Page 35 of Hades’ Revenge

And I’m working on learning to multi-task. I smiled as I hit send.

That’s my girl. Have a wonderful day. I’ll call you tonight.

It was almost night in Greece and he would be heading to the club. When he called me later, it would be the middle of the night for him, but he insisted on hearing my voice before he went to sleep. I liked knowing he had made that part of his routine.

Have a good night at the club. I inserted a heart emoji which he promptly liked.

If I could get an assassin to like a heart emoji, I could probably accomplish anything. Like getting my father to let me go back to Greece for the next six weeks. Wishful thinking.

Maybe I should tell my parents the truth. What could they do? I was a consenting adult. I was the one who approached Sebastian. I asked him to take my V-card. None of this was his doing, but my father wasn’t going to see it that way.

“Hey baby,” my mother said as she came into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. “I hope you slept well.”

She was already dressed in a cute pink sundress and matching sandals. Her hair was blown-out and curled at the ends, and her flawless makeup looked as if it could have been applied by a professional. My mother took pride in her appearance and often said she never knew when the producers of Mob Wives were going to come knocking and offer her a spot in a revival season. Goals.

“Hey.” I flipped my phone screen-side down in case Sebastian sent me another text. “It’s a beautiful day. I already went for a run.”

“Are you adjusting to the time change?”

“Slowly.” I stretched out my back. “I’m forcing myself to get back on New York time.”

“That’s the hard part about traveling.” She sat at the table with me. “Did you eat yet?”

“No.”

“Good, because I made appointments for us to get our nails done today. We can have breakfast first.” She looked like she was ready for a fun day in the city, drinking margaritas and doing some credit card damage. “If time allows this afternoon, we can stop at that cute little Mexican place for a drink.”

I knew it!

When I was with my mother, no one ever carded me. I’d been her day-drinking buddy since I had turned eighteen. Neither of us ever overindulged. My father wouldn’t stand for it. It was just a fun way to spend the day.

“Sounds like a plan.” While I was away, I did miss brunch dates and hair and nail appointments with my mother.

“We can go shopping too. I have my dress for tomorrow night, but I thought you might like something new.”

About that…

“Actually, I’m good.” I had a very expensive dress and a killer pair of shoes in my closet thanks to a certain sexy man.

“You’re passing up a chance to get a new dress and shoes?” She poured some creamer into her coffee. “How come?”

“I got something in Greece.” I didn’t want to keep any more secrets than I had to. “Well, someone got something for me in Greece.”

“The guy you were seeing?”

“How did you know I was seeing someone?”

“I’m your mother, I know everything.”

Not everything.

“When you didn’t want to come home, I figured you had met someone. Now that you are home, you’re mopey, so I assumed there is a man involved. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me.”

If the guy I had met wasn’t Sebastian, my mother would have been the first person I told. I felt bad I couldn’t share all the details with her.

“I did meet someone.” I took my coffee mug to the sink, reminding myself not to give too much away. “He’s pretty cool.”

“Did he buy you shoes with that dress?”