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“Better not. I’m all that’s standing between you and jail, remember.”
He snorted. “The way things are going, you’ll be the reason I’m thrown in jail.”
I grinned, but couldn’t deny it. As I headed for my car, my phone rang. I dug it out of my purse and hit the ANSWER button. “Hello?”
“Well, hello,” a familiar voice said. “Are we over our snit yet?”
I ignored the jibe. “What can I do for you, Lucian?”
“Oh, I can think of lots of things, but I’ll settle for a simple dinner date.”
There was nothing simple about dinner dates with him—that I knew from long experience. “I’m afraid the snit lingers on, so the answer is no.”
He sighed. “Risa, we both know that you could have stopped me anytime you wanted. You simply didn’t want.”
That was possibly true—if I’d had Amaya on me and had forced him back at sword point. I doubted I’d have had the strength—or rather, the willpower—to do it otherwise. Which, again, struck me as odd because up until now I’d never been a pushover when it came to men and sex. But then, up until now I’d never been involved with a full Aedh, either.
“That’s not the point, Lucian.”
“What if I swear on bended knees not to push against your desire like that again?”
“Then I might forgive you,” I said with a half smile. “Just not today. After all, you did bet that I’d only last two nights without you.”
“I will hold my tongue in the future,” he said, with a laugh. “So, what have you been up to without me? I’m guessing your father hasn’t been in contact with you about finding the next key?”
“No. Life has been the same old, same old, I’m afraid.”
“Meaning you’re at work?” he inquired. “Against the reaper’s wishes?”
“Azriel doesn’t run my life any more than you do,” I said mildly—and, hopefully, sidestepped the question of where I was.
“Perhaps, but he does have a point when it comes to your restaurant. It’s too easy for the Raziq to find you there.”
“Except, as I keep telling him, they’re hardly going to attack me somewhere where there’s lots of people.” But even as I said that, I remembered the Ania attack in the café and shivered. And I had a bad feeling I’d just tempted fate.
“If it proves easier for the Raziq to net you in a public space, then they will do so. For an Aedh, the end goal is all and nothing else matters.”
“And what is your end goal, Lucian?”
“Revenge,” he said flatly. “Whatever it takes, whatever I have to do. But I’ve never hidden that from you.”
No, he hadn’t. But I was beginning to wonder just how big a part I was playing in his end goal. It was certainly bigger than what he was admitting, and that was making me more and more nervous.
And yet I still didn’t want to walk away from him. Maybe I really was addicted to the damn man.
“Well, this little piece of your revenge pie isn’t ready to play nice just yet.” I dug my keys out of my pocket and clicked the UNLOCK button. Lights flashed as the car opened.
“You know, that background noise isn’t sounding like you’re in the restaurant.”
“I never said I was.”
“So, the bored and horny investment adviser isn’t even allowed to live vicariously through your eventful day-to-day life?”
I snorted softly. “Good-bye, Lucian. Talk to you soon.”
“Hopefully, sooner than you—”
I cut him off in midsentence, tossed the phone and purse over onto the passenger seat, then climbed into the car.
