KNOWING THE ROUTINE, Tess went back to the apartment intending to shower off the day. Before reaching the bedroom, raised voices stopped her in the hallway. Listening for a moment, she focused in on their location: the den.
No one sent her an invitation to the party, but she altered direction to join the voices anyway. Animosity could spell intel.
As she crossed the threshold, her attention zeroed in on the TV.
Her Heart. In the desert house boardroom, seated at the table. Harry was in the center with Garrick at his other side, but for a good five seconds, her Heart was all she saw.
Secrets were funny things. They’d been constant companions throughout her many lives. Meeting Styx gave her a new one. Not only to keep from Zeus and the others, but from Daire too.
She’d met his brother. Dampening the urge to announce that was a struggle. It was relevant. Styx was relevant. As was his guilt over keeping Daire out of the Zulu loop.
The frustrated burning in her eyes wanted to be something, tears, of joy or contrition… could go either way.
Her Heart was her world as she crossed to the screen. Her fingers ached to touch his image, but they couldn’t, she couldn’t reveal herself.
“Tess?” Harry asked.
Putting herself front and center, in prime view of the men, wasn’t smart.
The slight move of Daire’s shoulders shattered her daze. Such a drastic action could be construed as a signal… like the one he’d asked for in his letter. He was on the verge of pushing out of his chair. She hadn’t expected his request to mean he’d leave the very second he saw it. Then again, his letter was clear that their separation was hard on him. He didn’t want her there, so far away from him and so near to Zeus. The feeling was mutual, but it was on her to be strong and keep the rudder steady.
“I’m fine,” she said, putting a smile on her face and stepping back. “I didn’t expect to see all of you today.”
“Your father thought it best to keep you out of initial negotiations,” Zeus said from behind her.
Spinning on the spot, Tess smiled at him. “Probably because he thought there would be a lot of cursing.”
Harry’s need to keep her in the background, to “save” her from Olympus business wasn’t a new habit or one she liked. Despite her aversion to being coddled, she wouldn’t be manipulated by allowing Zeus to foster friction and resentment.
“Your father might be right,” Byron said. “These aren’t easy negotiations.”
“I can handle it,” she said, spinning to show the screen her smile. “I was only going to shower before dinner anyway. We can wait to eat. These talks are important… Where did you get to?”
“Setting up the gamma site is still a priority,” Garrick said.
His presence was a godsend, he’d been playing mediator between these men for years. He also erred on the side of the practical and was the only way she got in.
“But?” she asked, choosing to stay on her feet.
Byron and Hugo were in their armchairs again. Zeus stood behind the couch. She wouldn’t sit or be used as a prop. With her Heart’s eyes on her, she wouldn’t give any man the chance to touch her.
“We disagree on more than we agree on,” Zeus said. “You should sit down, Tess.”
Waving a hand above her shoulder, she dismissed him without turning around. “That can’t be a surprise to anyone. It shouldn’t be… You want to get Olympus going again. You need a base, and you need personnel.”
“Yes,” Garrick said. “Using the investments from our new members, resources shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Have the new members been recruited?” she asked. No one replied. “You mean the new Two and Five, right? Have they been recruited?”
“Not yet.”
Oh, his voice, it wasn’t right how deep his words embedded themselves inside her. Breathing in, the rhythm of Daire’s masculine tone washed over her. Of course he’d be the one to answer her. Harry never would. Byron deferred to Zeus who’d be happy for her to have more questions than answers.
“You’re anticipating their investment,” she said to herself, adjusting her position to stand perpendicular to the television. “You don’t have it.”
Hugo was the only one behind her, she could look to everyone except him. The Vegas billionaire didn’t seem to say much. Just like Harry said, when it came to Olympus business, he hung back.
“Their investment is assured,” Zeus said.
“It’s how they buy their way back in,” Daire said, his voice low and slow.
Was he doing that on purpose? That deep rumble vibrated its way to her most intimate corners. His voice was a visceral beacon to what they’d been. In the dark. In their bed. When that voice had belonged to her, been hers, warm against her skin, heating her ear, touching her every crevice, stimulating her skin.
“Money is only part of the problem,” Byron said. “One that’s easily fixed.”
“Yeah…” Daire said, “because our new Two and Five will pay for their predecessors’ sins.”
