Seeing Zeus naked was not something I felt adequately prepared for. However, the temptation to walk into the bathroom and get in the shower with him was beating strongly against my brain. I imagined that it would be like . . . seeing the sun for the first time—a total life changing experience. Whatever happened after that was sure to be life altering as well.
Plucking up what little self control I had left, I slid from his bed and quietly left the room, leaving him there. Naked.
There was a wonderful smell filling the house and I focused on that, using it to distract me from the handsome man in the shower. My nose brought me to the kitchen, where I found French toast keeping warm in the oven. I turned and spotted fruit and syrup on the table, as well as a vase full of fresh flowers.
Everything looked delicious. I smiled as I poured myself some orange juice and pulled a chair over to the window. Settling into my seat and taking a sip of my drink, I decided to wait for Zeus so I could properly thank him for his hard work.
The warm morning light washed over me in the silence and I closed my eyes, breathing in the peace of the room and the relief I felt in knowing he wasn’t going to push me to sleep with him. Part of me was still wary, but I felt much better. Remembering last night’s dream helped with my uneasiness. The things he’d said were perfect. Maybe someday he would say them to me for real. Smiling softly, I recalled his soft kisses and the smoothness of his voice. Lightly running my fingers over my mouth, the shadow of his kiss still lingered. Is it possible he actually came in? A warm flush filled my cheeks at the thought. If every day of my life could be like that dream, I'd die a happy woman.
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and a woman in a very low cut, dark-purple dress barreled into the room. Her red hair, pinned up elegantly, revealed black gauges in her ears. She was a beautiful person, until you looked into her eyes. All I could see there was hate and anger, directed at me.
“Well, well, well,” she said, stopping behind the couch, crossing her arms, and frowning at me. “What do we have here? Another little tramp?”
My mouth popped open at her rudeness. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t talk to me,” she snapped. “You are nothing. You will never be worth anything.”
“Who do you think you are?!” My face was flushing and I fought the urge to jump up and throw something at her.
“Where is Zeus?” she demanded, ignoring my question.
“No, who are you?” I shot back, rising from my chair.
“Listen you little slut,” she hissed. “Tell me where my no good ex-husband is or you’ll be sorry!”
I snapped my mouth shut, stung as if I’d been slapped in the face, and pointed to the bedroom. Without a word, she turned and threw the doors open, storming through them.
“What the?” I heard Zeus yell as the bathroom door burst open.
“Honey, I’m home!” the woman sneered. “Miss me?”
“What are you doing here?” Zeus growled.
I quietly crossed the room to listen better.
“What, you’re not happy to see me?” I could hear the pout in her voice.
“If it were up to me you’d be hanging off a cliff somewhere,” he shot back.
“That’s too bad. I wouldn’t be able to tell you the message Kronos sent.”
I gasped. If she was working with his uncle then she must be nuts.
“He proposes a bargain,” she began again.
“I don’t do bargains,” he snapped. “If he wants to take what I have, he’ll have to do it over my dead body!” The shower door slammed shut and I flinched at the sound.
“That can be arranged, honey,” she hissed.
“Leave, now,” he demanded. “You have no right to be here.”
“That’s a pretty one out there. What number is she? Three thousand?” She jeered
“You leave Karly out of this!”
“Oh, it has a name. How cute! You must like her more than all your other whores.”
“Leave!” he bellowed.
I flinched at a crashing sound, like a vase thrown against the wall, and the woman stormed back into the room. She stopped to glare at me, opening her mouth to speak, when Zeus emerged from his room with only pants on, his hair dripping wet.
“I said leave.” His voice was dangerously low, sending chills down my arms. I hoped I wasn’t about to see what happened if she didn’t listen.
She turned her glare on him for a moment and then turned back to me. With a huff, she got on the elevator and left.
“You were married?” I demanded as soon as the doors shut.
“Damn it,” he sighed, closing his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose. “You weren’t supposed to find out like that.”
“Was I supposed to find out at all?” My fingernails were biting into my palms, but the revelation hurt more than anything.
“Of course you were. I was just waiting for the right moment,” he said, exasperated.
“I think the right moment should have been around the first time we went out!” I said in dismay. “How could you not tell me something like that?”
“I don’t love her,” he argued back, taking a step toward me. “I never did. She’s crazy—you saw for yourself!”
