Page 6 of Winning Back Persephone

I sighed. "It's the busiest day of the week for the club," I pointed out. "I can't do that, Persephone would..." I cleared my throat.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "Persephone would do what?"

"Nothing," I finished. "She'd do nothing. But the answer is still no."

"What if I paid you double what you normally make on a Saturday night?" he asked.

"Why would you even want that? Surely there's somewhere better to hold your event?"

"Better thanThe Underworld? Is there such a place?"

"Assuming that you want to serve food, then yes, I have to think so." I couldn't pretend to know much about the restaurant business, but I did know that.

"I need somewhere big enough," he responded. "And that will give me leeway in decorating."

"Fine. Just clear it with my assistant to make sure there's nothing else going on the day you want the club," I responded.

"Are you sure Persephone won't mind?" he asked with a smile that said he knew exactly what he was saying.

"Persephone doesn't get a say in it," I said firmly, even though I wished she did. I wanted to know what she thought about every business decision I made. No, it was more than that. I wanted her opinion on everything, even the mundane things like the fact they'd changed the colour of my favourite box of cereal. It had turned blue after over a decade of being yellow, and I had thoughts about it that I couldn't share with anyone. I supposed I could tell Posiedon, but I doubted he cared.

"I hope that extends to your dating life. So what did you sign up to Jinx for?"

"Matchmaking," I admitted, not seeing the point in denying it. There were enough meddlesome love gods involved in the dating agency that it was sure to come out eventually, even if I didn't want it to.

"Unexpected. I'd have thought you'd want something more hands-off."

I shrugged. "It's as hands-off as I can get." I leaned back in my seat. "They vet all of my dates for me, and I don't have to worry about dealing with anyone who claims to be compatible just so they can date Hades."

Posiedon snorted. "You're not the catch you think you are."

"Probably not. I'll have picked up bad habits from having been in a relationship for over two thousand years. But you know what mortals can be like. Even some of the younger gods and immortals would probably be the same if they saw one of our names on their dating app. I don't want to risk that."

"Mmm, fair. It's been putting me off signing up," Poseidon admitted.

"That and running a restaurant doesn't give you a lot of time to date," I pointed out.

"That's under control now. I've got a potential replacement head chef lined up, so I can go and open my next one. Or maybe do something new. Maybe it's time to move on."

There was no helping the laugh that escaped me. "You say that every five years, and you never actually quit. You love to cook." We had that in common, though I'd always stayed in the kitchen at home, whereas Poseidon had ventured into the restaurant business.

"True. I guess we'll see how my event goes."

"You didn't tell me what it was," I said.

"I didn't," he responded, getting to his feet. "You'll have to wait for your invitation."

I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face, wondering what I'd gotten myself, and my club, into. With Poseidon, there was really no knowing. It could be anything from an orgy to filling the club with water and letting a load of seahorses swim about. I wasn't even sure which of the two would make a bigger mess.

No doubt, whichever it was, it wouldn't be anything compared to the mess I was about to make of my love life. As much as I wanted to pretend moving on from Persephone was going to be straight forward, I knew it wouldn't be. And that I was probably going to get hurt before I could probably get over her.

It was going to take time unless I was lucky and met someone who made her fade from existence. But I very much doubted that.

Chapter 4

PERSEPHONE

I slipped my key into my front door and let myself into the flat I'd called home for the past two years. The silence was oppressive, especially without the pitter-patter of paws scampering towards me, and the darkness only added to the loneliness.

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