Interesting, she hadn’t considered that. Damn, her Heart was looping her in and putting things in context too. If Zulu was the brainchild of Two and Five, taking them out wouldn’t necessarily be enough for Zeus. He could challenge the loyalty of the new investors being folded into the Six.
Her Heart was frustrated. And she knew why his voice reeked of disdain. “Six,” she said, saying what Daire may not have been able to. “What about him? Is he investing something? Other than money?”
“What should he invest?” Zeus asked.
“An apology perhaps,” she said.
Zeus was quick to counter that. “He and I have already discussed his role in the plot.”
“I’m sure you have,” she said. “At length. You needed to murder the men who betrayed you and the five of Harry’s men who came after you.” Little bit of intel sharing there. She kept going, hoping it would slip by. “Should Harry and Garrick ignore the fact that Six betrayed them?” Laying a pointed look on Byron, she expected him to have some pride. “He betrayed you too. The rest of the Six. How can you discuss anything without thinking he’ll take it straight back to Ulysses?”
“If that’s the insurance Ulysses needs to trust the Six again…” Byron said. “It’s not too much to ask.”
“And what about Harry?” she asked, folding her arms. “He was brought a mission by your people. He accepted the mission because he didn’t have a choice.” Though Daire had refused it. Just then, it struck her how difficult it must have been for him to decline an order. “And when it all went to shit, you washed your hands and let him take the fall.”
“He didn’t take the fall,” Byron said. “Seven men are dead.”
Two, Five, and the five of Harry’s men.
“You don’t think this will have an impact on the already strained relationships between your principals?” she asked, unable to believe he’d be so naïve. “If you didn’t know it, these two men weren’t exactly best friends to begin with.”
Was she sticking up for her father? Yes. It made sense to argue the point when she knew how Daire felt about letting Six’s betrayal slide.
Zeus cleared his throat. “And here I thought you might be the voice of reason.”
“Passive isn’t my natural state, I’m even worse at moderation.” Because she had a problem with obsessing over one thing. Whether that was her work, her mother’s death, her Heart… or certain parts of his anatomy. “Peace, no matter how fragile, has to be reached before there can be a restoration. What’s the point of spending money and asking the men to sweat setting up Gamma, if it’s all going to be blasted to hell before anyone steps over the threshold? There has to be an accord.”
“I don’t disagree,” Zeus said. “But your concerns about Six betraying anyone would only cause an issue if there was another attempted coup.”
“A coup,” she breathed out, some of the starch leaving her shoulders.
His arrogance was astounding. Though she couldn’t deny he was right or confirm that he’d be safe even if he did get the top spot back on a permanent basis.
The next words that came from the screen, from her Heart, were in a language she didn’t know. It wasn’t even a language she could identify… not that she had much experience with foreign languages.
Judging by Byron and Hugo’s expressions, she wasn’t the only one in the dark. Zeus understood it though. His gaze narrowed. Daire stared right back. There was a challenge there, something was going on. Should she jump in and break the stare or let Daire do his thing?
“Again you prove your education wasn’t a waste of time or money, Ares,” Zeus said, breathing out some of his hostility to nod. “Accepted. Can we move on?”
“Yes,” Daire said.
She didn’t have a damn clue what just happened. From the way Harry turned to Garrick, she wasn’t sure they did either.
“Good,” Zeus said. “Then we return to the issue we were discussing before Tess joined us.” Discussing loudly. “Relocating Minotaur.”
“Requires all three keys,” Garrick said. “Either one person has to be trusted with them or all of us have to be on site.”
“Three to retrieve Minotaur or three to revive it at Gamma?” she asked.
“Both,” Garrick said.
“There’s time,” Byron said. “Gamma can’t possibly be ready for at least another eight to twelve weeks.”
“We’ll get it there in six,” Daire said.
He really was desperate to get his home back… and maybe he hoped a speedy timetable would get him nearer to her sooner.
“Ares,” Harry warned without looking at his ward. “You’ll put pressure on our men while we’re shorthanded.”
“Which takes us to manpower,” Zeus said. “You will have to work on extending the radius of the Zone control module.”
Linking his fingers in front of him, Garrick shook his head. “I tried that for months. The problem isn’t the control module. The prototypes are not potent enough to project much of a signal.”
“Surely there’s some way to increase their potency.”
“It was an experiment,” Garrick said. “I wouldn’t want to tamper with a potentially unstable compound.”
