Page 51 of Hero & Villain
Whatever she looked like, and whether she dressed like pink cotton candy that was just waiting for me to consume, or a goddess of death, she had absolutely no idea what she wanted.
I had no problems with that. I wanted her and revenge. In that order.
I shook my head and put away my laptop, walking through my monstrous seventies fever dream home to my eight-car garage, and slid into my pink hybrid. I wouldn’t be able to focus unless I did some damage to somebody, myself or someone else; it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to hurt her, not when Maples was dying. Was there anything more tragically adorable than her attachment to the doorman’s dog? Maybe the way she carried her glitter shoe, prepared to stab anyone who got in her way. Or the way she talked about stars. Or the way she kissed me to shut me up. Or how proud she was of how well she could knock someone unconscious without any lingering headache afterwards. And how she felt in my arms, like I was holding the entire world and all its happiness.
I wanted to adore her, not fight her, but she was here to take me down. Eventually she’d remember that, and then… Well, I’d probably enjoy her stabbing me. Somehow I doubted she would enjoy it nearly as much.
I pulled up at the MGM and let the valet take the car while I walked towards the lounge needing to break something. It was bright and loud, exactly what I wasn’t in the mood for. I wantedDaniela to play her cello while I held her. I wanted her to know that she was perfectly safe and always would be. There would be morning cartoons and blankets under the stars. Instead, it was games. Murder in the Dark, or Panic in the Park.
“Dagger! A win and an after-party? It must be my birthday.” Nix greeted me with a slap on the back, one arm around my shoulder as he pulled me into the little group of Death Hammer stars and investors.
I glared at Trix, who stood talking to Jezebel about tires while Minx nibbled on a breadstick and tried not to notice the older man who was trying to peer down her dress. If Trix saw what he was doing, there would be violence. He had the sense not to ogle Jezebel, in spite of the sequined push-up bra that advertised her surgeon’s impressive skills. Jezebel had cemented her terrifying reputation a long time ago. She needed to control her menagerie.
“I’m looking for a fight,” I said without preamble.
Nix lowered his sunglasses, so I got to see his bloodshot blue eyes. He was burning the candle at both ends. “What kind of fight?”
“Ugly.”
He pursed his lips as he calculated, then pulled out his phone and texted somebody. “Fifteen minutes in the back alley should do it. Do you have a problem rematching Bulldog? That would give the most bang.”
For the buck. Nix would profit from this fight like he profited off of everything. I didn’t mind, because you knew what you were getting into with Nix. Business was always business, and fighting was his business. Above all, his team was his family, and he took care of family, as long as it didn’t get in the way of business.
“I didn’t like the way he looked at Daniela. I’d love to break some teeth.”
“Yours or his? You don’t care. I’m breaking it up if it gets too messy. Your tech skills are worth more than your gloves,although tonight you really did demonstrate some technique I thought you’d lost a long time ago. I didn’t think you’d show up tomorrow morning, much less tonight. She was wearing your colors, or was that a personal expression?”
I glared at him. “She’s not a prize to be given out to the winner because she’s wearing his colors.”
Jezebel’s head turned, and she frowned. Trix raised an eyebrow for a moment before she continued her tire diatribe.
Nix’s expression was analytical for a moment, sharp and aware, a look he didn’t ordinarily show. “Good, then she’ll be at work tomorrow and can keep shuffling papers around. Still, she went to that fight specifically to inspire you to greatness, and you stepped right up. She bet her whole paycheck on you, down to the last cent.”
“She did what?” Jezebel demanded, stepping between us to glare at Nix.
“She wanted to do something reckless,” Trix said with a shrug. “She wasn’t even shocked at being my date. A little confused, but not shocked.”
“She wasn’t your date,” I snarled.
Nix put a hand on my shoulder. “Settle down. Of course she wasn’t Trix’s date. Trix just does that stuff to irritate Horse and drive up ratings. Oh, no, that’s me, because I sell myself for the team, when you all are above it.”
Jezebel shook her head. “I’ve seen Dani’s neat work with the spreadsheet, and you’ve been doing what on company expenses?”
He pointed at her. “And the trips you take?”
“None of your concern.”
Trix looked from one to another and then shook her head and came over to me, draping an arm over my shoulder and leaning into me. “They’re so cute when they fight.”
Cute. That term had bothered her, but… “There’s nothing wrong with being cute.”
“Cute girls end up messing with you. I’ve seen it countless times,” Nix warned. “She’d want to marry you.” He shuddered at the thought.
Jezebel laughed. “And now we know who’s drunk. What’s wrong with being married?”
“Would you ever get married?” Nix demanded of her and shook his head. “No, of course you wouldn’t, because then the next thing you know, you’re locked in a dungeon for thirty years, all because of a cute girl who seems innocent but is actually the most diabolically cunning monster alive.”
We all stared at him while he breathed hard.
