It was easy enough to find the dining room despite the large estate, and I told myself I’d have to find someone to show me around so I didn’t get lost in this behemoth of a house.

  I spied Hades right away. He sat at a long oak table that was positioned parallel to the monstrous fireplace. The sound of the wood crackling as it burned seemed overly loud.

  He wasn’t wearing his typical three-piece suit and tie. Instead, he had on a crisp, white, button-down shirt. The collar was opened, and a tan swatch of hard male flesh was on display.

  I hated he was so gorgeous as he sat like a king of the underworld. He had one forearm slung over the side of the chair, and the other one stretched out on the table.

  With a curl of his fingers, he motioned me farther in. I stopped when I was a few feet from the table, staring at him because I wanted Hades to know he didn’t intimidate me. Even if that was a boldfaced lie.

  He scrutinized my outfit as he sat at the head of the table.

  “Let me guess —” he drawled.

  His gaze went back to my toes, which were painted pink. It was the nail polish my mother always kept on her vanity—one of her items I’d taken with me before leaving home.

  “—that color is called Princess.”

  I didn’t react, just kept watching him. I knew he was the type of man who pushed people’s buttons. He enjoyed getting under their skin, liked finding their weakness so he could use it to his advantage.

  I could read that from him as easily as I knew he was an arrogant asshole.

  Hades smiled.

  I smirked right back. “I mean, if you like it so much, I can let you borrow it.”

  His smile vanished, and he narrowed his eyes before he murmured, “You’re a mouthy little thing.” He let that hang between us, the words heavy and suffocating. “In this house, we dress respectfully when asked to share a meal together.” He brought his square-cut glass to his mouth and took a pull from the dark-colored liquid.

  “My clothes are fine,” I said in the tightest voice I could muster. I was about to take a seat at the opposite end of the table when he made a deep sound, stopping me.

  “You’ll sit beside me when we eat dinner.”

  The last thing I wanted to do was sit next to him. But I said nothing and took my place at the spot beside him. I could see his smug expression behind his glass as he took a sip, his gaze locked on me.

  Thankfully, we didn’t have to speak because a flurry of staff came in and started placing dishes in front of us.

  A platter with a silver dome was placed in front of me, the servant pulling off the lid and standing to the side as if he waited for something.

  I looked between him and the dish, then at him again before raising an eyebrow. “Thank you?”

  Although my parents had the money, we didn’t have a waitstaff serving us hand and foot. In fact, to be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable with this show. I wasn’t anyone special to have this kind of attention thrown my way.

  “Gerard is waiting for your approval of the meal.” Hades’ voice might’ve sounded amused if a man like him could find humor.

  I looked back down at the platter and focused on the perfectly formed mound of garlicky mashed potatoes, green beans that seemed to be stacked in a lattice design, and herb-crusted chicken breast that smelled delicious, and then there was a small, porcelain plate that held a buttered roll. Gerard set a glass of iced water on my other side before taking a step back.

  “It looks wonderful. Thank you.” Gerard nodded once and took the dome lid with him before leaving.

  “Gerard,” Hades called out, and the servant stopped.

  I could see the way his pulse throbbed at the side of his neck. “You and the others can leave for the evening.”

  Gerard inclined his head before leaving Hades and me alone in the dining room.

  When Hades started eating, that was when I did as well, focusing on anywhere that wasn’t in his direction. Although I could feel his gaze on me.

  I hoped ignoring him made him feel as uncomfortable as I did, but I doubted it. He was like a slab of cold, hard granite.

  The only sounds that filled the room were of the fire crackling and of our utensils gently clanking on the plates.

  I glanced at him as he watched me and popped pomegranate seeds into his mouth. Hades pushed the small crystal bowl toward me, and I shook my head.

  “You ever have these?”

  I shook my head again.

  “Try them, sweetheart.”

  I didn’t know why I did what he said, but I took one seed and slipped it in my mouth, letting the juice burst across my tongue. His smile appeared satisfied, and it annoyed me.

  I realized I’d eaten six by the time Hades reached out and slid the bowl back toward him.

  “Eat.”

  Once we finished dinner, I glanced at him and saw he was still watching me. “Thank you for dinner. It was delicious. May I be excused?” I hated being polite to him. He rubbed me the wrong way, and I didn’t understand why, didn’t understand why he had stirred such a reaction in me.

  I also hated that I found him so attractive.

  I’d been doing a well enough job keeping my emotions in check after my mother and father passed away. Because if I allowed myself to break down and let it all wash through me, I didn’t know how long it would be before I could pull myself back together.

  But being in Hades’ presence felt like he was pouring gasoline onto this burning fire inside of me.

  He didn’t respond for a moment, just picked up his glass and brought it to his mouth. Hades watched me over the rim, and I told myself not to react.

  But I lifted an eyebrow. It was the only “hurry the hell up” reaction I allowed myself to give. I hoped he felt the sass pouring off me.

  I just wanted to go to my room and sleep. Maybe have that good cry, too.

  “You’re not excused.”

  I curled my hands into tight fists on my lap.

  “We have things to discuss. This week, I’ll be taking you to do some shopping.” He rested back against the chair and watched me.