“You have men there who were a part of the Zone Project.”
“And what?” she asked. “We should start experimenting on them? You already killed a quarter of the workforce; do you want to risk losing more?”
The rigidity in Zeus suggested he wasn’t a fan of her questioning him. Her tone of incredulity wouldn’t help. Just like she’d told her father, she wasn’t an agent, and wouldn’t bow to them like their men would.
“If we don’t enhance Zone, we may never find our people,” Zeus said, his attention turned to the ceiling, his jaw tight. “We need our ranks back.”
“Send some of the men you have out with the module,” Byron said. “They can look for them.”
“Specify a search area,” Harry said. “Would take time, but it could work.”
Garrick didn’t seem as optimistic. “It’s a sensitive piece of technology, requires constant retuning and corrections.”
“So go with them,” Zeus said. That suggestion startled everyone. “Desperate times, desperate measures.”
“He’s not worried about going into the field,” Harry said, raising his chin. “Ares?”
“He’s worried about approaching our men,” Daire explained, on the same page as his superior, as always.
“After a year, they could be twitchy… and resentful.”
“Some of them could’ve moved on,” Daire said. “Have new lives… new masters… Approaching them is a risk for anyone with an Olympus face.”
“I don’t have an Olympus face,” Tess declared.
Going on a mission was not on her bucket list. Neither was being deputized into Olympus ranks. But volunteering had the advantage of requiring her to be Stateside, which increased her options.
“You approach any man, he’s going to think all his dreams came true,” Hugo said. “He’ll know exactly what he wants to do to you, and it won’t be kill you.”
“He has a point,” Byron said, putting a hand on the arm of his chair to push himself higher. “Pandora is not threatening, she can get right up close to deliver a message.”
Although the former president had been talking to Zeus, Harry answered. “Not happening.”
Zeus surprised her by being more open to the concept. “Could be interesting to see how they react after learning the woman they just screwed is their superior’s daughter.”
The idea might amuse Zeus and rile her father, but they were strolling just a little too close to Daire’s most sensitive nerve.
“It was only an idea,” she said. “And I didn’t offer to sleep with anyone. I know how to use my words, you know.”
Though her initial seduction of Danny didn’t support that assertion.
“Balfour’s right,” Zeus declared. “None of them would be listening to you speak. Their minds will be too occupied with plans of how they might relieve you of your clothes. It doesn’t matter anyway because Tess stays here.”
“If I can be useful—”
“You’re useful here,” Zeus said, expecting the final word. “Start close to home, Garrick, widen your net. Short trips south and then west. If you encounter anyone, track him, and notify Hades. He’ll do the approach.”
Already giving orders. There was nothing wrong with Zeus’s confidence.
“Why not Ares?” Garrick asked.
Either he’d be happier with the younger man doing the approach in case something went wrong or he was worried about Daire being home without a principal around.
“He’s going to lead the restoration, acquiring the parts you need for the Gamma system.”
“The main part is in D.C.,” Garrick said.
Zeus shrugged. “Then he goes to D.C.”
“Requires an op,” Daire said. “I’ll need at least two agents with me.”
She didn’t know how he could be so calm. Her letter was in the mail at that very moment and could arrive in Vegas anytime that week. If he was in D.C. and someone else checked the mail…
“I won’t let us be spread that thin,” Harry said. “Garrick will need two men. If I send another two with Daire, that leaves two of us here to guard base and the compound.”
“Sounds like you need to work on increasing the workforce,” Zeus said. “You have forty-eight hours to come up with a plan.”
“If we don’t?”
“Then we do things my way,” Zeus said, smug as ever. “Over.”
He took the remote from the back of the couch and pointed it at the TV to turn it off.
Staring at the screen, where her Heart had just been, she tried not to resent the man in charge for severing the link. There were so many other reasons to resent him, that one seemed petty. He didn’t know how she missed her love or longed to see him. It wasn’t a deliberate attempt to be cruel… she didn’t think anyway.
“Tess,” Zeus said, stealing her from her thoughts. “You can get ready for dinner now. Everyone’s dismissed.”
Dismissed like a soldier or one of his operatives. She wanted answers, needed someone to bounce ideas off. Thank God she’d persuaded Styx to see her again. The next day couldn’t come quick enough as far as she was concerned.