Page 19 of The Perfect Matchmaking (Cupids & Goddesses #2)

WHERE THERE IS SOME SMALL MEASURE OF COMEUPPANCE (AND SABINE GODDARD WINS AGAIN. AT EVERYTHING)

O n a massive yacht that resembled a spaceship rather than an actual boat, Sabine sipped a convoluted version of a mojito and squinted at the sun reflecting off the waters of the Mediterranean.

In the distance, off the aft, she could catch occasional glimpses of her wife splashing in the waves.

In a two-piece swimsuit. A red two-piece swimsuit.

A skimpy red two-piece swimsuit. Goddess, how lucky was she?

For all intents and purposes, this was indeed what winning at life was like. And it was good. In fact, it was so good the hulking, muscular shoulders and a long gray mane of hair that suddenly darkened her sight before settling in the recliner next to her, couldn’t spoil it.

“Zeus…”

“Goddard…”

They toasted with their respective drinks, Sabine smirking at his ridiculously colorful and frilly one.

A woman who could have been anywhere between twenty and twenty and a day, but absolutely not older than that, sauntered past and jumped into the sea right in front of them with exaggerated showiness. Zeus sighed. Sabine laughed before throwing a sarcastic question his way.

“Yes, yes, how hard is your life?”

He joined in her laughter but sobered up relatively quickly.

“Have to say it was a bit harder, with Hera practically living on whichever boat I chose to party at, just to nag at me to get her boy back into Aphrodite’s good graces.”

Sabine gave him a sideways glance, but he had already reclined in his chair and closed his eyes to the early morning sun.

“So you caused all that kerfuffle in Vegas half a year ago to what end? To get Hera off your back?”

“Like I’ve not done much more to appease that woman.” He scoffed and took a long sip of his concoction.

“True, and it turned out so well for you, too. Aphrodite is blissfully shacked up, maybe not with Ares, but that doesn’t really matter to you since one way or another Hera backed off, and is now probably trying to convince Hephaestus and Apollo to give her grandbabies. A win-win for you, for sure.”

He sighed, reached for the drink once more, then reconsidered and sat up, looking like what had happened was the farthest thing from a win.

“Listen, I can’t really take any high roads here. Aphrodite has plenty of grudges to hold against me. And I can’t even say I wasn’t playing with her at stake again?—“

“Because you absolutely were.” Sabine sat up too, looking at him now, refusing to back away.

“She’d have either accepted your will as she always did and got on with that foolish God of War, or been spurred into action, pushed by her zealous cupids, and found love somewhere else, making her unavailable to the above-mentioned fool, thus solving your problem.

Am I right? And to call what you have been doing to Love for ages ‘grudges’ is to minimize the sheer amount of crap you’ve put her through… I can’t even...”

They stared at each other for a few heartbeats before Zeus slapped her shoulder hard enough to send a lesser cupid tumbling.

“Damn you, Goddard. Fine, fine. Love wins. All is right in the world. I’m an asshole. Happy now?”

She wasn’t. He was being dismissive and, yes, an asshole. But she only had so much power here. Still, she had some questions and some assumptions she wanted confirmed. And so she gave him a sly smile, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?”

“You really didn’t have to bring the whole damn clan to Vegas, though, did you?

Ares was there. That should’ve been enough for Hera and the cupids.

But you insisted on the entire shebang. The Olympian family descending upon the unsuspecting convention, disturbing peace and sowing discord and rumor.

And it makes me wonder why…” She looked at him over the rim of her dark aviators.

“I hadn’t seen all those dunderheads in the same room for ages, just wanted to find out how all of them were doing.” He waved his enormous hand at her and turned away.

“Well, if that’s your story…” she trailed off, giving him another long look.

“It is and I’m sticking to it.” He nodded at her as if it settled the issue once and for all.

Too bad, he had to have known her a little better.

She’d handled his billions for years as his chief financial adviser.

After all that time and all the money she made him, surely he recognized she could sense blood in the water.

“And here I was thinking it was something entirely different, old man.”

“You never did learn to let sleeping Cerberus lie, Goddard.”

“What, you’re gonna throw me overboard for figuring out that you brought the circus to town because you wanted to give Aphrodite a wider array of choices since it was clear that she could really only choose an immortal being?”

“Now you are simply assigning motives to my thoroughly innocuous behavior. But yes, fine, I did want to make sure Aphrodite had an actual choice this time.”

Gotcha, she thought. You Machiavellian bastard.

“Sure, sure. Good old thoughtful Zeus. Or maybe, just maybe, you wanted to not only ensure that Hera stopped ruining your fun but to spite her in the process, too? Because if given half the opportunity, Aphrodite would never have chosen Ares, and you knew it. You’d pushed her buttons enough, and she’d have done anything to pay you back for all the times you used her before.

And her active regret of having ever been involved with Ares is known far and wide.

” Now it was her turn to recline and stretch like a cat in the sun under his glare.

“You’re saying my motivation was impure.”

“I’m saying your motivations are always selfish and absolutely impure.

And you did make sure the situation was a win-win for you.

And maybe a little win for Aphrodite as well.

