Page 14 of Hades

“Since birth, I’m convinced,” Lucifer replied.

Hades ignored them as he finally allowed Pixie to sit in his lap. She walked around in a circle before curling up into a little ball and lying down. He looked at her for a moment before speaking to Harley. “My nephew good?”

“He is. He’s a strong little man. Just hungry.”

“Cool. Bring him to my sister. We gotta go.”

“Go? Where?” Harley asked.

“We’re going to church.” Hades didn’t miss the look of fear flicker through her eyes, and his dick jumped. He realized she probably thought he meant they were going to praise God, and he wondered what perverted pastor had gotten his hands on her. He wanted to find him and… He shook his head and refocused his thoughts. “I’m not talking about real church, shorty. Relax?—”

“I know what church is,” she whispered, and that surprised him. To a motorcycle club, church just meant they were holding a meeting. The fact that she understood the lingo intrigued him even more. He wanted to ask her about it, but she spoke again first. “But why do I have to go?”

“Because we’re going to talk about your ex, and I need you to give us all the information on him as you can.”

Harley closed her eyes as she rocked Dante, who was now crying. She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I don’t suppose I have a choice?” Her voice sounded sad, which made Hades want to know the reason behind it. He shook his head. “Fine. Hand me Pixie. I’ll see if Eris wants to watch?—”

“Nah. Leave her. I’ll bring her up to Eris before we leave.”

Harley eyed him as if she didn’t trust him with her mut, but Dante’s cries caused her to nod once and make a hasty exit.

Lucifer chuckled as he walked toward the door behind Harley. “Yeah, man. You got it bad.”

Hades stuck a lazy middle finger up at his brother’s back as he used his large hand to pet Pixie. “Fuck am I gonna do with these unruly niggas in my house?”

Pixie slightly lifted her head and peered up at him before sighing and laying her head back down, causing a rare chuckle to spill from Hades’s mouth.

The menacing laughHades belted out as soon as Harley shoved off the bike rang in the air as she tried rubbing circles around her stomach, feeling like she was going to be sick. His laughing triggered the hell out of her because he reminded her of her father, taunting her when she was young for being afraid of his motorcycle.

She cut her eyes at him but chose not to say anything, doing her best to contain her feelings and the contents of her stomach, which she realized wasn’t much. She’d barely had anything to eat in the last couple of days, and she made a mental note to DoorDash some food when she got back to Hades’s house.

“How you so afraid of motorcycles and your name is Harley? William and Arthur would be so disappointed.”

“Who?” Harley asked with a tilt of her head before she eyed the building in front of her.Underworld Customs.Of course that was the name of his shop. Eris mentioned that he owned a custom motorcycle shop, but Harley had no idea it would look likethis. He really took his name seriously.

The building was on a corner with a large door and big windows. It was a mix between elegant and haunting, with black and pops of blue, just like Hades in the movieHerculesshe used to love so much when she was young.

When she looked back at Hades, she saw he stared at her with a mug on his face, all humor gone, and looking at her like she was an alien. “William Harley and Arthur Davidson… the co-founders of Harley Davidson. How you named after them and don’t know this shit?”

Harley scoffed. “Who said I was named after them?”

She was, but Hades didn’t need to know that. Hades stared at her stunned, as if he hadn’t considered that, before his mean mug masked his face again, and he stalked toward the front door of his business.

Harley trailed behind him, her palms sweating, and fear lacing her. It had been a long time since she went tochurch. Her father used to drag her and her older sister along to his motorcycle meetings, and she had the worst memories of those occasions. The dusty bar… the men… her sister. The men in her father’s motorcycle club were never particularly nice, but she never got the worst of the memories. Those belonged to her sister.

As Hades opened the door and held it open for her, she bit on her back teeth and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, all while nodding in surprise at him for opening the door for her. That caught her so off guard, thoughts of her father melted away as she looked around Underworld Customs.

The black floors were sleek, and she marveled at the beautiful motorcycles that were on pedestals, showcased through the space. She hated motorcycles, but even she had to appreciate the beauty of the ones before her. Toward the back of the space was a sleek black reception desk. The place looked closed since nobody was around, but there were blue and black-lit back lights that lit up the bikes in a beautiful display.

“This place is amazing,” Harley murmured as she looked around. Eventually, her eyes landed back on Hades, who watched her intently.

They stared at each other for several long seconds before he muttered, “Thanks.” He turned and walked toward the back, leaving her to jog after him.

She finally caught up to him at a discreet elevator hidden completely from the front. He had already pressed the button, so she stepped on alongside him and was surprised when the elevator moved down.

Harley glanced over at him and caught him eying her once again. She looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet, praying this meeting went by quickly so she could get home to her baby. She needed some puppy love at the moment more than anything.

The first thing she noticed when the elevator doors opened was the smell. Her stomach growled as she smelled something savory and fried in the air. Hades eyed her but didn’t comment as he stepped off the elevator, once again leaving her to trail behind him.

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