Page 70 of Flowers Near Me

The elevator doors opened to the busy lobby, and Hermes, dressed in an off-white sweater and gray slacks, waved with a grin. “Persephone! I’ve missed you.”

She hugged him, catching the familiar scent of his rosemary hair oil. “I’ve missed you too. How’s life working for Zeus?”

Hermes pretended to adjust an invisible tie. “Living the dream.” He led her to a quieter hallway.

Persephone laughed. “Any backlash from DB?” The acronym felt foreign on her tongue.

Hermes shrugged. “Your mom was fine with it. Zeus’ orders.”

Strange. Demeter didn’t let go of people easily, but Persephone pushed the thought aside.

Hermes’ smile faltered, eyes darting over her shoulder. “Your mom misses you, but… that’s not why I’m here.”

Persephone’s curiosity spiked. “Then why?” His anxious fidgeting set her on edge.

“I need a favor,” he said, lowering his voice. “It has to stay between us. Not even Eurydice or Hades can know.”

Her eyes widened. “Is it illegal?”

He hesitated. “Maybe… sort of. It depends.”

“Spill,” she demanded, heart pounding with equal parts worry and intrigue.

“There’s someone on Eurydice’s dev team that I’ve been seeing.” Not what she expected him to say. His darting gaze caused a tremble in her gut.

“Oh? What’s their name?” she asked.

“Sophia. You may have already met her.”

She had. As the new Chief Product Officer, she’d introduced herself to all of Eurydice’s team.

Hermes continued, “We’ve seen each other a few times. It’s been great, but she’s been different since I saw something on her phone.”

Persephone leaned closer to Hermes. “What did you see?” Knowing him, he’d snooped.

“I couldn’t read all of it, but I saw my name. Remember that guy, Thaddeus, I was seeing two years ago?”

How could she forget? That ex of Hermes had broken things off with him—very loudly—at a product launch party. Hermes wasn’t entirely innocent, but things were said that now haunted Hermes.

“Is she seeinghim?” Persephone asked.

“I hope not, but I don’t know. It was his name I saw on her phone and when she saw me looking, she was quick to hide it.”

“I mean… can you blame her? Maybe she was seeing him and now she wants a clean break and doesn’t want to bring you into their parting drama? It might not be as nefarious as you think.” At least Persephone hoped that was true.

Hermes shook his head. “When I asked her about it, she said don’t worry. I tried to pry, but she kept dodging my questions.”

“Sounds like she doesn’t want to tell you. You have to let it go until she changes her mind.”

Sighing, Hermes tilted his head back. “It’s so stupid, but I really care for her and need to know what it said.”

Her brow furrowed. If Persephone was in his spot, she’d feel the same way. Tortured over what an ex said about her to a new lover. It sounded maddening. Thankfully she’d never been with anyone long enough for their parting to be anything but amicable. Usually, she’d lost interest, and they’d hated how busy she was with work.

“You want me to try to read her texts?”

Hermes nodded.

“Fates. That’s asking a lot. I’m not sure I could even pull that off if I wanted to.” Deep within her, she felt the stirring of her magic. Could she try to use her powers to help him? It was too risky and her ability was questionable at best. What if she caused a scene making errant poppies sprout around the cubicles. She embraced the humming in her veins but only enough to calm herself.

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