"I kind of get where you were coming from. I mean... nothing really justifies buying a human being, but you did save me from a potentially nightmarish fate so, yeah. I guess I'm glad you were pissed enough to pay that much money."
He scoffed. "Yeah, that's true. If I hadn't spent so many years obsessing over that feisty little girl who’d held my hand and told me I had worth, then maybe I wouldn't have looked twice at your contract."
"Wait," I said, another worrying thought occurring to me. "Why did you see my contract? How do you even join that mailing list?"
Archer's fingers trailed through my hair, then he rested his hands on my waist once more. "It's not a mailing list, Princess. It's... well yeah, I guess it's like that, in a way. I have access because of Phillip. He worked a lot of anti-trafficking cases, and when I inherited everything, I also inherited his passcodes. I don't use them often because I don't have any interest in becoming a civil servant or even a vigilante. But I'd used it once before, and something sent me to access it a couple of days before Riot Night. I couldn't even say what it was, but I logged in and forgot to log out. That's how I saw your name pop up."
My stomach churned, and I fidgeted with one of the buttons on his shirt. "You used it once before?"
He jerked a nod. "As a favor to a friend. There was a girl, Seph. She was barely thirteen when her father listed her contract, a punishment for someone else's infractions."
"Oh fuck," I murmured, and pressed a hand to my lips, disgusted. "Your friend... am I right in thinking it was a favor for Hades?"
"It was." He met my gaze steadily, not giving anything away.
He didn't need to, though. "You saved a thirteen-year-old girl from sex slavery? Yeah, I can see now why Steele said Hades would take our side if push came to shove." Then another piece clicked together in my brain. "Seph. Cute. What's it short for?"
Archer grinned. "Persephone. It's not her birth name, but it's the name she uses, much like Hades. It works for them."
"Can I meet them one day?" Because I was all kinds of curious to put faces to names. Not that they were integral to my story, not at all. But I got the feeling real friends were few and far between in Archer D'Ath's world. I'd like to meet one of the few he had outside of our house.
He nodded, smiling. "Of course. They'll probably be at our wedding, after all."
I spluttered a laugh, then groaned. "Fuck, I almost forgot all about that."
"Rude," he murmured, his gaze turning playful. "This could be the happiest day of your life, you know."
I shivered, dread rolling over me. "I hope so," I whispered. "Because that will mean it ends with the reception hall painted red with the blood of our enemies."
Archer gave a small groan. "Fuck, baby girl. Keep talking dirty to me and I'll have to give Kody a run for his money on this countertop." His hands drifted to my ass and squeezed.
My hips rolled under his touch before I could even catch myself, but then I shook my head. "Tempting. Very fucking tempting, husband. But I need to go and deal with Steele's secrets now." I frowned. "Does it have anything to do with that night? When I met Rachel and you almost died at Damien's hands?"
He just shrugged. "Let him tell you. Talking about Rachel is really hard, but it's helping him heal. You're helping him heal, Kate."
"You're weirding me out with all these compliments, Arch," I muttered, awkward and uncomfortable under his praise.
A wicked smile crossed his lips. "I'll make up for it later if you come to my room." He stroked my wrists. "These would look so pretty cuffed to my headboard while I fuck your ass."
My pulse raced, this time from excitement. "Well, that's more like it. But you'll have to take a raincheck on that idea." I pushed him away with my hands flat on his hard chest. "Steele already said I needed to be naked before he spilled his secrets."
I hopped down off the island and left Archer grumbling to himself about why he hadn't thought of that rule first.
Truth be told, I was a bit disappointed he hadn't. Then again, like he’d said, we had our whole lives...
However long that turned out to be.
9
By the time I