However, you had no way of knowing that you’d drive her into the arms of someone who would actually give her love.

You’d have cheerfully settled for forcing her into another loveless union. So no brownie points for you.”

They sat in silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts. She could hear his breath rumble in and out.

“Fine,” he said finally. “Not cheerfully, but those are semantics. You’re right. Happy now? Can I sit here and live my life in peace since Hera has finally given me some of it and you’ve finagled my oh-so-dark and oh-so-nefarious secret?”

She wanted to sigh. She wanted to push him overboard for being a piece of work, and not even a little lovable right now.

Again, as always, he was a selfish man who did everything that would allow him to have his way.

And his way was mostly to be rich and comfortable and to screw around with as many mortal women as possible.

So what else was new? She did not sigh, but she did roll her eyes behind the glasses.

Even though she no longer worked for him, his immense monthly contribution to her foundation was appreciated and spared her having to go hat in hand to the other gods.

At least he was generous. And his wealth made a real difference in the lives of so many who benefitted from the work she did through her charity.

His companion got out of the water and walked together with Abby to the sprawling bar that sat to the side of the deck.

Zeus and Sabine watched the women laugh and banter with the bartender.

Sabine had to give it to Zeus, the girl was gorgeous.

And from their earlier conversations, she was intelligent and kind to boot. The old coot had great taste.

“Listen, Sabine…” She turned to him, the tentativeness in his voice surprising her.

“I was wondering, you did shoot your arrow at the convention, does that mean you are sort of back in the matchmaking business? Perhaps someday you could spare one for me?” His unshielded eyes looked over at the model sipping her cocktail, completely ignoring him in favor of the young bartender.

Abby chose that very moment to turn around and give Sabine a dazzling smile and send her a kiss.

When Sabine turned back to Zeus, she saw both longing and calculation in his eyes, a combination so often found in those stormy depths. And this time she did sigh.

“Sorry, old man, I am officially retired.”

He nodded, seemingly defeated, but Sabine knew that this was hardly the end of things where he was concerned. She’d just have to watch and wait and guard what was hers like a hawk.

As she took a cursory look at her phone it chimed with an incoming message.

She sent Zeus an apologetic glance but he lumbered off in the direction of the bar.

She opened the screen to a photo and instantly smiled.

Yes, some things were worth un-retiring for.

Like this one, even though she had not used her arrows to ensure their perfect match, she still had her hand in it, Sabine thought, as the happy faces of Aphrodite and Athena grinned at her widely from the screen.

“We just got these!” the message read and Athena was holding a set of really fancy keys in the hand that wasn’t tangled in Aphrodite’s golden hair.

The Goddess of Love was positively radiant, her easy smile, for once, reaching eyes that encapsulated so much peace, it made Sabine tear up.

Yes, they had their keys. Athena had moved to Paris, taking on a guest lecturer position at Sorbonne University and cutting some of her time in New England.

Sabine guessed it was the wintertime she’d cut in particular, knowing Aphrodite’s fierce aversion to cold.

They looked so happy, so blissfully untouched by the world around them, by the intrigue and politics which played with them and over them, Sabine closed her eyes and quietly put the phone away. She’d just have to make sure they stayed that way.

As if sensing her mood, a cool hand landed on her shoulder and a kiss on the other followed.

“What has you crying, baby?”

Yes, Sabine had so much to protect. And this above all. Being known and loved by this woman. Who indeed knew her and saw her and ran to her rescue when she was a touch melancholy.

“The goddesses moved to a villa on the outskirts of Paris, now that Athena is traveling back and forth and settling into teaching at two universities.”

“I guess their domestic bliss is not what got you teary-eyed though?” Abby leaned closer and her beautiful, beloved’s fingers whipped away the remnants of tears that did spill.

“No, but they’re so happy. I’m…”

As lips followed the fingers, Sabine felt a smile blossom against her cheek.

“You are such a sap, Sabine. A big, nerdy, loveable sap. I love you so much. We will keep them safe, baby. I promise. They’ve had such a lousy go of it, they are due their happiness. It’s how the world works.”

“Darling, that is absolutely not how the world works?—”

“It should though, and we have some modicum of say about how it works in all things love and passion…” Abby’s eyebrows raised and Sabine bit her lip at the blatant invitation.

“Well, I already promised myself to keep an eye on them, but maybe I should be keeping my eye on someone much closer to me… Someone who thinks she has a say in how love and passion work…” It was Sabine’s turn to raise an eyebrow and tilt her head in the direction of the below-decks.

“Wow, so much innuendo and so many words when all I was trying to get you to promise is that you will make love to me… Soon...” Abby danced just out of Sabine’s reach and made her way down the oaken staircase and to their cabin.

Yes, Sabine thought as she quickly followed, not giving a damn about Zeus, or his girlfriend, or the entire crew of the luxury yacht.

She had better things to do. And everyone else be damned.

Except she’d send some flowers to Aphrodite and Athena for their six month anniversary.

And maybe check in on Erato, see if she needed some help in that age-gap, Ice Queen romance of hers.

Sabine did, after all, always feel responsible for the perfect matches her arrows enacted.