Zeus (The God Chronicles #1)

Chapter Fourteen

Relief filled me as we sat on the couch. It was good to know that—so far—our relationship was going to be okay.

"That stuff she said, Karly," he began.

"It's alright, Zeus," I sighed. "You were with other girls before me. I already knew that."

"No, it's not." Anger passed over his face. "The things she called you . . . You never should have had to listen to it."

"You should have heard what she told me downstairs."

"What? She cornered you downstairs too?"

"Not really. She just showed up and started talking to me—told me her name was Hera. Can you believe that? I think she was trying to mess with me. Anyway, she pretty much tried to convince me she was the perfect wife and all you ever did was cheat on her until you left. I didn't believe her, though."

"Great." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry I have to tell you everything this way. I should have done it in the beginning."

"You're telling me now, and that's what counts." I slid my hand into his and squeezed, giving him a reassuring smile.

"She wasn't the perfect wife," he said, dropping his gaze to the ground. "She was hardly a wife at all. But what she said about me was true. I did nothing but cheat on her. I don't even know how many girls there were." He grimaced and held onto my hand tighter, like he was afraid I was going to run away. "I've never cheated on you, though." He looked up from the piece of carpet he'd been riveted on. "This is the longest I've ever gone without sleeping with someone. I don't want to be with anyone else. I did leave her, but she was in no way innocent. I know it was wrong to cheat on her, but she would do horrible things to the women I'd been with. I tried to let it pass because I felt guilty, like she deserved to be mean to them because I was so awful. She claimed I had ruined her life so she was going to ruin mine. I finally realized she was crazy, and I needed to get out. I called it quits."

"I understand," I said softly. They had both been in the wrong, and it ended their marriage. Zeus was evidently the only one who'd let it go and moved on, though. While this new information made me nervous about any future we could have, I also knew what a trial it must have been for him to share this with me. I'd never heard of a man confessing his greatest faults and mistakes to a woman he only wanted to sleep with—not in real life anyway. He'd also never pushed me, and I appreciated that. If offering my understanding in this situation was what it took to show him how much I appreciated that, then I would do it.

"So now she's working with your uncle?"

"It looks that way. She would have gone to him for revenge, that's the kind of person she is." He released my hand and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer.

"Do you have any other secrets I need to know?" I asked quietly, dreading all the possible answers he could give me. If we were going to be confessing things it would be better to get everything out now.

Zeus opened his mouth and then closed it again, unsure of what to say. He seemed to be having a battle within himself as he tried to decide if he had anything to confess.

"No," he finally breathed out.

"Are you sure? It looked like you had something else to say," I probed. I believed what he told me before, but I was sure there was something else he was keeping from me.

"I'm sure," he sighed. "Except I do have one more secret I just remembered." He smiled wide, eyes shining.

"What's that?" I asked, a little shocked over his sudden mood change.