Chapter 64

64

Hades would kill Poseidon for this. The man had no excuse. He knew the Code. Women and children were left out of their business.

But there was no honor left in the world and Hades should have known it. He shouldn’t have given Persephone a choice in that damn coffee shop. He should have thrown her over his shoulder and dragged her to the safe house with him. How many times would he make the same mistake? He’d never have the chance to win her over if she was dead.

His hands fisted and he wanted to break something, preferably Poseidon’ face. But not yet. Not until he saw Persephone safe and sound. Hades strode behind Poseidon along the docks, Charon at his back.

“If only you’d been reasonable and taken my request for a meeting,” Poseidon said, “it would never have come to this. Why don’t we discussed terms and then I’ll take you to her?”

“You’re not getting jack shit until I see her,” Hades growled, hands flexing.

Poseidon sighed. “This way.” He led them into a large warehouse. “Here she is,” he rumbled. “Safe and unharmed.”

Safe?

One of Poseidon’s thugs was holding a gun to her temple, and she was pale, her eyes wide with fear.

“I want to speak to her.” Hades kept his voice tight and controlled. If that idiot holding the gun had even the tiniest slip of his finger… Hades’s chest went cold with rage and a terror he didn’t want to examine too closely.

“Be my guest,” Poseidon said. “Let’s sit, shall we?” He gestured towards a long table.

Hades didn’t take his eyes off Persephone. The bastard with the gun to her head shoved her forward until she sat at one end of the table and Poseidon gestured for Hades to sit at the other end. Charon stood behind Hades, along with two more Shades.

Poseidon himself took a seat right beside Persephone. Another man bent down to chain her ankle to the table. Hades’s fingers itched to riddle them all with bullets.

“Are you okay?” he asked Persephone, ignoring everyone else in the room.

She nodded shakily, attempting a smile and failing. “Poseidon just wants to talk. He’s assured me that once you hear him out, he’ll let me go.”

Were those bruises around her neck? Hades clenched his teeth so hard he thought they might crack.

Don’t think about it right now. Just get her out of here. Get her to safety. You weren’t too late this time. You can still save her.

Hades fought down the rage bubbling inside him and set the large briefcase he’d brought with him on the table.

“Let’s do this,” he told Poseidon, not taking his eyes off Persephone.

Poseidon didn’t beat around the bush. “This is a hostile meeting and you know why we’re here. And yet, my hopes were for us to continue to do business with one another.”

“Negotiation ends when you snatch one of ours. We leave family out of it.”

“Ah yes, your Code. Well, I haven’t harmed her, she’s spent a quiet afternoon and is returning to you safe and sound.” Poseidon smiled at Persephone as if she was sitting down at a meal, not a tense business negotiation with a gun to her head. “Like you, I merely want what’s mine.”

“The bruises on her neck say different,” Hades couldn’t help growling.

Poseidon frowned. “An unfortunate miscommunication with my men. It was never my intention for any harm to come to her as long as our business concludes on good terms.”

Every word coming out of Poseidon’s mouth only made Hades feel more murderous. He shoved the briefcase and it slid down the long shiny table. It stopped only inches from Poseidon’s hand. Hades watched Persephone stare as the man opened it and checked the multiple stacks of large bills. The tension in the room heightened as Poseidon closed the briefcase, locked it and handed it off to one of his men.

“You’ve delivered, I’ve delivered,” Poseidon waved a hand at Persephone. “Now, we talk. We will be nothing less than civil; you have my word.”

Hades barely stopped himself from scoffing out loud. “That held weight up until the moment you took my wife. Now, your word means nothing to me.”

“It meant something to your father.” Poseidon folded his hands in front of him, his expression respectful.

“That cash is for Persephone’s safe return. It has nothing to do with our business arrangement.”

“And yet I don’t think of it as a ransom, but as you settling up the debt you owe me.” The temperature in the room plunged to subzero as Poseidon continued. “The original terms of our agreement was that we’d deliver the first shipment and receive payment. Instead, in return for our delivery, we received nothing but a formal governmental inquiry into our behavior in international waters.”

