My hand slips to her thigh. “It’s a dangerous thing,” I correct her. “But then again, I love danger.”
twenty-two
-Ares-
My fingers tap against the mahogany desk as I listen to 404 typing while he’s trying to get me McAllister’s schedule.
The rhythm matches that of my heart, somehow controlled despite the rage burning beneath my skin.
Fucking McAllister. The name alone fills me with rage. It’s not often that someone challenges me like this, even if it’s indirectly. He won’t go unpunished.
404 just informed me that he’s going to be in Japan for the next five days, but after that, I plan to make a move, even if that means public decapitation.
“Track his movements since he showed up on the political stage,” I command, holding my phone and pacing the length of the room. The space feels too small, suddenly like someone is holding me down, not letting me act of my own will. Because if I were sure it ended here with McAllister, I would blow his whole fucking life up. “Every meeting, every handshake, every single fuck… I want to know everything about him and the people surrounding him.”
“Already working on that,” 404 replies, and I can hear him typing as we speak. “He’s on a diplomatic trip right now. Some kind of multicultural exchange of whatever… short definition for burning taxpayers' money on a private jet vacation.”
I look at Brynn, who sits in an armchair, her face betraying nothing, but her fingers twitch slightly, letting me know she’s as anxious as I am to get this over with.
“Financial records show transfers for several offshore accounts, eventually linking back to shell companies similar to Whitlock’s structure.” 404 says on the other line, snapping my attention back to him. “And there’s something else… I think McAllister likes to play war more than regular people, he serves on a Senate committee overseeing advanced defense technologies.”
I knew something about that, nevertheless, my jaw tightens, I can’t get my hands on him fast enough. “Okay, see what else you can dig up, and if he tries to contact Ashford, put him through. But make sure he doesn’t say anything that might compromise us. My people will be with him at all times. So if he fucks up, it's game over for him. McAllister needs to believe everything’s normal until we’re ready to strike.” I end the call with a few final instructions, ensuring everything goes smoothly, at least on that part, because nothing has been going smoothly lately in my life.
I look again at Brynn, studying the curve of her neck, the small vein that twitches with every pulse. My little curse. My unexpected liability.
The thought of bringing her into this world doesn’t sit comfortably with me. I know she wants to be involved, and I know she’s already involved in it because of Elias. Though, there’s a part of me, a foreign sensation that fights in my chest, something between irritation and fear.
Not for myself, of course. It’s never for myself. It’s for her.
“You’re doing it again,” she says, without looking up from her phone.
“Doing what?”
She raises her eyes to meet mine in a sort of challenge. “That thing when you think too loudly.”
I walk to the mini bar in my study and pour two fingers of whiskey, not answering her immediately. I swirl the amber liquid in my glass and look at the faint oily trace it leaves behind. Time moves differently when you’ve lived as long as I have, but some pleasures remain the same. “McAllister returns in five days,” I say, taking a sip. “He’ll have a lot of protection around him. This one won’t be like with Whitlock or Ashford.”
“Good. I was getting bored with the easy ones.” She repeats the words from earlier, but there’s a new something in them. Determination is still there, but there is also some sort of fragility.
“I think you should stay here for this one. You’re still healing.”
“I’m fine,” she mutters.
“Your definition of fine nearly got you killed in Kharon.”
“You’re the one who almost got me killed in Kharon, and last time I checked, now we’re on the same side.” She reaches for the rest of my whiskey and drinks it in one sip. “Are we doing this again? The part where you try to sideline me?”
“I get the feeling this one is going to be different. I don’t like the attention and the efforts he’s made to follow things in Kharon.”
“Ares, you know me. I’m not gonna sit at home while you go get Elias’ killer. I need resolution.”
My first instinct is to refuse. To keep her here, safe and protected, while I handle McAllister. But I recognize that look in her eyes. The same stubborn determination that drew me to her in the beginning. That same fire that makes her both hard-headed and incredibly irresistible.
I don’t answer. Instead, I move to the window, looking out at the city lights. My territory. This whole planet has been my hunting ground since before anything or anyone else existed.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” she says, waiting for my confirmation before continuing.
“What is it?” I ask, already knowing I’m going to do it, because lately, I’m doing whatever she wants.
