Filthy Gods (American Gods 0.5)(29)

“Arsen made a call. It didn’t take long to find some information on him that would ruin his life if it got out. He’s making a public announcement tomorrow that he will be resigning now,” he stated. “He’s banned from associating with any of us. He’s been cut off.”

I sniffled, glancing up at him through wet lashes. “You’d do that?”

He simply hummed.

And in Nathaniel’s arms, I started feeling safe again.





“Ms. Monroe.” Mrs. Hawthorne’s cool, calm voice made my heart drop. I had been mopping the tiled floors and I glanced at Mandy who gave me a wide-eyed look. I handed my mop off to her and straightened my skirt, eyeing Mrs. Hawthorne’s unreadable expression. Just like her damn son. “Please follow me to my office.”

I swallowed my dread.

She knows.

As I followed her back to her office, I practiced what I would say about my relationship with her son. That it was important. That it was more than just sex.

Even though I wasn’t sure it was for him.

He hadn’t said anything about it, and I hadn’t asked. As far as I knew, our affair still ended at the end of the summer.

When I entered her office, I took in the classic, clean lines. White walls, white sheer curtains and even white lilies. Everything perfect, everything organized and pristine.

I sat down in an upholstered leather chair in front of her desk and straightened my back, trying to keep a semblance of composure.

She glanced at her papers on her desk, cleared her throat and laid her eyes on me. “I have received a few complaints about your behavior, Ms. Monroe.”

I kept quiet, my fingers digging into my palms.

“I’ve heard from two separate sources that you have been acting unprofessionally and I do not tolerate that behavior in front of my guests,” she said, her manicured nails drumming on her perfect white desk. “A maid and one of my guests have reported that you have been abusing my generosity by sleeping with one of the guests and have been seen coming and going from one of our private cottages at odd hours of the day.”

I gritted my teeth.

Nathaniel said they’d taken care of the senator, but clearly, none of them had thought he’d go and run his mouth to Nathaniel’s mother.

“Senator Scott said he witnessed you with my son in concerning positions. On my estate, no less. Another maid, Mandy Wilson also reported she saw you with him sneaking around during your work hours,” Mrs. Hawthorne said.

My heart sank. Mandy? I had felt Mandy was a nice girl, but I knew why she had done it. This had always been a competition after all.

“Your behavior, of using my son to your advantage is damaging to your reputation, education, and credibility,” she snapped.

“I wasn’t using him.” I clasped my mouth shut.

Mrs. Hawthorne shook her head, laughing once as she folded her hands on the desk. “My Nathaniel…he tends to get bored. He enjoys unraveling people, enjoys playing. He does it most summers and then he returns to school, focused on his future. You’re not the first, Ms. Monroe. And you will not be the last.”

A hot panic spread across my chest, but I tried to keep my features unreadable.

She smiled at me. “My son’s future is what is most important to me. He will graduate with full honors and carry on our empires. And he will marry someone from the same…background. With power and poise and class. Someone that will empower him. Someone who will be of as much use to our name as he will be to theirs.”

I clenched my jaw. “I think he is old enough to decide who he will marry without your input.”

She laughed, her hand hovering over her mouth. “He will listen to everything I say. He values my opinion and he would never want to upset me or displease me.”

I wanted to argue with her, but it was useless.

“What he needs is for you to leave him alone. I’ve looked at your records. I see you’re struggling with keeping up with your payments for rent and tuition. With your type of background, you would not fit Nathaniel well. But I know your future is important to you. I will give you twenty thousand dollars to keep this affair quiet and end it. He will gladly move on to finish his last year and you will be able to stay at Yale.” She lifted her shoulders, smiling at me.

She lifted her checkbook out of her desk and picked up a pen, scrawling the amount on the thin sheet of paper.

Money. That had been what I wanted. My future. Yale. A reference.

All of it.

“No,” I said, my voice echoing strong and powerful in the white, perfect room. It pained me to say it, but I couldn’t do it.

Her finger paused and she slowly glanced up, her smile faltering. “Excuse me?”

I stood, shaking my head. “I’m not taking your money.”

“Thirty thousand then,” she said, smiling at me as if that solved everything.

I slammed my hand down on her desk, anger surging through every muscle in my body. “Nathaniel is worth more than any price you could offer me.”

Her smile turned into an ugly scowl and she stood, walking around her desk. “You think he’ll want you after this summer? He will drop you and then you will regret choosing him. You’re just a fling to him. You’re of no use to him beyond an affair. A temporary relief.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Hawthorne.” I turned, walking to the door.