Page 29 of Sweet Obsession

I never should have put him in that position. He’s depending on me for his very survival, and I abused that power. I grip the steering wheel and stare out the windshield, guilt lashing me. “I’m sorry.”

Icarus is far too clever by half. He twists to face me and pokes my shoulder. “No, we’re not going to do that. The paladin act is very adorable but not when you use it on me.”

“It’s not an act.” Sometimes I wish it were. It would be nice to discard it when the pressure gets to be too much.

“Yes, I’m aware.” He pokes me again. “If I had told you to leave the bedroom the moment you walked in, what would you have done?”

I manage to tear my attention from the horizon to look at him. Fuck, he’s beautiful—and furious, his perfect brows drawn together and his eyes intense. I clear my throat. “What kind of question is that? I would’ve left. To do anything else—”

“Exactly.” He pokes me a third time. “So unless you wantmeto apologize for taking advantage of you when you were in a vulnerable emotional position…”

I shake my head sharply. “No.”

“Perfect. Then let’s stop this bullshit about apologizing for something neither one of us regrets and go deal with the siege Circe is laying on the city. Then we can figure out what Hermes is actuallyplanning and deal with that, too.” He shifts his touch against my shoulder, gripping it, his fingers digging into my muscle once more, but this time with a specific intention.

I stare at him, unable to look away. How can he rivet me with just a single touch, a slight shift of tone? I don’t understand it and yet I respond to it instinctively.

Icarus smiles slowly. “And then, once all the boring and tedious responsibilities are taken care of, we can come back here and I’ll take you to bed properly.”

Take me to bed properly.I’m both terrified and elated to discover what that means. Last night rocked my world off its axis. Another night like that and I might not recognize myself in the morning. Impossible to say if that’s something I should dread or welcome with open arms.

I put the vehicle into gear and drive toward the shipyard. By the time we arrive, I still don’t have an answer to how I feel about his offer. Or rather, how I think I should feel. The truth is that I want nothing more than to turn the SUV around and haul him back to the house to have the promise of his words fulfilled. But that’s unacceptable. I have responsibilities. Not to mention, if we’re about to be at war—arealreadyat war, no matter what the ridiculous vote says—then there’s no telling if I’ll actually make it home tonight at all.

Orion meets us at the shipyard headquarters, waiting for us the moment I step out of the car. They look as tired as I feel, the lines bracketing their mouth deeper than normal. “No updates.” They turn smoothly to fall into step next to me and Icarus as we head toward the stairway leading up to my office. “Aside from the meeting you had last night, there’s been no movement from any ofthe ships.” They don’t ask me for details, which is just as well. I still don’t know what to say about it.

If Circe decides to take Hera’s offer, I don’t know that I can stop her. I might not even know she’s accepted it until I’m up to my neck in blood. The thought leaves me cold. I never should have taken her out there. I never should have let her have access to Icarus and, by extension, Circe’s phone number.Fuck.

Normally I’m at my office for several hours every day, but there hasn’t been a normal day in far too long. It looks much the same as when I left it a few days ago, sparse and utilitarian and matching my needs perfectly. The desk is large and sturdy, the chair equally so, the computer old but serviceable. The wall behind where I sit holds a paper calendar with various shipping schedules marked in carefully color-coded highlighter. The only real decorations I have are a few prints of Olympus’s rocky shorelines by a photographer I’ve liked since I was a kid.

It’s the polar opposite in almost every way to my uncle’s house. I can’t help glancing at Icarus, searching his handsome features for his reaction to this space that is moreminethan anything else he’s seen so far. He studies everything with open curiosity. I look away before disappointment can filter across his handsome face.

“Have any ships been able to get through?” I ask, determined to focus on the problem before us and not Icarus.

“No.”

Damn. That’s what I was afraid of. Thanks to myself and Demeter, it will take some time before Olympus’s citizens feel the pinch of the blockade, but itwillhappen—and sooner than I’d like. I drop into my seat and slowly tap my finger against my thigh as Itry to sync my breath with the contact. I don’t know what to do. I’m not equipped for this. Other than keeping watch…

I glance at Icarus, but while Orion might be more open-minded than Polyphemus, surely they would draw the line at me asking a known enemy for advice. Better to save any questions for when we’re alone.

Icarus sits on one of two chairs across from my desk and crosses one leg over the other. He glances at me and then appears to give Orion his full attention. “Do you have the ship names?”

Orion waits for me to nod before they answer. “TheSwine, theScylla, theCanens, theMoly, and…thePenelope.”

I jolt. “Did you say thePenelope?”

“Yes.” Orion nods their head. “It’s the flagship, the one Circe returned to after meeting with you.”

Penelope is a common enough name in Olympus, but there’s something there, something tickling the back of my brain, a memory I can’t quite place…

“That’s new,” Icarus murmurs, distracting me. He twists to face me, and I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes. “Do you remember how I told you that I have information on a number of people in Circe’s inner circle?”

“Yes.”

“Four out of five of the ships belong to those people. If I’m able to divert them from supporting her, you’ll have significantly better chances.”

None of my ships are warships. There must have been a time when Olympus didn’t have the barrier because there are old cannons in some of the towers that bracket the bay. They’re coated with rustand ancient enough that I have no idea how they work outside of theory. Even so, our odds are better if we have only a single ship to face. We could load up one of the smaller boats with explosives and ram her. I’d prefer not to do something like that, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if we didn’t attack thePenelopedirectly, we could run the blockade and get ships in and out. Probably not without losses, but some would manage it.

I glance at Orion, who’s absolutely stoic in the face of this prospective plan. Even so, I’ve worked with them long enough to know they don’t trust Icarus. They have no reason to. I’m not sureIdo, but I can’t afford to pass up any possible edge. “Have our people continue their watches. If any of the ships move, I want to know about it. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do.”

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