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“I won’t learn anything,” she said. “Because you need what I have.”
“Where are they?” he asked, grabbing at her things, pulling clothes from hangers and shoes from shelves. “No one steals from me.”
“Apparently they do,” she said, resting a shoulder on the bathroom doorjamb.
Her pose was relaxed, but deliberate. If he thought about laying another hand on her, she couldn’t get out of the apartment, but could retreat to the bathroom and lock the door.
His fists clenched at his sides as he turned on her again, his cheeks showing the tension in his jaw. “Where are they?”
“Gone,” she said.
“Gone where?”
“I mailed them… back to the States.”
Not entirely true. They were with Styx who may or may not be on a plane. Either way, the keys were going to end up on the opposite side of the ocean.
“You little bitch!” When he leaped forward, fist raised, she pounced back and grabbed the door in both hands. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“I think they call it shifting the balance of power,” she said, her heart racing. “You want those keys? I’m your only chance of getting them back. The envelope has my name on it. Unless you feel like sauntering up to my father to ask for my mail, I’m the only one who can get them for you. I got a bunch of stuff delivered to Three’s house. Everything just gets piled up until I open it.” Not true, but Zeus didn’t know that. “I bet they’ll just sit there, completely unnoticed… unless you or one of your precious Six start snooping around looking for them. Hades would pick up on that interest in a flash, right?”
Goading him wasn’t a good idea either, but the confidence made it seem like she’d thought this out, like it was the plan. It wasn’t. Still, she was doing well thinking on her feet, especially with Zeus so vulnerable. He didn’t have trained operatives at his side. Even if he did, they were no match for the Olympus men in the desert house.
“I’ll send Balfour. It’s his house.”
Tess scoffed. “Yeah, right, while Hades and Poseidon are there with their men? Balfour doesn’t own squat. And if he thinks to touch anything of mine, my father will take him apart.” Or Daire would. “The mail is taken into the garage. I’m pretty sure there’s a sensor that notifies the guys someone’s in there.” A sensor called Daire. Hugo wouldn’t get much of a break from him. “Don’t believe me? Leave me here. Go yourself.”
Because she could go to an airport and fly to Miami while he was in Vegas searching for something that wasn’t there.
“You’re going to regret this.”
She’d regret not giving it a shot more. “What do you want to do?”
Byron and Balfour weren’t around to strategize and pander. Zeus had literally no back up. He’d probably believed keeping her in check would be no big deal. Playing the good little houseguest had lulled him into a false sense of security. On her own, she wasn’t a formidable foe, yet with a little help, it seemed she’d bested the man who underestimated her.
Hubris was what he accused her father of. Yet, Zeus was the one blinded by his own self-belief. That would be his downfall. It was this time. It would also be the reason he wouldn’t trust anyone else to retrieve the keys. If that was even an option. And it probably wasn’t. Anyone capable of taking on Olympus, he’d have recruited in a snap. As he liked to say, Olympus was his life. Contacts out with the organization were probably few and far between… and of the non-elite variety.
He swallowed, hard, none of his anger was gone, but he didn’t have much of a choice. “You have fifteen minutes,” he said in a low growl. “Get dressed. Pack whatever you need. I will have a man outside your bedroom, don’t even attempt to go anywhere.” Why would she? All she’d craved since arriving was leaving. He turned to go but stopped at the door to glare back at her. “There will be consequences for this. Enjoy the victory while you can. You remember what I said about mercy last night? Don’t expect any.”
She didn’t react and waited until he’d slammed out of the bedroom before blowing out a breath. They were leaving. Going back to the desert house. Maybe. She didn’t know for sure. As long as the plane took her back to home soil, she’d find her way. Somehow.
The journey was going to be a trial in itself. Trying to anticipate what would happen once she got there was impossible. One step at a time, that’s how she’d have to take it.
She leaped in the shower and got ready in less than seven minutes. Everything essential was tossed into her carpet bag. Everything else stayed behind. Nothing that Zeus provided meant anything to her. The cellphone had never been touched and her key was on a shelf by the closet door. Styx had returned it. Good. There was no evidence that anyone else had been there.
None except the missing items.
She put on her jacket and looped her bag around her arm. The money she’d amassed from her daily allowance was hidden in various items of clothing. Having spent a minimal amount, saving had been a priority. Never knowing if or when she might make a break for it, she’d done her best to prepare.
When the bedroom door opened, she was there waiting to step out into the hall. Zeus and a security agent were there too. The latter immediately stepped forward with a scanning wand.
“What is he doing?” she asked while the guy in black waved the thing in front of her. Zeus snatched her bag to dump its contents out on the floor. “What the hell?”
Once the guy was done with her, he went to the mess Zeus had made and scanned it as well. When it came up empty, Zeus just huffed and waved him away.
“Clean this up,” he demanded even though he’d been the cause of the mess.
She crouched to scoop her clothes back into the bag. “You think I’m hiding them on my person or in my things?” she asked, putting everything into the bag and closing it up. “Why would I do that? It wouldn’t make sense to move something from one place in your apartment to somewhere else in the same apartment.”
