I couldn’t grasp how he failed to see the darkness in this, or perhaps that was the whole point.
Was I merely some forbidden prize to be claimed and flaunted, then discarded? I refused to be a pawn, not for him, not for Zeno.
With deliberate purpose, I strode to the front door and yanked it open with a force that echoed my resolve. Turning to face him, I fixed him with a piercing glare.
"Get out.”
A knowing look flickered in his eyes that stirred my frustration. With measured, deliberate steps, he approached, each movement quiet and purposeful, until he stood in front of the door.
“I’ll leave. I am a gentleman, after all,” he whispered. He reached up, cupping my cheek with a gentle touch, and I fought to suppress the shiver that rippled through my body. “But, eventually, Daphne, you’re going to have to choose a side. And when you do, make sure it’s the right one.”
He turned away and walked out. I slammed the door behind him, leaning against it and sliding to the floor, trembling. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control, as if the rug had been pulled out from beneath me. Everything I believed I knew was now in question. My place in the world, my alliances, my decisions. The very foundation I had built my identity on seemed to be shaking violently.
I touched my lips, Thal’s kiss still lingering on my skin. The fact that I wanted more left me even more confused. I couldn’tshake the feeling that I was on the verge of irreversibly changing my life, and it scared me.
Was Thal truly offering me a way to freedom? Deep down, I had always wanted to break free from Zeno’s grip. Still, my sense of loyalty, the debt I felt I owed him, kept me tethered.
Could I do this on my own? Maybe with Thal’s help, it was possible. Perhaps he was right. Or was that just wild desire whispering in my ear? Every time I moved closer to him, my clarity of mind slipped away. Even now, after his footsteps had faded into the night, a shiver of longing still coursed through me. Thal's charm was undeniable, but so was a hint of danger.
I wondered if the risk he posed was greater than the danger of staying with Zeno. Would remaining in that suffocating sea of familiarity slowly drown my spirit, leaving me a shadow of myself?
Conflicting emotions raged inside me, swirling chaos that made me feel lost, confused, and completely out of control. I dropped my head into my hands, my frustration growing, heart and mind overwhelmed.
“I can’t lose it now, not for him,” I whispered into the silence, my voice trembling with unspoken fears and desperate hope.
Five
DANGEROUS OBSERVATIONS
THAL
The elevator doors hadn’t even fully closed before the mask slipped.
I slammed my palm against the mirrored wall, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the small space. My breath was coming too fast, my lungs burning as if I’d just run a marathon instead of standing in a foyer for ten minutes.
Gentleman.The word tasted like ash. I’d walked into her suite to demand an alliance, to reclaim the piece of my soul she’d stolen in Aruba. Instead, I’d been blindsided by the girl she’d become. She wasn't just my “little bird” anymore. She was a ghost with teeth. I looked at my hand, still vibrating from the theft of my ring. She’d taken it right off my finger while I was trying to drown in her.
I caught my reflection in the elevator glass, eyes dark, jaw tight, looking like a man who had just realized the prey he was hunting had its sights set on his throat. I hated it. I hated that she was the only variable I couldn't calculate.
She made me want to burn the mission just to feel her pulse under my thumb again. I wasn't a boy in the surf anymore, but God help me, she was still the only thing that could make me bleed.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, the screen illuminating the dark. A message from the syndicate. The sharks are circling.
"Let them circle," I hissed to the empty elevator. Because the only thing more dangerous than a shark was a man who had finally realized he had something to lose.
By the time the doors opened at the executive level, the boy was gone. The Ice King was back.
I walked into my office at the Atlantis, my face a mask of cold stone. James, my lieutenant, was already there, leaning against my mahogany desk. He didn't say a word as I sat down. He knew better than to interrupt the silence I carried with me like a shroud.
I clicked the monitor on, the glow of the high-def screens illuminating the dark room. I rewound the footage of the tournament until the woman in the silver silk sheath appeared.
“Who is she?” I asked, my voice a flat, freezing monotone.
James leaned in, his brow furrowed. “Don’t know yet. But she’s fucking ice cold, isn’t she? She’s playing those high rollers like she’s bored with winning.”
“Look at Zeno,” I corrected, pausing the frame on his face. My lieutenant fell silent. Zeno’s face was a mask of calculated arrogance, but his pupils were blown wide, a physiological response he couldn't fake. “He isn't just rattled, James. He’s looking at her like a man who just saw his executioner walk into the room. I want to know who has that kind of power over the King of Olympus. Find the blood she has on him. If she’s a ghost from his past, I want to know whose grave she crawled out of.”
“Of course, boss.” He nodded.
