Page 248 of Romeo

My amusement disappeared with his.

I knew what it was like to have someone take your woman. There wasn’t anything funny about the fear that came with searching and wondering whether you’d find her alive.

“She okay?” I asked.

“She’s fine,” Hades answered immediately. His voice was controlled, but the edge underneath told me exactly how close he’d come to losing his shit. “Dakota made the mistake of giving her access to water.”

Jack frowned. “Water?”

“Poison,” Hades replied.

Jack’s face cleared. “Oh. Fuck, I like her.”

“You’re never meeting her.”

“I’m happily married.”

“Don’t care.”

Jingles laughed. “At least he’s reasonable.”

“Would you be?” Hades asked.

Jingles considered it for half a second. “Nope.”

“Exactly.”

I interrupted before the entire conversation turned into a debate over whether any of us could be trusted around Hades’ queen. “You said Arizona, Dakota, and Zephyr were working together. What did Dakota tell you?”

“Not me,” Zeus said. “He decided confession was part of the entertainment and told Lettie everything.”

“That was stupid,” Colt remarked.

“Arrogant men love to talk,” Gunner said.

“Dakota was fucking arrogant,” Mimic muttered.

Hades spoke more quietly. “Lettie kept him talking on purpose. He thought she was scared and stupid enough to believe whatever shit he fed her.”

“His last mistake,” Cash said.

“One of them,” Hades agreed.

Zeus continued, “Dakota told her Remi was supposed to belong to him. George Stone promised her to him as some kind of reward. He blamed Reaper for coming back from the dead.”

“Jesus Christ,” Blade muttered.

“He also talked about Diana,” Zeus said, his voice tightening. “She was supposed to stay locked in that asylum. According to Dakota, keeping my sister there gave George leverage over my father.”

My eyes went straight to Mimic.

The change in him was instant.

His shoulders locked, and the hand resting on the table curled slowly into a fist. He didn’t snort this time. Didn’t grunt. His stare remained fixed on my phone.

“My mother,” Mimic said quietly.

“Yeah,” Zeus replied. “Your mother.”