Page 43 of Faithless
“Fuck.” I turned away again, physically unable to look at her.
“We don’t know what we’re actually dealing with here,” she continued. “So talking to him and getting more information is our number one priority.”
“Yeah, and what if they’ve thought of that, huh? What if he’s so beaten down and brainwashed that he reports you to fucking Nella once you start probing?”
Rory scrubbed her hand down her face, smudging her makeup. “I’m not an idiot. I won’t be obvious.”
“Maybe not, but who knows if we’re on her radar already?”
“We’ve passed through all of their security measures, thanks to Gwen. If they had a whiff of suspicion, we wouldn’t be here.” She smiled wryly. “Listen to me. Tellingyounot to be paranoid for a change.”
“This place just makes my skin crawl. Nella looks like she wants to throwmein the gladiator pit.”
Rori gave me an appraising look from head to toe, and it was really fucking annoying how my stomach flipped in response. Even now, with a slightly better idea of the deep shit we were in, I wished she wanted me.
“I could see it,” she said with an approving tone.
“See what?”
“You, fighting half naked in the sand pit. The crowd’ll pay good money for that.”
“Enslaved and fighting for my life every day, you mean?” I snapped. “Maybe having my dick rented out to the highest bidder too, while I’m at it?”
Her face fell. “Sorry, Torr. I’m just trying to make light of the situation a little.”
“Well, I don’t find it funny. But then again, this place doesn’t cater tome, does it?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry, it’s awful. If it was women in that situation, I wouldn’t be making jokes.”
A small amount of tension bled out of me. I knew she’d be able to see the double standard. But it was the mental image of her and a gladiator alone in a room that kept my teeth grinding.
“I don’t want you to see that guy,” I bit out. “Cancel that appointment. Please.”
Rori pinned me with a hard stare. Fuck, she was really going to fight me on this. The smudged makeup on her face now looked like a mask of war paint. And it was way hotter than the glammed-up look she’d been wearing all day.
“Do you have any better ideas for finding intel?” she asked.
“Not right now, but let’s take some time to get our bearings here. You talk to the ladies at the spa. I’ll talk to other guys in the gym. You know, get a lay of the land first.”
Her gaze hardened. “So how many gladiators are you willing to let die because you want to be slow and careful?”
“If we’renotslow and careful, it could beusgetting fucked over.”
Rori threw her hands up in exasperation. “I’m not seeing the guy until three days from now. We can certainly do both methods.”
She was right, and it was a good plan. What better way to find out what was really going on than private one-on-one time? But fucking hell, the thought of her in close proximity, alone, with one of them, made me want to send my fist through a wall.
Not because it was potentially unsafe or that our cover could be blown. No, it was all over the simple fact that she’d be alone with another man. And she wasn’t completely writing off having sex with him.
After watching her head off with other guys so many times, I couldn’t begin to understand why this time made me especially ragey. Maybe because it was just the two of us without a buffer of friends to keep me distracted. Maybe because finding my own piece of tail in this place wasn’t an option. Or maybe, just maybe, I had secretly hoped this trip would bring us closer in a new way.
When she’d woken up in my arms that morning and didn’t immediately pull away while I pretended to sleep, I stupidly thought we might be able to head in that direction. But that was just me when it came to Aurora Wilder. Stupid.
Now, being in completely unknown territory with only each other to look out for, evidently made me even stupider.
“I just don’t want you to do it,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Seriously, Ror. I got a bad feeling about it, and I don’t want you to meet up with the guy.”
Rori stood from the chair, staring me down. She hadn’t taken her heeled shoes off yet and was almost as tall as me. Her shoulders squared like she was ready to fight.
