Page 47 of Reverence

Which definitely raised alarm bells in my head.

What did most of the people do for a living?

Where were they getting these amounts of money?

Ares placed his large hand on the small of my back and my body tensed. “Do you need me to cuff you?” I snapped, looking daggers at him.

“Will that help you keep your hands to yourself?”

“Careful.” He whispered in my ear, sounding calm. Dangerously calm. “I’m certain you wouldn’t want the analysts overhearing this interesting conversation.”

I clutched my purse tightly, hand itching to grab the knife in my thigh holster and plunge it into his eye.

“Your sarcasm could use some work.”

He pulled me closer, knowing I couldn’t do anything about it.

Elite businessmen and women surrounded us as we walked towards the entrance of the building.

“Oh,” He paused to look at me. “You must’ve mistaken my hand on your back for me giving a fuck about your opinion. Trust me, nothing’s changed. I’m just doing my job.”

“Oh,” I mocked him. “You hardly do your job thoroughly in any case so I assumed you required some pointers.”

He laughed softly, observing our surroundings.

His fingertips dug into my skin before he slid his large hand around my waist and forced my body disgustingly closer to his.

At this point, I didn’t know where he ended and I began.

“If I were to accept pointers from anyone, it wouldn’t be you.” We smiled and nodded at the concierge as we entered the building.

This quality made us good agents, the ability to continue with our facade despite wanting to kill each other.

I turned to look at him, the smile still gracing my face. “Mi amor.”

The sarcastic term of endearment made his eye twitch and I relished the expression.

“That’s why your coworkers aren’t fond of working with you. Perhaps if you learned to accept criticism you’d be a better agent.”

We came to a standstill and he gripped my chin, gently yet firmly.

His touch sickened me but I didn’t display my disdain.

“Mi corazón.” He mimicked my tone, leaning in to speak directly into my ear.

“The day I care about anything my coworkers think of me is the day hell freezes over. Fuck them.”

He released me as if touching me both disgusted and burned him simultaneously then disappeared among the crowd.

I stood there, glaring in his direction—trying to make sense of the altercation that just transpired between us.

Thirteen

Ares

My sanity, my willpower, my fucking patience hung by a loose thread that was on the precipice of snapping.

Amala made meaningless conversation with a grey-haired woman, laughing and smiling like she didn’t continuously push my buttons day in and day out.