“She’s cute. Russian. Dark hair, temper you wouldn’t believe. She’ll bear you many fine children.”
My fist itches, but I stand still.
He steps toward his car. “Probably the wrong time, but it would be good if we could form an alliance. Marriage, family, that’s how it’s done.”
“You want me to marry your fucking cousin?”
“That’s the idea.” He shrugs. “I’m sure Sylveria has approached you about her daughters.”
I just stare and then cough out blood. “You fell in love with your own lawyer. Rumor says you’re obsessed with her. That wasn’t exactly an arranged match.”
“She’s one of a kind,” he says reasonably. “And well … there is no ‘and.’ She’s one of a kind. I couldn’t let her go. I never will.”
I understand his reasoning more than I should, because right now there’s a pixie-sized blonde out of my reach. My gut twists. “I have things to do.” I turn toward my vehicle.
“Ella Rendale isn’t the one for you,” he says suddenly.
I stop cold and turn back. “You want to die?”
“Not really.” His voice stays calm. “But you know I can’t let you align with TimeGem while your brother is tied to Aquarius Social. That would leave Hologrid Hub out in the cold. I can’t let it happen.”
I take a step toward him, glass crunching under my boots. My voice drops. “You go near Ella, and I will tear down everything youlove.”
I stress the last word. We both know exactly who he loves.
His smile fades, eyes hard now. “Then I suppose we understand each other.”
Bronco groans again behind me. Wynd steadies himself against the car, still holding his ribs. The street is litteredwith broken glass and bent steel, engines ticking down as if nothing just happened.
I holster my gun, never looking away from Alexei. The night smells of gasoline and blood. My patience is gone. “I’m not using euphemisms, Alexei. I know where to hit you.”
His eyes are already dark, darker still, until they look bottomless. “So it’s like that, is it?”
“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Huh.” He looks more surprised than angry. “Then you’d better lock her down fast, because I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees her as a threat.”
Ella is definitely a threat, and Alexei probably has no idea what she can actually do with a computer virus. I notice belatedly that his voice isn’t cutting me, not the way it should, and he’s been threatening me this entire time. It could be that Alexei, deep down, is a decent man, or maybe it’s just that we’re of the same mind. I’ve also noticed since I started whatever this is with Ella that words don’t pierce as much. Maybe she’s toughened me, or maybe she’s softened everything else.
The woman has too much power. I need to check out that worthless penthouse for clues of where she’s gone, at least until this stupid app finishes updating. Sometimes technology is such a pain in the ass.
“We can find another way to forge a connection between our companies,” I say. “I don’t want to do it through marriage. At least not with this generation.”
“Apparently,” he says, “that means your kids and my kids.”
I think about it. “I’d be willing to consider that.”
“Great.” He doesn’t even have a bride yet, but he’s about to, so I can already see him planning ahead.
“Are you going to tell Rosalie?” I’m rather curious how brave he is with the lawyer.
“Hell no. That’s something that comes up in about twenty years.” He glances again at my demolished vehicle. “Send me a bill.” With that, he turns and walks to the back of his dented car. The door slams, the engine growls, and he drives off without another word.
Wynd sags against what’s left of our car now that he can finally breathe. “Are you sure we shouldn’t just follow and shoot him?”
“It’s a definite possibility,” I say, finally wiping the blood from my face. I gingerly touch the cut above my eyebrow. It doesn’t feel too deep. A bandage will do.
I move toward my other vehicle just as Bronco lurches out of the driver’s seat, blinking hard, his balance off. He sways, head darting side to side, trying to place himself.
