She sighed and placed her hand on my bare chest. “You are not as evil as you think, Styx. You are a good man.”

I wanted to believe it, to agree, but she deserved the truth. “Yeah, b-babe, I’m evil. I’ve s-sinned more than you’d b-believe.” I ran my hands down my face. “Truth t-time. I’m bad… p-p-poisoned to my f**kin’ damned s-soul.”

Mae’s expression went blank and she pulled away from my arm. Abruptly, she stood up and I thought she was gonna run. My jaw clenched, bracing for it but instead she stared at the picture, her back to me, her black long black hair blowing in the breeze.

Goddamn beautiful.

Turning, Mae stepped in between my legs and stared down. I saw her fingers twitch as she chewed on her full bottom lip, then she raised her hand and gently ran her fingers through my hair.

I leaned into her hand. Twenty-six years old and a single touch was gonna make me blow in my jeans. “B-babe—”

“You should not be named after hate, Styx.”

“I-I’ve done some f-fucked-up shit. Honestly, I a-ain’t gonna change. I’m d-damned. I’ve made p-peace with it.”

Mae just stared at me and kept running that tiny hand through my long hair. “You have been nothing but kind to me.”

Swallowing, I rasped, “Only you.”

“Why only me?” she asked, frowning.

I shrugged, reached for her hand, and threaded it through mine. As I looked up at her twitchin’ nose, I pressed a kiss on the center of her palm. “C-can’t be askin’ sh-shit like th-that.”

“Why not?” she whispered as she watched me caress her hand.

“B-because I don’t have a f-fuckin’ an-answer. Never like th-this with n-no one… but I am with y-you.”

With a sigh, I let my head fall to her flat stomach. Dropping her hand, I gripped her tightly around the waist. I kept a tight hold. The way that felt floored me, f**kin’ first round knockout floored me. I felt her relax into my hold and her fingers touched my head.

“I’ll l-lay it on th-the line for you, Mae. I k-kill people. I-I even like it, a-and”—here comes the final death blow—”I’ll d-do it a-again and again. Have to in th-this life.”

Her breath grew faster and she gripped my wrist so damn tight. On shaky legs, Mae stood up and I dropped my hands from her face. She walked to the mural again, leaving me on the bench and ran her hand over Persephone’s face.

“I already know many things about you, Styx. I have neither been deaf nor blind to the goings-on here. But you cannot drive me away.”

She walked back over and straddled my thighs, pressing her forehead to mine as I gripped her ass. “Persephone, the goddess, lived with Hades, did she not? She supported him even when others thought she was wrong to do so?”

I nodded slowly.

Her long lashes met her cheeks, then fluttered up. “She fell in love with the dark lord, even though it did not seem right, did she not?”

I nodded again. Where the hell is she going with this?

She sighed happily and blushed. “Just like I have done with you.”

I stilled and, putting my hand on her face, thrust her back, catching the blush creeping up her pale cheeks. Was she saying she loved me? Fuck. She was saying she f**kin’ loved me. I slammed my lips to hers and shifted her up on my hardening cock.

Breaking away with a gasp, Mae asked shakily, “Did Hades love Persephone in return? Against the complaints of others, did he want her to stay by his side too?”

Exhaling hard, I replied, “Yeah… yeah, he d-did… a wh-whole f**kin’ lot.” Her responding huge smile knocked the goddamn air from my lungs, and this time, her mouth crashed to mine, only to break away and lick up my jaw to my ear, whispering, “I want you again…”

Keeping hold of her tight ass, and not giving a shit if I popped a stitch, I stood with her legs wrapped around my waist. Spurred on by her surprised yelp, I headed for the back stairs to my apartment, Mae’s small hands already pushing down my zipper and fisting my cock.

I stilled.

I weren’t gonna make it to my room.

Spreading her out on her back on the wooden stairs, I hitched up her robe, put my c**k at her entrance… then the door at the top of the stairs burst open.

“Shit! Styx! I—”

Ky.

Mae squealed in embarrassment, wrapping her arms around my back, her bare tits to my chest as I shielded her with my body. Looking up at my VP, I had the f**kin’ threat of death set in my glare.

“G-get the f-fuck out!” I ordered.

Ky shut the door but left it open a crack so he could shout, “Prez, we got business to handle.”

“Later! I’m f-fuckin’ b-busy!”

“Prez! We need to act now.” I could hear the hardness in his voice. The seriousness of his tone told me something was going down.

I groaned in exasperation, my c**k throbbing in pain. I was still half in Mae’s warm pu**y when my head fell to her chest. “Mae, g-go to bed. I got cl-club b-business,” I mumbled into her full tits, sucking on her nipple one last time.

Moaning, she lifted my face, disappointment in her eyes, and pressed a long kiss on my lips. She then made her way upstairs. I zipped up my fly jeans and leapt up the stairs where I slammed the f**kin’ door in Ky’s face.

He stumbled backward holding his nose. “Fuck, Styx! What the hell?”

“In-interrupt me and m-my w-woman again and I’ll sc-scalp you with my B-Bowie!”

Wiping a spatter of blood off his chin, Ky’s face hardened. I knew that look all too well.

“Then brace yourself for more blood, Prez,” Ky warned through gritted teeth. “Because we just caught ourselves a rat.”

Chapter Nineteen

Styx

“Wh-what?” I growled, my jaw already locking down and the python ’round my throat taking my voice. I’d be signing from now on, no more speech to give when f**kin’ rage set in my bones.

Ky finished wiping his sleeve across his bloodied face. “That Nazi shit weren’t sitting right with me. Couldn’t get it all from my head.”

Why? We’ve had enemies at our gates before.

He began to shake his head back and forth until his back hit the wall of the stairwell. “You went after the f**kin’ Neos alone.” He pointed and looked right at me. “Which I’m still gonna kick your ass for by the way. But when Mae came pounding in my room and told me what you’d done, I checked the security tapes.”