Page 3 of Hades

“Sir, what is your name?” Harley asked calmly. On the inside, she was terrified. This man had no idea how badly he wastriggering her at that moment. He reminded her of her father, which was not a compliment. Be clear. He didn’t look like her father, but the way he seemed to bully people… yeah. That was all Knox Cruz.

“Hades.” His black eyes landed back on her, and the way he said his name with a sinister grin caused chills to run up her spine.Hades? That can’t be his real name. There’s no way his mama named him that. “And if you don’t get me someone?—”

“I can help. Where is your sister?”

Hades peered at Harley, his eyes traveling from the top of her head and down to her waist. She was sure he would have gone down to her toes, but the desk obscured his view. From that angle, all he could see were her pink bunny rabbit scrubs and her long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“You deliver babies, Tink?”

Harley swallowed the fear rising in her throat as she wondered who Tink was. Something about this man felt very unsafe and unstable. Already, she could tell she would never know what he was about to say or do next, but she had a really big issue with telling people no, especially people in need. “My name is Harley, and yes, I do.”

He glared at her for a second longer before reaching over the desk and gripping her arm. He tugged her from around the desk, and she yelped.

“Harley–”

Hades glared at Kat, cutting her off before looking down at Harley. “You’re coming with me.”

Harley’s body shook with fear, but she looked back at Kat and said, “I’m okay, Kat. I’ll call when I’m finished to let you know I’m sa?—”

“Let’s go.” Hades pulled her through the lobby and out the front door. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the black Harley Davidson motorcycle with pops of blue.Hadeswaswritten along the side, and she knew her fate before he could confirm it for her. He stopped when she did and glared down at her. “Come on.”

“I… I can’t?—”

He looked at her, and then the bike, before he smirked. If she didn’t know any better, she would think he got off on her fear. He leaned in close to her, his long beard almost touching her face as he spoke. “You’re afraid of the bike, Tink?”

She had been on many bikes before, but she associated them with bad people. She couldn’t get her father out of her head as she nodded, tears threatening to fall. “Please… I can drive?—”

“Get on.” He tugged her again, damn near yanking her arm off, before he picked her up and set her right on the bike, causing her to stiffen. He got on the front and started the motorcycle before revving it up. “Better hang on.”

She just barely wrapped her arms around his solid torso before he took off, and she couldn’t even think about her fear or her father or her childhood. All she could do was pray they made it to their destination in one piece, especially since neither of them wore a helmet.

Slowly,Harley opened one eye, still clutching onto Hades. As soon as that one eye opened, the bike turned off, ceasing the vibrations the powerful engine pushed through her body. With shaky legs, she dismounted the bike, shaking like a chihuahua out in the snow.

It had been eighteen years since she was on the back of a bike, and she never thought she would be again. She never wanted to be again.

As Hades swung his tree trunk of a leg over the bike, she glared at him with angry tears in her eyes, but he yanked her by her arm once again, dragging her forward. Her eyes grew big as she realized they were in a residential neighborhood not too far from the Ellwood projects, close to where she grew up. Herheart raced. Everything about this encounter with this asshole triggered her, and she so badly wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Had she known he would have forced her on the back of his bike and brought her to the part of town she avoided at all costs, she wouldn’t have volunteered to help him.

The house they walked up to, though, was nothing like her crumbling childhood home. This house was in what the kids used to call the prestigious hood when she was growing up. People compared this area to a mini-Atlanta. Black people with a lot of money lived here, and it felt even more special to them because most of them grew up a few blocks away in the Ellwood Projects.

Harley watched as Hades put his thumb up to a scanner at the door. After a second, there was a click, and he pushed into the house. Her eyes were wide as she took her surroundings in, but she barely got two seconds to marvel before Hades pulled her again.

“This way.”

“You don’t have to pull so hard,” she murmured. Standing up for herself had never been her strong suit. She would have flashes of anger and bravery, but it never lasted. She was meek and timid and normally allowed people to walk all over her, which was why she couldn’t find it in her to speak up much more than a whisper.

Now, for others, she would stand up for them in a heartbeat. She hadn’t always been like that, but deep regret and life had shaped her in that way.

Hades either ignored her or didn’t hear her, causing Harley to be tugged through this massive house she assumed was his. They walked up the stairs and down a long hall. The decor in the house was beautiful but dark. Everything was in navy blues and black, and the wall art was almost scary, but she couldn’t helpbut appreciate the architecture of the place and the high ceilings with black marble floors that sparkled.

When Harley heard familiar groans and sharp inhales of breaths, she knew they were close to whichever room his sister was in. Her instinct to care for a mother in need kicked in as she asked, “Where is she?”

Once again, Hades either didn’t hear her or he ignored her as he pushed open a door and dragged her through the threshold.

“Hades! Where the hell have you been?” A woman screeched as soon as they entered.

“Man, please tell me you found her midwife?” a man who paced beside the bed as they entered asked.

“I found a midwife,” Hades grumbled, shoving Harley forward.

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