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“I might be an idiot,” Connor says, his expression stormy. “But I’m the only one with any fucking ideas. If you have any better ones, feel free to tell us.” He spreads his hands out, his posture relaxed, calm, hiding the coiled wolf inside that I can tell he wants to release and do some damage with.
Dean doesn’t say anything after that, and I turn my head, hiding the smile that sneaks across my face. When I turn back toward the center of the room, I find Connor’s eyes narrowed on me. The smile drops off my face.
“Everyone, out,” Connor says. “Meeting is over. Once I have the specs of the party after the gala, we can plan more. You will each have a part. I’m not doing this all by myself.”
The room is filled with rustles as everyone stands, adjusting clothes and filing out of the room. I stay seated, and I once again find Connor’s eyes on me.
I finally remember that I did come here for a reason. I wanted to discuss something with him. It’s now or never.
2
CONNOR
Istare at Wryn from across the room as the door shuts behind Geo. Neither of us speaks for a moment, but I notice her hands fidgeting with that damn teacup. She’s had it the whole time, and it has to be empty or cold at this point.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” she says, leaning to set the cup down on my desk.
I wait.
“It’s about Francesca.”
I stifle a groan. Not this again. On top of everything we have going on, I don’t want or need the burden of dealing with someone who isn’t my responsibility. I know that might make me a bad person, but, hell, I’m already one of those. I reach up to rub my temples. I’m frustrated and angry. I have been for the last two weeks, and I know everyone around me is walking on eggshells, but I don’t care.
I’m furious with myself for being a damn idiot, I’m furious with Geo for allowing Wryn to sacrifice herself, and I’m furious with Wryn for making that damn deal with Viktor. She shouldn’t have done that. It saved my life in the long run, but I can almost guarantee that whatever he has in mind for us won’t make it worth it. She should have cut her losses while she could, but now, we are here, still planning, and I’m fucking tired.
Rage has taken over my life, and I’ve let it. I know I’ve become a different person; even Geo has let me know, but it’s not like he has any room to talk. He’s also closed off and different. We know things changed that night at the flower shop, and the repercussions will come, but we don’t know when.
“Talk,” I say. I don’t stop the sharp inflection of my voice, and I watch her flinch. I don’t enjoy it, but I don’t want to change right now. It helps me remain in control, to not open myself up to anything.
“Okay, I’ve been doing something,” Wryn says.
She stands, rubbing her palms on her pants and walking toward me. She’s going to sit in the chair across from me. I wish she had stayed where she was. Having her close is hard. I know that I told her how I felt as soon as I woke up, and maybe I do feel that way. But it’s hard to tell right now when I’m so dead inside. When I have one purpose in life—and that’s to destroy the men who tried to destroy me.
“I had a little money still in my bank account, and since you finally returned my purse to me, I took it out and used it to pay for Francesca’s stay in a local motel.”
“Francesca didn’t go home?” I ask.
Wryn shakes her head. “What did she have to go home to?” she asks, sinking into the chair across from me, like I knew she would.
The fire in her eyes has me sitting up, hiding a smirk. I’ve missed the way her eyes sparkle when she’s passionate about something. Then, there’s the way her chest heaves with deep breaths, ones she’s probably not even aware of. How she talks like, if she only had one thing she could ever say, it would be this.
She’s been so docile and agreeable these past two weeks. Doting on me. It’s not the same Wryn I know. And while I know I might not be what she expected, she hasn’t said anything about it. She’s pretending like everything is fine.
I want to push her. I want to see her explode. I want someone in this damn house to act normal for once since I came back. Since I was brought back. I’m not a delicate creature, and I want them to stop acting like it.
So, I let my smirk come out, and I watch her eyes narrow in on it. I watch her hands clench in her lap. I see her nostrils flare, and I know I have her.
“Connor, she can’t go home. You can’t expect her to marry a sixty-year-old man. That’s … that’s …” She gestures wildly, looking for the right word.
“She’s not my responsibility. You are the one who chose to pay to keep her here. What is there to discuss with me?”
“For you to maybe grow a damn heart? She has one night left in the motel, and I’m out of money. But you have plenty.”
“So do you, dear wife,” I say drily. I sit back in my chair and cross one ankle over the other knee. I watch her process what I said. “Have you said anything to Fernando?” I cock my head to the side.
“No.” She nibbles her bottom lip. “I didn’t want to bring anyone else into this who doesn’t already know it’s happening.”
“I didn’t know it was happening.”
