Page 15 of Winning Back Persephone (Jinx Paranormal Dating Agency #9)

PERSEPHONE

The nerves attacking my stomach were making it hard to focus on the final walkthrough of the event space, but I suppressed them the best I could. I'd have thought that after launching multiple successful businesses, I would be used to this part of the process, but if anything, it got worse with time, not better. It would be fine once people started arriving, then I'd be too busy to worry about things like whether my new business would be a flop, or if people would hate the handbags. I'd gotten good responses from the people I'd shown them to, but those people knew me , they understood the design choices I'd made because they came from a personal place. Strangers might not get that.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. It was fine. People were going to love them. And if they didn't, then it was fine. I'd just move onto the next thing, whatever that was.

The creak of a door caught my attention, and I turned in that direction, not expecting anyone for another ten minutes. My breath caught in my throat for a very different reason when I noticed Hades walking in with a plant in his hands.

"You're early," I said.

"I know." He approached, coming to stand beside me but not reaching out to touch me.

That was all wrong.

Without thinking about it too much, I leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for coming."

"Always, Sephie." He held the plant out to me. "For you."

I took it from him, sending my magic through the plant. "Daffodils?"

"They're supposed to symbolise new beginnings," he said.

My heart fluttered. "I see."

"For your launch."

"Oh." I looked down at the plant. I'd hoped he'd meant for something else.

"And for..."

"Persephone, my beloved, everything looks wonderful!"

I groaned at the sound of my mother's voice and flashed Hades an apologetic look as my mother swept into the room. She came to a stop as soon as she noticed Hades standing beside me.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be here," she said, the warmth in her voice leaching away immediately.

"Demeter," Hades said warily. "You look well."

"I suppose I do. Persephone, a word."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry," I said to Hades. "We can finish this conversation later?"

He nodded, looking a little relieved. I had no idea if that was because I wasn't brushing him off, or because he didn't have to deal with my mother.

"Would you like me to put the daffodils in the back?" he offered.

"Yes, please." I hesitated for a moment, wanting to lean in and kiss him again, but thinking better of it when my mother was standing right there.

Watching him leave was hard, even if I knew that he was going to be back before I knew it.

"Persephone, Persephone, Persephone," my mother said.

"Μ?να," I responded. "Thank you for coming."

"What is Hades doing here?"

"I invited him." I crossed my arms and tried not to get too defensive about it.

"What are you doing, beloved?" She pulled some of my hair over my shoulder and patted it somewhat affectionately.

"I'm launching a line of handbags." Somehow, she always made me feel like an insolent teenager, even though that hadn't been the case for a very long time.

"With your ex-husband."

I resisted the urge to look over in the direction he'd disappeared. It was a good question. What was I doing? Being around him made me miss him. Thinking about him made me miss him. Nothing had changed, and yet it felt as if everything had.

"He's not my ex-husband, we're still married," I said.

"Oh, Persephone. Why didn't you sort that out?"

Because I wasn't ready to . As far as I could tell, there had been a part of me since the break-up that had constantly wished that we could find our way back to one another, even if I hadn't done anything about it.

"Hades is my guest tonight," I said firmly. "You will be polite to him."

She stared at me. "What?"

"You heard me. I don't have time for my mother to be at odds with my husband tonight." My heart was racing as I said the words, but I was saved from having to reply by Aphrodite bustling into the room.

The love goddess looked stunning in a sparkly green dress that matched her eyes, and her golden hair slicked back into an elegant up-do. My mother glared at her, as she often did when one of Zeus' other daughters was in the room. I wasn't sure what her problem was. She had to have known that Zeus was incapable of fidelity.

"Are you ready?" Aphrodite asked me.

I nodded. "As ready as we can be."

"Good, because the doors are about to open. Everything should be set." She waved over to where a couple of members of staff headed to the doors with trays of champagne, reminding me that tonight was supposed to be a celebration.

"Thank you. I couldn't have done this without you."

She smiled. "I'm sure you could have. But I'm glad I could help."

"For a fee."

"Of course. Family discord is the currency amongst us Greek gods, not family discounts."

I laughed. "Fair enough. I think we're ready to go." I checked around the room again, making sure that each of the bags was in the right position and displayed to show off its features in the best way. There was very little I could do about any of it now, and there was no doubting that Aphrodite had done a great job at the rest of the room. The decor and event space itself were elegant, with stunningly dramatic floral arrangements.

She headed towards the front door and nodded to one of the staff members. I had no idea how she did it, but they all seemed to listen to her no matter what she said. I supposed that had always been part of Aphrodite's charm.

The guests began to pour inside, causing a fresh bout of nerves to make themselves known. This was the moment of truth. I knew that my bags were good, and even if this failed, I'd still be using them, but whether other people liked them was another matter. And it was important. I didn't want this to be a failure.

I milled around, not really paying attention to anyone and trying not to look over to where Hades was talking to Nyx. I knew I had no reason to be jealous, but I wanted to be the one talking to him.

"Champagne, ma'am?" one of the waiters asked, offering me a tray.

"Thank you." I picked up a flute but didn't take a drink.

A woman with long dark brown hair and a stunning blue dress approached, smiling at me. "It's a wonderful event, Persephone."

"Thank you, Aine. Aphrodite did an excellent job."

"Mmm, she knows what she's doing when it comes to organising events. I'm still trying to convince her to join Jinx full-time rather than just being a contractor."

I laughed. "So you're trying to poach everyone to work for you?"

"Something like that." She took a sip of champagne and surveyed the room. "You know what it's like in business. You just want to do the best."

"Yes."

"Including by you. Did I see Hades here?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes, he's around."

"Unexpected."

"It would be strange to launch a business without him here to support me," I said without thinking.

The love goddess gave me a shrewd look, one that made it clear she could tell what my feelings towards him were. I supposed that made sense. It was both her magic and her business to be able to tell when people were in love. "Well, at least that explains the email I got earlier," she said.

"What email?"

"You'll have to ask Hades."

I looked over at him, meeting his gaze. He smiled in a way that I knew was only meant for me, and my heart skipped a beat. I smiled back, wishing we were the only ones in the room. Maybe I should have invited him for dinner last night or something, rather than to an event with a lot of other people, but it was too late for that now.

And there was always tomorrow.