“I’m not suggesting an alliance because I want your help, Daphne. I’m not even sure you’re capable of helping yet.” He let the insult hang in the air, a cold splash of reality. “I’m suggesting it because I’m the only man in this city who actually gives a damn whether you live to see the sun rise. Zeno sees a tool. I see a target. Which do you prefer to be?”
I locked eyes with him, a flash of heat, half fury, half desperate want, surging inside me. “Is that why you had your men follow me? To play the hero? To make me feel small? Call them off, Thal. My actions are my own.”
“I didn't have them follow you,” he growled, his hand finally leaving the glass and sliding up my arm, his fingers digging intomy bicep with a bruising, possessive grip. “I had them watch you. There’s a difference. One is an insult, the other is a claim.”
He leaned in until his nose brushed mine, his breath a scorching ghost against my lips. I could taste the whiskey on his tongue without even touching him.
“Rhea is planning a breach of my network, Aidon’s, and Zeno’s. If she succeeds, the Olympus won't just fall. It’ll be picked clean by scavengers. And you?” He tilted his head, his lips brushing the corner of my mouth as he spoke. “You’ll be the first thing they tear apart to reach him. I’m telling you this because we’re going to need more than luck to survive her. We’re going to need a level of trust you’ve never given any man in your life. A total surrender, Daphne. To me. Not to him.”
He pulled back just an inch, his eyes dark and blown wide with a hunger that made my knees buckle. “Now, drink your wine. And tell me if you’re ready to stop being a sacrifice.”
His words hovered between us, heavy like a declaration of war reverberating in a silent hall. Still, uncertainty flickered inside me.
Who was fighting whom anymore? I stood, my footsteps hesitant as I moved to the edge of the terrace. From there, I looked out over the vast horizon, my mind swirling with confusion and unspoken questions.
If all of this were real, then the threat posed by Rhea’s syndicate could reshape the entire power structure of Vegas for years to come. Zeno might never recover from such a blow. Thal’s empire, too, could collapse under the weight of it.
And Thal was right—no one was an island in this savage desert.
But could I trust him?
Not a fucking chance.
Was this all just a calculated trick to lure me into his plans? With Zeno, Aidon, and Thal, it seemed like an endless fight, aconstant struggle for control, for more power, more wealth. They had risen so high in this town specifically because they’d done whatever it took, stepping over anyone in their way.
And now, I wondered if I was just another steppingstone for Thal.
Was this just some twisted tactic to manipulate me into working with him, to turn me against Zeno and everything he’d done for me? A flicker of doubt coursed through me.
“I don’t see how I can help you, Thal.” I turned back to notice he had risen and was now slowly approaching.
His eyes, as dark as night, were filled with hunger, greed, and fierce determination. But beneath that intensity, there was something deeper, something that took my breath away.
Desire.
With each purposeful step he took closer, the intensity in his gaze sharpened until he was directly in front of me, so near I could smell the subtle scent of his aftershave.
“I want to help you, Daphne.”
“But I don’t need—" I started, but he interrupted, brushing a lock of hair from my cheek. The back of his hand against my skin sent an involuntary shiver through me.
“There’s so much we could do for each other, Daphne.”
I swallowed hard, my initial resistance melting away as he drew nearer.
“I understand you’re torn, Daphne. It’s only natural. Your loyalty to Zeno is admirable. But ... is it justified?”
His words stung.
Every instinct urged me to run away, to leave his penthouse and never come back. Yet another part of me, the part I wasn’t fully ready to face, wanted to stay. Thal had a unique ability to challenge my loyalty, something nobody had ever done before.
“When was the last time, Daphne, that Zeno truly trusted anyone but himself?”
I sighed, shaking my head, annoyed that his words hit so close to home. I hated that he was right. Zeno trusted no one, not even me. He questioned me constantly. He was suspicious and had accused me more than once of stepping outside our ranks.
Still, I’d never done so.
Until now…
