Page 21 of Crown of Lies

“I meant, alright, I’ll agree to your deal,” I say quietly. “We’ll work together.”

Nico’s eyes fly open, and for the first time since he came down into the basement, he looks relieved, his expression softening a little.

“You’re serious?”

“Yes. On a couple of conditions. We do this with total honesty. You accept that I have no idea why I’m so important to The Saint. And…” I dig the barrel of the gun into his chin, looking him dead in the eyes. “Do noteverfuck with me or lie to me again. Are we clear?”

The hint of softness slides off Nico’s face so fast that I could almost convince myself I imagined it. He stiffens, glaring up at me.

“Likewise,” he bites out. “Now can you get the fuck off me?”

I scowl at him, staying right where I am as I eject the magazine from the gun, tossing it toward the side of the basement and the gun toward the other. Nico winces at the way I handle his weapon, but if he wanted it to be treated nicely, he wouldn’t have left it out for anyone to grab, now would he?

I clamber awkwardly off him and stand, not even bothering to hold out my cuffed hands to help him up. He can manage it just fine on his own, I’m sure.

When I pointedly hold up the cuffs, he mutters something under his breath and grabs the key to unlock them. As I stoop down to grab my pants and Nico begins straightening himself out, the tension between us returns, as if we’re both remembering exactly what we just did.

I remind myself that the sex was just that—sex. A need for release and nothing more.

But even as I think that, I catch Nico’s gaze, trained on my thighs where his cum is still trailing slowly down. There’s a heat in his eyes that threatens to make my skin turn to fire.

“Never again,” I say, my tone clipped.

He grunts but says nothing.

The silence between us follows us even when we’ve put ourselves back together and start to leave the basement. Eventhatsimple action comes with mistrust. The two of us stand at the bottom of the landing, awkward almost, waiting for the other to go first.

After all, no one wants to walk with their enemy behind them.

It just reiterates what I already know: that we might be ‘working together’ again, but we’re nowhere near together like we were before.

After a moment, Nico scoffs. Rolling his eyes, he takes the first step onto the stairs. I’m tempted to push him, but I keep control of my baser instincts and simply follow him, keeping my hands to myself.

It’s a stiff, silent trek all the way up those stairs and into the main part of the house. I hear Atlas’s and Killian’s voices from the kitchen and brace myself, squaring my shoulders.

Atlas must hear Nico’s footsteps, because he glances up as we enter.

“Took you long enough. Did she talk?—”

He stops cold when he sees me approach from behind Nico. Instantly, he and Killian are on edge. They straighten up, their backs stiff as their gazes cut between Nico and me and back again.

Before either of them can say anything, Nico speaks, ever the leader that he is.

“We’ve come to an agreement,” he says, sounding oddly formal as he announces it. “We’re going to work together to figure out this business with The Saint. Total transparency on both sides.” He glances my way, a grudging acknowledgement in his eyes. “Quinn says that she doesn’t know what The Saint could want from her, and at this point, we have no choice but to believe her. So we’re going to have to work with that if we want to figure out what the fuck is going on.”

Atlas and Killian exchange a look but say nothing. We’re back to silence, it seems. Silence and unreadable expressions.

It’s like we’re starting back over as strangers—and I guess, in a way, we are.

Atlas regards me warily for a moment before flicking his eyes back to Nico.

“Are you sure about this?”

“No,” Nico answers, lifting one shoulder. “To be honest, this all could end up being another huge mistake.”

One of Atlas’s brows shifts upward. “Another?”

Nico nods. “I had us take a job from someone we’d never met and had no reason to trust, and I thought I could control the fallout. I was wrong. But we’re here now. So we’re going to figure shit out the best we can. Yeah?”

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