Page 77 of All for her Forgiveness

"You had sex with me against your will!"

He approaches, and even though I believe he must be seething with anger from now having proof that both of us were manipulated by Pam, he gives me one of his sardonic smiles. "Believe me, I've always wanted to have sex with you. Dirty, intense, and very sweaty sex. The drug Pam used to spike the drinks removed inhibitions, made my desire uncontrollable, but that desire always existed. I wanted you from that first day you walked into the casino's meeting room."

I feel my face burn with embarrassment. "Even so, I . . .I'm sorry. I had no idea you weren't in control of your actions."

"You're sorry? You were a virgin, Kennedy. You deserved . . .everything! I wish I could go back in time, not have taken you on the carpet but in my bed, but I can't say I regret it because that was the night we made King. I've watched the video several times. I didn't use a condom."

I look down, mortified. "I noticed. At the time, I didn't even think about it."

"I've never failed to use one, and I'd like to say it was the drug's fault for my not remembering, but I can't swear I would have used it even if I had been fully conscious of my actions."

"I was going to come back to you that night, I remember now. I went to take a shower and change clothes because you . . .um . . .had torn my pajamas. Jesus, I was going to humiliate myself because the thing you said, that I was yours, didn't match what you were feeling!"

"Kennedy."

"I . . .I need to be alone."

I run to my room, not giving him a chance to say anything else.

When I wake up, he is no longer in our house.

I slept until eleven in the morning. Finally, the sleepless nights have taken their toll.

Ernest tells me that Hades stayed with King until about half an hour ago and that besides bathing our son, he also fed him. "He's good at it."

"Taking care of a child?"

Ernest nods. "Hades said that one of his brothers, the second youngest, Dionysus, was a single father for a while and that the four of them took turns taking care of the little boy because they didn't trust nannies."

I try to visualize the scene because even though I don't know the other three Greeks, I've seen pictures of them, but I can't imagine the arrogant men doing something as trivial as taking care of a child.

Soon, however, I remember the way Hades spoke to King not only yesterday but also the day he took me to the hospital.

Yes, he likes and is good with children.

"What are you thinking, Kennedy?"

"I watched some videos yesterday," I say, forcing my mind to focus on something practical and not the fact that Hades isn't the avenging demon I want to believe he is.

"Hades mentioned them."

"Did he tell you what they contained?"

"No. He only briefly mentioned that the videos could help your defense."

I don't have the courage to say out loud, near King, that he was conceived while his father was drugged by that criminal, so I take a notepad on the sink and write a summary of the video for Ernest to read.

He widens his eyes as soon as he finishes. "So these are the proofs Hades mentioned, then."

"Yes. At least, she wasn't the saint the prosecution painted in the case files," I say. "I'm not saying she deserved to die that way, but what she did shows she didn't have a good character."

"And Hades is willing to expose himself to save you."

"What?"

"He told me he was going to take the evidence to the team of lawyers he hired to defend you, Kennedy."

"My God, but there's one where we . . .”

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