Page 66 of Hades

“Fuck yeah, it does, darlin’. I want you to come live with me in my house.”

I stood open-mouthed at his request.

“There are two extra bedrooms so you don’t have to stay in my bed, though I’m hoping you will. Eventually.” His smile was so hopeful, so fucking earnest my breath got stuck in my throat.

My head was swimming at the rapid change of circumstances. I expected him to reject me and the baby, to tell me he wasn’t ready, or worse. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect him to be happy about it. My heart was screaming ‘Yes!’ but was it enough? “I need to think about it.”

“Yeah, of course,” he whispered, kissing the corners of my mouth. “Move in and think about it there. I promise to give you the space you need to decide what you want and need from me.”

“I want that…” I started. I saw the hopeful look in Hades’ face. I had to be strong, though. This was my future—our future—that was at stake. “For the last three years I’ve been hiding, running away from a past I couldn’t escape from, because even if I was out of his control, Viktor was still in my head. Now I can start to live again and think of the future. I have to think of the future for the baby’s sake. I just need some time to get my head around all the changes, and being with you or at the clubhouse, isn’t gonna let me make peace with what’s happened,” I paused, hoping he realized this wasn’t me running away, just taking a step back. “When you left the Army did you feel lost for a while?”

Hades looked thoughtful, “I guess…”

“It’s like that. It’s not that I don’t want to see you, you can come and visit me here if Bettie says it’s okay. It’s just I need a few days to decompress, okay?”

“A few days?” he asked.

“Just a few days. I’m not talking weeks or months.”

He let out a sigh. “Yeah, sweetheart. Okay, if that’s what it’s gonna take.”

Chapter Thirty-four

Hades

I understood where Raven was coming from. I really did. But the three days since I tracked her down felt like an eternity.

I know she told me she needed to decompress, but part of me worried that it was all still down to me. That maybe that one moment of hesitation would haunt me forever and cost me the future I’d just started dreaming of. So every day I turned up on the doorstep with flowers in my hand and hope in my heart.

Bettie pulled open the door with a wide, knowing smile, and a twinkle in her eye. “The good Lord must be shining down on me, gracing me with your pretty face for another day.”

“You’re looking well, Miss Bettie. These are for you,” I told her, thrusting one of the bouquets at her.

“Well, thank you. They sure don’t make ‘em like you anymore.” She stepped back and waved me inside. “Raven told me about her past and well, if you don’t mind an old woman meddling.”

“I don’t mind,” I answered quickly.

“She’s been hurt, badly. Too many times.” Bettie sighed as if she was carrying some of Raven’s pain. “I think she’s afraid to reach for what she wants. She’s worried she doesn’t deserve it. You’re not the type to run off at the first difficulty, are you?”

I shook my head. “I’m in it for the long haul.”

“I can see that. Just giving you something to think about.” She smiled sweetly and nodded to the staircase. “She’s up in her room.”

“Thank you,” I pressed a kiss to her cheek and marched up to Raven’s door. It was open but I still knocked. “Hey.”

She looked up with a soft smile. “Hey. Fancy meeting you here. Again.”

My shoulders relaxed. She seemed happy enough to see me and I relaxed, handing her the flowers. “Saw these and thought of you.”

She laughed. “You just happened upon my favorite flowers and thought of me?”

I shrugged, lips curling into a teasing smile. “Yep.”

She took them, burying her face in the floral bouquet and inhaling deeply. “Thank you.”

I looked around the room and took a seat in the plush chair beside the window rather than beside her on the bed where I really wanted to sit. “I love you, Raven. I love you and I want to be with you.” I waited until her eyes met mine. “I didn’t expect you, Raven. I mean I wanted you for a lot longer than I even admitted to myself, and then getting to know you? It moved beyond want to need and then to love.”

“Hades,” she whispered, as if she didn’t want to hear the words. But she needed to hear these.