Page 87 of Lovesick Gods

“It’s complicated,” Danny said, staring at the floor between him and Andre. “And I know you probably think it’s dangerous and stupid because it’s Cho, and whether I hate him or not, I shouldn’t trust him, but if he was just using this to get one over on me, he’s had me vulnerable enough to make a move plenty of times.”

Andre let the silence linger before he said, “If you’ve been sleeping with him since what happened with Camouflage, I believe you. But it’s not only about that, Danny.”

“It’s not?”

“Yeah, okay, so trusting Prometheus is a little hard for me to swallow,” Andre shrugged, then immediately cringed at his choice of words. “But it also means you lied to us. Repeatedly.Again.”

“I never lied.” Danny finally looked up at him. “I told you I was seeing someone. I told you it was just sex. I even told you it was a guy.”

The incredulity on Andre’s face would have been comical in any other situation. “Don’t start with me about withholding information versus lying when we’re talking aboutPrometheus. It’s not the same thing and you know it. This isn’t some sugar daddy or creep we’d tell you to steer clear of for your own good. He’s asupervillain. Which is why,” Andre held up a hand to stop the protest Danny wasn’t even sure he had ready, “I’m going to be honest with you too.”

Oh god.Danny had been so caught up in the idea of Andre knowing about him and Cho, he’d completely forgotten what else his friend might have overheard. Had Andre eavesdropped on everything? Even when Danny came close to…when he’dalmost…

“Gaia Facebooked me last night.”

“Huh?” Danny had clearly been too much in his head to have heard that right.

Slowly, Andre rolled back toward the desk and Danny pivoted out of the way so he could reach the computer. “Lucy Cho, under a dummy account as Lucy Green, Facebooked me last night. No friend request or anything, just a PM. Which, umm…might have started a conversation? I was going to tell you last night!” he added quickly, as if Danny would have chided him right then. “That’s part of why I wanted you to test the suit—I was working up the nerve to confess. Then you ran off like you couldn’t get away fast enough and I got my…earful.” He shuddered.

“Wait,” Danny perched beside the computer but didn’t yet read the conversation Andre pulled up, “how much did you overhear? For my own sanity.”

“Dude, like I ever want to hear what Prometheus’s ‘O’ face sounds like. Urg…” he blanched, suddenly green around the edges, “why did I put that image in my head?”

“Andre…” Danny fought a twitch at his mouth.

“Relax. I stopped listening about the time you said you’d do unspeakable things to Prometheus wearingmysuit, thank you very much. The real Zeus suit better not have been anywhere near him at any point unless he was fully dressed and aiming an ice dagger at you.”

The remaining tension dissolved from Danny’s shoulders. Andre hadn’t overheard how far Danny had gone or any of Cho’s breakdown.

Good. That was good.

“Danny.”

“I got it. The Zeus suit remains unsullied,” Danny said, hands raised in placation. “I promise.” Never mind that Danny had worn the suit to Cho’s place withplansto sully it. “Now, come on, Andre. Let me see what happened with Gaia.”

The conversation over Facebook wasn’t anything for Andre to feel guilty about. Mostly it was just Lucy trying, quite innocently, to get to know Andre, and Andre evading offering up anything concrete while trying unsuccessfully to suss out ulterior motives.

Finally, Lucy had said,Truth? Mickey’s been seeing some new boytoy on the sly. Has me wondering what a better offer might look like.

Better offer than what?

Maybe we could meet some time and figure that out.

Surrre, Gaia. Like you or your brother would ever be able to give up thievery.

You’re probably right. See ya around, cutie,she’d ended the conversation and signed off.

“Imagine my surprise when I found out said boytoy is actuallyyou,” Andre said, though Danny wondered if the grimace on his face had more to do with how things had ended with Lucy than anything between Danny and Cho.

Andre had never met Lucy in person, but the way he talked about her whenever she faced off against Zeus definitely implied appreciation, if not an outright crush on the woman.

Lucy wasn’t a bad person. Not really. Who wouldn’t have grown up a little rough around the edges with a father like Icebox? It was a wonder both she and Cho weren’t serial killers.

Yet that was close to how Danny had thought of Cho recently. The man had killed people. A significant number of people over the years—and probably several that had never been attributed to him, given how good he was at getting away with his crimes. Sure, they had all beenbadpeople, but where was the line? That was something Danny had been asking himself a lot lately, as that line grew fainter and fainter beneath his feet.

But doing bad things, making bad choices, that wasn’t supposed to be where things ended. People were meant to have second chances. If they wanted them. If they tried to change.Danny had been raised to believe that reformation was always preferable to punishment, which contradicted everything he’d been planning with breaking Cho’s heart.

“She might have meant it, ya know,” Danny said when Andre continued to stare at his computer screen.

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