There are a lot of them.
The city is carved up into slices, each ruled by a different faction. Some of them are stable. Some are significantly less so. All have the ability to endanger the careful balance we have if they go rogue. By creating a neutral territory in the center, we ensure that nothing will happen without us knowing about it first. While Hades doesn’t intervene without a deal, knowledge is power. And power is everything in Carver City.
The door opens, and I speak without looking up, “What are you doing here, Tink? You have the day off.”
“Tink does have the day off.”
I freeze in the middle of typing. Even as I tell myself that Hades wouldn’t be that much of an asshole, when I look up, Hercules is still standing in my doorway. “What are you doing here?”
“Reporting for training.”
Oh yes, Hades and I will have words about his high-handedness. He may technically be my boss, but I am in charge of managing the club. Up until this point, he’s allowed me to do that as I see fit. Forcing Hercules into my presence is a test, and I resent him for it. Why is he so determined to rub this man in my face? It’s like he knows that Hercules got under my skin, keeps getting under my skin, and wants to… That’s the problem. I don’t know what Hades wants. I can’t begin to guess.
“Did our dearest Dom tell you what he intends?” I don’t have much faith in it, so I’m already turning back to my computer when Hercules answers.
“I guess I’m training for Tink’s job?”
That bastard. I close my eyes and take a slow breath. It’s not Hercules’s fault that Hades continues to play games. Whether this one is aimed at me, Hercules, or Tink doesn’t matter. All that does is display his willingness to use the club as his conduit. “Sit.” I grab my phone before I can think better of it. This is probably best left to when we have some privacy, but if he’s determined to shoehorn Hercules into every aspect of our lives, then he’ll just have to deal with the man overhearing our conversation. I push the button to dial his office.
For once, he doesn’t make me wait. “I trust Hercules arrived promptly.”
“Hades, what are you doing?” I take in Hercules for the first time since he’s walked into my office. He looks like a different person this morning. I don’t know if it’s the expensive clothes that appear tailored to him or that he’s just more at ease in his own skin than he was the first night I met him. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Hades’s endgame is what matters.
And I don’t know what it is.
He lets the silence spin out until my heart is beating too hard and I’m ready to scream my frustration down the line. Finally, he says, “Tink’s contract is almost finished.”
“Yes, it is. And she’s considering staying on afterward.”
“She won’t.” He says it with such confidence, I almost believe him.
Almost. “Funny, but that’s not what she told me yesterday. Do you know something I don’t?”
“I know a lot of things you don’t. However, this is just a feeling.”
Just a feeling. Right. I strive for patience, not to let my frustration show. “I don’t deal in feelings, Hades. I deal in facts. Until Tink tells me otherwise, I’m going to operate like she’s not leaving, which means I don’t need to fill the position of her replacement.” More silence, an invitation for me to back down. I won’t. Most of the time, I will submit to his pleasure. Not in this. Not right now. “Just tell me why,” I whisper.
“He’s a gift, love.”
He’d said something to the same effect the night he sent me to fuck Hercules. I frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Report to me once you’re finished with him today.”
Click.
I take the phone away from my ear and stare at it. He just… He just hung up on me. I carefully set it back in its cradle and take an equally careful breath. This isn’t Hercules’s fault, but it feels like it’s his fault. If he’d just shown a little more restraint, just asked me what I wanted, then we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. “Apparently I don’t have a choice.” I don’t realize I’ve spoken aloud until he answers.
“I’m sorry.”
I glare. I want to shake him until something akin to sense blossoms in that pretty head of his. “It’s not your fault this time. You’re just a tool, Hercules, and a blunt one at that.”
He blinks and then bursts out laughing. “Wow, Meg, tell me how you really feel.” Just like that, some of the tension eases in him and he slouches back in his seat. “You didn’t have a problem with me last night.”