Page 14 of A Worthy Opponent
I blink. He’s moving too quickly, switching subjects with ease when I’m still hung up on the way he makes my skin buzz.
But then, it’s just a game for Hook. He’s like every other territory leader in this city, moving the pieces about in his eternal quest for power. I’m just a pawn in another person’s game. My only value to him is that Peter won’t let me go.Marrying me, rubbing our so-called relationship in the public’s face, that’s destined to piss Peter off.Thathas to be part of the plan. A plan I need to remember, because Hook is not for me. He’s everything I very much don’t want in my life. I’ve walked this path before, falling for a man more in love with power than he could ever be with me. If I had a single choice in the matter, I wouldn’t go down it again. Peter was a monster before he was powerful, but that old saying about power corrupting a person isn’t wrong. The more power he claimed, the more monstrous he became. No one is immune to the seductive temptation ofmore. Not Peter. Not Hook, either.
If he’s not a full monster now, he will be in the future.
“You’re saying I’m trapped here.” I carefully withdraw my hand from his. “Is this another joke of yours, because you can’t possibly be serious.”
“Iamserious. It’s safest for you here, at least for now.” He hesitates for the briefest of moments and then pushes to his feet. “Be ready at nine.”
I manage to keep my temper locked down until the elevator doors close behind him. Howdarehe? I am not a toy he can use and toss away when he’s not in the mood any longer. He wants a wife, but not until the right time, not until he can use me to his best advantage.
I drag my hands through my hair. I can’t do this. I can’t be trapped like this. It’s a different house, a different room, a differentman. It doesn’t matter. Hook knows my history, and he still essentially locked me up here.
My gaze lands on the mess of clothes. That fucker wants to lock me up?
He’ll have to pay the price.
Chapter 6
Hook
As much as I’d enjoy spending the next few days playing bedroom games with Tink, the reality is that I married her to ensure I have everything I need to bring down the largest threat to my territory and people. She is the key to Peter, and all of this song and dance is carefully orchestrated to draw him out of whatever shithole he’s hiding in.
Yes, I want her in my bed more than I’ve wanted anything in living memory. But that’s a selfish desire, rather than one designed to ensure the safety of my people. I’m bastard enough to want to have my cake and eat it, too.
I stalk into Nigel’s office and drop into the unoccupied chair next to Colin. “What do you have for me?”
Nigel takes a long look at my face. “Trouble in paradise already?”
“Fuck off.”
He snorts and gets down to business. “We don’t have eyes on Hades’s blocks.”
“I’m aware of that.” I wave it away. We might have surveillance on our neighboring territories to the north andsouth—Jasmine and Malone’s, respectively—but Hades is a different animal. Crossing him means losing a priceless resource. No one does it for fear of being caught. That includes me. I rub my hands over my face.
Tink didn’t come here because she was so delighted by the idea of marrying me that she couldn’t resist saying yes. Peter said something to her to make her think she wouldn’t be safe living outside of the Underworld. I want to know what. She had resources to live on her own. I’ve tried not to follow her life too closely, but even I can’t escape what a success she’s become with her clothing shit. I’m honestly surprised Hades is letting her fly the coop. Between his club and the fact that most major players in Carver City actively invite Tink into their homes to style them, he had unsurpassed access to people and information.
Now half of that belongs to me, at least in theory. It could be an incredible resource for the territory if we live through the coming conflict with Peter. If I can convince her to stay once the threat of him has passed.
Despite myself, I think back to the scene waiting for me when I walked out of the bathroom. The little tease was fingering herself on my bed, and all it’d taken to get her to that point was a little peep show in the shower. I grin. Under other circumstances, convincing Tink I’m one hell of a catch, convincing her to stay, would be a fun little journey.
Unfortunately, we don’t have time for that shit right now. I need her on my side, and I need her there now.
“I want everyone talking about this marriage.Everyone, Colin. We make sure Peter knows, and I want him to know as soon as possible.” Rumors aren’t enough, though. That’s why it’s doubly important to go public in the most spectacular way possible. It’ll draw him out of whatever hole he’s been hiding in. He knows this area better than I do, even after all this time, and he’s got people hiding him from me. IfI can’t come to him, I have to make him furious enough to come to me.
I stole his power. I stole his territory. Now I’ve stolen his woman.
I turn my attention to Nigel to find a muscle ticking in his jaw. “You have something to say.”
Anyone else would pussyfoot around. Nigel is family. He sits back and narrows his eyes. “It’s shitty to bring her back into this.”
Ah. Here we are. “She was always in it. She never got out.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. She had a chance to go straight, and you pulled her right back into the muck with us.”
I should have known Nigel would fall on this side of the line. He’s always had a soft spot for Tink, so much so that he took more than a few beatings as the result of trying to step between her and Peter. He never learned that trying to intervene just made shit worse for her. He still hasn’t learned it.
I hold his gaze. “You either stand with me or you don’t. It’s as simple as that.”
