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Sean snorted into his glass, and I wondered how many it had taken for him to get the courage to approach me tonight, of all times. Marriage alliances were a formal affair in the underworld, and offering one in the middle of an event was casual, bordering on disrespectful. We didn’t have the relationship for him to feel that comfortable with me. “Andrews is so far in your pocket, I wonder if he’s got a soul of his own. But he’s a goddamn genius, so it would be worth the oversight. Besides, if you’re not going to put a ring on it, you should let the boy go.”
The nerve of this asshole. “As I said, O’Bannon, I’m not going to answer for Greyson.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I stepped close, noting how tense he got. I kept my voice low since eyes were already on us. I needed to put the Irish bastard in his place, not turn him into another enemy.
“You seem to be under the impression that we’re friends, O’Bannon. We’re allies—nothing more, nothing less. You know nothing about my family, and you won’t be joining it unless I say so.” His eyes narrowed at the condescending pat I laid on his chest. “And in the future, you speak about my people with respect, or you keep your goddamn mouth shut. Am I clear?”
“Crystal.” The word was full of hate, and I wondered if I’d just royally fucked us. It doesn’t matter. It had to be done.
A brisk nod to one of his sons had him whisked away. Every part of O’Bannon’s proposal soured my stomach. Greyson with someone else was the future we were looking toward, but would it be better to know he was with someone I trusted, or worse? Would it hurt more to watch them grow together while I was left behind?
Suddenly desperate for air, I set my drink on a passing tray and moved away from the crowd. Away from the future that already felt set in stone.
“Mari.”
I didn’t know who it was, and I didn’t care. “Getting some air. I’ll be right back.”
“I think we should talk now, actually.”
A man stepped in front of me, and all I caught was a pair of bright-blue eyes and a smile that rivaled a movie star’s. He was the all-American boy, the golden god.
And I had no fucking clue who he was.
“And you are?”
“My apologies. I should have been by to introduce myself sooner, but the city’s been taking up so much of my time.” He grinned, picking up my hand and bending over it in a shadow of a bow. “My name is Cassius Beckstrom. You can call me Cash.”
Chapter Ten
Mari
What. The. Fuck.
Questions flew through my brain, begging to be answered, but they’d have to wait. I looked Cash over and frowned. He was dressed up in a suit like the rest of the men in the room, but his was just a little out of season. Likely a money issue, if he was really an upstart as I suspected. Despite that, his shoes were shined, clothes perfectly pressed, golden-blond hair swept back off his face, and jawline sharp enough to cut glass. Everything about him said he’d planned to attend the party.
But how did he even know about it, and how had he gotten in?
“Like what you see?” He grinned, watching as I blatantly checked him out. I wasn’t interested in dating or sex, but in discovering if he had a hidden cache of weapons I needed to be worried about. “I look good, right?”
I wanted to tell him I’d seen better, but something in his eyes unsettled me. Greed or power or insanity, I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was I wasn’t willing to set him off when no one was around to help me.
The tinkling of chains reminded me that the dagger pendant nestled at the base of my throat was every bit functional, but I didn’t want it to come to that. This was underground politics; the first to attack lost the advantage. Without any background on Cash or the Aces, I needed every bit of help I could get.
Time to gather information.
Men are simple creatures, Marianna. Let them speak, and nine times out of ten, they’ll tell you what they want. My father’s lessons echoed in my ears, the art of manipulation as familiar as my own skin. I let myself fall back into the rhythm I’d perfected during training, the low and slow cadence that had men falling at my feet.
Moving slowly, I removed my hand from Cash’s grip, fingers dragging across his palm. “You look very dapper tonight, Cassius.”
“Cash, please. Cassius is so formal.”
I wanted to be formal. Something about him set me on edge, and I didn’t like it.
He turned away from me, running a finger over the gilded wallpaper with a teasing smile. “Fancy place you’ve got here, Marianna. I have to say, I was disappointed to find I wasn’t invited to the party.”
“It’s not like I knew where to send it,” I pointed out. “If you wanted an invitation, all you had to do was go through the proper channels.”
“But then we wouldn’t have gotten to chat like this.” He leaned against the wall across from me, arms deliberately hanging loose in his pockets. He was granting me space like it was his to give. I was about to tell him where to shove that space when he spoke again. “Who’s the robot?”
