Page 29 of Once a Villain
Ten
Joan didn’t know how the guys felt, but she was somehow exhausted and adrenalized at the same time. Her whole body ached. They’d been running themselves into the ground for days and days now. And yet she still felt desperate to dosomething. She kept thinking of Gran’s words:You’re running out of time.
She squeezed her eyes shut and felt a wave of tiredness—almost nausea—roll over her. They weren’t going to achieve anything in this state, she knew.
She half fell into an overstuffed chair. Nick stood beside her, and Aaron made a triangle, slumping onto the corner of the huge bed, wrists crossed between his knees. They were so close that Joan could hear their soft breaths over the crackle of the fire.
“I think we should base ourselves here,” Aaron said.
“Here?” Joan said. “In the Oliver house?” It wasn’t safe here. A human had just been murdered without trial a few minutes ago. And there were likely dozens of people in this house who might figure out that Aaron wasn’tAaron.
“We’ll have resources here,” Aaron said. “Money, cars, anything we need. And... I’ll have power.”
“Your household thinks that Joan and I are...” Nick stumbled over the words.
Aaron finished the sentence for him. “A couple of playthingsthat I’m slumming with. That I found on the street.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have put it that way,” Nick said.
“I think we should maintain that fiction,” Aaron said.
Joan stared at him. At the same time, her whole body seemed to warm all at once. The hearth felt too close suddenly. “You—You want us to keep pretending that—”
“That I’m bedding you both.” Sometimes, Aaron’s gray eyes had an almost translucent quality, like sea glass. “Yes.”
Joan opened her mouth. She didn’t know how she felt about that, and neither did her body. Her chest fluttered like she was looking ahead at a roller coaster about to drop.
“You can’t be serious!” Nick hissed at Aaron. There was a chair between Aaron and Joan, but he’d avoided it—he was still on his feet.
“Does it make you uncomfortable?” Aaron asked him, more goading than curious.
Nick looked incredulous. “Does feigning that I was plucked from the street bya rich prick who cares more about clothes than human lifemake meuncomfortable? How wouldyoufeel—” He stopped the rant mid-track and waved a dismissive hand, as if that wasn’t even relevant.
“If you don’t think your acting skills are up to it... ,” Aaron said.
“It’syouracting skills that’ll matter!”
“Honestly...” Joan was feeling it too. The threat all around them. “It doesn’t feel safe here.”
Aaron blinked at her, and the goading expression vanished. “I’m a head of family here,” he said to her, the nasty tone givingway to earnestness. “That gives me power. Ican protect you both—I know I can. No one would dare touch you as long as you were with me.”
“But we’d have to—” Nick started.
Aaron interrupted. “I can protectherhere.”
Nick had been poised to argue, but he went quiet at that.
“Idon’t need any special protection,” Joan said, annoyed. Nick was the one who was fully human.
“We just saw a wanted poster with your face on it,” Aaron said flatly.
Joan wanted to argue, but that stupid poster was hanging over her like a blade. She ground her teeth.
Beside them, the fire crackled and popped; the scent of wood smoke was heavy in the air. Joan was aware again of the size of this room. They were in a mansion on vast grounds, all owned by Aaron now. Theywouldhave resources here—beyond anything they could access in a stolen room at an inn.
“Can you actually pull this off?” Nick said to Aaron. It was a genuine question this time, not one intended to irritate him. “If anyone realizes that you’re nothim, it’s all over. Eleanor will find out we’re here, and we’ll all be dead.”
CouldAaron do this? Joan wondered. He’d only had to feign being like his father for a few minutes tonight, and it had clearly depleted him.
