6. Damon
6
DAMON
T he next morning, after getting a call from Galen, I was back at GT and could feel every single prick and dart of Ari’s angry gaze.
It seemed that Galen had forced her hand, and she blamed me. I’d gotten the call from Lucas and headed to see her at work first thing in the morning.
I told myself I didn’t care about her response. This was about getting the job done. But still, knowing that she blamed me stung.
She’s right though.
“This is a job, Ari. Trent clearly wants you to do it, so why don’t the two of us just get on with it, yeah?”
“When you care about people, you don’t make them do things,” I mumbled under my breath.
“It’s a shame. I liked the old Ari. She was fun. Resourceful. What happened to her?”
“That Ari grew up. She also didn’t want to spend her life in jail.”
I winced at that. And to be honest, I knew her father would have wanted her to stay far away from the likes of me.
It didn’t matter that he’d trained me or that I had become one of the best-known thieves in the world. Because it was my fault he was dead, and she had every right to hold me responsible for that.
“Ari, let’s not do this. How about we figure out how to work together? Because for the foreseeable future, you and I are going to be tied to each other.”
She gave me a saccharine smirk. “Except I don’t trust you. I don’t have to like you to work with you.”
I sighed. “Galen Trent is smarter than you’re giving him credit for. If I were him and the lost prince of the Winston Isles came to me for help, I would fucking help him. You’re not seeing the future as it’s playing out.”
“Why me, after all this time?”
She knew why.
Hell, I knew why. “Would you believe me if I told you I couldn’t forget you?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I can spot a con man from a mile away?”
“Ari, just let me?—”
“No. Here’s how this is going to work. We follow Galen’s lead. Do the job. No funny business, no games. I don’t work for you. And let me be very, very clear: if you double-cross us, I will hunt you down. I know exactly who you are. Trusting you is how people get dead.”
Ouch . That one hurt. “Okay, angel has got her claws out. That’s good. It means you’ve learned something. I mean, you are hurting my feelings. Oh wait, that’s right—I don’t have any. So put your claws away. This is just for the job.”
“You think I believe that? You’re here to torture me. The problem is, I don’t know why. I’ve never done anything to you. I didn’t snitch. I said nothing. Why are you torturing me?”
“You think this is torture? You haven’t seen anything yet. You and I, together again. Think how proud your father would be.”
“Fuck you.”
The grin I gave her was cold and full of smug satisfaction. “That’s a good girl.”
“Look, I’m in charge of this job. I know that doesn’t mean much to you, but we do things my way, and nobody dies. I know you’re used to people being murdered on jobs when they deal with you, but there will be no dead bodies on my watch, understood?”
“I didn’t kill your father, Ari.”
“Just because you didn’t pull the trigger doesn’t mean you weren’t responsible.”
I didn’t know why it was so important to me that she believed I would have done anything to protect my mentor, but the truth of her words stung. “Ari, if we walk into this thing at odds with each other, someone is going to die.”
“Get me the specs, and stay out of my way.”
“Princess, I’m pretty certain I mentioned that we have to do this together . The cover Lucas has for us spells it out. We have to act like a married couple. There are things we’re going to have to do before we go into rooms with criminals and murderers. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me while we convince people that we are hopelessly in love. The sooner you get on board with that, the happier and safer we’ll be.”
“I’m not pretending to be in love with you.”
“Sure you are.” I marched over to her, stepping into her space.
She smelled the same as she always did. Faintly of strawberries and something else that I couldn’t quite place. She smelled sweet. Intoxicating. Tempting.
“You and I will have to be closer than this. Get used to it.” I twined our fingers together.
“Then one of us is going to be missing their left nut. Don’t touch me.”
“Whatever you say, Ari Sari. But the next time I touch you, you’ll be begging me to.”
Ari
When he left, I was shaking. How dare he?
I marched to my office just down the hall from the conference room I’d escaped, desperate to close the door and block it all out and pretend that I didn’t have to do this.
