Making A Deal With the Mafia | (Hades Duet #1)

38. selfish

Esmeralda ♡

The urge to slap his face was making my hands tremble. Attempting to convince myself that decorating a handprint on his handsome cheek would not solve anything, is equivalent to putting candy in front of a toddler and expecting them to not eat it.

There has to be a good explanation for this.

No.

There better be.

"What the fuck is this?" I lace every word in venom, loud and clear for him to hear.

I look from the papers to him, my emerald eyes free of any emotion because I'm not sure how to feel right now.

I knew what came with the contract. I knew the price we'd have to pay in order to do our part. I knew this marriage would come to an end after a year, but now I want nothing more than to stay married to this man.

But he doesn't. And these divorce papers are a first hand example.

I read the lines over and over again, thinking this is some sick fucking joke Hades is pulling on me, but the more I read it, the more legitimate they seem because I have the same set of papers I used to threaten him with back in Mexico stashed in a random drawer.

"You want a divorce Damien?" My eyes find his once more, searching for an answer but Hades was always a difficult man to read. He was good at keeping himself together and I knew it had to do with his role in the mafia.

"No Esmeralda, I don't." His voice is firm, assured, and confident as usual, but there's a hint of something else.

Fear.

And Damien De La Torre fears absolutely nothing.

"Then," I hold up the papers in front of him. "These are legal documents Damien. This fucking cover says divorce."

"I'm giving you a choice Esme." He steps closer, pulling the papers out of my hand and setting them on his desk. "I'm giving you the option to say or leave. The contract is done, but I want to keep our marriage because everything that's happened these last few months have been real Esmeralda. The love, the arguments, the marriage. Even though it was meant to be a stunt, it felt like it was real the moment I kneeled in front of you back in Settle."

A choice.

This man is putting our marriage in my hands, letting me decide for us because he's a man of his word. We played our roles and fell in love in the process without intention. And it's because of that love that blossoms in his cold heart, that he's willing to let me go if I decide to leave him. It's the fear that after everything, he could still end up losing me.

Months ago, these papers would've brought me the greatest joy. I felt trapped by force because of the cruel mistakes my father made. I almost traded my spot for my sister for fucks sake.

But everything happens for reason, even if it was one the most traumatic things I've had to experience in my life.

Damien De La Torre came into my life when I was still healing, but he healed me without intention. He found parts of me I never knew existed and in him, I found a love I no longer believed was real. That was something I was grateful for. I've given up on everything but he held my hand and told me to wait before I kicked it to the curve.