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Tobias
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WITH HIS GAZE LOCKED on her, he saw the subtle details he suspected others missed, like the longing in her eyes as she watched the Cleveland family. “Did you like Saroj?”
Focus shifting back to him, she made a face. “Why’s the answer to that question important to you?”
“Why are you refusing to answer a simple question?”
Sighing, she shook her head. “Yes, Tobias, I liked Saroj. He’s like a big, happy dog with a gentle soul that only wants to please others. Except in his case, he wants to make people happy with ice cream flavors instead of licks to the face. Who doesn’t like people like that?”
“Was that so hard to admit?”
“You’re making me want to punch you in your godsdamn throat.”
Tobias chuckled. “Yeah, I prefer to hit things that annoy me too.”
“We’re a match made in hell.”
Molly checked on them, refreshed Asherah’s coffee and moved away. Tobias watched Ashe the entire time, noting her politeness to the waitress. There was no pretending she wasn’t a cold assassin, but she wasn’t without emotion. He was thankful for that because all hope wasn’t lost.
It bothered him that she viewed the world with a world-weary mindset and she wore her resting bitch face like an armor. She’d been hurt many times; she made that clear. Fate made it his job to show her the faith in humanity once again. That mattered.
Sure, she’d felt physical desire for him, but admitting to liking Saroj and her kindness to the waitress, that showed him she felt something more than indifference toward others. He bet she felt stronger than most and was more in tune with her emotions than most people as well. Of course, she’d lived longer than a lot of paranormal creatures, but the older ones oftentimes disconnected from the world around them to protect themselves.
“Think about my offer.” He hoped his offer sounded casual, but his gut clenched with anticipation for her to say yes because that meant she would remain near to him.
“The bodyguard position?”
“Yeah.”
“I won’t change my mind.” She dumped sugar and cream into her brew.
“Then help me find a good bodyguard for Victoria.”
Red eyebrows elevated, and he wanted to rip that ponytail out of her hair, so he could see those flame-locks set free. “You would trust someone other than family to protect her?”
“She walks all over family.” It was why she’d been able to walk out of the house with his prisoner and no one attempted to stop her.
“Are you saying her naïve attitude is fake?”
“She’s smarter than she lets on, but she’s wholly unaware of the danger she lives in. I trust the Black Hollow residents—”
“Why?” she frowned at him.
Understanding her mindset, he didn’t take offense to that question, but smiled at her. “If you knew them you wouldn’t ask that. But clearly danger can walk among us without any problem.”
“Yeah, me for example.”
“I wasn’t referring to you.”
“You’re as naïve as Victoria,” disgust tinged her voice.
“I’m not. I know I have enemies. I’m well aware of that. It’s why I have bodyguards.”
“Those bodyguards did a fantastic job of stopping me when I had your forehead marked in my scope.” Her sarcasm was strong, and he didn’t have a defense for her statement. If she hadn’t hesitated, he’d be dead instead of sitting here with her wishing he was fucking her instead. Ashe sat forward. “Reminder, Tobias Drakki, you not only have enemies but yours have deep pockets, but you naively trust everyone in Black Hollow. What’s stopping a killer like me from snatching Victoria and using her against you? I thought about using her to make you delete the photos. Someone like me could kidnap a trusted resident’s family member and use them against you? They’re attachments. Everyone in Black Hollow is attachments. They’re your weaknesses.”
A sickening feeling settled in his gut.
Ashe either didn’t notice his distress or she ignored it to continue driving home her point. “The prospects are endless when it comes to getting at you. You might be ruthless in the business world, Tobias Drakki, but you don’t know shit about killing people or protecting your family.”
“You think I can’t defend myself or those I love?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
“You don’t know shit about me.”
“I know a lot about you, but more importantly, if you believe that bullshit you just told me, then yes you are a failure at defending yourself and Victoria. I’m an assassin with principals. Another wouldn’t hesitate to go after those you love or the innocents in this town.” She rested her arm on the table and leaned toward him. “There are so many ways to come at you, it’s almost embarrassing how easy a target you are.”
Tobias drew his feet toward the chair, rested his forearm on the table and leaned forward so he could stare her in the eyes while he mulled over her words. As much as he hated to admit it, they held merit. He should’ve thought about those scenarios, but Black Hollow residents were either born here or moved to town seeking asylum from the world. They were as trustworthy in his mind as his family, but why hadn’t he thought about them being used against him. “I’ll make you head of my security team. Name your price.”
Silent, she looked away and shook her head. When she didn’t reject his offer outright, he was optimistic of her acceptance.
“How could you trust me?” She continued to stare at the Cleveland family.
“You let me worry about that.”
She smirked. “I could tell you how dumb you are again but stealing ten percent stake in Drakki Diamonds International sounds like a better idea.”
His eyebrows shot upward. That type of stake put a lot of currency in her pocket. “Five. That’ll make you a very rich woman.”
“I’m already rich. Fifteen.”
Tobias chuckled. “Asherah, you said ten, I said five, you don’t negotiate by increasing your counter.”
“I do. A negotiation tactic I can teach you.” A challenging grin toyed about her lips. “I asked for five million to kill you, remember? Then I upped it to six because the bastard irritated me.”