But sure enough, Galen was not going to let me get away with that. He knocked at my door, opened it a crack, and lifted a brow. “You look like you’ve been put through the ringer. Are you okay? Damon is just doing his job.”
“I’ve never needed you to coddle me, Galen. Don’t start now.”
“Are we going to talk about the history there? Is he your ex or something?”
I frowned at him. “No. Of course not. I haven’t seen him in years, but he was there the night my father died.”
Galen cursed. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” His brows knitted, and I could see he was trying to work out what to say, what to do, how to make sure I could still do my job.
“Galen, can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Would you still be here if I were one of the male agents?”
He frowned. “Honestly, yes. But for a different reason.”
“Oh yeah?” I lifted a brow. “What would the different reason be?”
“I’d be worried one of them was going to kill him, punch him, or find a way to sabotage the job. Sometimes the lads can get a bit territorial, but with you, I don’t foresee you actually murdering him. Maybe some light torture. As long as you’re not going to go all stabby, you’ll be all right.”
“You have a lot of faith,” I groused.
“I know you. You’re a great analyst. An out-of-the-box thinker. Quick on your feet, levelheaded, and steady. I have never seen you this shaken before.”
He was right. I’d become very good at locking away all my emotions. It was easier. I never let anything touch me. But then that asshole Damon had walked in yesterday, and all that was gone. I was suddenly back to being that little girl, holding my father’s bleeding body in my hands, begging someone to answer me and tell me what the hell had happened. And no one would.
It hurt knowing that was who I still was after all these years. It hurt seeing Damon again and reliving all the baggage he brought with him, and that pang in my chest wouldn’t go away. Eight years, and I was no closer to understanding what the hell had happened with my father, what had gone wrong. All I knew was that he’d been on a job with Damon and then died, leaving me with this hole in my chest that I couldn’t fill, one made worse and more complicated by the fact that my father had chosen Damon to be his protégé.
Dad loved him like a son. Showed him things he wouldn’t show me. I had to sneak around to gain my knowledge. I had to hide, listen when I shouldn’t, and pore over Dad’s notes while he slept.
My father said he did it out of love, wanting a different life for me. But all I’d wanted was his time, and Damon Hunt had robbed me of that.
And now look at you. The perfect good girl who hides away from the world, even though you want to take part.
That was what stung. There was a part of me that wanted to do this so I could prove myself to someone who was long gone.
He didn’t want this for you.
Galen cleared his throat. “As a precaution, there’s one more thing I need to ask.”
“Then stop beating around the bush.” He knew me too well. I could only hold my shit together for so long. And right about now, I needed to collapse in a heap and curl up in the dark with a blanket over my head while I processed all this.
“You and Hunt, is something romantic going on there?”
I snickered at that. “With him? No. He’s responsible for my father being gone. He might not have been the shooter, but he knows what happened, and he’s never told me. No matter how much I begged and pleaded. So I don’t trust him. My father did, and look where it got him.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay. Because you know going into these kinds of jobs with someone you’re attracted to can make you complacent.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Galen. I attach to no one, remember?”
His grin was quick. “And that’s why I hired you.” My gut knotted as he said that.
I eased myself into my chair to get things ready. “I have always wondered that. Hiring me was a risk.”
He stopped. “Well, not really. I’m a good businessman. A kid with daddy issues whose daddy was a thief is generally on the exact opposite side of the law. It’s kind of how it works. So you are undoubtedly more trustworthy than anyone else who works for me. I know your motivation. That’s why seeing you with Damon worries me. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either. So why are you making me work with him?”
“Because a client like a royal family is good for us. So you play nice now, you hear?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t I always?”
He chuckled low. “You are professional to a fault. You take no shit, you are always on the ball, and you always have the right answer. But you can be fucked with.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hey, I can be fucked with too. You are all about outcomes, but it means certain frustrations may get to you.”
“I’m good, Galen. I can stay on task.”
“I believe in you, Ari. Just make sure you don’t let your past interfere with this job. Got it?”
“Of course. Nothing will interfere.”
And you will never, ever give in to what Damon wants.