“Terms changed when the police seized the shipment. You agreed to the change.”

Persephone sat up straighter, obviously realizing Poseidon was referring to the night with Ajax on the docks. The last time Hades had failed her and put her life in danger.

“Yes, and then we reviewed things more carefully. We planned that meeting for months. You assured me there would be no trouble. I can only assume you or your silent partner didn’t do your job.” Poseidon paused and took a deep breath. Persephone’s bowed head and her shoulders hunched as Poseidon grew angry beside her. Hades had to de-escalate this and fast. He didn’t want Persephone any more traumatized than she already was.

“The events of that night were…regrettable,” Hades said, keeping his voice calm and taking back control of the conversation.

“And your responsibility,” Poseidon insisted.

“I am willing to accept the blame.” Hades inclined his head, allowing Poseidon the point if only to drain the tension level in the room. Still, he couldn’t help a caveat. “At least, until I know more about what really went down that night.”

“That’s all well and good,” Poseidon said, his impatience rising to the surface again, “but we’re receiving new reports that worry us. There’s evidence that the shipment in question has already been distributed, without us getting a cut.”

What? What was he talking about?

“There’s been no distribution—not by my men.”

“Someone is selling it, because people are buying a drug that sounds a lot like ours. If anything, this advance release proves how popular the drug will be.”

Hades narrowed his eyes. “What do you want, Poseidon?”

“You have one week to prove the drugs are in your custody and you’re back in control of distribution. If not, I will be forced to find other investors and distribution channels. I’m sure you agree it’s in our best interest to find the best partner who can deliver.”

“There’s only one player who can deliver in the New Olympus market. You’re looking at him.” Hades stared Poseidon down, but the big man shrugged. His large fingers, bare but for his onyx ring, drummed the table.

“I’m being courted by a few others, and one group is especially eager. I’m notifying you out of courtesy, because if we choose to use them, the money they make off this deal may fund an incursion into your territory.”

Charon spoke for the first time, but not to Poseidon. “He talking about who I think he’s talking about?” he asked the room in general, his deep voice echoing.

“I am, in fact,” Poseidon said. “If you can’t provide me with what I want, I must seek other partners. And they very well may be your sworn enemies, the Titans.”

Persephone’s eyes widened just a fraction but otherwise she stayed still.

Hades kept his face bored. Few knew of his wife’s connection to the Titans—that she was Demeter Titan’s daughter—and he preferred it stay that way. “The Titans haven’t been in this market for over a decade. I should know. I drove them out.”

“And they’re anxious to use their prior knowledge to rebuild.” Poseidon spread his large hands as if to say, What can I do?

“You don’t want to deal with them any more than we want to,” Charon said.

“On the contrary, they don’t hold a grudge against me.” Poseidon was playing with his onyx ring again, twisting it.

“Give them time,” Charon said, his voice heated.

Hades took over. “They won’t be satisfied with letting you rule the water. They want it all.” Back in the day, the Titans (secretly led by Demeter) had been ravenous for power and territory at any cost. Now that she was back in charge, she would suffer no challengers if she had her way. “And they don’t operate by a Code. One day you’ll want out, and you’ll regret ever doing business with them.”

“Given that you’ve been negotiating in bad faith, I’m not sure that I can trust a word you say.” Poseidon looked at Hades. “Your father was honest. I’d hoped more of his son.”

Hades glared the man down. “This meeting is over. You have your money. Give me my wife.”

Poseidon nodded, rising. The men down the table did too. Persephone remained sitting, the gun still on her. “I’m sure you have enough courage to take on me and the Titans. But think of the price you might pay.” He looked pointedly at Persephone.

He dared threaten Persephone to Hades’s face? On top of all he’d already done? He was a dead man walking.

“Let her go,” Hades ordered darkly.

Poseidon tossed a key on the table. “Free for the taking.”

Hades was moving forward even as Poseidon left with his crew. Swiping the key, he knelt beside Persephone to unlock the shackle.

