Page 25 of Grave Curse

“Exactly. Sort of like what they’re trying to do with Yoyo.”

I grimaced at the mere mention of the young nymphomaniac that had been haunting the Gravedigger Clubhouse for the past month. I had some ideas on how she could be used, but I needed to wait until Yoyo approached me. “It’d never work.”

“Why not? Ginger is a woman, and one of Hades’s weaknesses is that he’s too much of a chauvinist to ever be able to clock a woman as a threat to him.”

“True, but that’s beside the point, Romeo.”

“So what is the point?”

“Ginger would try to murder him—and fail—before the first sunset was done. She rushes into the breach whenever she feels threatened,” I added when my second in command opened his mouth. “She was taught from a very young age that violence can be the answer to pretty much every life situation there is, especially when she’s cornered. And then there’s the fact that Hades scares the hell out of her. You might think you know her—hell, you might even believe she’s wired just like every other human being you know. But here’s a news flash for you, brother. She’s not. Respect how abnormal that brain of hers is, and think of another way to get to H.WithoutGinger. Tell me you’re hearing me on this.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Romeo nodded and dragged a hand through his hair. “I’ll go over every inch of Hades’s history, as well as his current business interests to see if I can come up with some other pothole I can put in his path. Hell, maybe we can even SWAT him to see what kind of response he’s got in store security-wise.”

“He’s done that to us, so turnabout’s fair play.”

“There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

“I’m all ears.”

Romeo paused long enough to press a hand to the office door to make sure it was closed all the way and we had absolute privacy. “Last night, the cams at Ginger’s warehouse went offline.”

I crossed my arms. “Do tell.”

“It happened a little before midnight. Then they were turned back on just before dawn this morning.” He waited a beat, as if expecting me to fill in the silence. When I disappointed him, he gave me a hard look. “It wasn’t a glitch.”

“I believe you.”

“The cams were deliberately turned off, Tyr.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Remotely.”

“Okay.”

“It was you.”

There were times—like trying to give your chief of security and best friend plausible deniability, for instance—when silence was golden.

Romeo rolled his eyes. “Look, Tyr, I don’t give a damn what you and Ginger have going on—”

“Nothing.” My voice hardened to steel, cutting through the air like the knife it was. Now more than ever, he needed to know I wasn’t fucking around. “Officially the word is that Ginger and I hate each other, just like always.”

“I know what the official word is, for fuck’s sake, and believe me, everyone buys it. Everyone knows that the sky is up, water’s wet, and you and Ginger hate each other, and the only reason you tolerate each other’s presence is because you’re stronger together while Hades is still breathing.”

“Exactly.”

“But I’m your chief of security, goddamn it. That means I know there are only two people who have kill switches on those cameras—you and me. And since I know I didn’t turn them off, that means you did. And since I know you’d never leave her unsupervised, that means you were there at the warehouse to keep an eye on her. Don’t tell me any details,” he added sharply, holding up a hand when I opened my mouth. “Swear to Christ, I’m not some gossipy bitch wanting all the tea, so do us both a favor and keep your shit to yourself. Just understand that from a security standpoint, I need to know what to expect so I can do my job to the best of my ability. I would’ve played things way differently yesterday if I had known what was going on between the two of you.”

“There’s nothing going on between us.” Then the reality of the situation hit me, and I realized Romeo was right. From a security standpoint, he needed to know every possible vulnerability. “Yet.”

Another thing I liked about Romeo—he took his time chewing on new facts and considering all the potential problems before speaking. “Ever since Marvel died and Hades announced things weren’t over at Arthur’s funeral, I’ve made sure I always have eyes on Ginger. You know that, yeah?”

“Yeah.” I’d have his fucking head if he didn’t.

“She went out last night with Roxie.”

“I know. To Lush.” She was such a funny drunk.

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