Page 35 of A Worthy Opponent
A lot of shit I’ve done to get my ring on Tink’s finger is inexcusable.
Her mouth opens, and her brain finally seems to catch up with her emotions because she shuts it without firing back some additional impulsive threat.Finally. I sit back. “You are my wife. Your actions are an extension of mine. Threatening my people—our people—is out of the question.”
“You can’t trap me here.”
“What the fuck do you think is going to happen the second you walk out on the street? Peter got to you in Hades’s territory. How much more likely is he to get to you here, where he still has plenty of people who remember the good old days when he let them run rampant? Where thosesame people only remember you as the woman who belonged to him?” I want to shake her. “Think, Tink. Stop panicking because you realize you’re falling for me and get your head on straight.”
She sits up so fast, she almost smashes me in the face with her forehead. “I am not falling for you.”
Fuck, but this woman can drive me up the wall quicker than anyone else in existence. “I see,” I say evenly. “You feeling emotionally vulnerable after sucking my cock this morning has absolutely nothing to do with your erratic and dangerous behavior downstairs.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “I wasnotacting erratic or dangerous.”
“Yes, you were. You know the last person to threaten Edgar with a knife in what was supposed to be a safe space? Peter.” She flinches, but I keep going, drilling the point home. “Hethreatened the people who pledged their loyalty.Hebullied and used his power to get what he wanted and let his every whim decide his actions.”
“Stop it,” she whispers. “I’m nothing like him.”
I don’t know why I expect her to include me in that, to set me apart from the man who terrorized her for four long years. I don’t know why it stings like a motherfucker that she doesn’t. “No, you’re not. He’s a monster.”Like me. “You’re in over your head and scared.” I have to get her to listen. Her safety and the success of my plan both hinge on her obeying me. “The people in this house, the people who are underourprotection, don’t care about your motivations. All they care about are your actions.”
She inches back from me. “I hate you.”
Another sentence that strikes right to the heart of me. How the fuck can shenothate me after everything? I give her an arrogant grin to keep the truth buried deep—I don’t know if I can ever win Tink’s trust in any lasting way. “Try sayingthat with some conviction next time.” I have to get out of here. Fighting with Tink might be satisfying in a very particular kind of way, but I need to go undo the damage she just caused and keep Peter from doing damage of his own while I’m distracted with my new wife. He’ll be coming, and soon.
It’s certainly not because part of me is sure that I’ll turn around and find her staring at me with real fear in those big eyes. I climb to my feet. “I’m having your shit brought here as soon as we can manage it. Try not to burn down anything in the meantime. I’ll be back for dinner.”
“Dinner.” She looks at the large clock hanging just to the side of the cabinets in my kitchen. “It’s barely eight.”
“Yeah.”
“You said I was going to integrate with the household today.”
I’m holding onto my temper through sheer force of will. “You were, Tink. Right up until you threatened one of my people with a knife and created a mess that I have to go clean up. I’ll see you tonight.” I head for the elevator. I have to. Staying here will mean sitting down and talking through what the hell is going on in her head and…I want to know. I really, truly want to know. I want to ease her fears. To build trust. To make a whole list of promises I have no business making.
Instead, I walk away.
Chapter 14
Tink
I’m not cut out for captivity. Hades discovered that early on and loosened my leash, saying I was no good to him if I fought him every second of every day. Hook apparently hasn’t gotten the memo. Or he flat out doesn’t care about my mental health.
Not that I blame him. Not after the scene I caused earlier.
If I’d been thinking clearly, I wouldn’t have tried for the front door. I sure as hell wouldn’t have pulled a knife on a guy who was big enough to make even Gaeton look like a normal sized person.
But when I finally worked up the courage to leave the bathroom, all I could see was evidence of Hook everywhere I looked. I mean, I’m in his bedroom. Of course he’s put his stamp on every single surface. But it was too much and my brain short-circuited.
The elevator doors open, and my heart leaps for a moment before I recognize Colin striding into the suite. He’s like a cute younger version of Nigel. Where Nigel has the sort of poise that his name brings to mind—even if I’ve seenhim beat a man bloody more than once—when Colin isn’t trying to projectbadass, he’s as bouncy as a puppy.
Or he used to be. I don’t know this new version of him with the hardness in his dark eyes and the scar marring the light brown skin of his left cheekbone. He stops short when he sees me, and the way his gaze flicks over me isn’t sexual in the least.
More like he’s checking to ensure I don’t have any weapons handy.
Colin holds up a phone. “Hook’s orders.” He steps just close enough to hand it to me before retreating again.
I look at the carefully curated space between us. “Are you scared I’m going to pull a knife or afraid that Hook will gut you if he thinks you touched me?”
Colin coughs out a laugh. “I’m being perfectly respectful of my cousin’s wife, who apparently has a deep and abiding love of knives.”
