B. If he wasn’t prepared to help, I’d have no choice but to hand her over to the government. Or snap her neck. Snapping her neck was still a viable option.
Her faint gasp said she was listening in on my decision making process.
“Fine then. I’ll work something out. This is a temporary arrangement?”
“It is.” My thoughts were shifting toward the trauma about to unfold in my home. “A few weeks. Maybe more.”
He shrugged in a way I took for acceptance, and I stalked toward the elevator, not interested in the details.
“Ethan,” Larissa said.
I paused, finger poised over the call button I had yet to press. I expected her to thank me or offer some other bullshit up that I didn’t want to hear. I pressed the button, throwing a look over my shoulder when it arrived. Lucian hadn’t moved from the far side of the room. Larissa peered up at me from too close, a face I wanted desperately to forget. “Ethan,” she said quietly enough that only I would hear. “Don’t trust a Theta.”
Well, shit.
The door clicked shut, and the elevator descended. I should go back. Shake Larissa or fucking wring her neck until she told me what that little bomb was all about. But I was too fucking tired.
No sooner had I cleared the exit of Peppermint Moon than a military skycar was pulling in and opening up. A dozen Alphas in full body armor and enough disablement weaponry to put down a city-wide riot emerged.
“Ethan Black, Governor Brach would like to speak to you,” the nearest man said. He kept a taser distance away, clearly uncertain about what I might do. I thought about taking them on as painful as the results would be.
I needed to go to Lilly; it was like a sickness growing inside of me. I needed to see her face, to feel her body, even if she fucking hated me.
She was going to hate me, but the quicker I got through it to the other side, the better.
“I’m not in the mood to do this.”
“I’m afraid this isn’t a request, sir,” he said.
I nodded, and knowing there wasn’t an option, I allowed them to escort me to meet Victor Brach.
“What has happened, Black?” Victor demanded as soon as I entered his office.
The room was exactly as I remembered from a few short weeks ago. As I stood amid civilization once again, I struggled to assimilate all that had come to pass between.
As per last time, Victor sat behind his desk.
Unlike last time, he wasn’t alone.
No, the former head of special operations, Woodrow Brock, was also here for the showdown. With the chair turned so he had both Victor and me within easy sight, he appeared relaxed in a dark suit that fitted perfectly into the wealthy setting. He’d done his share of special ops before he’d taken a desk job. Victor was a politician first and foremost, but Brock understood the kind of work I did better than any man alive. I looked up to the bastard, so his presence in this was a double blow. He’d taken on an advisory role for the last few years, but I’d heard rumors he might be called back.
I was thinking this was him being called back.
“I had things I needed to deal with,” I said. It seemed unlikely either of them would accept this as an explanation given my ass had been dragged from Lucian’s club. It was worth a shot.
“Bullshit,” Woodrow said. “What did you bring back?”
“Who,” I said, scrubbing a hand through my hair. Victor alone was bad enough, but Brock’s presence was a tactical move designed to wear me down in record time. Either that or it was bad timing on my part, and Woodrow happened to be here.
No, he wasn’t a casual visit at this time of day, although I knew they were associates with a long history.
Their attention became absolute. “I brought someone back with me.” I should probably pull the damn plaster off, but there was a chance inspiration might strike, and I was going to wriggle until there was no wriggle room left.
“You did?” Victor raised a brow. Woodrow—the wily bastard—was frowning. “It wasn’t a rescue mission, Black,” Victor continued. “Much as I hate leaving dynamic victims with the Uncorrupted, we had other priorities. I suppose Lilly is behind you keeping them under the radar. They must have been with you at the docks. Where are they now? What were you doing with Lucian Banner?”
“That’s a lot of