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The Emperor snorted. “If you think I have a problem with being used, you’re sorely mistaken, Dominus Snow. I’m happy sitting back and leaving all the governing to someone else. This isn’t a positon I ever wanted, in fact it was originally meant for someone else.”
This time Odin was the one to frown, but Altz wasn’t finished.
“I’ll be satisfied with being a figurehead, handing the keys to the kingdom off, so long as I’m guaranteed protection and my creature comforts.”
“Why do I get the sense you consider the word comfortable to mean something vastly different from the rest of us?” Odin drawled.
He laughed. “I’ve been living a certain kind of lifestyle, admittedly. One I’m not willing to give up. Besides, I’ll still be emperor in name. It’s best for everyone if I keep up appearances. For the sake of the public, of course.”
“Of course.”
“What will you need?” Wren asked. Clearly he was of the same mind as Odin, snatching at the opportunity before something could go wrong and change the Emperor’s mind.
There was always the chance this was a trick, but Odin didn’t really think a man like Atlz was capable of pulling it off, and so far he’d seemed genuine. If Isa had told him to stall them, he wasn’t doing a particularly good job of it, seemingly eager himself. And if Isa had instructed him to simply play along…There was no denying the lust in his eyes every time he set them on Wren. Even though Isa had claimed not to actually care about him, there was no way he’d willingly allow the Emperor to look at another man, not when he was bedding him already. His ego simply wouldn’t allow it.
If they operated on the assumption this was real, and the Emperor did in fact want out from under Isa’s thumb, they couldn’t miss out by playing it safe. Isa’s control over the largest branch of the Brumal was already a lot to contend with, and it was only because Odin had Wren as an ally that the two of them had managed to hold out this long.
Now that Isa had announced he was done waiting…
“Two million coin every six months,” Altz began laying down his terms. “I continue to reside in the palace, and I get six percent of all monthly profit made on both the Yellow Brick Road and Liaand Norra.”
Odin highly doubted the deal he’d struck with Isa was anywhere near that hefty, but he held his tongue. Right now, what mattered was getting the Emperor to cooperate with them and abandon Frost. Once that was done and Frost was defeated? They could renegotiate.
“And one other thing,” Altz shifted his gaze to Wren. “A bedpartner.”
“There are plenty of candidates in Club Cherry,” Odin suggested, even knowing already that wasn’t going to work.
Altz shook his head slowly. “I don’t just want anyone. I’m an emperor. If you’re unwilling to provide—”
“We’re in agreement then,” Wren stated, the corner of his mouth tipping up suggestively.
“Four percent,” Odin corrected, not wanting them to be taken for all they were worth without first giving the appearance of a fight at least. If Altz suspected anything he’d pull out and they were too close for that.
“Five,” the Emperor said.
“Five it is,” Wren agreed before Odin could argue, ignoring the glare he received from him for it. Instead, he kept his attention locked on the Emperor, almost as though he were really into the idea of sleeping with the other man.
As far as Odin knew, Wren had little to no interest in that, which meant this was either another angle he’d need to fill him in on later, or he’d kept his secret desires for the Emperor under wraps all this time.
The latter was doubtful. A playboy like Wren didn’t get distracted by any one person for long enough to develop any sorts of attachments.
“Now,” Wren leaned forward again, dropping his elbows on his knees, his smile turning cocky, “for our terms.”
“You’ll refuse any and all contact with Frost, or his people, effective immediately,” Odin said.
“And if he barges in here gunning for my head for it?” Altz lifted a brow.
“Our men will be close at all times,” he told him. “He won’t be able to get near you.”
“That would be comforting, if I wasn’t already aware of just how powerful a person Isa is. That’s why you two are willing to strike this deal with me in the first place, isn’t it? You need to knock him down a peg and I’m the perfect pawn to help you do it.”
Odin was starting to think he’d been mistaken about the Emperor all this time. That perhaps Altz wasn’t as cowardly and foolish as he’d led them all to believe since he’d been crowned at sixteen years ago.
As if reading his thoughts, Altz dropped some of the façade, a calculating look entering his eyes for a moment. “A survivalist knows to do whatever needs to be done in order to stay alive. If that means belittling myself before others?” He shrugged. “At least I’ll be breathing while doing it.”
“You didn’t want the throne,” Wren repeated what they’d been told a few minutes ago.
“No,” Altz agreed.
