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I would deal with her later.
"Marie," the Senator said again, except this time, it was more of a pleading.
She sighed, running her fingers over the top of the table. Finally, she waved her hand at him. “Fine. You can go. I'll meet you at the house."
In a few strides, he passed me, grabbing her to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. I shot out another text, then put the phone away, satisfied.
Some men were so easy to manipulate. By the look on his face when he turned to leave, his thoughts were already on the rest of his night.
As soon as he was gone, Marie turned to me. “I’m only staying because you picked me up that day. It shows that you have some sense of decency, unlike your father.”
I nodded. It was fine to let her think that she'd had a choice in the matter.
"Sit." I gestured to the chair, my voice polite but firm.
She grumbled as she sat, looking at Aster. "And you work for this guy?"
Aster didn’t answer and I easily moved the plush, leather chair up to their table. “Now." I sat down, leaning back to look at them, my hands templed in front of me. "You're going to tell me what I need to know."
Marie huffed. "If you think that I'm more afraid of you than Nero, you have another thing coming."
My eyes flashed, my anger building. "You have no idea of what I'm capable of. You have somewhat of an idea of what Nero could do to you, but I’m the unknown in this equation and," I leaned forward to stare into her eyes, "therefore, that means that the sky is the limit."
She scowled, her lips tightening.
"Marie," Aster began, once again, her hand going to soothe over Marie's, and I bit down on the bark that wanted to leave my mouth that she remove her hand immediately, "he's only trying to help you.”
"No, he's not. He's only trying to save his own skin." Marie’s eyes were filled with a seething resentment. "That's all the Kings ever care about. Themselves."
"That's not true," Aster disagreed.
"And how do you know that?" Marie spit out.
"I know because Coulter is trying to save my sister." Aster's voice was soft. There was no doubt of the vulnerability in her tone. She was as genuine as I was cold.
Marie visibly softened. "What happened to your sister?"
"Nero is keeping her captive." I held my breath, waiting for Aster to give me away, that we were keeping her captive too. But it didn't come. “Coulter is only trying to help her, that's why he needs to know what Nero plans to do with Bourbon's blood."
"Wait," Marie straightened, “it's your sister that Bourbon is marrying?"
Aster nodded, and Marie frowned.
“When I saw them, she didn't look like she was being forced to marry Bourbon against her will. In fact, she looked very cozy on his arm.”
"She isn't," I grit out, but Aster interrupted me again, rushing to reassure her, even though she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
"She loves Bourbon, but she's still under Nero's thumb. Coulter is trying to free them from Nero. But he can't do that unless you tell him what you've done with Bourbon's blood."
Marie bit down on her lip, but her fingers tightened in Aster's hold. “Do you really believe that he," she nodded towards me, "can help your sister?"
To my astonishment, Aster didn't hesitate. "Yes," she leaned forward to fully capture Marie's gaze, "I have to believe it, to hope. Do you understand?"
Something unspoken passed between them that I didn't understand and Marie nodded. Then she inhaled a deep breath. "Yes, I understand." She looked up at me. "I will help you, but, I have one condition first."
I tried not to appear too eager, but I couldn’t' help the thrill that ran through me.
I'd been right to bring Aster into this.
