Page 145 of House of Ruin
“He hasn’t,” Val assured. “There hasn’t been enough time for him to go looking for her. And nobody outside our circle knows about what went down with Bea or Cadre.”
“And you trust Cadre to keep his mouth shut?” Blaze asked.
Val nodded.
“The same way you trust Rogue now?” Blaze couldn’t keep the bite out of his words.
Val glanced his way, her eyes narrowed. “You’ve got a problem with that,Blazy?”
Blaze tossed his ankle over his knee, slumping deeper into the soft leather of the sofa. “I think it’s safe to say all of us have a problem with that, Val.”
“Is that so?” She looked at Jolene and Andro, who both nodded.
“You went behind our backs with Rogue,” Andro said. “You’re keeping secrets from the Inner Circle.”
Val clicked her tongue. “I do what I need must to keep us safe and at the top of the food chain. We’ve already been through this a multitude of times. I’m tired of repeating the same shit again and again.”
“And we’re tired of always being left out of your decisions,” Jolene said.
The tension in the room was so thick, you could cut it with a sharp knife.
Suddenly, the noises of Darly went quiet, and there was the sound of three even knocks. After a pause, a door opened.
“Black, it’s good to see you on time,” Norse drawled.
Blaze wanted to punch the guy only from hearing his voice.
“Fuck you, Fox,” Alecto answered. “I’m not the one who was late last time.”
There was silence, only the sound of steps coming through the gramophone as Alecto probably entered the building.
“Why don’t we start in the library and then change scenery if there happen to be too many interruptions?” Norse asked.
Blaze gripped the arm of the chair. That asshole thought he was being subtle, but one couldn’t miss the true meaning of his words.
“I hope you have drinks there,” Alecto said.
From her voice, Blaze couldn’t read whether she was responsive to Norse’s advancements or not. She sounded harsh and cold, but Blaze knew from his own experience that her attitude could be misleading.
“Need some liquid courage before we rehearse?” Norse asked, his voice dropping a few octaves lower.
Another door opened.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Fox,” Alecto said. A door closed somewhere. “I’m not one of those girls who would die to have your attention on them.”
“I know you aren’t, Black,” Norse said. He was somewhere farther away from Alecto now. “That’s one of the reasons why I like you.”
“The feeling is not mutual.”
“Is this bitch trying to seduce him or piss him off?” Andro asked, scratching the back of his head.
Jolene chuckled.
Val smirked. “You can say whatever you want, but this strategy works like a charm for her.”
Pointedly, Val looked Blaze’s way, and Jolene and Andro turned to him as well.
Andro tried very hard to hide a smile but failed. Blaze rolled his eyes.
