quietly, the word barely a whisper.
Hades' eyes search mine."Okay?"
"Yes.Let's do it.Let's give them a home."
The smile that spreads across his face is like sunrise after the longest night, and for the first time since Detective Isaacs' phone call yesterday, I feel like maybe we can actually make this work.
Maybe we can save these children.
Maybe we can save each other.
CHAPTERTHREE
hades
The clubhouse feelsdifferent with five kids sprawled across the couches in the main room.Lily's curled up asleep in one of the leather chairs, thumb in her mouth, while the older ones watch a movie on the big screen TV.It's not exactly the environment most people would consider kid-friendly, but it's secure, and right now, that's what matters.
"They settling in okay?"Ghost asks, joining me at the bar where I'm nursing my third cup of coffee.His blue eyes are sharp, taking in every detail.As president of the Saint's Outlaws, he's got the kind of mind that sees three moves ahead of everyone else.
