Page 5 of Winning Back Persephone

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at her light-blue hair. She could pretend it was her natural colour all she wanted, but I knew better.

She ignored me and summoned one of the servers with a tray of drinks, picking up a glass of champagne. I got one for myself,trying not to get too side-tracked when I spotted Hades across the room again.

I couldn't let him distract me. I was at a Jinx Dating Agency party, and I was going to make the most of it. And tomorrow, I'd look at one of their packages and start the process of actually moving on from my former husband.

Chapter 3

HADES

I sighed and ran a hand over my face as I looked over all of the details for the new club I was opening. It had been a few years in the making, and I was glad that I was finally getting somewhere with it. Though every time I looked through reports like this, I wondered whether telling Persephone about this would have stopped her from walking away. She'd always wanted me to consider doing more with the club, and to open a second venue, but I'd been worried about telling her that it was happening would only disappoint her if it fell through, like several of my business plans had before. She was just so much better than me at this kind of thing.

Having to do it all without her definitely underlined that. She'd be able to take one look at the plans in front of me and be able to tell me what needed doing and if there were any potential issues. I wished she was here to do just that.

I reached for my mug, finding that the coffee had gone cold. I should go get another one. Or take Cerberus for a walk to clear my head. Then I could come back to the papers and make sense of them better.

And preferably without my mind constantly thinking about my wife.Formerwife. I had to remember that, even if we hadn't done anything to make it official yet. For two years, that had been enough to keep me hoping that it wasn't going to be the end, but after seeing her at a Jinx party the other night, I knew that wasn't the case. She was moving on, and it was time for me to do the same. There was no point in spending the next hundred years dwelling on what could have been.

Even as I thought it, I realised I was being foolish. I'd never loved anyone the way I loved Persephone, and I doubted I'd find anyone like her. But that was immaterial.

The door opened, and I looked up, almost hoping that it was the goddess of my thoughts entering my office to tell me that the break-up was all a mistake. It was the thought I hadeverytime someone came into my office.

I deflated slightly as my adoptive brother swaggered into the room and dropped down into the seat opposite from me. While he wasn't who I wanted to see, I supposed it could be worse. Zeus could be here.

"What can I do for you?" I asked Poseidon.

"I came to check on you," he said. "One of my sous chefs said that he saw you at a Jinx party, and I had to check that they weren't hitting the bottle too hard."

I rolled my eyes. It was a transparent lie at best. "I was at a Jinx party."

"I never thought I'd see the day. Do you have any whisky?" He looked around the room as if expecting some to appear.

"Downstairs in the bar," I responded.

"You're so boring, Des. Why don't you have any in your office?"

"Because this is where I do my work, not my drinking."

"Ah right. Going home to the wife and a bottle of wine."

"Something like that," I muttered.

"Well, the wife's gone, so maybe the whisky could come into your office," he said offhandedly.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not about to start drinking at work just because Persephone left me."

"Not with that attitude, you're not," Poseidon responded.

"What do you really want?" Part of me wanted to know, but the rest of me was just hoping I could get the conversation away from Persephone.

"Can I use your club for an event?" he asked.

"Depends on the day and if anything else is scheduled."

"It'll be a Saturday in about six months."

"No."

"But..."

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