"Then make it work," the king said. "Hardigan is dangerous. I thought we'd dealt with him in prison, but he was like a cockroach. He avoided every attempt."
Muscles bunching in my shoulders, I glared out of the darkened kitchen toward the table I'd only ever eaten at when my parents visited—which had been all of once since I'd taken this apartment. I preferred to go to them and keep them out of the line of fire. "Do you need me to take him out of play, my liege?"
Everything was a game. Every move calculated. No sudden changes in plan. Steady. Always steady. If a loss occurred, it occurred. The boat didn't shift course for anyone.
"Possibly. Deal with the Diamonds first, then correct the real estate losses. I'll call again." The phone clicked in my ear as he cut off and I closed my eyes as I downed the rest of my coffee.
It was only after I put my empty mug on the counter that the darkness hit me. Had Hellspawn closed the blackout curtains in the living room? I didn't usually need it out here. The windows were clear, the night cityscape utterly visible.
Night.
Had I slept all fucking day?
I glanced down at my phone and it showed that it was just after seven.
Fuck.
My.
Life.
There were three missed calls from Rome. The only one who had this number. They knew I had a brother. But tracking him down under a different name would be a lot harder. Still. No other missed calls. Only a series of texts from Rome. A single question mark sent every hour. I needed to get my other phone.
Pivoting on my heel I stopped dead because Hellspawn just sat there on the sofa, in the dark, staring at me with those fathomless eyes.
"Hellspawn."
"Asshole."
"Well, I'm glad we had this little chat." I was too tired for this shit.
"I need to go back."
"Not my problem," I told her as I strode away and down the hall. My other phone would be in my pants where I'd left it when I stripped off. For the most part, they could wait, and Rome had this number. If he really wanted to talk to me, he’d have called.
Snagging my jeans from the floor, I scooped up the rest of my dirty clothes, only to turn and nearly bounce off the little minx. Silent little shit.
Very few people could sneak up on me.
Granted, I was tired as hell right now, but it was still impressive.
"It is your problem."
I sighed. It was still dark, darker in here than out there, but she was backlit from the hallway and the light she'd turned on out there. Her silhouette was absolutely judging me. "How is that?" I got the phone out then twisted and tossed the clothes in the direction of the hamper. The thud of the jeans hitting was enough for me.
There were missed messages from Milo. Kellan. Vaughn. Oh and look, Jasper was missing her too.
Well, they were talking to me again. Not that they were happy with me continuing to ignore them.
A hand slapped against my chest as another grabbed my phone.
"Hey," I snapped, but she danced backwards before I could grab the phone back. "Don't play with me, Hellspawn."
"It is your problem because you locked me up in this place, then passed out for hours."
"So? Are you that fucking helpless? There's plenty to do." I was more curious than irritated but fuck if I was going to let that show. Also, had she checked on me and I slept through it? Maybe I had been burning the candle at both ends too much.
Rather than follow her, I stalked over to the bathroom and slapped the light on so I could see her mutinous expression.
"I wasn't bored, I wanted to call them. I needed to know..."
"You need to know?" I asked, waiting.
"It's none of your business."
"As long as you're holding my phone and living in my place, it is most certainly my business. Milo wants you safe, he didn't say anything about beating your ass before I tied you up and gagged you." I'd meant it as a joke, but the deathly pale cast to her face had me. She threw the phone at me, I barely caught it before she stormed out of the bedroom.
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Fuck."
After I counted to twenty, I stalked after her. There'd been no slammed door. So she wasn't in Rome's room, but I still checked inside before I headed back to the living room. One switch turned on two lower burning lights.
She stood in the window, staring out at the city. The sense of her isolation sliced me down to the bone.
"I'd never beat your ass," I told her simply. "And I sure as fuck wouldn't tie you up and gag you."
She didn't turn around.
"Okay, that's a lie, I'd totally tie you up if you asked me." Nope. Not even a flicker. "But I wouldn't gag you. Not when I appreciate what comes out of that mouth so much."
Still no glance in my direction.
I stared down at the phone she'd thrown at me and at the girl staring out the window. I could just make out a piece of her expression in the glass. Nothing about it was calm, if anything, she looked—tortured.
It didn't even register that I was moving until I was three steps from touching her and my reflection loomed above hers in the glass.
"Don't." One word from her and I dropped my hand. Yeah, this wasn't what I had in mind.
"Here," I offered and instead of touching her, I held my phone out to her. "It's unlocked. Call whomever you want. The guys' numbers are all in there."
She didn't take the phone. She didn't even look at it.
"Please?" The word came out as gentle as I could make it, because my little hellspawn looked like she was actually in hell and it was making me homicidal.
Finally, she glanced up at me. "Will you get dressed if I take it?"
Dressed?
One glance down revealed that I was still buck ass naked and my dick was definitely vying for her attention.
"Sure," I said. "If it bothers you."
"It didn't," she admitted and that shocked the shit out of me. "Until a few minutes ago."
Until I'd made a crude joke. Got it.
"Then take it and I'll go grab some sweatpants. There's coffee in the kitchen, help yourself and then we can figure out food."
She finally took the phone and I blew out a breath before I retreated to give her some space. Yeah, I wasn't leaving her for long. I had no idea who she might call on that phone. But I'd have a log of the calls.
Even if she erased it, I logged everything in the cloud.
Sorry, Hellspawn, I told her mentally. You probably do deserve better than all of this.
No wonder Milo wanted her away from all of us.
Chapter 3
Emersyn
I didn't move from the window until the last of Liam's retreating steps faded and there was the faintest squeak of a door. It wasn't his hall door, but probably a closet in his room or something. Only then did I look down at the phone.
It was unlocked.
He'd slept the whole day, a fact I'd been both grateful for and irritated by. There was no way to get out of the condo. I'd tried. The door hadn't budged. While Rome hadn't kept the code a secret from me, the code he used worked to get in, but there was no keypad on the door to get out.
Closing my hand around the phone, I moved closer to the window and stared out at the night city. After all the time in the clubhouse, this felt almost too open and exposed. At the same time, I craved the height and the breath. There was anonymity up here, too.