Chapter Seven
Hades watched the security feed as the asshole who had put his hands on Cora ground his, no doubt, tiny dick into his dance partner.
Only an inferior man like Steven Harold would resort to brutality against women.
His palms itched with the desire to wring the man’s neck, taking great pleasure watching the life leave his beady little eyes.
Was Cora telling the truth? Did she really not care if Steven fucking Harold ended up dead?
She would know he was the reason, but would she really feel no guilt?
In his world, women were cunning, ambitious, and could be insatiably cruel.
She hadn’t asked him to kill Harold. Instead, she did something far worse.
She gave him permission because out of the two evils, Hades was the lesser.
Knowing that, he was afraid she’d be disappointed in him.
He absolutely hated this conscience shit.
He also hated that she’d snuck out on him in the middle of the night.
When he woke up in the morning, he’d reached for her.
His cock had been hard as fucking stone, with her name written on it.
Only to find the sheets where she had slept cool to the touch.
The pillow no longer held the indention of her head.
He had tracked her on the surveillance feed all the way down the elevator where she’d ordered a rideshare and disappeared into the night.
He’d wanted to bury himself one more time in her tight heat, but she’d left and he’d had to jerk himself off to her memory.
He hated masturbating. Saw no point when willing pussy was all around him.
It pissed him off because she should’ve been there to give him the opportunity to purge her from his head, but because she wasn’t, his cock had not gotten the memo that the night was over.
So, the very next night he tried to erase her, but his fucking dick didn’t want any other woman.
God damnit, he had tried, but it remained uninterested.
He was too fucking young for ED.
And now he hesitated to take that frustration out on Steven Harold.
What the fuck is going on in my head!
“Bring that walking asshole here,” he ordered.
Acheron immediately left, taking two other guards with him. Moments later, Hades watched as his men escorted Steven to his office. Wariness lined the asshole’s face as recognition dawned in his eyes.
“I see you know who I am,” he said.
“Uh, yeah.”
Hades folded his hands as he leaned slightly forward. “You touched Cora Charles.”
Steven’s eyes went wide. “She’s a lying bitch. Whatever she told you was a God-damn lie!”
That pissed him off even more. He looked at the two men holding Steven and addressed them. “Take him to the basement.”
Steven struggled. “What are you doing, man?”
“I’m going to make sure you can’t hurt another woman ever again. I hope you weren’t overly fond of your fingers. If you live, you’ll have to hire someone to give you a hand job every now and then.”
Desperation slackened his face as he begged to be let go. Hades waved at his two men, and they knew right where to take the unfortunate Steven Harold.
“I want eyes on Cora,” he told Acheron. “We may have dickhead, but she mentioned he has a girlfriend at their work. I want to make sure that bitch isn’t going to exact retribution on Cora.”
“Will do—”
Suddenly both their phones blew up. Hades answered.
“He escaped, Boss.”
“What the fuck do you mean he escaped?”
“Hit my, uh, groin. Sorry, Boss.”
Hades hung up and turned back to his monitors, flipping back until he saw Harold surprise his captors and break free. Then he stood, glaring at Acheron. “I don’t tolerate incompetence.”
“Understood.”
He grabbed his suit coat and put it on. “I want every corner of this city scrubbed until that asshole is caught.”
“Yes, Boss.”
****
When Monday rolled around, Cora wasn’t ready to go back to work. Voices carried through the corridors as she punched the timeclock to start her shift. Something made her uneasy so she glanced around and she immediately saw Ranelle staring at her. Cold venom bled from her gaze.
“Where is he, bitch?” Ranelle asked.
Cora froze at those words. “Who are you talking about?”
“Steven never called and he never came into work.”
Had Hades Sinclair really done it? Cora waited for guilt or horror to settle in, but all she thought about was Erin Morris lying in the parking garage with her neck twisted at an odd angle. Justice served in her book.
“He’s a jerk, so if anything did happen, then good.”
Ranelle raised her hand, ready to slap her, when her supervisor stepped into view, his hands rested on his hips, and leveled a glare directed at Ranelle.
“Who are you?” he demanded. “I don’t care because you’re not supposed to be here. Move on.”
Ranelle glared at both of them. She took a step closer. “Watch your back.”
Then she marched away.
Her supervisor came up next to her. “What the hell was that?”
“Oh, just high school bullying.”
He grunted. “Do I need to go higher up the food chain?”
“No,” she assured. “Ranelle will tire of taunting me at some point.”
“Well, let’s de-escalate this week by sending someone else to deliver the mail.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
It took the better part of an hour to calm down and remind herself that there were cameras everywhere.
No one could hurt her while their actions could be recorded.
Rideshares were expensive, but the memory of him trying to suffocate her made the money worth it.
At least for the rest of the week. She’d worry about next week when it arrived.
Even staying in the mail room all day, she stayed busy. Mondays usually were. When it was time for lunch, Besty texted she’d meet her in the employee lounge. Almost immediately she realized her mistake.
“Heard you gave a man a blow job in the alley,” Ranelle taunted, loud enough where others heard. “Don’t you have any shame?”
Cora looked around and saw they had a captive audience. “That is a complete lie.”
Ranelle pitched her voice with pure innocence. “Your shame is a lie? Oh, my goodness!”
“No, that’s not what I meant—”
“Well, what did you mean? The blow job? But Steven told us himself you were a cheap, easy lay. That you begged to get on your knees for him.”
Cora wanted so desperately to tell the bitch her boyfriend was a killer but knew she couldn’t say anything to jeopardize Hades.
“Stop it,” Cora snapped. “Stop harassing me or I’ll report you to HR.”
She tried to get by Ranelle, but the woman blocked her. “You do that, and I’ll make you so miserable, you’ll quit.”
Without thinking, Cora growled the only thing that popped into her head. “You’re nothing but a toddler who can’t get her way. Go ahead and stomp your feet in your temper tantrum, but get out of my way.”
She went to push past her, but Ranelle wasn’t done with her.
“Bitch,” Ranelle snapped, but she didn’t retaliate.
It wasn’t worth it. Cora turned and left, texting Betsy she wasn’t going to eat lunch.
She spent the rest of the time prepping for the next day.
She cleaned her station and then it was time to head home.
As she punched out, Betsy suddenly popped up next to her, scaring her.
She placed a hand over her heart as it beat frantically.
“You scared me!” she said.
Betsy’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d give you a ride home.”
“But isn’t that out of your way?”
“I don’t want you to be alone waiting for a bus. I don’t trust Ranelle or Steven, even though he wasn’t here today.”
“It’s like we’re in high school once again,” she muttered.
Betsy snorted. “Yeah, tell me about it. I heard you called Ms. Bitch out on her childish behavior. Good for you, girl, and that’s why I’m taking you home.”
“Then I’ll pay for your gas.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“You’re saving me time and possibly keeping me from being assaulted. You absolutely deserve it.”
Betsy linked their arms together. “That’s what BFFs do.”