Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

E nzo wasn't used to other people pouring his drinks, but he waited as patiently as he could while Romulus poured him a glass of a very nice scotch.

"Are you really Romulus...like the Romulus?" Enzo asked.

"Call me Rom, and yes. Why is that funny?"

Enzo tried to stifle his laughter before it became hysterical. "Because my nonna, who is kind of crazy, has always said we are relatives of yours."

Rom filled more glasses and gestured to a set of couches next to a fireplace. "She's not crazy, and you are my blood."

Eris sat in an armchair and crossed her legs. "And how is your nonna?" she asked.

A flicker of danger licked at the back of Enzo's neck. She was obviously still pissed at him for having to bail on their date, even though she had kind of bailed on him too.

"She's sorry that she interrupted our date by setting off her alarm because she was too busy hot-gluing rhinestones to it," Enzo replied.

Eris's black brows shot up, and Laverna flopped down on the couch and cracked up laughing. "I told you he wasn't married."

"You really thought I was married? I said it was my nonna," Enzo replied. No wonder she had been so pissed.

Eris sniffed. "Her picture didn't look like she was a grandmother."

"She's vain, so she makes me use one from her thirties," Enzo said. His grandmother was hard to explain even to the people who knew her.

Rom sat down next to Laverna, and Enzo felt like he was about to get an intervention. He had mediated more than one when he had been a therapist and knew the feeling well.

"Your nonna sounds like quite the character," Rom said diplomatically.

Enzo sighed and smiled into his scotch as he lifted it back to his lips. "You have no idea."

Enzo risked a glance at Eris. A real-life goddess . He knew she was out of his league, but he didn't realize they were light years apart. It made sense why she drew him like a magnet, the small male mortal that he was.

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about?" he asked, finally looking Eris in the eyes. In the bar lighting, they had always seemed dark brown or black. He realized they were actually a very dark purple—gorgeous, like the rest of her.

"You've been chosen for an epic quest!" Laverna said, her excitement brimming over.

"Stop confusing the poor guy and start at the beginning, Eris," Rom replied, putting an arm around Laverna's shoulders. It seemed to distract the other goddess, and she snuggled into his side.

"It began with an apple," Eris said, taking a sip of her drink.

Enzo leaned back in his chair as the goddess of chaos, discord, and strife told him about her curse, his ancestor Aeneas, and what the Fates had promised her if Enzo would go with her to Troy. When she was finished, both of their glasses were empty.

"Is this why you wanted to have a drink with me in the first place?" Enzo asked, an uncomfortable burning sensation starting in his stomach.

Eris's pale cheeks reddened, and his heart skipped. "No! I didn't know who you were. I only found out your true identity today." Eris opened her mouth to say something else and then stopped when her gaze rested on their audience.

Enzo rubbed at his eyes. "I can't just drop everything and leave the bar."

"We can have someone run it for you," Rom replied with a little wave of his hand. "I have people for that. I have a boat you can use and even someone to sail it."

"I can sail it if it's 45 feet or under," Enzo said before shaking his head. "But no, I can't just leave. This is insane."

"You seem to think you have a choice in the matter? Adorable," Eris said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "The only choice you have is to either come willingly, or I can tie you up and take you."

Enzo smirked. "If it weren't kidnapping, I wouldn't mind being tied up and taken by you."

"You're cute, Enzo, but not that cute," Eris said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Stop flirting with me if you are not going to give me what I want."

"I can't help it. You are very frightening and beautiful at the same time," Enzo replied with more bravado than he really felt.

"Fear boner," Laverna whispered to Rom. "He really is related to you."

Enzo finished his drink. "I still can't leave Rome. My parents are dead, and I'm the only relative my nonna has. If something happens to her, she will have no one to help her."

"As Rom said, we have people who can look after her," Laverna replied. "How much trouble can she be?"

"You would be surprised." Enzo still shook his head. This whole thing was fucking insane. They had to have the wrong person. He wasn't a descendant of some great hero. He was a failed therapist who ran a bar, for fuck's sake.

"Laverna? Do you have any ropes?" Eris said sweetly.

Rom's grip on Laverna tightened when she made to get up. "Show him the palladium."

"Why bother if he's not willing to help me?"

"Call it a hunch. Show him," Rom said, his golden eyes shining brighter for a moment.

I'm drinking with the gods . Enzo ran a hand through his thick curls. What a night .

"Fine. Follow me," Eris said, getting gracefully to her feet.

"You could say please," Enzo replied, setting his glass down.

"You're right. I could, but I'm not going to. Now, hurry up." Eris headed back through the villa, and Enzo sighed.

"Is she always like that?"

Laverna's expression softened. "Wouldn't you be if you had been under a curse for thousands of years? Maybe think about what this means to her before you judge her for acting unreasonable toward you. You are her key to everything."

Suitably scolded, Enzo got to his feet and followed Eris. He couldn't imagine what she had been through. Some days, he thought he was cursed too, but there was a difference between thinking it and knowing it for sure.

By the time Enzo found Eris again, she was removing something wrapped in purple material from the car.

"Can I help?" he asked, stepping forward.

"Just get out of the way," Eris replied, moving around him and setting the object on a work counter in the garage.

Enzo stared at the array of beautiful cars, but his attention snapped back to the goddess as she began to unwrap the purple cloth. It looked like an old piece of wood, vaguely in the shape of a woman.

Enzo's breath caught, and his hands tingled. In a daze, he reached out and touched it. Images flashed in his mind like memories—a family laughing, the smell of blood and smoke, temples burning, people screaming, an impossibly beautiful woman giving him instructions, the gleam of sunlight on the sea…

Strong hands grabbed Enzo by the shoulders and pulled him back. He tumbled to the concrete floor, and his mind returned to the garage once more.

"Enzo! Are you okay?" Eris asked, hovering above him. She placed her cool hands on his burning forehead and cheek. "Talk to me."

"I think I saw some of Aeneas's memories," he said. He dared to place a hand over hers. He didn't know what perfume she used, but it was as dark and lovely as she was.

Eris stroked his hair. "You'll be okay. I've covered her up again. I never would have shown you if I had known you would have that reaction."

"No, it's a good thing," he said, even if his head was now pounding. "Eris, I'll come with you. She wants to go home, and you both need to be free again."

Eris's whole face transformed into a smile so bright that Enzo wondered if he was dreaming. No one had ever smiled at him like that. "Thank you, Enzo. I promise to take good care of you. You'll be back in Rome in no time."

Enzo nodded and winced at his headache. "Now comes the hard part."

"And what's that?" Eris said, helping him sit up.

"Telling my nonna."