Page 75 of The Duplicity of Thieves

“Any chance it has to do with the girl?”

“What girl?” Minos tilts his head.

“I believe her name is Josephine. Is that right?” Hades knows that’s her fucking name.

“I don’t remember a Josephine.” Hermes is deep in thought.

“I do,” Minos grins. “Vivian’s sister, Josie.”

Hermes’ eyes widen, and he swallows hard. “You’ve been seeing her sister?”

“Sex is that good, huh?” Minos wiggles his eyebrows, and I fight the urge to rip them from his face.

“But she’s so—” Hermes starts to say.

“So, what?” I growl.

“Fucking crazy,” Hermes finishes. “And out of your league.”

“Was Vivian right? Does she bite? Sink her teeth into you, and now you can’t get enough of that sweet juicy—”

“Watch it, Minos,” I warn.

Josie swims into my vision. Her scars and her big silver eyes. Yeah, she bit into my soul and dragged me into her depths. She’s on my mind every second of every day, and not just for sex, even though that’s mind blowing, too. She’s a goddess, and I can’t take my attention away from her.

Minos whistles, ignoring me. “She’s out of this world. Never seen anyone like her. Does she taste as good as she looks?”

I start to stalk toward him, ready to choke him within an inch of his life, but Hades throws out his arm stopping me. “Be respectful, boys,” he reminds them, as if he didn’t start this.

“So you’ve seen her again? Even after she rejected you?” Hermes asks.

I look away. Hades is watching me carefully, waiting to see what I say next.

“I’ve seen her,” I admit. “More than once.”

“A toast to our fallen brother,” Minos raises his glass. “He’s lost in a sea of exquisite pussy. The craziest ones are always the best in bed.”

I charge at him, and Hades doesn’t try to stop me this time. I seize him by his neck and slam him against the wall. His glass falls from his hand, shattering on the white marbled floor. Minos’ face is turning purple.

A growl tears through my throat. “Don’t ever speak about her like that again.”

“What is going on here?” Persephone’s’ soft voice floats from behind me. There’s no judgment in her tone. She sounds more like a patient mother trying to sort out our aggressively boyish feelings and the root cause of them.

I release the idiot and let him crumple to the ground. I shouldn’t be getting this angry over a girl.

“It would appear that Aedonaeus has a girlfriend. Minos was a little disrespectful,” Hades explains.

There’s a look on her face that I can’t decipher. “Is this true, Aedonaeus?”

Persephone looks elegant in a pink silk dress, and her brown hair floats around her in soft curls. She wears her pink flower crown and pink high heels. I could tell her Josie isn’t my girlfriend, but a possessive part of me wants to lean into the lie. Josie and I haven’t spoken about any of it, but she did ask me to stay in her apartment with her. That must count for something.

She was upset, my inner voice tells me. Always the devil’s advocate. What is it that she was upset about? She said she has demons, but I knew that long before she told me.

I’ve been in my head for too long. Persephone is looking at me expectantly.

“You three go ahead.” Her soft voice radiates authority.

The three of them know better than to challenge her. They stride out of the place with quick glances in my direction. Once the door shuts behind them Persephone offers me her arm.

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