Page 194 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

Next, my feet, having a mind of their own, raced me past Achilles and out of the conference room. I just had to get away from him. His energy felt dark and threatened to put its hand over my mouth and smother me.

I hated leaving Hercules behind, but I couldn’t stand there and watch his brother berate him any longer. Storming down the hallway, searching desperately for the main elevator, I knew I couldn’t cry.

After turning down a series of familiar hallways, I finally found what I was looking for. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I rode down to the lobby. I kept my attention on the numbers as they counted down. The elevator stopped on a few floors. Luckily, no one I knew got in with me. It was still early; the rat race was riding the elevator up in the mornings, not down.

When I made it to the ground floor, I put my head down and bolted through the lobby. I think I passed Lilith Cope, the head of finance, but I can’t be certain.

As soon as I landed both feet on the sidewalk, I bent over, grabbed my knees, and gasped for air. Only few faces watched me curiously as I strode up the street in distress. I planned on walking back to my apartment building to clear my head, just as I had done on the night Hercules had two guards escort me off the grounds. But as I got ready to cross the street, I heard a man call my name. Instinctively, I turned. James was running toward me. I gnawed nervously on my lower lip as I contemplated bolting across the street. But I couldn’t be that rude to James. He’d never been anything but kind to me. That was why I stayed put and heard him out.

He said Hercules had tasked him with driving me home safely.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ll walk.” I turned my back on him.

“Paisley, please,” the handsome driver said. “Hercules insists. He said he’s still on your side. Please.”

I turned around and gazed up at the VTI building. I swore I could feel Hercules pleading with me to let James take care of me. After all, he said he was still on my side. Just as I couldn’t control Max’s lunacy, Hercules couldn’t do the same with his brother. So I nodded and followed James to the SUV.

As I stare out the window, watching as we roll by the life and edifices that make New York City the concrete jungle, I can’t stop seeing my old team, looking jarred by Achilles’s aggressive and dramatic entrance. I just don’t understand how Hercules and I being together could trigger such a response.

Finally, the SUV stops in front of my apartment building, and I open my door before James can leap out and race around the rear of the vehicle to open it for me.

I have one foot on the pavement. “Thank you, James.”

“Paisley,” James says before I can get both feet out.

I release an uncontrollable whimper as I turn to face him. I can’t say anything, though. I’ve been doing so well, keeping my tears inside, but if I speak, the just might come gushing out.

“I want you to know that Herc, he’s with you the way I’ve never seen him with anyone else. I don’t know what happened up there, but hang in there with him. Okay?”

His petition was simple, but I’m not sure how it landed. Does he know how awful it was facing Achilles’s rage? Does he understand that my family will probably react the same way? Does he have an answer for the reason why the sky is falling because Hercules and I were caught kissing?

No, he doesn’t.

But I smile at James as warmly as I can. “Thanks, James.”

I finish making my exit. My feet shuffle up the steps into the building then up the five flights of stairs. I press all five fingers on my automatic keypad, impatient to get inside. Once I’m in, I collapse on the sofa and release the avalanche of tears I’ve been holding in since escaping the conference room.

Hercules Valentine

9:57 a.m.

“Tell her I’m on her side,” I say, staring at Achilles fueled by fury, then end the quick call I made to James.

It takes every ounce of restraint that I have not to wring my brother’s neck. I’m breathing like a bull, seeing red. His hands shoot up like he’s signaling that he’s coming in peace. But it’s too late. He’s already made an ass of himself in front of the most important team in the company.

“Calm yourself, Herc. You know I’m right.”

“You’re going to apologize to Paisley Grove,” I say with clenched lips.

“You’re the one who needs to apologize for leading her on. You know the deal. It hasn’t changed.” Achilles growls.

I can’t stop shaking my head. “I would’ve never made that deal, and you know it.”

Achilles snorts with his top lip curled viciously. “You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?

“All I've done was kiss the woman I love.”

“She's a Grove, Herc.”