I paused putting on my makeup. The thought of that both thrilled me and made my chest pang with guilt.
And see, that was another reason I need to get the hell out of here. Just a couple weeks outside a dog cage, and I was already harboring sympathetic thoughts toward that monster.
Resetting my resolution, I returned to putting on my face for the first time since my birthday. I’d kicked myself so many times over that “poor little rich girl” crying fit I’d had right before my party. If only I’d known then what I know now. I couldn’t wait to get back to the life where I belonged.
“Persy, you in here?” a deep, silky voice called out from the other side of the door. Apparently, Hades had replaced Ellie.
A spider of irritation crawled down my neck. Was he planning on calling me by that horrible nickname at this mysterious charity ball he was taking me to?
You know what, it didn’t matter. Getting to the ball. Getting somebody to help me. That was all that mattered.
I forced a smile into my voice and called back, “I just need about one more Southern minute.”
That was a joke my mother used to tell us when she was still fifteen to twenty minutes from being done.
It must have translated, Hades just said, “Got it….Persy?”
I paused with my mascara wand halfway up to my eyes. “Yes?”
“We’ve been getting along these last couple of weeks. You’re not planning on doing anything at this charity ball to fuck that up, are you?”
The answer to that question was so complicated. I went with a version of the truth. “Hades, I refuse to go back into that dog cage. Please, trust me on that.”
“Alright, I’ll take you at your word,” he answered, his voice soft with amusement. “I’m already in my tuxedo, so I’ll just wait for you on the couch like a good Southern man until you’re dressed and ready to go. Is your Southern minute closer to fifteen or an hour?”
“Ten more minutes, tops!” I promised with a real laugh. Also, I was more than a little curious to see Hades’s look for tonight. As well as he wore his motorcycle jacket and jeans, he had to look absolutely swoony in a tuxedo.
I hastily finished adding my mascara and returned to the main suite. But since I only had a towel draped around me, I didn’t go straight to the sitting area at the other end of the apartment to check out my captor in a tuxedo.
But I did advise him, “Keep an ear out. I might need you to zip me up” as I practically jogged toward the walk-in closet where Ellie had hung up my perfect dress.
It was a gorgeous Valentino with a cape effect. It was a tad long and modest for former me—people might wonder if I’d converted to some seriously conservative religion. But I didn’t care. It covered up the tattoo, and not going to lie, I’d been taking little peeks at it as I waited for Ellie to announce that today—whatever day it was—was the evening of the ball.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too hot. Balls tend to be held in heavily air-conditioned spaces, but if this one was outside, I might end up roasting, even in light silk crepe.
But oh, who cared. As long as it covered up the horrible tattoo on my back, I’d stay nice and comfortable, no matter the weath—
I stopped short when I saw the dress hanging in the closet.
Not the conservative evening gown I’d picked out, but a bright pink vinyl number with a low-slung chest and a haltered neck.
And I didn’t even have to check the back of the hanger to know…
But I did. Like a woman in a horror film, I walked farther into the closet. And sure enough, the back was completely out to the point that the whole dress had to be secured by a short zipper at the back of its halter neck.
“Still need me to zip you up?”
It turned around with a churning stomach.
Oh, look at that. I was right….
Hades looked gorgeous in his black-on-black tux. He was also completely clean-shaven, without even a hint of his tattoo sleeve showing. If not for the smug cruelty blazing in his silver eyes, he’d fit right in at any elegant charity ball.
I don’t want to know. I already know that I don’t want to know. But I have to ask, “What happened to the dress I picked out?”
“I let you pick something out for the ball, Persy.” He crooked his head to the side and smirked down at me. All the bon amie, all the camaraderie, was completely gone from his expression. “But I never said you could wear it. Now hurry up and get dressed. Everybody’s waiting for us to make our debut at The Tessier Ball.”
The Tessier Ball.