“If I say seven, you’ll say...”
“Twenty.”
Fine,” he sighed. No one but family owned stock. Relinquishing even a small percentage pissed him off. At least it wasn’t a controlling amount she requested, but it was more than some family members enjoyed and it gave her a voting percent. Thank the gods she was his mate and the company would remain family owned. “Ten it is.”
She sipped on her coffee, staring at him while her fingers tapped on the table. “My contract will make me privy to the location of the ice-blue diamond mines. Did I say something funny?”
Unaware he smiled until she pointed it out, he said, “I am the secret to the ice-blue diamonds. Location has nothing to do with it.”
“That means I can’t knock you off and claim the diamonds.” She snapped her fingers. “Just my bad luck.”
“I’m paying you to be loyal to me.”
“The last guy paid me to be loyal to him too.”
That punched him in the ball sac. How could she not feel he was her mate? All paranormal creatures had one. Sirens couldn’t be that different from the rest of them. “You mean I still have to watch my back?”
“That you ask that tells me you’ve not listened to a thing I’ve said. It’s like you want to die.” Asherah shook her head. “I’ve been trying to tell you. Never trust anyone. Not family, not friends, not random residents, and damn sure not me.”
He stared her straight in the eyes. “Swear on a blood oath that you’re loyal to me and all that’s important to me.”
“Hi, Tobias.” A female voice interrupted.
Slow to turn to face the intruder he caught the abrupt way Ashe went from slouched to sitting straight. Her eyes narrowed, and she tensed, leaving him questioning if she planned to attack the interloper.
He looked up at Josephine, the town’s tooth fairy. The wood fairies with her waved at him. “Hello, ladies. I trust you’re doing well today?”
Returning Ashe’s stare, Josephine nodded. “Good, thank you.”
The wood fairies meandered off to chat with someone near the gazebo. Oftentimes fairies had difficulty focusing their attention.
“Josephine, please meet my fiancée, Ashe.” At his intimate introduction, Asherah maintained her resting bitch face.
Caution bled from his mate as she rose to her feet and held out her hand, eyes locked on Josephine. “Pleasure to meet you.”
The tooth fairy’s eyes widened as she shook Ashe’s hand. He noticed the way Josephine’s eyes dropped to Asherah’s left hand—yeah, his finance should be wearing his ring—right before she said, “We never thought our diamond bachelor would find his mate. I’m so glad he finally did.”
“I’m sure many hoped they’d be lucky enough to nab what was probably Black Hollow’s most eligible bachelor.” Ashe sent him an amused smile.
“You’re not from around here, so how did you two meet?”
Before he could reply that they’d explain at his party on Friday, Ashe said, “I came to town on business and we bumped into one another.”
He bit back a laugh. “Friday I’ll introduce her to the town, so please keep this under wraps and ask the fairies to do the same.”
“It’s our surprise to tell,” his fiancée muttered, still eyeing Josephine like she expected the tooth fairy to attack any second.
He’d tell her Josephine was harmless, but she’d scold him for being too trustworthy.
“My lips are sealed.” His long-time friend made a motion with her fingers as if she sealed her lips, locked them and threw away the key. It’d been a long time since he’d seen anyone other than a child do that. “I’m looking forward to Friday. Can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction. Congratulations to the both of you.”
After Josephine strolled away, Asherah remained standing watching her walk away. “You can’t trust her.”
“She’s a tooth fairy.” He snorted. “What’s the worst she can do? Try to steal all my teeth?”
Asherah placed a palm on the table and kept her gaze on the tooth fairy. He detected her genuine distrust of the woman. “There’s something off about her, Tobias.”
“Okay.” He had nothing against Josephine, and in all the years he’d known her, he hadn’t seen anything off about her.
“You can’t trust anyone that collects teeth,” she said.
Tobias laughed and stood up. Knowing they would gain attention, he caught the back of her neck and pulled her closer. “Swear the blood oath to me, Asherah Stone.”
She curled her fingers around his wrist, the one cupping her nape. “I swear the blood oath, Tobias Drakki. No harm will come to you or those you love by my hand.”
Using his thumb, he dragged, the pad along her plump bottom lip. He wanted to kiss her, but he wouldn’t draw that much attention. “Does that blood oath extend to protecting us?”
“Yes.”
Tobias smiled. “You won’t regret being head of my security.”
“I reserve the right to quit anytime I want.”
“But the blood oath remains.”
She rolled her eyes and pat his chest. He thought she copped a feel more than any effort to soothe him. “You know blood oaths can’t be broken.”
“Fantastic.” He dropped his hand and laced their fingers together. “Let’s go get my fiancée a ring for everyone to envy.”
“Why? At some point everyone has to realize I’m not your fiancée.”
They’d see about that. She might have come to town to kill him, but fate had an altogether different plan for them.
She’s mine, how can she not feel that? It frustrated him that she couldn’t detect what he was to her.
He was more attuned to her than he’d ever been to his twin and they could almost read one another’s minds. “Any fiancée of mine—real or fake—would have an enviable ring.”
“Can I pick it out?”
“Sure, why not?”
“You know this does not cut into my ten percent profits, right?”
Tobias laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to take a cut.”