Page 33 of Winning Back Persephone

I leaned in and kissed his cheek, enjoying how easy it was to slip back into the patterns we'd had before I'd broken this part.

Cebby snoozed in his bed, barely stirring when I went to the fridge to get myself yoghurt and berries.

"Aphrodite must be keen for business," Hades said. "She already agreed to do the club opening."

"She said that she didn't want to always be working with Jinx," I responded. "Maybe that's why."

"Or maybe it's just because we're two of the few Greek gods who don't have a vendetta against her."

I snorted. "Hardly. She wasn't pleased about the whole Adonis thing. I think she's just calmed down in her old age."

"Unlike your mother. I don't think she stopped glaring at me all night."

"You can't expect her to change her mind about you," I pointed out. "It's been thousands of years, she's never going to like you." I sat down at the breakfast bar with my bowl and pulled over a pot of honey, drizzling it over the top of my berries and yoghurt.

"I still have hope."

"You're cute. Because I don't," I responded. "But luckily for you, I had a rebellious streak when I was younger. So when Μ?να told me I couldn't marry you, it just made me want it more."

He chuckled. "I hope that's not the only reason you married me."

"You know it isn't. I married you because I wantedyouand everything you were." I reached out and touched the top of his hand. "Everything you still are."

He met my gaze, and my heart did a little flip-flop. "I'm glad you think that."

"I do. In all honesty, I've hated living alone. And I know I've worked too much and looked after myself too little. Maybe I have too much ambition."

"You definitely don't, Sephie. It's okay that you want to do more constantly. You just need to pace yourself so you don't burn out."

"I know, I know." I sighed and ran my free hand over my face, completely forgetting about my breakfast.

"And I'm not going to hold you back. Iwantto support you. I love watching you at events like last night's and knowing that you've created this."

"I like sharing it with you."

"I know you do. But I can't keep up with you in that department. Clearly we should have talked about that better before. I know you'd probably have gotten a club in the human world opened a decade ago, but I don't work at your pace. I need time to achieve the same things."

"I know. I don't need you to match me on everything, because there are things you're good at that I'm not."

"Exactly. And I hate to break it to you, but I really need your help with my taxes, the accountant is furious with me after last year," he said.

I chuckled. "I'll do your taxes for you."

"Thank you."

"I suppose we both do have our skills," I said.

"Mmhmm. Have you had many home-cooked meals at all since you left?"

"I've had some, but nothing particularly fancy," I admitted. "I've mostly been living off coffee and ready meals."

He gave me a look that I knew well.

"I know, it's not good. I've missed you."

He chuckled. "I'm glad. We should do some shopping later. The fridge is only really set up for one right now."

"Other than the berries."

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