My Crown

Chapter 23

"Hey, girl, hey." Girl greets me with a smile. Quite a smile too. She is in her workout clothes as well, heading outside. Her white leggings show off her legs and hips and her neon green top dips so low that her breasts are on display in her sexy sports bra. She is a fucking knockout.

"Good morning." I might as well be nice.

"You want to join Hades and I on our run?" They run together? This is news to me.
"No, thanks." It would be awkward, especially after yesterday.

"I don't know how you look so gorgeous without any makeup. I would kill for your skin." She does have a bit of discolouration I hadn't noticed before.
"Facials and disgusting healthy smoothies, I'll give you my recipe." Unlike everyone else here, I put in a lot to look this good. Including this workout I have to get to.

"I am so grateful you didn't say "drink a lot of water". I am so tired of hearing that." She rolls her eyes, "That too." I tell her. I drink about a gallon a day.

I am met with the image of a shirtless Hades in camouflage joggers and green and white sneakers as we walk out of the house.

Have I ever mentioned how Fine this man looks without a shirt? Damn.

Silver eyes meet mine and I feel my temperature rising again.
"Good morning." I try my best to appear unaffected by him,
"Good morning. Will you be joining us?" A ménage à trois? I would be down for that.

"No, I'll just try not to die with Seph's crazy workouts." She has been pushing me harder and harder since our first session.
Her and It a would get along great.

"You are brave." Girl commends, "I told her I wanted to lose weight and she almost killed me. I quit after the first day." How is this girl mafia? She is so open and friendly.
"Now, I just run with this one. Lost an inch off my waist." She smiles proudly. I do notice that she seems to have a bit of belly fat that I never noticed before. She still looks stunning. Who cares if she is a bit larger? She clearly doesn't.

"You look fucking amazing. I don't even like standing too close to you, I feel like a skinny boy with long hair." Honestly, she does. I notice her brighten up as she laughs.
Now I feel bad for flirting with her man, she seems like such a nice person. My eyes find Hades who is still looking at me with those enigmatic eyes.

Maybe not that guilty.

"Pray for me. I'm going off to war." I leave them and make my way to Andy and Seph feeling eyes on my ass as I walk away.

¤

"Ports!" I finally notice. Nic and Hades look at me funny, "I think she's finally snapped." Nic fake whispers to Hades.

"Every city he has lived in has a port! I think that is how he escaped you in Santos! His father's cousin, John Reilburne has a shipping company; I bet if we searched, we would find one of his ships at every city Kyle has lived in when he was there."
"We drove." Nic points out.
"You should know; you always need a back-up plan."

This guy is good. Sneaky and mistrusting, always has a plan, always on the move. He reminds me of myself.
I wonder what he did to piss these guys off so much.

"I'll get Demi and Savat on it when they get back." Hades says stretching out, "You are really good at this." He compliments searing my flesh with his silver.

I deliberately sat far away from him and kept my focus on the work today because I am not the girl who flirts with her boss. Yesterday was a fluke.

Even right now, I am just frustrated. It has been months since I had any release; of course I would be tempted by this Greek god.

"How did you get into this? Were you in law enforcement?" Really, Nic? He thinks I was a police officer? Or maybe, I am an agent here to infiltrate their organisation. That's laughable. I guess in a way I am.
"This isn't my day job. Just doing Hades a favour." I say leaning back and putting my feet on the table.

"More like paying me back." He reminds me.

"Oh, please, I didn't need to pay you back for that. I'm doing this so you can watch me in action and catch a pest." I call him out.
Does he really think I don't know?
By watching me, he can learn how to protect them from the next snoopy girl while keeping a close eye on me and using me without offering me anything in return.

I'm not stupid.

They are hoping I let my guard down.
That isn't happening.

"So what is your day job?" Nic tries to dispel the tension by asking.
"Secretary/Assistant." I answer. I mean, it's not far from the truth.

"You, not your alias." Hades says causing my eyes to snap back to his. "Who am I without my alias?" I question. I know he has been wondering since we met. Does he have an answer yet?
"Someone dangerous." I hold back my smile. That bit is true.
"You flatter me. I'm afraid I'm just a girl though." I test him.

"One girl can change history."

I cannot look away from him. Something in his eyes sees me. Not Rose, not Helen; me. As dangerous as that is for me, it's also exciting. Savat, Ita and I understand each other, but we know very little about each other. I'm curious if Hades will be the one to crack my code.

And what will he do if he does?

"Okay, so Ayanna and I have plans for tonight. I'll leave you two to whatever this is." Nic disrupts our staring contest. What time is it? I am surprised to see it is already 6:30. Wow, today passed by quickly.

"I think we can all call it a day." I'm a little tired myself.
"All of us or just us?" Hades teases, "Excuse me for working hard." He should be happy I am so focused.

"You have been at this non-stop for ten and a half hours. You are going to work yourself into an early grave."
"You're just scared Yaya will yell at you again." I tease him, "Yes. Yes, I am." We all laugh.

"Speaking of, I should get going. I will see you both tomorrow." Nic excuses himself.

It is just Hades and I now.

"Will you be joining us for dinner?"

"Yes, I could really do with some food."

"Did you even have breakfast?"

He noticed.

He must realise my answer as he continues, "Starving and overworking yourself. Sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"I know, I know. I'll eat more." I assure him.

"And?"

"I'm not slowing down on my work."

"You are in that big of a hurry to leave?"

"Who said anything about leaving? I want to get to the fun part."

He smiles.

Fuck that smile of his.

"I cannot wait."

Neither can I.

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I can't either