“I highly doubt that.”
“Tell me why you don’t trust me.”
I hesitated. Showing him my cards wasn’t something I was sure I wanted to do. On the other hand, maybe confronting him with the information I’d uncovered would prompt him to reveal even more. It was a calculated risk, but one I felt confident taking.
I turned the laptop screen toward him, the green lines of the decrypted syndicate ping reflected in his dark eyes.
“I did some digging, Thal. You’ve been pinging Rhea’s private server every night at 2:00 AM. That’s a very specific time to be infiltrating. So, are you going to lie to me, or admit you’re exactly the kind of traitor Zeno warned me about?”
He didn't step back. He didn't even flinch. Instead, he leaned against the foyer wall, his broad shoulders blocking the only path to the rest of my suite. He watched me with the cold, predatory patience of a man who had already anticipated my next move.
“The word you’re looking for is ‘infiltration,’ Daphne,” he rumbled, his voice dropping to a dangerous, velvety low. “I don't work for them. I’m the one who decides whether they live or die.”
“That doesn’t sound like a denial,” I countered, though my voice lacked the steel I’d hoped for.
“I’ve spent years navigating the Olympus,” I said, with a defensive hiss. “Just because I’m in bed with Zeno’s organization doesn't mean I belong to him.”
“Well, it’s all in the vocabulary, isn’t it?” Thal pushed off the wall, closing the distance between us until I had to tilt my head back just to keep his eyes in view. He loomed over me, his scent, sandalwood and something dangerously metallic, filling my senses. “What exactly do you mean by ‘in bed’?”
I lifted my chin, my heart hammering against my ribs. “I’m not talking about fucking, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He didn't laugh. The amusement in his eyes darkened, becoming something much darker, much more primal. He reached out, his thumb slow and deliberate as it grazed the silk lapel of my robe, just inches from the frantic pulse at my throat.
“It wasn’t,” he whispered, his breath a scorching ghost against my ear. “But if you’re so concerned about who I’m in bed with, maybe you should make sure the spot next to me is already taken. By you.”
I tried to ignore how my skin set on fire at his touch. I tried to ignore the flex of muscle in his forearm as he braced a hand against the wall behind my head, caging me in. The space inside my apartment vanished. There was only the scent of him, whiskey, cold rain, and the heat radiating off his body in waves.
“Zeno doesn’t deserve this kind of loyalty,” he growled, his gaze dropping to my lips. He wrapped his fingers into the strands, a gentle but firm grip that forced me to look at him. “He doesn't see a woman when he looks at you, Daphne. He sees a tool. A yes-girl. Is that really all you want to be? A shadow in a dead man’s house?”
Fuck.
The question hit me harder than the physical proximity. Every accusation he threw at Zeno felt like a mirror being held up to my life. I’d given up everything to stay in the Olympus. I’dtraded my dreams for a gilded leash. And as Thal loomed over me, looking like a man who wanted to set me on fire just to watch me burn, I realized I was terrifyingly close to letting him.
“Don’t ever believe I think you’re stupid, Daphne. That’s never how I see you. I think you’re too clever to let Zeno manipulate you like this.”
His words made my heart race.
Torn between the urge to make him stop and the sinking feeling that he might be right, I looked up at him, my eyes searching his. I had prayed for a sign right before he knocked on the door. Was he it?
His eyes flicked down to my lips, igniting a torrent of desire that clenched tight in my stomach.
Thal was an extraordinary kisser and an even more remarkable lover, something I was well aware of, and that knowledge made the proximity almost unbearable.
I saw the vein throbbing on his right temple, pounding with a rapid rhythm.
As I wondered if being so close affected him, he suddenly lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine, sealing a moment filled with unspoken longing.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The word echoed in my mind like a neon warning light.
My breath caught in my throat as the tension between us flared and swirled with a tornado of need, transforming into a wave of passion so intense and wild that I couldn’t resist.
My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer as I parted my lips, inviting his tongue to meet mine in a passionate duel. My breasts pressed against his chest, and my nipples instantly grew more sensitive, pebbling into sharp, hard peaks. A deep, resonant moan escaped his throat, vibrating through me and awakening a stir in my core, a powerful, soulful connection that words could never fully express.
It took precisely twenty seconds for me to regain clarity. Thal’s electrifying kisses seemed to drain my common sense. Why did I continue to allow this? Once more, I pushed firmly against his chest.
“No! We aren’t doing this again, Thal," I snapped, my eyes locking onto his.