  “Shopping for what? I have what I need already. I brought it with me since you demanded it and all.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked up slightly. “You need things for school.” He took a sip of his drink. “I got in touch with that fancy as fuck private school you attend and had them change all your forms to have me listed as your guardian and emergency contact.” When I said nothing, he was the one to raise an eyebrow. “Not gonna bitch about that?”

  I shrugged. “I mean, it makes sense they’d list you as my emergency contact, seeing as I have no family left.” Not counting my grandfather, who I assumed was still living. I hadn’t seen him in ages, certainly not before he got sick, and never after the fact.

  But Michael had never expressed any interest in his granddaughter anyway.

  I watched a muscle under his jaw work as he mulled that over.

  “You also need clothes. I saw what you brought, and it’s not enough.”

  I wasn’t about to argue with him about wanting to buy me clothes. But a part of me hated needing anything from him.

  “Thank you. When I get my inheritance, I’ll pay you back for any expenses you—”

  “Not fucking likely.”

  I swallowed at the hard tone in his voice. “Excuse me?”

  He took another sip of his liquor before responding. “I don’t need or want your money, Princess. As your legal guardian, it’s my job to provide for you.”

  I shivered. I had no clue why my body reacted at hearing him say he was providing for me, but here I was, feeling pretty damn uncomfortable by the visceral reaction Hades arose in me.

  “And because you need items, we’re going to get them for you. I have some pressing business to attend to over the next couple of days, but after that, I’m all yours.” He said that with a smirk in his voice and one curving his lips.

  “I don’t need you to be mine.”

  He finished his liquor, set the glass aside, and started running the pad of his finger over the rim. For a second, that sight transfixed me. I noticed for the first time that he had tattoos on his knuckles, the backs of his hands, and I could see dark ink snaking up his wrists and disappearing beneath his dress shirt.

  “You hate me,” he said matter-of-factly. It took me a little off guard. “You could lie.” It was like he’d read my mind. “But I’d prefer if you didn’t.” Hades leaned forward and braced his forearms on the table, his hands clasped.

  His skin was a dark shade of tan, and I noticed his knuckles were a little scuffed up on his right one. “So go on.”

  He was pushing me, wanting to get his way. I wasn’t about to oblige him.

  “I don’t have time for stupid games.” I pushed the chair back and stood, knowing I probably looked shaky as hell. But when he narrowed his eyes, I threw a smile right back at him. “You may be my legal guardian now, and I have no choice but to tolerate you for the next three years, but I don’t have to like it. I don’t have to like you or the situation, or give into your psychotic demands.”

  I turned to leave when the sound of his chair scraping across the hardwood floor stopped me.

  I turned just as I saw him making his way around the table and right toward me, his expression so cold and hard that I moved backward until the wall stopped my retreat.

  I felt something I didn’t want to explore too deeply. I pressed myself to the wall, and as Hades crowded me, I felt this intense heat settle right between my thighs.

  “Zachariah never disciplined you, isn’t that right?” He stared hard into my eyes.

  I tipped my chin in defiance and stayed quiet.

  I heard him grind his teeth as he slapped a hand on the wall beside my head and leaned in. “I think you need a different kind of daddy to teach you manners, sweetheart.”

  I didn’t have time to grasp what he meant by that because, a second later, he had his hand curled around the back of my neck. He jerked me toward his chest until the motion forced me to place my palms on his pecs. And then he led me out of the dining room, up the stairs, and into my bedroom.

  He was rough, but not painfully so. It was more demanding, dominating, as if he were used to getting his way and there was no getting around that.

  “Hades…” I gasped. “What are you—” My words lodged in my throat when he sat on the edge of my bed and pulled me over so I was draped across his lap.

  He had a thick forearm braced on the center of my back, keeping me in place. I looked over my shoulder and parted my lips, the shock of how inappropriate this was filling me with unsurmountable rage.

  And then he yanked down my sweats so my ass was in full view. I gasped, and our eyes locked. I watched as he lifted his hand.

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” I whispered, not caring that I used coarse language with him. I struggled, but he held me down easily, effortlessly.

  His nostrils flared, his jaw muscles flexed, and while he held my gaze with his, he brought his hand down on my ass so hard and swiftly my back bowed and a cry ripped from my throat.

  “I bet your daddy never did this to you, did he, Princess?”

  I screamed out and thrashed, but he just spanked me again.

  “This is what happens when you run that pretty little mouth of yours.”

  He spanked my ass so hard I felt something shift in me, something dark and devious uncoil in my body.

  Another smack. “You get my hand on this perfect ass.” His voice hardened, sounded rougher on that last word. “You need to learn to be a good girl.”

  He delivered three more blows to both sides, my skin burning, my panties having inched inward, so they were now partially between the crease, the cheeks almost fully on display. I could only imagine how they looked, my skin painted red with his handprints.

  “You’ll learn to obey, Persephone.” Slap. Slap. “You need to understand who calls the shots. Who makes the rules?” Slap. Slap.

  I shifted on his lap, trying to get away, kicking out, clawing at his pant leg, but his arm was like a vise. He was just too strong.

  Slap.

