This isn’t the same as when I was here the first time. There are two new additions. The first is a black-framed photo of Hades and Persephone. She’s wearing a white wedding gown that looks remarkably traditional. There’s even a veil covering her blond hair. He, of course, is in a black-on-black suit, but he’s not wearing his customary dour expression. Instead, he’s staring down at his bride with an indulgent smile on his face. She’s beaming at him, practically radiating light. It’s so sweet it makes my teeth ache.
Psyche tugs my arm. “Yes, yes, my sister looks lovely. This one.” She points to the second addition. There, next to the photo of Hades and Persephone, is one of me and Psyche. This one isn’t from the ceremony but from the photos we posed for after the fact. I’m holding Psyche close and have one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand tipping her chin up with the obvious intention of kissing her. She looks soft and happy and perfect.
And me?
My heart’s in my eyes.
I don’t miss the significance of this photo being here among these other happy photos of the Dimitriou women. Demeter might not have welcomed me to the family with open arms and sweet words, but by hanging this photo, she is welcoming me into the family.
I laugh, my throat a little tight. “Well, fuck.”
“What?”
I can’t really put this strange sensation into words. I’ve never had a family before, or at least a family where every interaction isn’t transactional. A warm welcome, even this small, makes me feel strange and awkward, like I don’t know what to do with my hands. “Your mother has a pointed way of welcoming someone into the family.”
“She does, doesn’t she?” Psyche leans against my arm. “Hey, you.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
I press a quick kiss to her bright-pink lips. “I love you, too. Now let’s go down and greet your mother properly.”
We find the entire Dimitriou clan in the kitchen. And Hades, which surprises the fuck out of me. He lifts his brows when he sees me but otherwise seems content to occupy a corner away from the women moving around one another like a terrifyingly well-oiled machine. Psyche gives my hand one last squeeze and joins them seamlessly.
Eurydice stirs what appears to be marinara sauce while chatting with Persephone, who removes hot rolls from the oven. Demeter tips steaming noodles into a strainer, gives it a good rinse, and weaves around Persephone to dump them into the sauce. Callisto is chopping vegetables for a salad with a speed that makes my stomach shrivel up. Psyche washes her hands and then starts transferring the chopped vegetables into the giant salad bowl filled with lettuce.
I inch back until I’m even with Hades, safely on the other side of the peninsula counter. “Are they always like this?” I murmur.
“Yes.”
No one bumps into each other. No one even hesitates. And they manage it while all talking at once. It’s overwhelming in the extreme. Not just the sheer competence; it’s the fact that I can feel their love for each other in every word, every movement.
“So this is what family really looks like.” I don’t mean to say the words out loud. I sure as fuck don’t mean for Hades to hear them.
He huffs out a dry laugh. “Yeah, it shocked the fuck out of me, too, the first few times. You get used to it.” He hesitates. “It’s even kind of nice sometimes, especially when they let you help.”
It strikes me that Hades is another person in Olympus who wouldn’t have much in the way of family experience. His parents died when he was a little kid. I glance at him. “Brave to step into that tornado.”
“Just wait until you’re in the middle of it.”
Strangely enough, I can’t wait.
Within ten minutes, the women have us hauling food to the table. Dinner is just as much a whirlwind as the preparing seemed to be. Psyche and her sisters talk over each other, with Demeter interjecting dry comments at regular intervals. It’s chaotic and more than a little overwhelming.
But Hades is right. It’s…nice.
I can feel the love they hold for each other, even when Persephone and Callisto start bickering over a misremembered instance of sibling injustice. I’m content to pick at my food and soak up the energy. This is what family feels like. What home feels like.
I like it.
Once everyone’s eaten their fill, Hades clears his throat. “We’ll do dishes.”
“Smart boys.” Demeter’s smile is knife-sharp. “We’ll be in the living room.”
Hades heads into the kitchen and the women whisk out of the room. All except Psyche. She glances after her family and takes my hand. “Are you doing okay? I know we can be a lot at first. If we need to leave—”
“I’m good.” The love I feel for this woman about bursts out of my chest. Of course she’d pause to check in on me, to offer to leave early even though she’s obviously enjoying herself. I squeeze her hand. “Better than good. Go enjoy your mother and sisters. We’ll be in once we’ve finished the dishes.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I am.”
She finally nods, her lips curving in a slow grin. “Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you when we get home.” She leans close and lowers her voice. “I bought some new lingerie. Play nice and I’ll let you tear it off me with your teeth.”
“You little asshole,” I breathe. I have to adjust my pants a little, which makes her smirk. Even her damn smirk is sexy. “Just for that, I am going to tear it off with my teeth, strip by lacy strip.”
“Oh no, not that,” she says, deadpan.
I laugh. It’s big and freeing and banishes the last of the nerves that clung through dinner. A beautiful wife who is everything I never dreamed of deserving. A loving family that seems all too ready to draw me into their circle. I really am the luckiest son of a bitch in Olympus.
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Acknowledgments
A massive thanks to all my readers. I wouldn’t be able to do this without your support, and I am constantly humbled and so incredibly grateful for your response to the sexy little stories I enjoy writing so much.
Huge thanks to my editorial team at Sourcebooks for helping me craft Electric Idol into the best version of itself. Mary Altman and Christa Désir, your insight was exactly what I needed! Thanks to Jessica Smith, Rachel Gilmer, Jocelyn Travis, and Susie Benton.
Thank you to Dawn Adams for the design! This book feels so special because of it. Big, BIG thanks to Stefani Sloma and Katie Stutz for your support with marketing and PR. You’ve gone above and beyond! Thanks to Liz Otte for talking up this series so much!
Thank you, as always, to my agent, Laura Bradford, for always being in my corner!
Thanks to my team in the very unofficial sense. Piper J. Drake, you suggested having a literal “take the heart” moment and it really made all the difference in this book. Thanks to Asa Maria Bradley and Jenny Nordbak for always being only a text away when I get stuck or just have a bonkers idea. Big appreciation to Andie J. Christopher and Nisha Sharma for keeping me fed on TikToks. Many, many thanks to the WordMakers group for writing with me, day in and day out, and always believing me when I say “It’ll be FINE” even when I’m barely reining in my scattered chaos.
Last but never least, thank you to my family for keeping me tethered to reality, or at least some approximation of it. Thanks to the kids for weathering truly unprecedented times (really, would love to get back to something resembling precedented) with all of us stuck under one roof for thirteen months and counting. All my love to Tim for being the best partner a person could ever dream of. Your support and belief in me has kept me going through ups and downs and loop-de-loops. You really are romance hero material!
About the Author
Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs. You can visit her at kateerobert.com or on Twitter @katee_robert.