“It doesn’t matter! You still didn’t tell me about her! If it wasn’t that big of a deal, why did you keep it from me?”
“It’s complicated,” he yelled. “I didn’t want you to leave me over something like this! That’s why I didn’t tell you!”
“Stop yelling at me!” I shouted back.
“I can’t do this,” he growled. “She’s gotten me all riled up, and I can’t talk now.” He turned and went back into his room, closing the door behind him.
Scowling and trying to push down the tears forming, I pushed the button for the elevator and left, not knowing exactly what had happened.
Once out of the private room, which hid the way to his home, I headed to a restaurant next to the casino. I wasn’t hungry any more, but for the first time since I’d arrived in Vegas, I wanted a drink. Unfortunately, the shop hadn’t opened yet, and all the bars were still closed.
I sat down at one of the tables outside the dark eatery. If Zeus had told me from the beginning he’d been married, I would’ve been fine with that. I’d be fine now if he’d talked to me about it, instead of yelling. A small part of me whispered I had possibly overreacted also.
“Karly, right?” I groaned silently as I recognized the voice of the red-haired woman.
“Can I help you?” I said in my most polite voice, looking over my shoulder at her.
“No, but I can help you.” She passed by and settled into the seat across from me.
I really didn’t want to talk to her, but I didn’t think she’d leave until she said her piece.
“He doesn’t really want you,” she started. “He says he loves you, buys you things, and makes you feel like you’re in heaven. It’s all a lie. You’ll get dropped as soon as you put out. I should know. I was married to him for years. He cheated on me. A lot. I never left him. I thought we were supposed to be together forever. Until he left me! After all the time I’d spent devoted to him, he left me in the dust.”
The warning lights were going off in my head, indicating she wasn’t sharing the whole story.
“What’s your name?” I said cautiously.
“Hera.” She smiled at me.
“Right.” I balled my hands into fists and stood up. “I’m not stupid. You think because his name is Zeus, you can tell me your name is Hera? And you expect me to believe that? You really are crazy.”
“Don’t call me that!” she hissed, the she-devil display from the penthouse returning.
“For your information, Zeus has never told me he loves me. He doesn’t shower me with gifts, and he’s never pushed me to sleep with him,” I spat back. “And I have a hard time believing you had nothing to do with your divorce, especially if you’re in league with his uncle. Why don??
?t you do us both a favor and get lost?”
I turned and stormed away, adrenaline rushing through my veins. I hadn’t spoken to her for more than three minutes and already I knew she was manipulative beyond belief. Clearly, she hadn’t thought this attack through. What were the odds Zeus had actually been married to someone named Hera? It sounded like a bad joke parents would play on kids they’d forced into an arranged marriage.
When I walked out the doors of the resort and onto the Strip, dark clouds hovered in the sky, the smell of rain heavy in the air. I flagged down a cab and, climbing into the backseat, gave him directions then rested my head in my hands.
I should have gone back to Zeus, I knew that. We needed to talk, but he’d seemed so upset and said he couldn’t talk about it. Maybe if I let him come to me, we could make things right again. All I knew was I didn’t want our relationship to be over. Hopefully, he felt the same way.
All too soon, the cab pulled into my complex, and I slowly got out, thanking the driver as I paid him. Lost in my own bubble of tumultuous thoughts, I ascended the stairs and headed in the direction of my door.
“Zeus?”
Sitting with his back rested against the door, knees up, head in his hands, he looked up when I said his name.
“Karly!” He jumped to his feet and closed the distance between us in a few steps, pulling me into a crushing embrace when he reached me.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured into my hair. “I should have told you. I should have talked to you about it right then. I don’t know what came over me. I tried to catch you before you left, but I didn’t know where you’d gone. I knew you’d be coming back here.” His voice was soft, but fast—like he was worried I would cut him off. He pulled back to look at me, his eyes searching mine. I’d never seen him so sad and hurt before.
“Please say you’ll forgive me,” he whispered.
“Of course I do,” I laughed sheepishly. “We just need to talk about this, that’s all. You said you wanted to be alone so I left.”
“I was stupid, I know,” he said humbly.
“Not as stupid as that woman,” I grumbled. “Let’s go inside.”
Chapter Fourteen