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In hindsight, I’d known it the day I met her. That moment when her light shone into me, awakening something I couldn’t name, I’d known that she would be my weakness. That she’d be the one to make a proud god of the underworld kidnap a princess, which would lead to the devastation of the earth. Because that’s what would happen if I let go of my reins. I would scorch everyone who would dare to stand between us. And there would be many. I could handle them, but I couldn’t handle destroying her. I saw it in the way she tilted her head when we sat in the library, just enjoying reading together. Or in the way her eyes sparkled when she dared me to taste her curry which smelled like a witch’s brew. Over and over, I saw proof of her trust, devotion, and love for me. I didn’t deserve any of it. An angel would never smile at a demon unless that spawn of hell was disguised as a human being.
And wasn’t that the crux of it all? She truly believed I had good in me, like she believed it about all the men in and around the house. She had even managed to make Viking smile, because she was a ray of sunlight. At least her mother had been right about that. Of course, Inessa hadn’t known that one day I would be the one to destroy her daughter.
All this was going through my head as I walked into Flux. I’d left home early in the afternoon since I knew Katya was having company. I’d checked this Tommie Green’s credentials. No one could get anywhere near her without me researching them. Tonight she would get a sense of the freedom she’d asked me for. That I was at Flux right now was purely coincidental.
Angel sat behind a desk in the club’s security control room. A dozen monitors covered the walls, showing every corner of the club. He managed the floor on the weekends.
He gave me a knowing look. “Why am I not surprised to see you here tonight?”
“Because I come here all the time?” I retorted.
He snickered. “Yeah, that’s what your poker buddy said as well.”
“Gio’s here?”
Angel pointed upstairs. “Sitting in the office with the mirrored glass. As it happens, he suddenly needed to go clubbing as well.”
I took the stairs to the executive room. Gio was already in one of the lounge chairs overlooking the dance floor.
He gave me a chin jerk, then turned his gaze back to the club.
I dropped into the chair next to him. “What are you doing here?”
“Girls night,” he said, his eyes focused on a table below.
“You follow your woman to these gatherings every month?”
“No,” he admitted. “But this month’s theme is glamorous red and fuck-me pumps.”
He sounded possessive, as if he wanted to keep an eye on his wife. I’d known Gio for over a decade and I couldn’t remember him ever fussing over a woman. And he’d had a lot of them. From top models to the most beautiful jetsetters. I couldn’t recall him ever giving a damn about what they wore.
Wait. Had he said fuck-me pumps? I followed his gaze. Three women and a man sat at a table in the VIP section. Two of them had their backs turned to me. One woman I recognized as Jocelyn Detta and the other must be Mary, but I couldn’t spot Katya. And then there was Tommie. He was easy to see with his ice-blue hair.
Katya probably hadn’t arrived yet. I relaxed, though I didn’t know what I’d do if I saw her in fuck-me pumps. She just wasn’t wired like that. The little cat mostly walked around in sneakers or boots, but never in stilettos.
I gave Gio a look of pity. “So this is what you do on these nights. You just sit here and watch your wife. You don’t even go to her?”
“She can’t know I’m here.”
When I raised a brow, he added, “If she sees me, she’ll accuse me of being a controlling, possessive bastard.”
“Youareall of that.” And then some.
He shrugged. “There’s knowing and then there’s providing your wife with proof she can later use against you.” Judging by his smile, he didn’t really mind her using anything against him.
“That makes no sense at all.”
“Spoken like a man who’s never been married.”
“Yeah, I avoided that bullet.” Marriage wasn’t in my future. There was no point in tying the knot if I was going to leave behind a widow. Or worse, an orphan.
“So far,” Gio said with an annoying smile.
It felt as if someone had just walked over my grave. “Perpetually,” I corrected him. “It’s all about planning, and then sticking to those plans.”
Gio cut me a look. “What was it you once told me? Something about if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.”
I poured myself a drink. “You speak as if you’ve never had a say in your marriage. As I recall, you wanted to marry your wife. I, on the other hand, have no such plans.”