“You alright? We gotta go.” He helped her up and hustled her to the far door. She trembled on his arm but he didn’t dare stop. Poseidon definitely had eyes and guns on them still. Once they exited the warehouse, they were immediately surrounded by Shades, but Hades didn’t breathe easy until they were in a black SUV headed out of the parking lot.

More than anything, Hades wanted to immediately send his men after Poseidon for daring to touch what was his, for making her tremble in fear. He wrapped his arm around Persephone and pulled her close to his side. She didn’t resist at all, that was how fucking scared she was. Fury beat like an ugly creature with wings in his rib cage

Charon turned in the passenger seat and looked back at him. “You gonna order the hit?”

Hades glared at him. He knew better than to talk about business like that in front of Persephone. Charon nodded and turned back around front.

Hades put two hands on Persephone’s shoulders and bent his head to hers. “He touch you?”

She curled her hands around his and looked into his eyes. Gods, it was everything to touch her. To be this close again.

“No. He was polite, actually.”

She dropped her hands as he cupped her head, tilting it gently to study the marks those fuckers had made on her neck. His hand hovered over her pulse but he didn’t dare brush the bruises marring her skin. The beast in his chest roared.

“They’ll pay,” he growled. “I’ll make them pay for every bruise.”

“I’m okay.”

“They had a gun to your head.”

Persephone bit her lip. “I think…I think he wanted this meeting to go well.”

Hades’s mouth tightened but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t trust himself at the moment and he didn’t want to scare her any further. His family and Poseidon had long been allies but after today, they could be nothing but enemies.

Persephone frowned and grabbed his hand. “It’s my fault.”

What was she going on about now?

She clutched his hand tighter. “I slipped my guard at the movie set.” Swallowing hard, she went on. “If I hadn’t, they’d never have been able to take me.”

Fuck but she was sweet. Too good for him, but he’d known that a long time now. She was looking down so he nudged her face up with a finger under her chin. When she still kept her eyes averted, he moved closer to her, pulling her legs over his lap. She resisted only a moment.

“Poseidon and me have been dancin’ a long time.” He shifted, lifting her into his lap. Maybe he was a bastard to use this to steal a moment of intimacy with her, but after getting Poseidon’s call and hearing she’d been snatched, he needed her close. Apparently, she needed it too because she leaned into him.

He kept his voice soft as he murmured into her hair. “Taking you was his way of getting my attention. Now that he has it, we’ll see what he does.”

“So you’re not mad at me?” she whispered, so soft like she was aware of everyone else in the car and wanted only him to hear.

“Mad? No. But every time you run,” his arms squeezed her, “I get tempted to kidnap you myself and tie you to the bed.”

She swallowed hard and her breath hitched. Maybe because underneath her, he was getting hard. He couldn’t help it. Having her so close, her soft, delectable body finally in contact with his. Plus, after the showdown with Poseidon and the relief of finally having her back safe in his arms—he was only a man.

She obviously felt it but she didn’t pull away. Sighing, she tucked herself under his chin, relaxing only when his arms slowly came back around to hold her. It was the most peaceful Hades had felt in months. This was right. This was as things should be. Together, they watched New Olympus’s skyline loom closer.

When the car entered the city limits, she stirred. “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe—” Hades started, and her body suddenly went stiff as she yanked away from him. “No, I want to go home.”

“We need to?—”

“Don’t take me to the Estate.” She gripped the fabric of his shirt. “I don’t care where else you take me, just don’t make me go back there.”

Was this a clue as to what had happened that night? Had Ajax actually dared to steal her off of Hades’s own fucking family estate? But how? Hades had interviewed the guards on watch that night a dozen times over. He gazed at Persephone, waiting for her to give more away.

But she suddenly looked around as if realizing how still and silent the entire car had gone. She let go of Hades’s shirt and looked out the window, shutting him out.

He wanted to press her. He wanted to know what had happened that night. But she’d been through another trauma and it would have to wait.

“Alright.” He ordered the driver to head toward The Chariot Club instead.

Persephone looked back at him. “Okay. But once we get there, we’re going to talk.”