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"Aelia, I'm not leaving you. I picked you because..." I search for words I don't have.
"You don't have a reason, do you?" she says ruefully.
I sigh, tipping my head back. I don't have the words to explain to her why she's important. It's something in my bones, in the air between us, in the ache in my chest. When I walked into the head office for the first time, I just knew I needed her. She's important, not only to the half-ass plan, but to me. For some reason, she's important to me. Putting that into words, though, isn't easy.
"I can't explain it."
"Because it's part of your grand scheme to bring down the Guild?" she scoffs, shaking her head.
"I would be lying if I said no, but that doesn't mean it's the full answer. You need to tell me about Grant."
She throws her hands up, rolling toward the edge of the bed. I grasp her fingers, hauling her back to me.
"You can't throw me around when we're alone just because you think you're all big and tough." Contrary to her words, though, she still settles next to me again.
"I'll do it if you insist on running away from telling me shit," I say gruffly.
"Possessive asshole," she mutters.
"Tell me what happened and we can move on."
"And what are you going to do with the information?" Tilting her head, she raises an eyebrow.
"It won't change what happens to him."
She presses her lips together, staring at the opposite wall as she avoids my eyes. I resign myself to waiting. I've got all night, though Jenkins did say she was supposed to be doing something in the Pit.
Telling him he no longer dictated her whereabouts other than in his office was a risk, but I needed him to know how serious I was. I transferred enough money into their coffers he should set me up in my own wing of this place. The calculating look in his eye is something I'll have to address at some point, but not tonight.
I sigh, brushing my hand down her arm until I reach her palm, intertwining our fingers. She twitches but doesn't pull away.
"Are you going to kill him?" she whispers, voice trembling.
"Do you want me to?"
"Would you make him suffer?"
"Yes."
"How much?" she asks, finally meeting my eyes.
"As much as you want him to."
Leaving Aelia in the VIP bedroom wasn't my first choice, but I didn't want her seeing this. The apprehension in her eyes as I left solidified I was making the right choice. She's witnessed enough atrocities in her life without adding more. She already doesn't have a stellar opinion of me, but she trusts me. At least enough for now.
Once she peeks behind the curtain and sees who I really am, I'm sure that will change. I wish I could stop that eventuality. It's our inevitable future if the plans forming in my mind come to fruition.
"Ah, Grant. How nice of you to join me," I murmur as the stocky man steps into the alley.
He jolts, spinning around to face me as I lean against the bricks next to the door he just exited. The cigarette dangling from his mouth bobs, his hand holding a lighter still halfway to his mouth. He seems to shake himself, stepping further away from me. He's trying to appear nonchalant but failing. Miserably.
"What do you want, Cruz? Here to rough me up again?" He chuckles and I tense, tucking my hands in my pockets so I don't beat him to death. At least not yet.
A car speeds past the mouth of the alley, and Grant steps further into the shadows. I tilt my head, wondering who he's hiding from. I was under the impression he was higher in the food chain and therefore had the protection of the Guild. Grant hiding from someone is curious but doesn't change what I'm going to do.
"Are you going to stand there pretending to be intimidating? Because you don't scare me," he scoffs, sucking in a long drag.
The smoke curls through the air, tainting the space between us. Pressing my lips together, I tuck my chin to my chest. He'll reveal more if I keep quiet, but I don't particularly care what he has to say. My palms itch and I roll my head, neck cracking in the process. Aelia may have convinced me not to kill him yet, but that doesn't mean I can't maim him.
