Page 14 of Queen of Diamonds

I glared as Zed spread his arms, lounging back on the seat like he had all the time in the world.

“You’re taking it back?” I asked.

“No. I just think you can do a better job of convincing me.”

“Fuck you.” People were at risk here, and I could feel my panic clawing up my throat, trying to get the better of me.

The man outside this door meant they were already creeping around the whole place to cover their bases. Ace and his men liked games, but not more than winning. And with the bounty on my head, it was worth far more to burn this place to the ground. Any second, the men outside could call it on the subtleties and bang the doors down looking for me.

Zed grinned, tongue pressing against his canine like he was enjoying my tantrum.

“What do you want?” I asked, teeth gritted.

He cocked his head, eyes sliding to the floor before him.

I worked to contain my snarl. “Right fucking now?”

Zed Maverick might be more balanced than his brother, but that was a low bar. I fully believed that he’d refuse help until his petty vindication was satisfied.

“Your words, right?” he asked. “We’re not going to have time for it later.”

He didn’t say what it was. He didn’t have to. I knew. The only thing he’d really be here for. And it was so very Zed.

But my options were dwindling.

Years living beneath Ace had left my pride a fatally wounded creature that I was working hard to nurse back to life, but in this case, it was a benefit.

If that’s what he wanted? Fine. Let him have it.

I approached, trying to keep my expression as neutral as possible as I sank to my knees before him.

“Ask me nicely.”

Perhaps I’d done a better job at nursing my pride than I thought, because my mouth was dry. I cleared my throat, ignoring his obvious enjoyment of my struggle.

I glared, irritation spitting like an overflowing hotpot in my chest. This wasn’t what he thought it was. I clung to that. He didn’t know the truth and he never could.

They could bust that door down any second.

One spark, and this gas-doused fire heap was ready to erupt into an inferno with everyone I loved inside—actually, everyone, now that this fucking pack was here.

“I…” I trailed off, steeling myself. “I need your help to get out of the building without getting caught.”

He said nothing, leaning forward and taking my chin in his hand, eyes twinkling with malice. His touch was like a brand, turning the world hazy, and I drowned in the cool scent of a snow santal. I swear he flinched, too. I knew how broken I was, I didn’t touch Alphas that often at all, but I always wondered if they felt the same draw to me as I did them—a need to patch up something long shattered. Or maybe it was because we were mates.

I forced a bitter smile to my face. “Please.”

“Good girl.”

My blood went hot, and not with rage this time. Memories flickered to life in my brain. The good ones. The ones that I usually rejected. But right now, that was impossible as I felt the hard ground beneath my knees with him before me, repeating words I’d heard exactly like this.

The humour in his eyes told me he was thinking the same thing. That, and the other part—something he couldn’t control—that left me with slick pooling under my dress in possibly one of the most inappropriate moments of my life. Because his pupils definitely dilated as he looked down at me.

Well.

Fuck him. He’d sorely underestimated quite how pathetic his scent match was. He had no idea I’d spent years pining after Alphas I could never have. I might take something away from this, too.

He still wanted me.

---