  Tears streamed down my cheeks, and as I struggled against him, my breath caught as I felt the hard length of his erection digging into my hip.

  Slap. Slap.

  Something in me took a different turn. It still hurt, but the pain turned into something else. Darker and more consuming.

  “Say it.” Hades panted, the air sawing in and out of him as he spanked me. “Tell me what I want to hear, like my good girl.”

  I couldn’t stop the moan that slipped out of me. I closed my eyes, lifting my ass to accept his next hit.

  I felt the subtle surprise in him by the way his body tensed under mine, but it only lasted a millisecond before he cursed, “Jesus Christ,” and spanked me again.

  Air wheezed out of me, and perspiration dotted my brow. I didn’t know what had come over me as I kept lifting my ass higher just as he brought his palm down.

  His fingertips brushed between my thighs. I sucked in a sharp breath at how inappropriately wicked this whole situation was.

  This had started as some weird punishment situation, but now it was shifting into something erotic and wrong and spiraling so out of control there was no stopping it.

  “I’m going to listen.” Torn words came from me at the same time as Hades groaned and stilled. I looked over my shoulder, unable to catch my breath. He was staring at my ass, this crease between his brows, his lips tightening, his jaw clenched.

  “Don’t stop,” I moaned.

  He looked over at me, snapping out of his haze, his forehead furrowing even further.

  He didn’t speak, didn’t comment on what I’d just said. Instead, I felt his fingers move further between my thighs, stroking me through my panties.

  He pressed the material against me, and I moaned, spreading my thighs a bit more, knowing he could feel how wet I was. I knew the material was soaked clean through.

  I’d never been so wet in my life.

  And then he was lifting me off his lap and tossing me onto the bed. I bounced twice before I rolled over, pushing myself up and bracing my upper body on my elbows.

  He ran a hand through his short, dark hair, and a deep, primal sound left him.

  With one last look in my direction and a scowl on his face, like I pissed him off, he turned and left, slamming my bedroom door shut and leaving me wondering what in the hell had just happened.

  Chapter 7

  Hades

  I had to stay away from her. So I’d done just that.

  All I could think about was having her over my lap and spanking that perfect ass. What I hadn’t expected was for her to enjoy it. The punishment had been because she had a smart fucking mouth on her. Persephone needed to know I was the one in charge. I called the shots, made the rules.

  But then she’d lifted her ass and moaned. I’d found my control snapping.

  My little Persephone’s pussy got all nice and wet because I’d been spanking her hard. I scrubbed a hand over my jaw as the memory of my hand on her juicy ass slammed into my mind repeatedly. I knew her ass had to have been sore after I got done with her. It was after I knew she enjoyed the pain that I’d felt like a wild animal about to destroy my prey.

  All I’d been able to think about was pulling those innocent, white panties down, shoving her legs open, and seeing how pink and soaked she was because of my hand.

  Persephone isn’t for you like that. She’s a means to an end. She’ll know what it feels like to be alone, isolated. You want her to hurt, not in the physical sense like your childhood was, but in a way that eats someone up and spits them back out.

  But thinking those things felt so… wrong.

  Sweat covered my face. My chest rose hard and fast as I breathed, staring off with my opponent, who was a bloody mess and weaving on his feet, trying to stay upright.

  The Circuit was where I went to let off this violent, aggressive energy inside of me. It was another living entity that grew until there was no choice but to let it out in the most brutal way possible.

  And I found that outlet in this underground fighting ring controlled by The Ruin, a crime syndicate for anything and everything illegal.

  I shook my head to clear all thoughts of Persephone. She had no place here, in this coppery-tinged cesspool of degenerates and lowlifes.

  My opponent charged forward and slammed his body into me, but I tensed. Prepared. I wanted him to make contact.

  The force would have knocked me down if I hadn’t already steadied myself. And when the fucker stumbled back, I swung and clocked him on the side of the head.

  I’d struck him in the skull more times than I could count, and I was pretty fucking impressed the asshole was even still standing.

  The only rules here were the kind you found on the street. Which meant there were none. I’d watched fights to the death, ones that were so violent that blood had covered the cage mat in crimson and dripped off the sides.

  He came after me again and I ducked, his movements sloppy and slow. I felt my annoyance grow over wanting Persephone the way I did. She should be a means to an end, not this sweet, fragile temptation that called to the most primal, animalistic side of me.

  I let the asshole clock me in the jaw, tasted blood filling my mouth, that metallic tang rushing down my throat. I slowly turned my head back toward the other fighter, let my grin widen, and when he took a step back, that feral side of me rose.

  “You only get that one. Now it’s my turn,” I said low, deep.

  I slammed my fist into his side repeatedly. He stumbled back, and I charged forward, colliding with him so that we fell to the mat.

  He fought me and I grinned even more. The struggle was half the fun, half the rush of the fight.

  And the crowd went wild, screamed for more blood. I was more than willing to deliver on that. I was too fucking amped up to not be a savage.

  I rose, straddling him as I swung repeatedly until he grew limp beneath me.

  Huffing out, I moved several steps back, staring at the man who lay unconscious and bleeding out from his eyes, nose, and mouth.