Realisation dawns on his face in stages. Then he sinks into his seat and laughs, a short guffaw that ends with his eyes closed, head tipped back. “Is this a revenge thing?”
He asks me that even as he takes his attention off me. If I were here to retaliate, this would be the easiest opportunity to hurt him. As far as I know, Gryphon has never served nor taken up a discipline and relies on other people to defend him.
I actually feel a little offended. Being underestimated because I’m a woman is not new to me, but something about those shuttered lids makes me want to disintegrate his jaw.
“You’re not that important,” I say.
He snorts. “Why are you here then?”
For a moment, an image from my past is overlaid atop Gryphon. A masculine body sprawled in a show of inebriated passivity, eyes closed, mouth twisted in mockery. The sting of alcohol in the air. That slow, careful pronunciation that can’t quite hide the slurring. And, ultimately, a complete lack of respect for anyone else in the room.
Anger surges in my blood, and I fist my hands so hard I pierce the skin with my nails. After tonight, I’ll be lucky if they aren’t black and blue. Unfurling my hands reveals the beads of blood welling up against my palms. What little self-control I have left simply snaps.
Reaching out, I swipe the tumbler off the mantle. Gryphon flinches when it smashes into pieces against the marbled floor, the heavy crystal of it making a spectacle. And his eyes are open now, watching me narrowly as he pulls himself to a sitting position. He peers over the chaise before sliding his gaze back to me.
“That was part of a set gifted to me by the President of—”
“I don’t give a shit. I’m here for a compromise.”
“‘Compromise’ implies I care about who you are, or what you want. You’re lucky I didn’t immediately report you to the authorities. Be glad about that and go.”
“Because you love her,” I murmur, watching him carefully. Gryphon has a good poker face, but I catch the twitch of surprise. I continue. “Enough to break this house into pieces and ship it over, but not enough to care about her choices.”
The tips of his ears have reddened, something that’s always fascinated me about people of his colour. But he isn’t flushingbecause of embarrassment; I can see that in the clench of his jaw and the pucker of his forehead. He stands, stumbles slightly and crowds me. I don’t bother to move away, letting him square up. He thought getting in my face, intimidating me with his bulk, would win him the upper hand—I’m not fucking cowed. An inch of height between us, it’s easy to make eye contact with him without being forced to step back.
Gryphon says nothing, letting his presence do the talking.
I intended to come in here and speak to him calmly. I intended to convince him to let Marlowe and Vee leave. I didn’t have high hopes that it would work, but the plan was to try, and to trypeacefully.
Well, now heat simmers beneath my skin, and I don’t hold my tongue. Leaning in, so close we could kiss, I murmur, “I bet you were the runt in school. The runt to bully pipeline sure is a cliched one, Dominik. All this power at your fingertips, and you choose to threaten a single mother and a kid?”
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Someone who cares more about your son than you do.”
His eyes become slits. “What exactly happened on that ship?”
“You blackmailed Marlowe, and I have proof.”
This seems to amuse Gryphon. He shakes his head, puts some distance between us and then turns back to me with his fists firmly on his hips. “Tell you about that, did she?”
He gives off a careless aura, but tension thrums through his whole body. He can sober up faster than my father ever could. He has a lot of problems but alcohol’s not one of them.
“She didn’t have to.”
“And now you’re trying to blackmail me?”
I fold my arms and stare at him. It would do me no favours to forget Gryphon’s an extremely intelligent man.
He shakes his head with a sharp thrash. “Get the fuck out of my house. I don’t know how you even got in here.”
With long strides, he approaches the door and yanks it open. He doesn’t get a chance to call for security; Mae appears, eyebrow cocked, a professional mien in place.
He jerks a thumb over his shoulder as he barrels out of the room. “Deal with her.”
Mae nods, slipping past him. She shuts the door behind her and leans against it, watching me with gleaming eyes.
“It was worth a try.” I exhale a long breath, trying to regulate my system. “Chei, I wanted to put him into the ground.”
