“Not fair? Nothing about a bargain need be fair, Sophia. Stars above, you’re starting to sound like one of those humans you spent so long living among. Seven was remiss in his terms. He never specified how long he’d have to work for me. I could have taken more. He offeredanythingto be with you. Never specified what that anything was or what being with you entailed. I took his servitude as the head of my security team for as long as I desire it, but I could have demanded far more. So don’t test me now, pixie. It’s not my fault you can’t recognize mercy when you see it.”
Mercy.Only a fool wouldn’t fear Godmother, but this is the first time in my memory that she disgusts me. From the roots of repulsion, I promise myself right there and then to grow strong enough to force her to free Seven, and I don’t wait a single moment to try.
“I’ll solve this murder if you free Seven.”
She laughs. “I’ve already done you a favor by freeing River, whom you say is your lover. If that’s not enough for you, I can call back my assistant and tear up my order to free him from Ashgate.”
I blow out a breath. “Fine. I’ll do it, but no bargain. You have my word, nothing more.”
“Fine.” She grins as if this was more than she was hoping for and points a perfectly manicured fingernail at me. “Your word is all I need. After all, unless you want Fairly Goodweather to feature your threesome with Patrick and River in theDaily Hatter, you will do as I wish.”
I scoff. If I don’t do what she wants, she’ll further ruin my reputation and hurt Seven in the process.Bitch.“You have my word if I have your silence.”
“Done.” She brushes her hand across her desk.
No silver threads bind me, but they may as well have. I’m knee-deep in Godmother’s crap once again, and River’s future and my happiness with Seven are at stake.Fuck.
“For future reference, Sophia, that coin around your neck won’t work against me. If I wanted to bind you, I could bind you.” She looks at her nails again, and I feel the tiniest twinge in my stomach.She’s bluffing, my instincts tell me, and I try to hide my surprise.
“Now go. I’m sure you have better things to do than take up my time discussing your tawdry personal affairs. I’ll text you the address of the safe house. I’ll leave it to you to break the news to River about my order that he remain there until the case is solved.”
Fuck.
ChapterNine
I’m leaving Godmother’s Tearoom with my phone in hand when the love of my life meets me in the street with a folder under one arm. Both of us light up when we see each other, drawn together like magnets until we realize where we are and stop a reasonable distance from each other. It hurts not to reach out and touch him.
My phone dings, and I look down as a text from Godmother streaks across the screen with the address she promised me.
“Looks serious. Why is Godmother texting you an address?”
“It’s a safe house—”
“Why do you need the address to a safe house?” Seven steps in closer, lowering his voice and looking as if he’s a hair’s breadth away from throwing me over his shoulder and locking me safely within his tower.
“Because that’s where she’s sending River in two days,” I whisper. I glance around me. We’re alone, but perhaps not for long. This is a public place. “We should go somewhere private.”
He gestures with his head toward the Cast Members Only door, and I follow him back there, through the woods and onto our beach. We used to come here all the time as kids. I fell in love with Seven on this beach.
His luck rises around us like a dragon, the heat from its long body brushing against me and making the leaves on the branches shimmy. “We’re alone. Tell me everything.”
I do. Everything. I am completely honest, not because I’m forced to be but because I want nothing to come between us. I tell Seven every detail about what River and Chance said, even the promise I made to try to get him to visit. I hold back nothing.
Seven takes it all in stride until I tell him how I got River out.
“You told her you were the third,” he grits out. “Is it true?”
I glare at him. “No! But River said he and Patrick made a bargain with this person not to reveal their identity. It could be anyone, and it was faster to tell her it was me than to waste time trying to find the person.”
He grunts his understanding but continues to sulk.
“Are you upset I lied?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look like someone stole the prize out of your cereal box?”
“I just don’t like thinking about you with him… orthem.”
