AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And you are Three,” Tess said.
“Hugo Balfour. Please, call me Hugo.”
Of the Six backers only one original member remained and two were recently dead. In the last year anyway, she couldn’t be more specific than that.
“Tess,” she said because she’d always rather hear her own name than the one given to her by a man she’d never met.
“Beautiful and devious… Now I know at least the first is true,” Hugo said. “If I’d known someone so enticing was sleeping in my bed, I wouldn’t have stayed away so long.”
Three, Hugo, was a third generation Vegas hotshot. His hotel and casino were among the most successful in the city, and they weren’t his only business interests. She knew little about him. Hadn’t considered who he was beyond the number he’d been given as a moniker.
Probably in his thirties with short brown hair and a warm complexion over his strong features. Three didn’t immediately strike her as the type to fund an underground organization. More playboy than secret operative; he definitely had a glint in his eye.
“You’re used to getting your way with women, aren’t you?” she asked, extricating her fingers from his grasp.
“Forgive me,” he said. “Spending so much of my life in this city has made me bold.”
“And popular, I imagine, especially with all your money.”
He laughed. “You are a firecracker.”
“Thank you,” she said, taking the suggestion of strength as a compliment.
“And one I can’t wait to know better.” Hugo turned to the Olympus men. “I have luggage in the car.”
Daire gave Milo and Zip a nod. Harry might be the senior rank, but even he wouldn’t lower himself to giving orders about any man’s bags.
The two assigned men went out the front door.
To her surprise, Hugo offered her his arm. “The patio is one of my favorite places in the house. Join me?”
“I came downstairs to say goodnight…” sort of and to talk to her father, but this stranger didn’t need to know that. “This is usually the time everyone retires.”
“It’s much too early for someone so luminescent to hide their light… I’ve been on a plane all day, so forgive me… If you’d like to change, I’ll call a car and we can be in the—”
“Pandora stays in after dark.”
Most people would expect her disapproving father to be the one stepping in. But the abrupt command didn’t come from Harry, it came from Daire.
“Ares,” Hugo said, lowering his arm to saunter a few yards closer to the agent. “I understand Pandora’s importance. I’ll have a squad of bodyguards waiting for us. We’ll use the private entrance.”
Daire didn’t blink. He just took one step toward Hugo and lowered his deep voice. “She stays here.”
“Yes, it is getting late,” Garrick said, crossing the space to put himself between the men.
They were ten feet apart, more than that, but the tension radiating from Daire was unequivocal. That it could chill her spoke to his intensity. After their earlier conversation, she didn’t doubt her Heart’s dedication to her. He followed Harry’s orders, yes, but if she was in peril, Daire would do whatever was necessary to protect her. No matter who was threatening her.
Problem was, he was stepping up to face off with a player, not a slayer. Her life wasn’t in danger, and neither was her virtue. All the pick-up lines in the world wouldn’t tempt her near Balfour’s bed.
Still, she had a responsibility to keep the peace. “I suppose one glass of wine wouldn’t hurt,” she said, going to take Hugo’s arm.
Garrick’s exhale betrayed his gratitude. Daire kept glaring even after she narrowed her eyes on him and shook her head. Whatever was wrong with him, her Heart wasn’t dialing down.
Hugo took her past the guys and out onto the patio. The lights were on and the pool glowed blue. With the twinkling lights of The Strip on the horizon, she could see why he enjoyed the magic of it.
“How long have you been in town?” Hugo asked, gesturing to the chair Harry had been seated in when she called him out earlier.
“Not long,” Tess said, choosing to be vague. “I understood you were enjoying some vacation time. What brought you back to us?”
