My Life with Hades

CHAPTER 5

"Come on, Bree, don't be mad about that," he pleaded with his eyes.

"I'm going to the ladies' room," I told him, needing some time to think. I believed that girls' bathrooms were places where you could reflect on many things, and because he was right, I shouldn't be mad about that. After a few minutes, I came out smiling.

"I think they've switched my Bree," he said with a slight smile as soon as he saw me.

"You're right," I replied with a nervous smile.

"What do you mean?"

"That I have no reason to be mad."

"You do have a reason to be mad, Bree. If the situation had been reversed, I swear nothing would be left of this restaurant," he said, looking at me intently.

His response took me by surprise, and I felt quite uncomfortable. We were supposed to be married, but we didn’t need to be faithful to each other. This wasn’t a romantic relationship—it was just a formality.

"I still want to go home," I said after a few seconds of silence.

"I understand. Do you want to walk a little?"

"Do you think I can walk in these heels?" I asked, pointing at my feet, and he smiled.

"Let's go home, then."

After paying the bill, he stood up and pulled out my chair. Then he took my hand, and we left the restaurant hand in hand. We passed the table where the woman who had interrupted us earlier was sitting. She looked at us with a surprised expression that seemed to say, "I can't believe it!" I was curious to know what Hades had done to make it so unbelievable that he was dining with a woman.

On the way home, he was talkative, while I remained silent, organizing my thoughts. When we got home, Charon greeted us, and I showered him with kisses.

"Will you sit with me for a drink?" he asked, making his way to the living room.

"The question should be, will you sit with me and watch me have a drink?" I said, laughing. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, and I sat next to him.

"Can you pour me one?" I asked.

He shook his head. "You can drink from mine," he said with a slight smile.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"I like sharing this moment with you." I nodded, and he brought the glass to my lips. I took a sip, and he smiled. "Okay, now we can talk about what happened today."

"I thought we had already talked about it."

"No," he said, looking at me intently.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know why you got jealous."

"I wasn't jealous," I replied, almost laughing.

"You were, Bree. I must confess, I liked it a little bit."

"I wasn’t jealous, Ramsés. It's just frustrating not knowing anything about you. Everyone I meet has a bad story about you, but I don’t see you that way. It bothers me not to know anything about Ramsés Knight," I said, sighing.

"You're right, Bree. What do you want to know?"

"Everything," I said, looking at him. He thought for a few seconds and then nodded.

"I was a cad. I have a long list of women to apologize to. I was out of control for a while, and I didn’t change because I married you. I changed a few months before."

"Why did you decide to change?" I asked, taking off my heels. He patted his legs for me to put my feet up, and I did. He immediately began massaging them, and I sighed with relief.

"Because that lifestyle wasn’t what I wanted. It didn’t fulfill me."

"And what did you want?"

"A wife, a family. To come home and not be alone. To have someone to share every day with."

"And why me?"

"I’ve already explained that to you, Bree." It felt like a lost cause. He wasn’t going to tell me the real reason for our marriage. I sighed dejectedly.

"Are you going to tell me about your family?"

"I’d rather not. But what do you want to know?"

"Everything," I replied, looking at him.

"My family and I had a horrible argument in a restaurant. Everyone witnessed it. That night, their car flipped over, caught fire, and they died. Because of the argument, everyone thinks I caused the accident, but that’s not true. I wasn’t even close to the scene, and the results showed that the fire was caused by a short circuit," he said with a distant, somewhat sad expression.

I didn’t know what to say. I felt sorry for him. I wanted to hug and console him, but that would’ve been strange. I stayed silent as he continued massaging my feet.

"You should look for your family, Bree. If you have one, you should cherish them."

"Things are different for me, Ramsés, and you know it. Sure, there might be people who share my blood, but they’re not my family. Those people abandoned me in an orphanage. That’s not what family does."

"I still think you should look for them, Bree. You should get close to them so you won’t feel so alone. I’m sure they have their reasons."

"No," I said, crossing my arms defiantly. "And I don’t want to talk about it anymore."

"As you wish, Bree," he replied, frowning.

"When are we going to the beach?" I asked, quickly changing the subject. He looked confused. "When you proposed, you said you wanted a wife so you could go to the beach."

"I know, I’ve been busy. But we can go tomorrow since it’s Saturday if you’re up for it." I nodded. "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Not for now, but I’m leaving the question open, okay?"

"Alright," he said, expressionless.

After a while, I said goodnight to him since I was very sleepy. He came over and kissed me on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow, Bree."

Charon followed me to the room, and this time, he didn’t stop him. Charon lay on the carpet at the foot of the bed and stayed there. I changed clothes and fell fast asleep.

"Bree, get up," Ramsés said, giving me a gentle nudge.

"I don’t want to," I replied without opening my eyes.

"You said you wanted to go to the beach today, so let’s go."

"But I’m so sleepy. What time is it?"

"It’s six in the morning."

"Are you crazy? What are we going to do at the beach at six in the morning?"

"The best waves are at this hour. Let’s go, or I’ll carry you out of bed."

"Alright," I said, getting up. He already knew how much I hated when he did that, so he used it against me. I got up, still half asleep, and stepped on Charon. I immediately opened my eyes and sat on the floor to pet him. "Sorry, baby! I was still asleep."

"What’s Charon doing here? He’s not allowed in the rooms."

"It’s my room, and I let him in," I said, sticking my tongue out playfully. He shook his head and turned to leave.

"I’ll wait for you downstairs in fifteen minutes."

I nodded and got up from the floor. Charon followed him out. I took a quick shower to wake up, put on a swimsuit, shorts, and a sweater. When I came downstairs, he and Charon were waiting for me. Ramsés was wearing a wetsuit from the waist down. Damn! These were not the hours to see such things.

We went through a door into the parking lot, and he unlocked a convertible Jeep. Caden was waiting for us, dressed casually, which was strange to see. Charon jumped into the back as if he knew exactly what to do. His intelligence surprised me more every day.

"Aren’t you going to freeze dressed like that?" I asked as soon as we left the parking lot.

"Dressed like what, Bree?"

"Without a shirt."

"Quit staring at me," he replied with a half-smile, which made me blush.

On the way to the beach, it was extremely cold, but he acted as if it were nothing. Damn! This man didn’t seem human. It felt like forever to get to the beach he had in mind. He insisted on going to a specific one with good waves.

"Next time, can we come in a closed car?" I asked, annoyed.

"Don’t be a buzzkill. Look how Charon is enjoying it."

"Poor thing doesn’t have a choice," I said, shaking my head.

When we arrived, it was a deserted beach. He set up a spot for Charon and me before grabbing his surfboard. Caden stayed in the car, claiming he didn’t like the beach, so it was just the three of us.

"Charon, watch over Bree," he ordered, looking at the dog intently. Damn! I knew Charon was smart, but not that smart.

I watched him surf the massive waves while Charon and I played ball, ran around, and eventually sunbathed together. He didn’t leave my side for a second, as if he had fully understood Ramsés' command. Hours later, the surfer came out of the water, euphoric.

"Did you see those waves, Bree?" he asked with a huge smile. It was the first time I’d ever seen him smile, and damn! It was the most beautiful smile in the world!

I forced myself to stop thinking about his smile. "What the heck is going on with you, Bree?" I scolded myself mentally.