I immediately thought of the date Maddox made me attend, but it had been so uncomfortable that I didn’t want to share that night with anybody. Nothing happened…but it was still creepy. “No. What kind of question is that?”
“It’s like you’re brainwashed or something.”
“I’m not brainwashed. I just don’t love her anymore. People fall out of love every day.”
“Not in a month,” he argued. “And not you. You’ve been infatuated with this woman since you met her. How can that just end? How can you be so committed to her throughout your divorce and then one day just stop? Do you really want to go home with that girl who only wants your wallet? Or would you want to go home with a real woman who killed your greatest enemy and gave birth to your son?”
When he described her that way, he made her sound like a saint. She was no saint. “Let’s not forget that she left me. Twice.”
“She was trying to protect your kid. And when was the other time?”
“When we first started seeing each other. I asked her to marry me. She said no.”
“The explanation for that is pretty simple…because you’d just started to see each other. That was way too soon, and you know it. You’re just making excuses, and I don’t understand why.”
I knew exactly why I felt the way I did. The gypsy cleansed my heart and made me feel nothing. It was freeing…not caring about anything. But I would never tell him what I did. It didn’t matter anyway. I didn’t love Sofia anymore, and that was the bottom line. “I just don’t love her anymore. It’s that simple.”
“And what about Andrew?”
“What about him? I’ll still be a father. Divorced couples do it all the time. I’m not reinventing the wheel here.”
Ash didn’t have any arguments left, but he was still surprised by my confession. “I could understand all of that if it hadn’t happened overnight. But one day, you were lovesick over Sofia, and now that you can have everything you’ve ever wanted, you don’t want her anymore.”
I shrugged. “That’s the way life is sometimes.”
“No, it’s not. Not for no reason.”
I did have a reason…but that reason didn’t matter anymore. “I appreciate you looking out for me and Sofia, but it will be fine. We’ll work it out for Andrew.”
“It won’t be fine. She’s heartbroken. She’s in love with you, Hades. She risked her neck to save the man she loves, only to find out he doesn’t give a damn about her.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that I don’t give a damn about her. I just don’t feel the way I used to. How many times do I have to say it?”
He stared at the surface of the table for a while and ran his fingers through his hair. “You loved her once. I think you could love her again if you wanted to. You wouldn’t even have to try.”
It was my turn to stare at the table. “But I don’t want to try.”
20
Sofia
It took a few weeks for us to move to Florence. I put the house on the market and left it up to the real estate agent to sell before fall. Thankfully, my inheritance was sizable enough that we had been able to hold on to our old place close to the hotel. It’d been vacant for a while now, and my mom didn’t have the heart to sell it.
I hadn’t spoken to Hades since our last painful conversation because I dreaded talking to him now. He was a heartless asshole, and I could only take rejection so many times. Before I officially made the move, I stopped by Ash’s place to say goodbye.
“Where’s the little stud?” He didn’t seem to care about me at all, just his nephew, whom he’d grown so fond of.
“He’s not a stud…at least not yet. I’d like to keep it that way for a long time.”
“If he’s anything like me and Hades, he’ll start young. I think I lost my virginity…”
“Anyway…did you talk to Hades?” Ash had never called me, so I assumed he only had bad news.
He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “He said everything that you had already told me. It doesn’t make any sense…I don’t get any of it. But his story didn’t change. He’s just a different person. No idea why.”
Ash had been my last hope to get something out of Hades. Damien would probably have been more helpful, but since they weren’t friends anymore,