“You barely know me.” Even as she says the words, her heart is in her eyes. She cares about me too. She wouldn’t do so many of the things she’s done since we met, culminating in offering me everything to leave if I need it.
“I know enough.” I lean down slowly, and though she maintains her hold on my chin, she allows it. I kiss her carefully, cautious of the red lipstick. “Thank you for offering me this. I don’t need it, but I know what it represents to you and what losing it would cost.”
Her fingers tremble, just a little. “You can’t possibly be real.”
“I am.” I cover her hand with mine. “I’m real. I’m right here.” A pause. “I’m yours.”
Her lips finally curve into a reluctant smile. “Yes, you really, really are.” She drops her hand and shakes her head. “I don’t know if this is the beginning of something new and wonderful—or the beginning of the end. But apparently we’re taking this ride to its conclusion.”
“It will be okay, Meg.” A reassurance I have no business offering her, but one I can’t help making despite that. I don’t want her sad and stressed. I sure as fuck don’t want to be the cause of it. “We’ll figure this out together.”
“I suppose we will.” She casts a critical eye over me, lingering on the lounge pants I wore up to this room last night. “We better get moving or we’re going to miss the meeting with Allecto, and then Hades will think up some ridiculously uncomfortable punishment.” She leans into me. “But if we had time, I’d be sucking your dick right now and let you fuck me in front of Hades’s giant mirror.”
I glance over her shoulder at the mirror in question. It stretches from floor to ceiling and is wider than it has right to be. A heavy frame that must be custom-made borders it. With all that space to work with, I would be able to watch my cock slide into Meg with each stroke, would be able to see every wave of pleasure roll through her expression. I swallow hard and try to get my physical reaction under control, but my cock isn’t listening.
Meg gives a low laugh and strokes me once through my pants. “Mmmm. Makes my mouth water.”
I narrow my eyes in a mock glare. “You’re trying to get me in trouble.”
“Maybe.” She’s totally unrepentant, her wicked grin lighting up her face. “What can I say? I have a bit of a sadistic streak when I’m inspired, and you, my dear Hercules, inspire the fuck out of me.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Meg
The security meeting goes about as well as I expect it to. Allecto details the extra protocols we’ll need to go through in order to leave the building and the new cameras she’s having installed around the exterior. We already have more cameras in the Underworld than we probably need, and I appreciate her thoroughness, but I can’t help feeling that it won’t be enough. We can’t live in this glass castle forever. The building may be strong enough to withstand a subtle siege, but there are more factors in play. Our clientele, for one. If we have to close down operations for some reason…
No use thinking about that.
Even with the sky threatening to fall down around our heads, I can’t help the bubbly feeling in my chest as I sit between Hercules and Hades. My men. Mine in a way I barely dare comprehend. I meant every word when I offered Hercules a way out. I’d slip him out the door and stand in Hades’s way while he escaped us. It might break my heart to do it, but I don’t want him trapped here through circumstance. Unlike Hades, I want him to choose it with eyes wide open.
Once Allecto is done giving us a run-down, we disperse. Hades to his office and Hercules to occupy himself. I suspect he’ll end up in the gym or maybe sneak in a few more hours of sleep. It’s tempting to follow him, but I have a job to do. Which is why I don’t even sigh when Allecto walks into my office a few minutes later and shuts the door.
She’s in her daywear: ripped jeans, a black silk shirt, and boots that are probably steel-toed. Her long braids are in a top-knot and her lipstick is just as red as mine. She leans against the door and crosses her arms over her chest. “Give it to me straight. how bad is it?”
“Bad.” No use mincing words. Hades may or may not downplay the danger, but I’m not willing to. “He’s in a pissing match with the guy who effectively runs Olympus.”
Allecto curses softly. “This guy will have personal security.”
“Probably. With the kind of influence he brings to the fore, it’s entirely likely he has the equivalent of his own militia. Large staff, large number of people working security.” In the regular world, security details aren’t utilized like soldiers, but ours is not the real world. We can’t take anything for granted. Allecto, for example, might run security, but she also has a plethora of unsavory talents that lend to working in the shadows if the situation calls for it.
She nods. “Okay. I’m going to set up a secondary circle a little farther out. If they come for us, we’ll at least have a little notice before they’re on our doorstep.”
I lean forward. “Can you do that? Won’t people notice you putting up cameras?”
She grins. “You’re pretty, but you’re not that smart.”
“Yes, yes, you’re superior in every way.” I wave that away. “Now tell me how it works.”
“I’ll have Tis hack into the businesses’ camera system. Most of them are connected to an off-site network to store the video, so they won’t even realize that we’re piggybacking on their signal. Enough of them exist that we should have most of the circle covered.”
I lean back and give her a smile of my own. “You’re pretty and smart. Very impressive.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She laughs, but instantly sobers. “I’m going to get her working on that now. I don’t like this.”
I wish I could give her some inspiring words, but Allecto and I don’t lie to each other no matter how barbed our conversations can become. “I don’t like it either.”
She gives me a long look. “I’ll keep you assholes safe as long as you don’t do anything stupid.”
“Do anything stupid?” I press my hand to my chest. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” She shakes her head. “Don’t leave the building without letting me know, Meg. I mean it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Bitch.” She says it fondly. “I’ll show you the secondary camera circle once we have it set up.” She walks out my door, not bothering to close it behind her.
I huff out a sigh. The damn woman always has to get a last word, and while I can admire it most of the time, I still want to snarl as I climb to my feet to shut the door. I’m still a step away when Tink steps into my office. I stop short. She looks like shit. She’s wearing the same clothes from yesterday and her hair has… dirt in it? Most telling of all is the bruise darkening the space around her left eye.
I stare at that bruise. Fury rises, swift and nearly overwhelming. Someone hurt her. “Who?”
She doesn’t pretend to misunderstand me. “It doesn’t matter.”