Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains 6)

“You are the very definition of reckless.” He sighs. “But you’re an adult who knows her own mind. I can keep you from Malone now, but the moment the bargain is done, I suspect you’ll be taking that contract.”

I will. Now that she’s finally made a move on me, I refuse to miss this opportunity. “Better to let me do this while I’m still yours.” I’m being cruel, but I can’t help it. If I do something to Malone, Hades might bear the price of it alongside me, but he’s more than capable of navigating the situation. He’ll be fine.

He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I dislike you attempting to manipulate me.”

“I’m just speaking the truth.”

“You are willing to say anything to convince me to agree to this. Don’t deny it.” He cuts me a sharp look. “But you do have a point.”

I press my lips together. Pushing him now won’t guarantee victory, and it might just backfire. So I force myself still and wait while he thinks about it.

Finally, Hades shakes his head. “I’ll allow it.”

Relief makes me a little dizzy. There’s no guarantee that Malone’s offer would stand in another few weeks once I’m free of Hades’s bargain. I won’t get another chance like this, to get close enough to her to strike. “When do I start?”

“Tomorrow.”* * *“You goddamn fool.”

I don’t look over as Allecto storms into the gym. I just increase the speed on my treadmill, feet pounding in time with my racing heart. “I’ll talk to you when I’m done.”

“The fuck you will. You’ll talk to me now.” She stalks to the treadmill and reaches past me to slap the bright-red Stop button.

I stumble as the track suddenly stops moving. “Hey!”

“What the hell are you doing, Aurora?” She’s practically vibrating with anger. “Why the fuck did Hercules just tell me that you’re about to go spend two weeks with Malone?”

“Because I’m going to spend two weeks with Malone.” I try to say it calmly, rationally, but it comes out spiked. “She offered. It’s an opportunity I can’t miss.”

“An opportunity.” She looks like she wants to strangle me. “An opportunity to do what?”

I could hedge, but the truth is that if anyone will understand, it’s Allecto. “Kill her.”

My friend stares at me for several long beats as if waiting for the rest of the joke. She finally shakes her head slowly. “No. Absolutely not. Your mother just died. You aren’t in your right mind.”

“My mother died twenty years ago. That wasn’t her.”

“Don’t try to twist logic with me now, not when the entire reason you bargained so much of your life away with Hades was to save her.”

Something cracks inside me. I didn’t save her. No one could save her. It didn’t matter what I did, how high I reached for assistance. My mother was lost to me the moment she entered that fight with Malone. I look at Allecto, trying to make her understand. “I have to do this.”

“No, you don’t.” She glances at the door as if she’s going to charge up to Hades’s office and tell him everything. “She’s going to kill you.”

I grab her arm, holding her in place. “She won’t get a chance to.”

“Yes, Aurora, she will. Malone is one of the deadliest people in Carver City, full stop. She’s ruthless and ambitious, and she cuts down people who cross her without a second thought. If you move against her and fail, she’ll kill you. If you somehow manage to succeed, her people will kill you. There is no outcome where this ends happily.”

“That’s fine. I don’t believe in happily ever after. Not anymore.”

Allecto sighs and steps onto the treadmill to take my shoulders. “I can’t say I know how you feel right now, and I’m shit at comfort, but this is not the right course. You are not a killer.” When I start to protest, she speaks right over me. “She is going to twist you up, break you down, and you’re going to end up hating yourself because you’ll start to care and won’t be able to take her out.”

“I will not start to care about Malone.”

Allecto snorts. “Aurora, you already care about her. You’ve been eye-fucking her for years.”

I try to jerk back, but she tightens her grip on my shoulders, keeping me in place. “I have not.”

“You sure as fuck have.” She shakes her head. “You fall in love with everyone you sleep with. And she’s Malone. You’re already fucked, and you’re too stubborn to realize it.”

I poke her in the chest. “I do not fall in love with everyone I sleep with.”

“Prove it.” Allecto releases me and glares. “Gaeton.”

“He’s my friend, of course I love him.” He’s a brutal giant of a man with a surprisingly gentle heart, and we’ve been scening for years.