Page 33 of Obsessed with Her

My friend comes up to me and kisses me on the forehead before leaving. “I'll be in the hallway,” she says.

I notice the men are going too, and a small panic attack hits me. Will I be alone with him?

Not that I was under the illusion that either of them could protect me from my guardian's wrath, but at least the one with the beard seems a little calmer—like, on a scale of zero to one hundred in anger, he might be ninety-two, while Ares and the other brother would easily exceed one hundred and fifty.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your brothers?" I ask in a desperate attempt to buy time before they leave.

He narrows his eyes, and I can see he understands my maneuver.

"I'm Dionysus, and he's Hades," the long-haired one says, and I think his mouth lifts a little in an ironic smile.

Why? Why did I have the courage to throw it in the face of his brothers that he has “no manners”?

"All gods?" I ask, the result of the sincerest nervousness, and this time, the man's smile is real.

"Are you still doped, Serenity?" he asks.

My face boils with shame. "When I'm nervous, I say the first thing that comes to mind."

Dionysus nods. "Yes, we are all gods, but at the moment, your only concern should be this one," he says, patting Ares on the shoulder. He gently squeezes my guardian's shoulder and whispers something I can't hear.

Then he and Hades both leave, abandoning me to face what I know won't be an easy conversation.

Ares

CHAPTER TWENTY

I’ve watchedher on stage from the shadows these past two years, and if I had any hope that the impact of her beauty would eventually be neutralized for me, I have just realized that I was deluded. Serenity is now even more perfect than when we first met.

All traces of late adolescence are gone. She is still very young, but there is no doubt that she is a full-grown woman.

Her hair, still long, falls loosely down her back and also a little down the front of her body, creating a brown blanket, bringing back the desire to wrap my fingers around it.

I keep both hands in my pockets and force myself to concentrate on what I came here to do, even though those doll-like eyes, which at this moment show insecurity, and the mouth with full, naturally pink lips, are a fucking distraction.

When I set out to help my brother Zeus by becoming the guardian of the then orphan and aspiring ballerina, the only heir to the shares he needed, I intended to keep our relationship strictly professional for as long as my obligation lasted.

I knew we would eventually have to meet, but it only took a single visit to New Orleans for me to know that working closely together would be a bad idea.

Even if it weren’t for the instant attraction I felt for her, I don’t create bonds other than family ones. I didn’t want a woman to take care of, or in this case, a girl.

I was protecting her from myself, from my desire for her, because whatever would happen between us wouldn’t last.

All Serenity Clementine had to do was keep quiet, remain a good girl, reach the damn age stipulated in her will to take possession of her assets, and disappear from my life forever.

She wasn’t supposed to take risks. She wasn’t supposed to awaken the madness of an obsessive fan. But first and foremost, she wasn’t supposed to hide anything from me.

I barely finish the thought before I feel like a bastard over the first two points. It’s not her fault she’s so beautiful and talented. Of course she won the hearts of fans around the world, and among them, hundreds must be perverts.

But she was very wrong to not tell me from the beginning that there was someone stalking her.

According to what the bodyguards who heard her testify told me, it has been happening since she returned to New Orleans from the German boarding school.

More than two fucking years ago.

Serenity also revealed to the police that the son of a bitch leaves her gifts and notes, and what goes through my mind is: how did the security guards, whose only mission on this fucking planet was to protect her, let someone who posed a risk get so close to her?

Her moving to New York left me torn. While I liked the idea of having her nearby, there was a downside: the temptation would also be nearby.

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