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I’m not sure what to say. Does she thinkI’ma threat to them now?
I swallow hard. “I don’t have any interest in overthrowing your power.”
Ayla smiles, a genuine flash of warmth in her eyes. “That’s good, because we’d like you to join us.”
“I… what?” I shake my head. I don’t understand. “Join you where?”
“Here.” She uses her prosthetic arm to gesture to the table they all sit at. “We want to offer you a place among us, Riley. We want you to become one of The Six.”
42
RILEY
I’m stunned.The offer isn’t what I was expecting when we were summoned here tonight. Hell, it isn’t something I would have come up with, even in my wildest dreams.
Especially because it’s clear she meansme. Not the Reapers, not all of us, just me.
Unlike Maddoc, Dante, and Logan, who grew up in Halston’s criminal underground, the way things operate in this shadowy world is still new to me. I’m not sure what The Six think I can bring to the table, but one of the men—Marcus, if I remember their past introductions correctly, the one with heterochromia—clears that up right away.
“You have the resources to become a powerful player here in Halston now,” he says. “We’d like to work with you, not against you. The file the Reapers gave us proves that he had ambitions of wiping us out and taking all of the power for himself.” A sour look flashing across his face before he schools his features. “We should have seen the threat coming.”
Ayla rests her hand on his wrist in a silent show of support; a reminder to me of the relationship I’m almost sure she has with some of these men, and how it opened my eyes to the love that was possible for me to claim with mine. It may be overstepping to think so, but she feels like a kindred spirit.
Marcus subtly relaxes at her touch, giving me a warm smile. “We didn’t see it, but you and the Reapers did. That alone tells us we need someone with a fresh perspective to help us run things.”
Maddoc shifts closer to me, resting his hand on the small of my back and next to him, Logan comes to attention, standing tall with that unique stillness he gets that tells me he’s here to support me, no matter what.
On my other side, Dante’s fingertips brush against mine. “Do you need a minute, princess?” he murmurs quietly. “This is huge.”
I stifle an almost manic laugh. Huge is an understatement. I feel like I’m reeling from the sudden, unexpected turn of events, and I honestly have no idea if I should say yes or not.
I take Dante’s question to heart, and the answer is yes. I do need a minute. I have no idea what joining them would actually mean for me, or what kind of effect it would have on the Reapers.
“Riley?” Ayla prompts me, her confident presence something I’d like to aspire to.
“Can I… consider your offer?” I ask cautiously, a little in awe of the woman and not sure what the protocol here is.
“Of course,” she says instantly. “But let me ask for something too. May I have a moment to talk to you in private?”
Maddoc’s fingers flex against my back, but I don’t get the sense that he sees her as a threat to me. It’s just his natural inclination to protect me.
“Of course,” I tell her, following her into a small, comfortably furnished room off to the side.
The door stays open, and we have a clear view of the rest of The Six as they converse quietly amongst themselves. Something about the cozy space, or maybe about Ayla herself, puts me at ease. She’s poised, but addresses me with a genuine openness that says a lot about the sincerity of The Six’s offer.
“I understand your hesitations,” she says once we both take a seat. “Do you know much about how we came to power here in Halston?”
“The Six?”
When she nods, I shake my head.
“Maybe I’ll get a chance to tell you about it sometime, but for now, I’ll just say that being a part of all this isn’t something I ever expected, either. I never could have predicted that my life would take the turns it did. Falling in love with three dangerous men and ending up as part of a group that oversees and controls the city’s criminal underground is not what I ever imagined for my future, but…” She trails off, a faraway look on her face. Then she shakes it off and shoots me a small smile. “But maybe you can relate?”
I laugh, an unexpected feeling of camaraderie bubbling up in my chest. Before the Reapers, Chloe was the only person I was ever close to. I’m not used to feeling understood, or understanding where someone else is coming from so well.
“Definitely relatable,” I admit, hesitating before I add, “But I’m not sure if that means I’m cut out for The Six. I’ve spent most of my life trying to steer clear of this world.”
Ayla gives me a knowing look. “But you’re a part of it now, and forgive me, but I don’t think that’s an accident.”
