Page 75 of For the Love of the Gods

Chapter 21

Dominic

I had to stand and watch in abject horror as Rose shivered violently at Odell’s voice and the endearment he slung her way. Some primal, insane part of my brain was still in control, and Rose’s reaction to him, her obvious fear made my stomach clench in agony.

The wrong fucking reaction. This was somebody who clearly knew things about Rose, who had a vendetta that matched my own.

If this was her father’s former guard, then I was sure he’d have a thing or two to say about the convenient timing of her father’s death not a week after her brother's.

I should be waxing poetry about the opportunity to conspire with him, brimming with joy that I found someone who could aid me in my mission for revenge.

But no.

No, while my mind was screaming at me to view this as a win, my body was constricted with rage, building with every passing moment that I had to stand there and let this fucker terrify my wife.

“Odell,” Rose said, clasping her delicate hands in front of her form. Her beautiful knuckles were turning white from strain.

“It’s been too long, Rosemary.” I changed my mind.My dearwas preferable to hearing her name coming through his yellowing teeth.

I had to lean against the wall to try to recenter myself. It was a bloody battle between instinct and logic.

“What do you want?” Rose asked, all business. I realized she did that. Diverted to action plans when she was nervous or scared or backed into a corner.

See, I’m still on track. Still learning her.

Odell didn’t answer her, just continued with his ramblings in that grating voice of his. “I haven’t seen you since you were, what? Eighteen?”

Rose barely nodded, the motion looking painful. She’d get a kink in her neck if she tensed any tighter. Would need someone to massage it out.

Odell smiled cruelly again, regaining my attention. It was the same grin he greeted Rose with. “I didn’t think you could get more beautiful, but time has been kind to you.”

“Enough,” I snapped, shoving off the wall to stand behind Rose before I could stop myself. “Answer her question or you’ll lose your opportunity to speak to her.”

Odell assessed me with a cold gaze, one reminiscent of his time as a guard before returning his withered blue eyes to Rose. “You got yourself a guard dog, then?”

“I got myself a husband,” Rose returned with a lightning fast retort. “One who won’t hesitate to force you to speak.”

Husband.New.

Hopefully used often. Multiple times a day even.

Odell sat forward slightly, bringing his arms around his raised knees. “Ah yes, I have no doubt that he will. I saw what he did to his uncle. Seems his flavor of revenge is rather violent when it comes to slain loved ones.”

Oh, this was one slimy motherfucker. His thinly veiled comparison of Rose and my uncle was not lost on me. Nor was it lost on Rose, who was growing closer to fragile ceramic with every passing second.

“Answer my question and thatflavorwon’t be turned to you,” Rose said.

Odell wasn’t deterred. “An interesting choice. I must ask, was it a love match?”

One more shot at evading Rose and I was slamming his face into the floor.

“None of your fucking business,” I shot at him, a little too close to defensively.

“Ah,” Odell said, “Of course, an arrangement, then.”

“Answer. Her. Question.” I was already frustrated that he was evading Rose, but I didn’t need him poking holes in my paper thin argument for proposing this marriage. For all I knew, he had an in with the Fates and could bring this whole plan crashing down just by pulling up our Fate lines and showing them branching apart.

I really needed to pay them a visit. I hadn't in years. Not when they let my uncle cut my parents' threads that early in life.

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