Page 3 of Winning Back Persephone (Jinx Paranormal Dating Agency #9)

HADES

I sighed and ran a hand over my face as I looked over all of the details for the new club I was opening. It had been a few years in the making, and I was glad that I was finally getting somewhere with it. Though every time I looked through reports like this, I wondered whether telling Persephone about this would have stopped her from walking away. She'd always wanted me to consider doing more with the club, and to open a second venue, but I'd been worried about telling her that it was happening would only disappoint her if it fell through, like several of my business plans had before. She was just so much better than me at this kind of thing.

Having to do it all without her definitely underlined that. She'd be able to take one look at the plans in front of me and be able to tell me what needed doing and if there were any potential issues. I wished she was here to do just that.

I reached for my mug, finding that the coffee had gone cold. I should go get another one. Or take Cerberus for a walk to clear my head. Then I could come back to the papers and make sense of them better.

And preferably without my mind constantly thinking about my wife. Former wife. I had to remember that, even if we hadn't done anything to make it official yet. For two years, that had been enough to keep me hoping that it wasn't going to be the end, but after seeing her at a Jinx party the other night, I knew that wasn't the case. She was moving on, and it was time for me to do the same. There was no point in spending the next hundred years dwelling on what could have been.

Even as I thought it, I realised I was being foolish. I'd never loved anyone the way I loved Persephone, and I doubted I'd find anyone like her. But that was immaterial.

The door opened, and I looked up, almost hoping that it was the goddess of my thoughts entering my office to tell me that the break-up was all a mistake. It was the thought I had every time someone came into my office.

I deflated slightly as my adoptive brother swaggered into the room and dropped down into the seat opposite from me. While he wasn't who I wanted to see, I supposed it could be worse. Zeus could be here.

"What can I do for you?" I asked Poseidon.

"I came to check on you," he said. "One of my sous chefs said that he saw you at a Jinx party, and I had to check that they weren't hitting the bottle too hard."

I rolled my eyes. It was a transparent lie at best. "I was at a Jinx party."

"I never thought I'd see the day. Do you have any whisky?" He looked around the room as if expecting some to appear.

"Downstairs in the bar," I responded.

"You're so boring, Des. Why don't you have any in your office?"

"Because this is where I do my work, not my drinking."

"Ah right. Going home to the wife and a bottle of wine."

"Something like that," I muttered.

"Well, the wife's gone, so maybe the whisky could come into your office," he said offhandedly.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not about to start drinking at work just because Persephone left me."

"Not with that attitude, you're not," Poseidon responded.

"What do you really want?" Part of me wanted to know, but the rest of me was just hoping I could get the conversation away from Persephone.

"Can I use your club for an event?" he asked.

"Depends on the day and if anything else is scheduled."

"It'll be a Saturday in about six months."

"No."

"But..."

I sighed. "It's the busiest day of the week for the club," I pointed out. "I can't do that, Persephone would..." I cleared my throat.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "Persephone would do what?"

"Nothing," I finished. "She'd do nothing. But the answer is still no."

"What if I paid you double what you normally make on a Saturday night?" he asked.

"Why would you even want that? Surely there's somewhere better to hold your event?"

"Better than The Underworld ? Is there such a place?"

"Assuming that you want to serve food, then yes, I have to think so." I couldn't pretend to know much about the restaurant business, but I did know that.

"I need somewhere big enough," he responded. "And that will give me leeway in decorating."

"Fine. Just clear it with my assistant to make sure there's nothing else going on the day you want the club," I responded.

"Are you sure Persephone won't mind?" he asked with a smile that said he knew exactly what he was saying.

"Persephone doesn't get a say in it," I said firmly, even though I wished she did. I wanted to know what she thought about every business decision I made. No, it was more than that. I wanted her opinion on everything, even the mundane things like the fact they'd changed the colour of my favourite box of cereal. It had turned blue after over a decade of being yellow, and I had thoughts about it that I couldn't share with anyone. I supposed I could tell Posiedon, but I doubted he cared.

"I hope that extends to your dating life. So what did you sign up to Jinx for?"

"Matchmaking," I admitted, not seeing the point in denying it. There were enough meddlesome love gods involved in the dating agency that it was sure to come out eventually, even if I didn't want it to.

"Unexpected. I'd have thought you'd want something more hands-off."

I shrugged. "It's as hands-off as I can get." I leaned back in my seat. "They vet all of my dates for me, and I don't have to worry about dealing with anyone who claims to be compatible just so they can date Hades."

Posiedon snorted. "You're not the catch you think you are."

"Probably not. I'll have picked up bad habits from having been in a relationship for over two thousand years. But you know what mortals can be like. Even some of the younger gods and immortals would probably be the same if they saw one of our names on their dating app. I don't want to risk that."

"Mmm, fair. It's been putting me off signing up," Poseidon admitted.

"That and running a restaurant doesn't give you a lot of time to date," I pointed out.

"That's under control now. I've got a potential replacement head chef lined up, so I can go and open my next one. Or maybe do something new. Maybe it's time to move on."

There was no helping the laugh that escaped me. "You say that every five years, and you never actually quit. You love to cook." We had that in common, though I'd always stayed in the kitchen at home, whereas Poseidon had ventured into the restaurant business.

"True. I guess we'll see how my event goes."

"You didn't tell me what it was," I said.

"I didn't," he responded, getting to his feet. "You'll have to wait for your invitation."

I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face, wondering what I'd gotten myself, and my club, into. With Poseidon, there was really no knowing. It could be anything from an orgy to filling the club with water and letting a load of seahorses swim about. I wasn't even sure which of the two would make a bigger mess.

No doubt, whichever it was, it wouldn't be anything compared to the mess I was about to make of my love life. As much as I wanted to pretend moving on from Persephone was going to be straight forward, I knew it wouldn't be. And that I was probably going to get hurt before I could probably get over her.

It was going to take time unless I was lucky and met someone who made her fade from existence. But I very much doubted that.