Page 30 of Winning Back Persephone

And there was always tomorrow.

Chapter 16

PERSEPHONE

I was exhausted by the time the launch event was over, but my spirits lifted as soon as I saw that Hades was still here. I hadn't expected him to leave, not really. We'd shared too many events like this for me to expect him to disappear afterwards without saying anything.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. What had I been thinking in walking away from our relationship? He might not have my same level of ambition, but he had a lot of other things that were just as important, if not more. I could trust him to be alongside me every step of the way.

Someone cleared their throat beside me, and I turned to find Aphrodite there with a clipboard. "If you want to go, I can finish up here," she said.

"It's fine, I can stay."

She gave me a look that said she didn't believe me. "You're going to spend every moment you can staring at Hades and wishing you were alone with him if you did that."

"What? No, of course not."

She laughed. "Lie to me all you want, I've been doing this as long as you've been queen of the underworld."

I sighed. We weren't close, but there was no reason to doubt her insights. "What do I do?"

She shrugged. "Whatever you want to do. I can only tell you what I can see from watching the two of you. You're the ones who have to decide what you want to do with that."

I nodded and looked over in his direction. She wasn't wrong about that, and I knew what I wanted, I was just a little scared about putting myself out there, especially when nothing had changed. "Are you sure you're okay staying here?"

"Of course. It's part of my job," she said. "Just recommend me to anyone else you know who is having a launch event. I could always use more business."

"But not by working for Jinx?"

She chuckled. "I like workingwithJinx, but I don't want to work for Aine. I'm my own boss, and I'm not looking to change that."

"That's something I can understand."

She nodded. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Persephone." She walked away before I could say anything else, leaving me to make a decision about Hades.

Except that wasn't right. I'd already made my decision, I just needed to find out if he was willing to make it with me.

He looked over, and my heart skipped a beat. There was no time like the present.

"Hey." I barely resisted the urge to lean in and kiss him. It was harder not to be affectionate than I'd ever expected it to be.

"Hey," he responded.

"I'm done for the night. If you want walking back to the portal."

He raised an eyebrow. "That depends."

"On?"

"If you're going to come through it with me. Cebby would love to see you again."

"Cebby would love to see me?" I echoed.

He laughed. "I'd like it too. I know you well enough to be sure you haven't eaten all night. We can pick something up on the way home."

Home. The word did funny things to me. "Let me just get my coat." It wasn't a yes, but it was as good as one. I headed into the back and collected my things, being careful with the potted daffodils he'd brought me. They'd need planting in a garden to properly thrive, but I appreciated that he'd brought me living plants instead of cut flowers. I didn't think anyone else had ever thought about that for me. But that just summed up Hades.

The cool air made it worthwhile for having gotten my coat as we stepped out of the building and began the walk back to the portal that would lead to the god realm where Hades made his home.

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