A quick glance around the office shows that it’s the exact same as it’s always been. Hades has a private office, but this is the room where he prefers to handle any club business that arises. The room is done in shades of gray, and careful lighting that always leave the man behind the desk bathed in shadow. It’s very dramatic, but I’d never be fool enough to say as much to Hades.
He’s the only one in the room.
I almost drop the smile, but I still don’t know what this is about. It could be something as simple as planning a surprise scene for Meg, but if that’s the case, there’s no reason for Malone to be involved. Those two don’t play together. Malone is Dominant, and while Meg is a switch, she only submits to Hades.
I clear my throat. “You called for me?”
“Sit.”
As I make the short trip across the office to sink into a chair across the desk from him, it strikes me that this might have nothing at all to do with Malone…and everything to do with the pending deadline of my bargain coming up. I clasp my hands in my lap and try to keep my voice even. “Are you going to kick me out the same way you kicked out Tink?”
Even in the shadows, I can see his surprise. “You and Tink are hardly the same, Aurora.”
A sentiment I’ve heard more times than I can count, especially since I took over her position. If Tink wasn’t one of my closest friends, it might make me hate her. As it is, she gave me large shoes to fill when she left. I try to still my sudden shaking. “With respect, that’s not an answer.”
He gives a nearly soundless sigh and leans forward to prop his elbows on his desk. It brings his features into the light. Hades is an attractive older white guy with salt and pepper hair and black square glasses that frame his dark eyes. He’s handsome in a scary kind of way, but he’s never been anything but kind to me.
Not that he’d label it as such. The man has a reputation to uphold, after all, and if I ever pointed out that he got the raw end of our bargain, he’d deny it. Hades doesn’t do charity, but in my case, there’s no other way to describe it. What other man would give an astronomical amount to a seventeen-year-old girl and then refuse to let her even inside the club until she’s twenty-one? Even then, he resisted letting me work as a submissive until I practically begged him.
I clasp my hands in my lap. “Then what is this about?”
“You’re more than welcome to stay in the Underworld once your bargain with me expires. This is your home as long as you choose to stay, and once your time is officially up, the negotiated percentage that I take out of your wages will be halved.” His lips quirk. “But I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that half of Carver City would happily welcome you into their homes, too.”
Into their homes, and into their beds.
But not in a permanent way. I’ve been here long enough to watch them find their true loves, one by one. They might enjoy scening with me from time to time, but I’ll always be on the outside looking into those relationships. No invitation to their homes would be permanent. I’m not naive enough to believe otherwise. “Is that what you called me in here to say?”
“No.” He sits back, once again bathed in shadows. “Malone would like to contract you out for two weeks.”
“What?”
“Yes, it surprised me, too.” I can’t see his eyes, but I can feel him watching me closely. “I’m inclined to say no, but Malone doesn’t demand much and it runs the risk of alienating her. However, considering your history with her, it’s a terrible idea.”
Hades is the only one who knows who my mother really is. I don’t think he’s even told Meg or Hercules. Which means he’s the only one who can understand why I need to do this. “I accept.”
“Aurora.”
“Hades.” I can’t quite soften my tone into playfulness. I never talk back to Hades. Never. Partly because I owe him so much, and mostly because of the sheer dominance he exhibits without seeming to try. He’s got himself bottled up right now, but the man can send me to my knees with a single look. “This is why I came to you in the first place.”
“No, you came to me in the first place because you couldn’t stand the thought of pulling the plug on your mother.” His quiet words are merciless. “Your need for vengeance rose later.”
He’s not exactly wrong, but it stings all the same. “Then let me have my vengeance.”
“Malone will eat you up and spit you out. She will harm you.”
I shove to my feet. “There is nothing she’ll do that hasn’t already been done to me a hundred times over during my time here.” I like everything. Pain and humiliation and degradation. Soft words and gentle touches and kindness. It all gets me off.
It wasn’t like that the single time with Malone.
I shove the thought away. I was younger then. Greener. Still new enough to the BDSM scene that I didn’t know my limits as well as I do now. I didn’t know how to keep my emotions separate from the physical actions. I know better now.
Hades stands slowly. I don’t know how he manages it, but it feels like his power unfurls through the room.“I would have thought all these years would make you less reckless.”
The desire to apologize bubbles up inside me, but I shove it down. I am not weak, and I am not a fool. All those years ago, I came to the Underworld with two goals: to keep my mother alive and to get revenge. I’ve managed the first. Now it’s time for the second. “I’m not reckless.”
“You are the very definition of reckless.” He sighs. “But you’re an adult who knows her own mind. I can keep you from Malone now, but the moment the bargain is done, I suspect you’ll be taking that contract.”
I will. Now that she’s finally made a move on me, I refuse to miss this opportunity. “Better to let me do this while I’m still yours.”
He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I dislike you attempting to manipulate me, but you do have a point.”
I press my lips together. Pushing him now won’t guarantee victory, and it might just backfire. So I force myself still and wait while he thinks about it.
Finally, Hades shakes his head. “I’ll allow it.”
Relief makes me a little dizzy. There’s no guarantee that Malone’s offer would stand in another few weeks once I’m free of Hades’s bargain. I need this, and I need it now. “When do I start?”
“Tonight.”
One-click QUEEN TAKES ROSE now!
Acknowledgments
Thank you for all the readers who have showed up for this series book after book. It’s been one hell of a ride!
Thank you to my amazing editor Man for your comments and suggestions to make this book the best version of itself. Thank you to Lynda for the copy editing!
Big thanks to Jenny and Sarah for your endless support of this series from the conception. Ursa having a collection of tentacle dildos is solely because of that one chat we had for the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast and the book is 110% better for it!
As always, thank you to Piper, Asa, Jenny, and Andie for being one text/chat away and always being ready to help me muddle through my plot snags and tell me that “too bonkers” doesn’t exist. Love you all!
Hey Tim. Yes, I know you just opened the book to this page to check for your name. This year has been even more bonkers than my books. Pandemic times. Health stuff. Kids and dogs and me climbing the walls while in quarantine. I can firmly say that I wouldn’t have survived without actually following through on my threat to feed the family to wolves if it wasn’t for you holding down the fort, let alone actually keep it together enough to write books. Love you like a love song.
About the Author
Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.
Website: www.katee
robert.com
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