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“With him?”
“Not with him,” she said, then frowned. “I don’t think he means with him.”
“Okay, you’re going to erasethinkfrom that sentence or else I’ll erase it for him.”
“Hugo wants me to set up shop in his plaza,” she said, the urgency of being discovered at any moment hurried her words. “He’s got an entire fleet of people helping and says I can have a future; that I don’t need to run anymore.”
“And you like that idea?”
“Daire, I’m terrified,” she said, putting it out plain as day. “The guy has an agenda. I know it. I’ve known it from the start. I can’t figure out for the life of me what it is. Is it just my loyalty? Does he expect me to vote his way or something? Except I don’t get a vote. He doesn’t want to fuck me. Or if he does, he’s playing the long game… like thelong, longgame.”
“Tell him no.”
“I tried that. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is no good choice. If I push harder, fight with him, it could piss him off. That could cause problems for you and Harry. Maybe he’ll tell all of us to get out of his house. Guys like that are used to people pandering to their egos. If I reject his offer, if I’m assertive about it, he’ll get mad.”
Daire was frowning. “Let him. Let the fucker get mad.”
She slid a hand up his body to lay it on his cheek. “It’s easy for you. You have a whole squad of guys at your back.”
“Yeah, and I’m at your back. You have what I have, Little Red.”
She shook her head. “All of you, Olympus, you’re fighting enough wars as it is. You can’t take on another one on a different front. Think it through. If I tell him where to get off, he gets mad, then what? Harry gets mad? Will they argue? You need allies. I haven’t even seen Garrick this week.”
“He’s working on something,” Daire muttered.
“Maybe Hugo wants us to fight. Could be exactly the excuse he needs to go over to Zeus’s side. Then he invites the man in charge, the man with a serious vendetta against Olympus, back into the country. All the work you’ve done to set up the new site, you’re just outfitting it for Zeus to come swooping back in to take over. He does that and all your guys are dead. Maybe Harry and Garrick too… I’ve been going round and round in my head, trying to figure it out.” Exhaling, she let her head fall forward to tuck herself against him. “Man, I wish he’d just try to screw me.”
He scooped his hands up under her hair to cradle the back of her head. “We’re gonna work it out.”
Her head fell back, though her eyes weren’t all that open. “Except if he keeps me in the suite at the hotel, I won’t be able to see you again… I won’t be able to see Harry. I won’t—”
“We’re not gonna let that happen,” he said, his fingers moving in her hair. “I’ll talk to Harry. He’s not gonna let anyone keep you locked up.”
In Daire’s opinion, the solution was simple. He was used to getting things done. Except standing up to Hugo, opposing his wishes, could lead to bigger issues. Everyone needed to be steady and sure; drama could undo all of their progress.
“Where have you been this week?” she asked.
Though operational advice was out of her field, she still liked to acknowledge he might have troubles of his own.
“At the secondary site and out doing jobs for Harry.”
“Jobs?” she asked. “Like missions?”
“Like collecting components for Garrick’s projects and doing research. Expanding our contacts in the area. If we’re gonna be local longer term…”
Wrapping her arms around him, she let her hands slide south. “I suppose one good thing about having a store in the area would be staying close to you.”
“Have you thought about moving to Olympus? About living there?”
Was that a possibility? “Would that be allowed? How big is your bed?”
He breathed out a laugh. “Not with me. You’d have your own space. It would be the safest place for you.”
Raising her shoulders, she shook her head at the same time. “Harry’s deal was for me not to live at Olympus, wasn’t it?”
“When you were three,” he said, stroking her arms. “We’ll be under different management at the new site. I’m guessing things will change without Zeus calling the shots.”
“You don’t know that yet though, do you? We have no idea what is happening with the Six or with Zeus, as long as he’s alive…”
